Dan Herrig is the Head Guide at Rapids Camp Lodge, our fly out operation in Bristol Bay. Rapids Camp is located on the Naknek River, home to some giant rainbow trout. In the late season at Rapids Camp, there’s a phenomenal swing fishery for these rainbows. If Dan was to step into a run on…
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Gear
The Shrimptruder
We swing a lot of flies while fishing in Alaska and B.C., and if you read our blog or hopefully visit with us at these locations, this is not news to you. When swinging for anadramous fish, we have been sold on Intruder-style flies for years. However, as the seasons turn there is a time…
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Top Posts on Fly Lines
You probably know the drill by now – every so often we give you a list of our top posts on a particular topic. Today it’s all about fly lines. In compiling today’s list we’ve realized that our fly line reviews have been really focused on spey lines and bonefish lines – we’ll do our…
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Hair Ties as Rod Straps
If you’re headed out to fish a local piece of water, there’s often no need to bring your rod in a tube – rod tubes are bombproof, but they’re also clunky to carry and pack, they make you take the reel off your rod, and they’re totally overkill if you’re just hopping in your car….
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12 Ways to Tie Better Flies Faster
Winter is here, and for many of us that means it’s fly tying season. If you’re looking to restock your boxes for next season, try a few of these tips to fill them up faster! Take Your Time on the First Pattern. Before you hit production mode, take your time on your first fly pattern. Experiment…
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Cotton Swab Tube Flies
We fish a lot of tube flies at Alaska West, especially when targeting fish on the swing. While there a lot of different tube materials out there marketed by various fly tying companies, when you tie as many flies as we do over the course of the season, sometimes the cheapest option is best. Next time you are…
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Kyle Shea’s Nymphing Rig
Have you noticed lately that a bunch of the posts on our blog have been tagged ‘Kyle Shea‘? That’s because Kyle has been writing a bunch of posts lately! Kyle cut his teeth fishing and guiding for trout and salmon in his home waters of Maine. He now spends his summers guiding on the Kanektok…
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Fleece Tops in the Deneki Gear Store
Just in time for the chilly weather, we have some new Simms Guide Fleece Tops in stock at our online store. They’re really cozy and embroidered with Alaska West or BC West logos – fly the flag of your choosing! You can check out the Alaska West Fleece Top here, or the BC West…
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RIO Skagit iShort Heads
If you follow the progression of Skagit-style spey lines on our blog at all, you know that we’ve been pretty excited lately about two trends – the development of better shorter heads, and the development of intermediate density Skagit heads. Short Heads, Intermediate Heads We like fishing modern short Skagit heads (like the RIO Max…
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Tie Your Own Flies!
Catching a fish on a fly you tied yourself is a special thing. It gives you a closer connection to the sport and the fish itself. If you have never experienced this, Alaska is the place to do it! Whether you’re a beginner or experienced fly tyer, here are a few patterns that we tie…
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