Whether bouncing a bead-head pheasant tail down your local tailwater or dredging a flesh fly in western Alaska, dead drifting sub-surface flies, or ‘nymphing,’ requires the ability to detect extremely subtle takes that are not always visual. For many anglers, various types of strike indicators are a huge help in detecting when a fish has taken…
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Rapids Camp
Always Have Confidence in Your Fly
Today we present you with a tip, one that holds true in all avenues of fly fishing, that we think separates successful anglers from, well, not so successful anglers. No matter what you’re fishing for, whether your drifting, stripping, swinging, skating, or popping flies, in either freshwater or saltwater, always have confidence in the fly you’re fishing….
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Timeless Tips Tuesday: 6 Tips for Fishing Streamers from a Boat
When targeting rainbow trout from the boat, one of the techniques we like to use is called “bangin’ the banks”. Whether you’re using a streamer or a dry fly, it’s an effective technique and a fast-moving game, like a shooting gallery on the move. If you’re chucking streamers from a boat anywhere in the world…
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Timeless Tips: Swinging for Kings – 10 Tips
Planning on swinging flies for king salmon this summer, maybe on the Kanektok or the Dean? Here are some tips that may help. Cast across and slightly downstream. You certainly need to read the water you’re fishing and adjust accordingly, but in general if you’re fishing a broad, gradual gravel bar, the most effective presentation…
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Rainbow Trout Flies – Our Favorites at Rapids Camp Lodge
A couple weeks back we presented you with a list of some of our favorite flies for our resident rainbow trout population at Alaska West. However, in case you weren’t already aware, that’s not the only lodge we operate in Alaska! We also run a fantastic fly-out operation called Rapids Camp Lodge, situated on one the world’s…
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Timeless Tips: 6 Ways to Catch More Silver Salmon
On the Kanektok River where we operate Alaska West, and on other rivers like it in Western Alaska, the classic method for catching silver salmon on flies involves targeting them in slow-moving water, casting a floating line, and stripping back a weighted fly. Here are 6 ways to make the most of this technique. Keep in mind that…
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Work Sharp Guided Field Sharpener
We fillet a lot of salmon at our Alaskan lodges each summer, and the key to filleting fish well (and safely we must add) is a good sharp knife. For that reason, most of our guides never hit the water without some sort of sharpener, to ensure their knife is good and sharp at all times. In…
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Timeless Tip Tuesday: King Season Mantra – Stand Your Ground
Whether it’s a choker king fresh from the Dean Channel or that gagger Alaskan Chinook melting away yards of your backing, one thing’s for certain: This is no time for a Junior Varsity track meet. When that mega-king blasts off into hyperdrive—and make no mistake, it will— there’s always the temptation to chase it down, so remember…
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Stay in Control – Incorporate Weight Into Your Streamers
We all love fishing for trout with surface flies, and in our neck of the woods, there’s nothing quite like watching a trout inhale a rodent.. However, at the end of the day, its arguable that the most effective way to chase these big Alaskan bad boys over the course of a season is to…
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Which Hand Do You Reel With?
It’s poll time again here on the Deneki blog, and we want to hear from you! The proper hand to reel with is an age old debate, and from our experience, one that many serious anglers are passionate about. We’ve witnessed everything from healthy discussions to full out arguments on the topic over the years, which is why…
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