Sculpins make up a large part of the diet for trout in our neck of the woods. They’re also available all season long which means if you’re not sure what to tie on, a solid sculpin imitation is probably a safe bet. While they work well in western Alaska, sculpins are also one the most abundant…
Read More
Alaska West
FireLine for Stinger Loops
Our guides are in the process of turning out a whole bunch of flies for the upcoming season. We use a lot of stinger style fly patterns at our lodges – Flies tied to incorporate a trailing hook positioned at the back of the fly. They offer a number of advantages over flies tied on…
Read More
Spey Fishing Roundup
Our summer seasons in Alaska and British Columbia are just around the corner. That means it won’t be long before we’re swinging flies for ocean bright anadramous critters. When it comes to steelhed and salmon (and heck, trout for that matter) we really love spey fishing. We know a lot of you do too, so…
Read More
Selecting King Salmon Flies
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….
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
“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…
Read More