We’re really lucky in that we have a great smoked fish program here at Alaska West. In fact, many of you have asked for a post highlighting our recipe and smoking process, but until now we’ve done a pretty good job at keeping it a secret. However, the secret is out and today our smoke-master…
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Rapids Camp
Spooling Fly Line Correctly
One of the more frustrating things in fly fishing is a twisted fly line or running line. There are many ways that line twist occurs, most of which can be fixed. However, the most common culprit of line twist occurs right from the start, when it’s wound onto the reel! Here are some tips when winding on your…
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Jumper!
Long-time Deneki guest, Finn Ward, and Alaska West guide, Ben West, putting the wood to a Kanektok silver salmon. Nice work guys! More on Silver Salmon 6 Ways to Catch More Silver Salmon Jordan Sly’s Silver Rig Silver Salmon in Sunny Conditions – 5 Tips
Finishing Intruders – 9 Styles
Deneki pal and professional fly designer, Stuart Foxall, is back today with another great post for all of you who like tying flies for anadramous fish.. Not one, not two, but nine different ways to finish off your intruders! Enjoy! Finishing Intruders – 9 Styles Intruder style flies are a really fun fly to tie, mainly because…
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Opportunism
This year at Alaska West, our run of chum salmon came in a bit later than normal (don’t worry, they’re here in full force now). However, our resident rainbow trout count on the conveyor belt of salmon flesh each season to fatten up for the winter, which on our river consists of mostly chum and…
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TB Peggz – Why We Like Them
Last week we ran a post on three methods of rigging beads, where we highlighted three of the most common ways beads are rigged when fishing for trout. However, we recently picked up a pack of TB Peggz from Trout Beads and found that they work really well! They’re basically a rubber peg designed to…
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All About Dolly Varden
During the back half of our season at Alaska West, we’re lucky to witness a pretty amazing run of dolly varden, a species of char native to Western Alaska. Arguably one of the prettiest fish in our river, they’re also available in laugh-inducing numbers, making them an awesome fish to target on a fly rod….
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Mousing for Chums?
We talk all the time about our run of chum salmon being extremely aggressive. They have a reputation for eating a lot of different flies, from leeches, to sculpins, to even flesh and egg patterns. They’re not afraid to hammer a fly, and that’s one of the reasons we think they’re so cool. Last week however,…
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Track Straight for Better Accuracy
Whether casting to a tailing bonefish, tucking a mouse pattern under an overhanging branch, or delivering a size 18 BWO upstream of some fishy pocket water, being able to put the fly where you want it is a valuable skill in all avenues of fly fishing. There are many potential causes for a lack of…
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Rigging Beads for Trout – 3 Methods
It’s that time of year again. Our early run salmon (namely king, chum, and sockeye) are in full spawning mode, and because of that our rainbow trout and dolly varden are impatiently waiting for any lone salmon egg that happens to come tumbling down river. Salmon eggs are an easy meal for trout and dollies…
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