From the river to the flats, we’ve long been fans of sling packs for toting around our gear, especially whenever fishing on foot. We think they’re a great cross between the versatility of a hip pack, with the high-riding comfort of a full back pack, and rarely hit the water these days without one. However,…
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Alaska West
Happy Hump(y) Day
It’s been a while since we’ve payed homage to one of our most under-appreciated fish species – The almighty pink salmon. In our neck of the woods, pink salmon show up in staggering numbers every two years, every even numbered year to be exact. However, that’s not to say they don’t show up on odd…
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Timeless Tips: Popper Fishing for Salmon – 5 Tips
We’re fortunate to live on a river that has an extremely productive silver salmon fishery (from late July through early September), and by far our favorite way to target them is on poppers! Yep, most likely the same style of flies used on your local bass pond. Although not usually as productive as streamers, under the…
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Stay Comfy Out There – Dress for the Morning
We’re fortunate to spend a lot of days on the water, with a bunch of great folks, in sometimes not-so-great of weather. We’ve come to notice one very important thing when it comes to how comfortable you are during the day.. It all depends on how you start it! Whether you’re racing towards tidewater in…
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Fighting Fish – Pull With the Rod, Gain With the Reel
Our ridiculous run of silver salmon has just begun to show up in full force, which means alongside four other species of pacific salmon, including voracious chums and feisty pinks, there’s no shortage of practice for fighting big fish. One thing we see on a regular basis from our first-time anglers upon hooking a hefty…
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Congrats, Steve!
Today we take a day to celebrate our good friend and long time Alaska West guest, Steve Ward. Steve and several other members of the Ward family joined us for a week on the Kanektok this year, marking his twentieth consecutive year fishing with us. Wow. But that’s not all.. On the first day of…
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Meiho Adjustable Fly Boxes
We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again – well organized gear catches more fish. How so? Simple – Time spent looking for gear on the water is time spent not catching fish. When it comes to organizing flies, we generally subscribe to the ‘mothership’ approach – large, inexpensive, simple boxes able to hold…
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Alaska Trout Fishing – The Mouse/Sculpin Punch
During a large part of our summer, we’re fortunate to be able to target trout using one of our favorite means of all time – with mouse patterns. When its good, its great, and can make for some fast-paced, highly visual fun, at times selecting some pretty quality fish. That said, it doesn’t select all…
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Keep ‘Em Wet with Slow Motion Release Shots (Video)
Photography has become a big part of the fly fishing culture over the years, and we’d be lying if we said we didn’t understand the importance of capturing the moment with that special fish. That said, we also believe that fish destined to be released should always be treated with the utmost respect, held close…
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Weekly Fish Stories – That Fish
We’re back today with another edition of our ‘Weekly Fish Stories,’ where guides and guests from our lodges share a brief snapshot of memorable moment on the water. Today, our own Jason Whiting shares a quick story from a day of trout fishing with a fishy father-son duo, Ted and Dean Tsandes, at Alaska West….
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