Nice and toasty. Photo: Cameron Miller At Alaska West, we have a drying tent – a small structure with a big heater where our guests hang up waders, raincoats and other outerwear at the end of their day on the water. We crank up the heat at night, and in the morning everything comes out…
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Alaska West
Spey Fishing for Trout, Part 2 – Gear
Workin’ the little rod on the Arolik. Photo: Cameron Miller UPDATE: Thanks for checking out this post in 2009. By 2012 spey fishing for trout had changed a bit, so we put out this post with an update on spey and switch fishing for trout as of 2012. Feel free to read on, though! We’ve…
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Dec Hogan – When It All Comes Together
Dec builds his confidence, as if he needed to. Photo: Justin Jackson Dec Hogan visits Alaska West during the first week of our season each year, to deliver spey instruction to our guests and to get in on the hottest, brightest kings of the season. This year, Dec had one of those experiences that, to…
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Alaska West Job Requirement #1 – Facial Hair
Look, Justin’s young (third row, far left), but he’s trying, OK? More on Local Color at Alaska West Alaska Guidespeak Glossary Smoked Salmon Alaska Native Crafts from Quinhagak It’s Really Pretty on the Kanektok
Alaska West Fishing Report: June 19 – 26
Week two at Alaska West has always been known as a great choice if you want to get the best out of a week of king fishing, as many of the return guests can attest. Photo: Cameron Miller Guys like Andy Jensen and Gordy Phillips who have been joining us for years were once again…
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Super DC-3 – Our New Ride to the Kanektok
Welcome to Quinhagak. The current local time is chrome-thirty. Last year at Alaska West, we ran a pilot transfer program in which we chartered a Fairchild Metro to fly some of our our guests direct between Anchorage and Quinhagak, eliminating a stop in Bethel on inbound and outbound trips to our lodge. The program worked…
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Spey Fishing for Trout, Part 1 – Why
Dec Hogan covers the Arolik, bank-to-bank. Photo: Cameron Miller Over the past few years, spey casting has become the method of choice in most fisheries around the world that involve presenting swung flies to anadromous fish. On the Kola Peninsula, and in Iceland, and on the Hoh River and in Tierra Del Fuego, anglers chase…
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Managing Running Line – 3 Simple Tips
Neat, tangle-free loops. Photo: Cameron Miller At Alaska West and BC West, we do a lot fishing with spey rods. There are a bunch of reasons that we like spey fishing – line control, less fatigue, the pure enjoyment of making a good cast, and the ability to cover a lot of water. Spey rods…
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Alaska West Fishing Report: June 12 – 19
Once again we find ourselves in deep Southwest Alaska to start another season on the Kanektok and looking forward to the spectacular scene about to unfold in front of us. We welcomed back quite a few return guests for the first week of the 2009 season along with some new blood. Photo: Cameron Miller Marty…
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Rainbow Trout and Giant Flies
Medium fish, XXL fly. Photo: Cameron Miller Rainbow trout in the Kanektok and Arolik Rivers have a short season during which they can feed, so when it’s summer and the water conditions are good, they tend to pounce on flies that might be, oh, about 1/4 as long as they are.< If you look closely…
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