As they say – Behind every great angler is a great net man.. Okay, maybe no one says that, but they should! Landing big fish takes team work. Any body who has attempted to put the mesh on a hot fish in heavy current knows that there’s just as much skill required of the net…
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Alaska West
Our Favorite Thing About Silver Salmon
They do this almost every single time.. Sound good to you? We only have a few boat seats left for 2016! Drop us a line to come see for yourself. More on Silver Salmon Popper Fishing for Silvers – 5 Tips Silver Salmon – 3 Reasons to Love Them Fly Fishing for Silvers – Try a…
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The Clouser Minnow – An Oldie but Goodie
We love to push the envelope when we’re at the vise, and like most fly tyers we’re always on the search for the next big fly pattern. However, today we’re taking a step back to pay tribute to one of the most versatile patterns of all time – The Clouser Minnow. Originally designed for smallmouth bass…
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Spey Casting – Pull More, Push Less
We do a lot of spey fishing at our lodges in Alaska and British Columbia, and by far one of the most common mistakes we see spey anglers make on a day to day basis is not using enough bottom hand on the forward cast. At one time or another, every beginning spey caster has heard, “pull…
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Spey Line Recommendations – Updated
Choosing the right line for your spey rod is important. Even more so than with single hand rods, the wrong line on a two handed rod can greatly hinder casting ability and become extremely frustrating in the process. However, determining which line will best match your spey rod of choice can be confusing. Skagit? Scandi? Grains? Luckily,…
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Rod Gloves – Why We Like Them
Years ago, our good friend and long time Alaska West guest, Bryan Whiting, first introduced us to a pretty interesting product called Rod Gloves. Originally designed for spinning rods, Rod Gloves are woven plastics sheaths made to slide over fully rigged rods to keep them from tangling. The concept is painfully simple, but like most…
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How to Catch Silver Salmon – Video from OPST
Last week our good friends at OPST released an awesome video featuring some amazing footage of silver salmon on the fly, and today we share that video with you! Surface takes, fishing tips, fly design.. This video has it all. If you’ve ever wondered what the big deal about fly fishing for silvers is, make…
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Trout Spey Retrieve Methods – Video
Swinging flies for trout on light weight two-handers has gained quite a bit of popularity over the last few years, and for good reason.. It’s super fun! In a lot of ways, spey fishing for trout is very similar to swinging flies for salmon and steelhead. The casting is nearly identical, and most of the…
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‘Good’ Weather is Relative
A question we get asked all the time in regards to our lodges is, “what’s the best time to go fishing in Alaska?” Our standard answer? “Well, it depends..” We’re aware that’s not the one word answer most folks are looking for, but the truth is, we’re really lucky to operate on an incredibly diverse fishery…
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Spey TV Episode 5: Critical Elements of Presentation
The good folks from Spey TV are back with another great video on the fundamentals of spey fishing. Episode 5 focuses on the finer points on presenting the fly throughout swing from spey legend, Charles St. Pierre. If you’ve ever wondered if you’re fly is doing the ‘right’ thing throughout the swing, we think you’ll…
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