At Alaska West, the well being of our fishery is of our utmost concern, and when fishing for fragile species like trout, dolly varden, and king salmon we strive to use the most fish friendly methods as possible in hopes of a safe release. However, we’re also extremely fortunate to witness staggering numbers of species such as…
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Gear
Pieroway Renegade Rods – From the Designer
If you’ve ever swung flies for anadramous fish, odds are you might recognize the name, Jerry French. If not, you probably should. Jerry’s innovative nature has lent itself to much of the way many of us chase fish today. From modern steelhead and salmon fly design to the origins of skagit style spey casting, Jerry’s creations…
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Practice Flies
A few days ago we stressed how important we think a little casting practice can be before a trip, and how many of our guests at Andros South spend a little time each day at our casting area working out the kinks from their day on the water. Recently, while addressing a few casting flaws…
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HMH Releases New Shank Adapter Tool
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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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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