Finally, the shanks we’ve been waiting for.. We tie a lot of stinger-style flies for salmon and steelhead at our lodges. Judging by many of your comments, you do too! We’ve been playing around with OPST’s Steelhead Shanks lately. They just might be our favorite all around shank for spinning up large profile patterns for…
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Gear
The Shot-Gun: Split Shot Alternative
Every once in a while, a product comes around that changes the way we think about fly fishing tackle. The ‘Shot-Gun’ is one of those products. The Shot-Gun is a fishing sinker device that replaces the use of conventional split shot. We were really impressed when we first saw it in action, and after spending…
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Kara Knight’s Steelhead Rig
Kara Knight is our lodge manager at BC West. That means she gets to stomp around the Dean during her down time – we know, not a bad gig! Here’s Kara’s rig of choice when swinging flies for big, bad, Dean River steelhead. Kara Knight’s Steelhead Rig Fishing on the Dean takes you into an…
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Gear You Need: Sharpie Extreme
We’ve mentioned in the past that it’s a great idea to always carry a permanent marker with you on the water. A simple felt-tip permanent marker can be used for everything from modifying flies in a pinch, to camouflaging your leader, to adding contrast to a strike indicator. At the vise, permanent markers have even more uses,…
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Stone Beads
In our neck of the woods, trout like eggs. Therefore, we tend to do a lot of bead fishing for trout at our lodges. Salmon eggs are a primary food source for our trout, and there isn’t a better imitation than a single bead. Most beads made specifically for trout fishing are made of plastic, usually…
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Stay Safe Out There
What do Alaska West guide, Whitney Gould, and Willa have in common? They’re both wearing their life jackets.. That’s because at Alaska West we have a simple rule – When the motor is on, so are the life jackets! We think wearing your PFD is cool, and think you should too. Stay safe out there!…
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Airflo Super-Dri Nymph/Indicator Fly Line
Western Alaska is far from the traditionalist’s view of trout fishing. It is not the land of four weights, fine tippets, and microscopic dry flies. Instead, bushy mouse patterns, heavily weighted streamers, and clunky flesh and egg rigs are the norm.. None of which are particularly easy to cast. Most trout specific fly lines are…
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OPST at Alaska West – Video
Earlier this summer, we mentioned that the boys from OPST were joining us for a week at Alaska West to test out their new Commando Heads, skagit heads designed with the shorter spey and switch rods of today in mind. One of their goals was to test them out on our leopard rainbows using single handers. That’s…
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OPST Ostrich Intruder Plumes
When it comes to tying large-profile intruder-style flies for steelhead and salmon, one of the most difficult part of the whole process is finding materials of consistent quality. Ostrich herl in particular, a material used in many steelhead and salmon flies, varies quite a bit in terms of quality and can be frustrating to the…
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OPST Swing Hooks – Why We Like Them
When swinging for anadramous fish, we really like fishing flies with trailer hooks. Whether tied on tubes or ‘articulated’ style, flies rigged with a trailer hook offer a number of advantages over flies tied on a traditional long shank streamer hook. However, there’s a lot of debate over the best trailer hook out there. In…
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