There are many questions that run through a guide’s head on the first day of the season. “Where should I fish? Did I tie the right flies? Are the fish going to cooperate?” However, the more time and seasons spent out on the water, the more these questions begin to fade and become easier to…
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Alaska West
The Bunny Snaelda – Tying Instructions
Last year our pal and long time Deneki guest, Nic Jepson, shared with us a great step by step on how to tie the Franc N Snaelda – a killer European fly pattern originally designed for Atlantic Salmon that we’ve witnessed work extremely well on our king salmon at Alaska West. Today, professional fly designer,…
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Mousing for Trout – Work Upstream
When mousing for trout, we tend to target fish using two different methods – banging the banks from the boat while rowing ‘drift boat style,’ or walking smaller side channels on foot. Both methods have their advantages. Fishing from a moving boat covers far more water than wading, in theory allowing you to put your…
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Arctic Grayling – Fish the Traditionals
For the majority of our guests at Alaska West, the first few weeks of our season is all about two things -swinging flies for big bright king salmon and/or chucking big mouse and sculpin imitations for hungry rainbow trout. However, during the first part of our season, an often overlooked species on our river are…
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Opening Day at Alaska West
Today marks the opening day of our fishing season at Alaska West. Our guests and guides are taking to the water this morning to cut the first tracks on the Kanektok for the 2017 season, and needless to say, we couldn’t be more excited. We’ll be on site all season long, and plan on keeping…
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History of the Intruder – Interview with Jerry French
Steelhead anglers rejoice! The folks from the Ashland Fly Shop recently conducted a great interview with our pal and Alaska West family member, Jerry French, featuring some great insight on fly selection, spey casting, and an in-depth history of the evolution of the intruder-style fly patterns many of us use today. If you like swinging flies…
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First Alaska West King of 2017
Our 2017 opener at Alaska West is only a few days away, and we’re happy to report that our annual run of king salmon are trickling in as planned. In fact, earlier this week, after a long day of prepping camp for the upcoming season, Deneki team member, Chris Vague, hit the water for a…
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Rigging Backing Solo
When rigging fly reels for hard fighting species like king salmon, bonefish, or any other fish capable of long blistering runs, we’re sticklers for winding on backing tight.. Really tight. Backing wound on too loosely (like you might reel up your fly line), is bound to cut into itself, particularly on hard pulling fish, locking…
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Morrish Mouse – Tying Instructions
We’re fast approaching one of our favorite times of year, mouse season! Chucking rodent patterns for voracious rainbow trout is one of our favorite past times, and we’re lucky to do a fair amount of it at our lodges. In preparation of the upcoming season, today we present you with a great step by step, courtesy…
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Spey TV Episode 9: Single Spey with Simon Gawesworth
Our pal George Cook is back with another edition of Spey TV, this time accompanied by Simon Gawesworth to talk about the finer points of one of the most traditional, yet arguably most difficult spey casts to master, the single spey. For those looking to dial in their single spey, we think you’d be hard…
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