In just over a month we kick off our summer seasons at our Alaska operations. That means it won’t be long before we’re swinging flies for big, bright, king salmon.. Heck, we’re getting antsy just writing about it! When selecting flies for king salmon, most of the time exact fly pattern is not overly important….
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Alaska West
Spey-O-Rama Fundraiser – A Success!
A while back we told you about a great fundraiser taking place at this year’s Spey-O-Rama International Spey Casting Tournament. In case you missed it, our own Whitney Gould teamed up with fellow spey casting guru, Mia Sheppard, to help raise money for the good folks at Casting for Recovery by encouraging donors to pledge…
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Eric Robbin’s Nymphing Rig
Last week, we presented you a clever way to rig up when digging deep for western Alaska rainbows shown to us by Alaska West guide Eric Robbins (in case you missed it, check it out here!). In fact, we liked it so much that we asked him to give us all the nitty gritty details of…
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Articulated Egg Sucking Bunny Leech – Tying Instructions
Few fly patterns have caught more fish in Alaska than the egg sucking leech (ESL). Whether tied in the classic “bugger style,” or in a more contemporary fashion utilizing rabbit strips, the ESL family of flies are hard to beat when targeting salmon and trout throughout all of Alaska. In fact, it has been said that the…
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Alaska Style Nymphing with Palsa Pinch-On Strike Indicators
We love fishing dry flies for trout as much as the next guy (ahem, that means rodents in our neck of the woods), but the fact remains that the a vast majority of a trout’s diet actually exists sub-surface. Therefore, if catching a lot of fish is your prerogative, nymphing is hard to beat. While…
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Tying Intruders – Funky Blob Fritz
We’ve been spinning up a lot of king salmon flies lately in anticipation of our upcoming season, and that means big flies for big fish.. Heck we’re getting excited just thinking about it. When swinging flies for kings, we’ve long been fans of intruder style patterns due to their large profile appearance in the water with minimal materials (allowing…
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“Kanektok Slam” – A Story from Alaska West
Today we present to you, a blast from the past, with an eloquently written story of an epic day on the Kanektok River dating all the way back to 1996, recently sent to us by Alaska West guest, Ridr Knowlton. If you’ve ever spent time on the Kanektok, chased a grand slam, or just simply like…
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Stuart Foxall’s King Rig
If you’re a regular to our humble little blog, odds are you’ve heard the name Stuart Foxall before. Stu is a professional fly designer for Aqua Flies as well as part of Loop Tackle’s development team. You could say he knows a thing or two about swinging flies for big, bright, anadramous fish. In fact,…
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3 Slack-Line Presentations Every Trout Angler Should Know
As most effective trout anglers know, a well executed drift is far more important than a perfect cast. Whether we want our fly to drift naturally in the current, or swing through the water column at a particular depth, this is best achieved by mending – That is, repositioning the line on the water after the…
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2016 Spey-O-Rama Reminder
Just a reminder that in less than a week the 2016 Spey-O-Rama World Spey Casting Championships kick off at the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club in San Francisco, California. The event will be held between April 22nd – 24th and will feature casting demonstrations, product exhibits, and some of the best spey casters in the world….
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