When swinging flies for king salmon and steelhead, we’d argue that more fish are lost due to a poor hook-set than at any other point during the fight. Unlike techniques associated with traditional upstream dry fly, nymphing, or even streamer fishing, swinging flies requires a different technique to effectively drive the hook home. How so…
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Alaska West
Alaska West in Swing the Fly Magazine
The latest issue of Swing the Fly Magazine (volume 1, 2018) is now available, and we think you should check it out. Why? Aside from being the world’s only magazine dedicated to all things spey, the latest issue features a fantastic photo essay from our own Gregory Houska with shots taken from the banks of our…
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Timeless Tips: 3 Ways to Save Money on Fishing Gear
Although it may seem like we’re always trying to talk you out of your money, that’s really not our (only) goal in life. To prove it, today we offer you three ways you can save money on your fishing gear! Ways to Save Money on Fishing Gear Always label a fly line the instant you…
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Jerry French’s ‘Ultra Squid’ Coming to a Fly Shop Near You
The good folks at Aqua Flies have teemed up once again with our good friend and Alaska West alum, Jerry French, to bring the latest and greatest in steelhead/salmon flies; The Ultra Squid. Responsible for the design of innovative patterns like the the Intruder and the Dirty hoh, Jerry is widely accepted as one of…
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3,000 Posts!
We’ve been blogging about fly fishing for quite some time now, and today our humble little fly fishing blog reaches its greatest milestone yet.. Today is the 3,000th blog post here on the Deneki blog. Wow. We really appreciate all of you who have stopped by our blog over the years, continually check in for your daily dose…
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5 Guide Secrets to Catch More Alaska Rainbows
Alaskan trout tend to behave differently from their brethren in the lower 48. As we mentioned last week, that warrants some rather uncommon methods when targeting trout in Alaska compared to those used in other parts of the world. With different methods come different techniques, and today we present you with 5 lesser known tips…
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Steam Your Flies Back to Life
In our opinion, there’s no such thing as too many flies. In fact, your fearless editor has a reputation for carrying far more flies on the water than could ever be fished in a day, a week, or even an entire season for that matter. Just ask anyone who has pawed through his boat bag…
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Stacking Tubes
A while back, fly tying great, Stuart Foxall, shared a great step by step with us on one of our all-time favorite patterns for salmon and steelhead, the Hoh Bo Spey. He didn’t stop there however, he also gave us a great post on how to tie the Hoh Bo Spey on a tube as…
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Spey Casting: The Perry Poke – Explained
In case you weren’t aware, our good friends from OPST have been pumping out some pretty high-quality instructional spey casting videos of late. In their latest videos, Deneki alum, Trevor Covich, gives the finer points of one of the most versatile skagit-style spey casts – The Perry Poke. They’ve even broke the ‘poke’ down into…
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Our 5 Favorite Ways to Catch Rainbow Trout
We love fly fishing for trout. However, targeting trout in Alaska is a bit different than targeting trout in other parts of the world. A high abundance of food within a short growing season makes them more opportunistic than most, allowing us to target them with a bunch of different techniques, some of our favorites…
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