Jordan Sly is back today, this time with another information-packed post for our Expert Rig series. Jordan Sly’s Trout Swinging Rig Here at Alaska West our river is just asking to have a fly swung through the water column. Swinging flies for trout is not only fun, but it is also often very effective and…
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Gear
Try a Mono Running Line on Your Switch Rod
If you’ve read many of the posts about spey fishing on our blog, you know that a lot of Deneki-folk prefer mono running lines on our two-handed rods. There’s a lot of personal preference in running line choice for sure. Mono running lines have some drawbacks – notably a bit of a learning curve in…
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Trimming Spun Deer Hair
Jordan Sly is back today with another handy post on fly tying! Trimming Spun Deer Hair Spun deer hair is great for many things – adding buoyancy, creating bodies and heads – but it can be hard to get the right shape when trimming it. A flexible razor blade can not only help create a…
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Lubricate Your Knots – Well!
Some of the most common rigging mistakes we see at our lodges involve knots that haven’t been lubricated well. Two of the knots that we use most frequently – the blood knot, for attaching sections of leader together, and the non-slip mono loop, for tying on a fly – really need to be lubricated well…
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Fly Tying with Twist Ties
We’ve got a three-way post today – Jordan Sly weighs in from Alaska West with a great, practical fly tying tip he picked up from angler Kevin Harris. Thanks guys! Tying with Twist Ties I’ll be adding a couple twist ties to my tying kit after watching Kevin Harris tie a couple flies in the…
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No Felt Soles in Alaska
Headed to Alaska to go fishing this summer? Just a friendly reminder – don’t bring felt-soled wading boots. They’re illegal. Felt-soled boots were banned starting last year to help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species – here’s the official news release for you. Rubber soles are legal. Check where you’re going to see if you…
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Getting Ready for Alaska West
Today we present to you the email that goes from our head guide to our guests a month before their trip to Alaska West. We’re running it today for two reasons – to toot our own horn, and to give you some more useful information about getting ready for a trip to Alaska. Tooting Our…
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Sage ONE Switch Rod – 8116-4 Review
When we heard that the switch rods in Sage’s ONE lineup would be 11’6″ long, we got pretty excited, for two reasons. Rods north of 11′ tend to work a lot better for our ‘short spey’ applications of switch rods. Yeah, an 11′ rod might overhead cast better…but in our world we don’t overhead cast…
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Finding and Fixing Leaks in Your Waders
Our friend Bill Lenehan wrote up another great, practical gear-oriented tip for your reading pleasure. Thanks, Bill! Finding and Fixing Leaks in Your Gore-Tex Waders There are few items on your packing list to Alaska, BC, or Tierra del Fuego as important as your Gore-Tex waders and rain jacket. Arriving thousands of miles from the…
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Skagit vs. Scandi Heads and Keeping it Simple
Whitney Gould is a master spey caster and guide, and we’re really happy to have her back at Alaska West this summer. Thanks to Whitney for this great overview of spey line selection, and the best applications for Skagit and Scandi heads! Keeping it Simple The phone rings, and when I answer my Mom’s voice…
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