It looks like RIO has just changed the spey running line game with their new GripShooter line. It’s running line that combines Slickshooter with a PVC coated ‘handling’ section at one end. More details shortly – let’s start with the background. Background Spey and switch anglers who prefer mono running lines like them for a…
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Gear
Best Rain Bibs Ever
Ever need a good pair of breathable rain bibs for working in the yard, wearing on a wet boat ride, or just strolling around in the rain? We’ve got a solution for you if you have a old pair of waders laying around. After a while it becomes impossible to keep an old pair of…
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Jordan Sly’s Trout Swinging Rig
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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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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