In case you haven’t heard, earlier this year the folks at Airflo introduced their latest spey line, the Skagit Scout – Their shortest skagit head to date designed to make easy work of switch rods, shorter spey rods, and single hand spey casts. With their release of the Skagit Scout, they’ve also been pumping out some…
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Alaska West
Stay in Control – Incorporate Weight Into Your Streamers
We all love fishing for trout with surface flies, and in our neck of the woods, there’s nothing quite like watching a trout inhale a rodent.. However, at the end of the day, its arguable that the most effective way to chase these big Alaskan bad boys over the course of a season is to…
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Which Hand Do You Reel With?
It’s poll time again here on the Deneki blog, and we want to hear from you! The proper hand to reel with is an age old debate, and from our experience, one that many serious anglers are passionate about. We’ve witnessed everything from healthy discussions to full out arguments on the topic over the years, which is why…
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GoDolly Landing Nets
When you make a living landing fish, a quality landing net is important, and this past season at Alaska West we had the privilege of trying out one of the more unique net designs we’ve seen – A net currently being produced by a fresh new company called GoDolly landing nets. GoDolly is the brainchild of Eric Inglis, an…
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Top Posts of 2012
Wait, what? But it’s 2017! You’re right, we knew we couldn’t get anything past you. We’ve been writing about fly fishing for quite some time now, and considering how many new readers we see stop by each month (thanks for reading our blog!), every now and then we like to take a day to round up…
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Sage X Rods – Interview With George Cook
When Sage unveiled their latest X family of fly rods, we were shocked to hear it would be replacing one of their most popular rod series of all time – the ONE. Could they really improve upon the ONE? Like many of you, we had our questions.. That’s why we reached out to Deneki pal, George…
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Anatomy of a Tube Fly – Video from HMH
On more than one occasion, we’ve told you how much we love fishing tube flies at our lodges. Not only are they super fun to tie, but they offer a number of advantages over conventional flies tied directly onto the shank of a hook. However, despite their advantages, those new to tubes often find it a…
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Bend the Butt Section
Our king salmon seasons in Alaska and British Columbia are fast upon us, so today we present you with a friendly reminder of one of the most common mistakes made when fighting big fish on spey rods – not putting enough pressure on the fish! Take the photo above taken of Alaska West guide, Ben…
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Jerry French’s Summer Sculpin – Fly Tying Video
Our friends at North 40 Fly Shop recently teemed up with Alaska West alum, Jerry French, on how to tie Jerry’s ‘Summer Sculpin’ – A killer fly pattern for trout and steelhead wherever sculpin are found (hint: that’s just about every river in the world). If you like tying flies, and are planning on swinging for…
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Watch Your Mouth
Despite the vibrant red stripe on the majority of our trout in Western Alaska, the dark mottled back of a rainbow trout provides surprisingly good camouflage – an adaptation developed to protect from predators from above. Even in clear water, that can make them difficult to spot to the untrained eye, especially from a moving boat….
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