We’re really lucky to have an extremely diverse trout fishery at Alaska West. It’s not uncommon during any part of our season to catch trout by swinging flies, stripping streamers, dead drifting sub-surface patterns, or skating mouse flies on top. However, one of our favorite ways to target big leopard rainbows is by sight fishing…
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Alaska West
Managing Running Line – Finger Loops
We do a lot of fishing with spey rods at our lodges in Alaska and British Columbia. Most of the time we use Skagit or occasionally Scandi style spey lines, consisting of short shooting heads connected to a level running line. Distance is achieved by casting the heavier head outside of the rod tip allowing…
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Chum
Not what you were thinking? You’re not alone. During the early part of our season, many of our first time guests at Alaska West are pleasantly surprised to find out that many of the chum salmon we target look just like this; big, bright, and covered in sea lice. Not exactly the dark, barred up,…
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Spicing Up Your Fly With a Bead
There’s no denying the effectiveness of bead fishing for trout in Alaska. As the prolific runs of salmon in Western Alaska approach the end of their migration, thousands of eggs are released by each female salmon providing millions (if not billions) of protein-rich morsels for our resident rainbow trout, Arctic grayling, and dolly varden. The…
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Nymphing Without an Indicator – 8 Tips
Last month we ran a post on the advantages of nymphing without an indicator. Judging by the number of comments we received, we’re happy to report that nymphing without an indicator is a popular topic! Therefore, today we’re coming at you with a follow up post on how to increase your success when fishing without…
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Dry Flies
At Alaska West, our trout tend to key in on rodents, not mayflies, and we’re really happy about that. More on Mousing for Trout Mousing for Trout – 5 Tips Mousing for Trout – Try a Strip Set 19 Reasons to Fish a Mouse Fly
Alaska West from Above
Today we present you with an awesome aerial photo of our camp at Alaska West, our new one that is, courtesy of Alaska West guide, Jim Palmersheim. This past summer at Alaska West was our first season at our new location on our home river, and we really like how it turned out. More From Our Alaska…
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Alaska Mini Gallery – Nick Chambers Edition
Have you noticed that some of the photos on our blog lately have been credited to Nick Chambers? That’s because we’ve been using a bunch of Nick’s photos! Nick is an alumni of our Alaska West operation and aside from being one fishy dude, he’s also one heck of a photographer. He was happy to…
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Net Man
Today we’re coming at you with nothing more than a cool photo of an angler and guide doin’ work at Alaska West. Other Cool Pictures B.C. West Mini Gallery – Steven Brutger Edition Fly Fishing Action Shots Underwater Chums
Silvers On Top
This just in.. Not only is our run of silver salmon aggressive, acrobatic, and extremely plentiful, they also eat poppers, and we think that’s pretty awesome. More on Popper Fishing for Silvers Popper Fishing for Salmon – 5 Tips Cohos on Poppers Pink Pollywogs and Poppers