We fish a lot of articulated ‘leech’ style flies at our lodges. Why? Because they work really well! In fact, we just ran a step by step fly tying post on one here. However, one down side to most stinger style leech patterns is that once the stinger hook becomes dull or straightened, the hook…
Read More
Rapids Camp
Bright is Beautiful
Today we present you with nothing more than what we think is a super cool perspective of a silver salmon caught during the last week of our season at Alaska West. Contrary to popular belief, our run of silvers actually extends well past when we finish up our season. Plus, we’re located only six miles…
Read More
The Miles Davis Leech – Tying Instructions
Our buddy Stuart Foxall is back again with yet another great step by step fly tying post. Today’s pattern? The Miles Davis Leech, a super effective fly for steelhead, salmon, or even big trout. Thanks Stu! The Miles Davis Leech – Tying Instructions The Miles Davis black leech pattern is an amazingly simple but effective…
Read More
Three Good Articles
Today we’re back with our monthly edition of ‘Three Good Articles,’ where we highlight fly fishing articles from the past month, from other websites, that we found particularly interesting and think you will too. Enjoy! Three Good Articles The Damaging Effects of Flies. BC West alum, Scott Baker-McGarva, offers some extremely interesting thoughts on rigging stinger…
Read More
SPEY TV Episode 3: Snap T,Z, and C
Our buddy George Cook is back with another great edition of Spey TV, a video series dedicated to all things spey related. Today’s topic? The finer points of perhaps the most widely used skagit casts out there, the snap T. From casting variations, to fishing situations, to the basic history of the cast, this video…
Read More
The Strip Set – Not Just for Bonefish
“Don’t trout set,” are words nearly every saltwater angler has heard at one time or another. That’s because when it comes to hard mouthed species like bonefish it’s crucial to set the hook by stripping the fly as opposed to raising the rod in typical ‘trout’ fashion. Raising the rod does a great job at…
Read More
OPST Swing Hooks – Why We Like Them
When swinging for anadramous fish, we really like fishing flies with trailer hooks. Whether tied on tubes or ‘articulated’ style, flies rigged with a trailer hook offer a number of advantages over flies tied on a traditional long shank streamer hook. However, there’s a lot of debate over the best trailer hook out there. In…
Read More
Battle
Today we present you with nothing more than a super cool photo of our good friend and long time Deneki guest, Frank Carlton, battling a hefty coho at Alaska West. Good work, Frank! More on Fighting Fish Top 5 Mistakes Made When Fighting Big Fish 6 Tips for Landing Big Fish Landing Fish Without a…
Read More
Calculating Fish Weight – The Formula
The silver salmon fishing is as good as ever here at Alaska West and Rapids Camp Lodge, and not only are we catching a lot of silvers this year, we’re also catching a lot of bigger fish. That has our anglers are asking, “how big is that hog?”, which has us scratching our heads.. “Yeah, exactly how…
Read More
Price’s Five O’Clock Shadow – Tying Instructions
We love fishing mouse flies for trout whenever possible. However, not all mouse patterns are created equal, and today our buddy Stuart Foxall presents us with a great step by step on how to tie one of the most clever mouse patterns of all time, Kevin Price’s Five O’Clock Shadow. Enjoy! Price’s Five O’Clock Shadow…
Read More