When it comes to species like salmon, steelhead, and even large resident trout, we tie a lot of stinger style flies over the course of a year. Although, when tying stinger style patterns, not all shanks are created equal, and a while back we told you how much we really like tying on OPST’s Steelhead Shanks….
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Gear
Plan D Articulated Fly Boxes
From swinging flies for anadramous fish, to banging the banks with streamers, to skating mouse flies for trout, we fish a lot of articulated and stinger-style flies over the course of the year. However, until now we’ve yet to find a great way to store them. We’ve long been fans of simple Plano Boxes for housing…
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Jerry French’s ‘Dirty Hoh’ Coming to a Fly Shop Near You
If you like swinging flies, odds are you recognize the name of steelhead guru and Alaska West guide, Jerry French. Along with his friends, Ed Ward and Scott Howell, Jerry was part of the braintrust behind one of the most widely used fly patterns in modern Northwest steelhead fishing; The Intruder. Since its creation, numerous steelhead…
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Airflo Skagit F.I.S.T. Line Review
One thing we really dig about swinging flies for species like king and chum salmon in our neck of the woods is we tend to learn pretty quickly what gear works and what gear just doesn’t quite cut it. Plenty of willing fish stacked up in ideal ‘swing’ water allows us to cut out enough variables to…
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Fishpond Westwater Large Rolling Duffel
As you might except, while running fly fishing lodges in several different countries, one thing we see a lot of throughout the year is luggage.. More specifically, fly fishing luggage! As far as we’re concerned, quality luggage is just as important as the gear you’re toting. After all, high end rods, reels, and the like…
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Loop Opti Megaloop Reel
Over the course of the year, we see a lot of quality fly fishing gear put to the test in some of the most demanding conditions possible. That means we often get a first hand look at which gear is up to the challenge, and which gear is, well, not so much. How can we tell when a…
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Measure Nets – Why We Like Them
Not all nets are created equal. A quality landing net is a guide’s most important tool, and when it comes to trout, we’re really particular about the nets we use. We recently outfitted our guide staff with measure nets for our trout population and we can honestly say they’re one of the better landing nets we’ve…
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Simms BackSaver Wading Belt
We fish hard at our lodges. At Alaska West, our fishing program consists of six consecutive ten hour days. That’s 60 hours straight of continuous casting, wading, hiking, and not mention fighting a whole bunch of heavy fish. It might not seem like much to the uninitiated, but that much activity can leave even the most…
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Clear Cure Goo Hydro – Why We Like It
While our summer seasons have officially begun, for the past few months our guides have been busy preparing for the season, organizing gear, and primarily tying flies.. A lot of flies! Over the past few years, we’ve noticed one thing has become a staple in many of our guide’s fly tying kits, and that is Clear Cure…
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Einarsson Plus Reels – Review
If you’ve spent any time of late cruising the internet for fly fishing fodder (heck, you’re doing it right now!), you may have noticed one reel company in particular making waves in the freshwater world – Einarsson reels. Over the last few years, Einarsson reels have been growing increasingly popular, particularly in the spey realm….
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