As most effective trout anglers know, a well executed drift is far more important than a perfect cast. Whether we want our fly to drift naturally in the current, or swing through the water column at a particular depth, this is best achieved by mending – That is, repositioning the line on the water after the…
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Rapids Camp
7-Weights for Alaskan Trout
Ask any group anglers, “what’s your favorite trout rod,” and odds are you’ll hear of a wealth of different makes and models, somewhere in the 3 – 6 weight range. That’s because rods in the 3 – 6 weight range cover a whole bunch of trouty applications from presenting tiny flies on spooky spring creeks to banging…
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7 Reasons We Like To Fish Flesh
Our Alaskan season is just around the corner (71 days in fact, but who’s counting?), and that means it won’t be long before we’re chucking big flies for even bigger Alaskan rainbow trout. We’re really lucky to be able to target trout effectively using a whole bunch techniques from stripping and swinging streamers, to skating…
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Patagonia Stormfront Sling Pack – Why We Like It
Like most anglers, we’re constantly looking around for the best way to carry around our gear. In search of a solution for our gear addiction, we recently picked up the Patagonia Stormfront Sling Pack. We think its pretty slick and today we thought we’d tell you why. What’s a Sling Pack? Aptly named, sling packs are packs…
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What’s the Best Time to Go Fishing in Alaska?
Today’s post falls into the ‘questions we get asked all the time’ category. When talking to folks about fly fishing in Alaska, inevitably we get asked the question, “what’s the best time to go fishing in Alaska?” It’s a great question! However, to answer that question takes much more than a simple one line answer. So, today…
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Family Time in Alaska
At Alaska West, our motto has always been; “Alaska West – For the Serious Angler.” However, while we love catering to the hardcore angler, we really love taking families fishing too! In fact, we’re really lucky to fish with many returning families each season at our lodges. Fishing with family is a pretty special thing,…
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Fly Tying Step by Steps – Roundup
It’s the weekend, and what better way to spend your Saturday or Sunday morning than sitting down at the vise with a big cup of coffee and cranking out some flies! We’ve put out quite a few fly tying step by steps over the past couple years for your tying pleasure, and odds are you haven’t…
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Hoh Bo Spey Tube Fly – Tying Instructions
A while back, Stuart Foxall presented us with step by step tying instructions for Charles St. Pierre’s Hoh Bo Spey – An absolute deadly pattern for steelhead and salmon. Today, Stu’s back again with another great step by step on how to tie the Hoh Bo Spey – This time, on a tube! Enjoy! Hoh…
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‘Those Moments’ Now Available Online
Back in 2014, our good friend and super talented fly fishing film maker, Peter Christensen, spent some time with us at each of our lodges to gather footage for his latest fishing film – ‘Those Moments.’ In fact, the film was actually featured in the 2015 Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T). We were really impressed how…
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Mind Your Line Scraps
While sitting around the camp fire at Andros South, ice cold Kaliks in hand, we got into an interesting discussion.. How long does monofilament actually take to break down? Not just ‘weaken’ mind you, but actually biodegrade completely? Weeks, months, years? Many of you have probably heard that fluorocarbon monofilament takes a lot longer to…
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