We might spend our summer in a remote ‘tent lodge‘ in the Alaskan bush, but we eat pretty darn well. Nobody goes hungry at Alaska West, and to make sure we have an age old tradition of signaling dinner time each night with an old-school dinner bell. We look forward to that sweet sound each night,…
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Alaska West
The Hoh Bo Spey – Tying Instructions
Today we present you with tying instructions for a pattern that has become a staple wherever steelhead are found, the Hoh Bo Spey, designed by long time Deneki pal and spey casting extraordinaire, Charles St. Pierre. Charles has been stomping around the Pacific Northwest for a long time and lets just say, he knows what…
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Just a Cool Casting Shot
Just a cool casting shot, courtesy of Alaska West guide, Jason Whiting. More Cool Photos From Alaska West Alaska West from Above Alaska Mini Gallery – Different Perspectives Edition Wildlife from Western Alaska
Trout Spey Techniques – The Bobble Dredge
A couple weeks back, we ran a post titled, Active Swinging, where we highlighted some of the techniques we use when spey fishing for trout that go beyond the classic downstream and across swing. However, most of these techniques are limited to slower gradual runs, those most characteristic of a swung fly. As spey anglers, most of…
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Take the Sting out of Stinger Hooks
Articulated and stinger-style flies are all the rage these days, and for good reason, they work! Flies designed with a ‘trailer’ hook offer a number advantages over classic long-shank style hooks. First and foremost, the addition of a trailer hook allows for the use of shorter shanked hooks that are far less likely to lever-out…
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Mr. Hankey – Tying Instructions
We have less than a month before we kick off our Alaska season and that means it won’t be long before we’ll be chucking big, gaudy, mouse patterns for our resident rainbow trout. Mousing is by far our favorite way to target trout in our neck of the woods and one of our go-to patterns…
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A Nice Surprise
Sometimes when fishing for salmon at Alaska West, our guests are pleasantly surprised to find that the ‘chum salmon’ they’re hooked up to is actually a trophy sized rainbow. Our early season trout aren’t overly picky, and in no way are we complaining about that. Thanks to Tosh Brown for the killer shot! More on Trout…
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Kyle Shea’s Trout Swinging Rig
Today we’re back with another edition of our ‘Expert Rig‘ series of posts, where we highlight all the details (right down to the knot) on how the experts rig up. As a guide at Alaska West, Kyle Shea gets to fish for big leopard rainbows during his down time. His method of choice? Swinging flies with…
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SPEY TV Episode 2: Grip and Stance
The boys from Spey TV are back with another episode of their online video series highlighting tips and techniques for everything spey related. Episode 2 touches on the fundamentals of spey casting grip and stance, courtesy of long time Deneki friend, Mr. Hoh Bo Spey himself, Charles St. Pierre. Enjoy! More on Spey Fishing Slack is…
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Active Swinging
When swinging flies for species like steelhead or king salmon, more often than not, a slow uniform swing is best. Rarely do steelhead (particularly when first entering freshwater) and king salmon actively feed upon entering freshwater. Therefore, a slow uniform swing swept past the nose of the fish is usually the most likely presentation to elicit…
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