Last month we told you that Deneki family member, Whitney Gould, took top honors once again in the women’s division at this years Spey-O-Rama World Spey Casting Championship. However, as you might recall, not only did she take first place, she also set the women’s world record with her longest cast of 150 feet, a snake-roll…
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Alaska West
Nymphing for Trout – The Trigger Finger
Whether bouncing a bead-head pheasant tail down your local tailwater or dredging a flesh fly in western Alaska, dead drifting sub-surface flies, or ‘nymphing,’ requires the ability to detect extremely subtle takes that are not always visual. For many anglers, various types of strike indicators are a huge help in detecting when a fish has taken…
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Always Have Confidence in Your Fly
Today we present you with a tip, one that holds true in all avenues of fly fishing, that we think separates successful anglers from, well, not so successful anglers. No matter what you’re fishing for, whether your drifting, stripping, swinging, skating, or popping flies, in either freshwater or saltwater, always have confidence in the fly you’re fishing….
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Timeless Tips Tuesday: 6 Tips for Fishing Streamers from a Boat
When targeting rainbow trout from the boat, one of the techniques we like to use is called “bangin’ the banks”. Whether you’re using a streamer or a dry fly, it’s an effective technique and a fast-moving game, like a shooting gallery on the move. If you’re chucking streamers from a boat anywhere in the world…
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Be Safe Out There – Wear Your Wading Belt
On many rivers around the country, spring means run-off season, and with it means big water and cold water temperatures. Therefore, we thought it would a good time for a friendly reminder – Whenever wearing waders in, on, or around the water, please, wear your wading belt. Everybody takes a spill in the river from time…
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Timeless Tips: Swinging for Kings – 10 Tips
Planning on swinging flies for king salmon this summer, maybe on the Kanektok or the Dean? Here are some tips that may help. Cast across and slightly downstream. You certainly need to read the water you’re fishing and adjust accordingly, but in general if you’re fishing a broad, gradual gravel bar, the most effective presentation…
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Advanced D-Loop Tips for Switch Rods – Video
Our friends from Airflo are back with another great video highlighting spey casting tips for shorter skagit-style heads, like their latest ‘Skagit Scout‘ line. For some great tips on forming more efficient d-loops for more powerful casts on both shorter switch rods or longer spey rods alike, be sure to give the video a watch…
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Timeless Tips: 6 Ways to Catch More Silver Salmon
On the Kanektok River where we operate Alaska West, and on other rivers like it in Western Alaska, the classic method for catching silver salmon on flies involves targeting them in slow-moving water, casting a floating line, and stripping back a weighted fly. Here are 6 ways to make the most of this technique. Keep in mind that…
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Congratulations Whitney and Kara!
Last weekend was the 2017 Spey-O-Rama (SOR) World Spey Casting Championships at the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club, and we’re pleased to announce that not one, but two, Deneki family members placed at the top of the competition this year! Alaska West alum, Whitney Gould, won her fifth SOR women’s casting title, while BC West lodge…
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Work Sharp Guided Field Sharpener
We fillet a lot of salmon at our Alaskan lodges each summer, and the key to filleting fish well (and safely we must add) is a good sharp knife. For that reason, most of our guides never hit the water without some sort of sharpener, to ensure their knife is good and sharp at all times. In…
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