It’s one of the toughest situations in steelheading, but it happens quite a lot. Most often it’s early or late in the day, and light is relatively low. Feeling safe, a steelhead tucks himself in right against the bank. You make a long cast (because even though the fish are in tight, that’s what we…
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Tips
Getting In and Out of a Jet Boat
It seems pretty simple, but bad things can happen when people get in and out of boats carelessly! What’s the most common cause of broken rods at Alaska West? Anglers losing their balance on the way into a boat, resulting in errant boots impacting rods. By far. What’s the most common cause of (thankfully minor)…
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4 Things to Learn About Trout
4 Things to Learn About Fishing Alaskan Rainbows From This Picture They like banks. There’s plenty of structure right along grass and tundra banks. Banks are undercut much more than you would think – giving trout a great combination of cover underneath the bank and access to food in the current. They like ledges. Same…
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Steelhead Tips from Scott Baker-McGarva
Scott Baker-McGarva is our head guide at BC West, and he knows a thing or two about swinging flies for steelhead. Today we’ve got a video featuring Scott with a couple of tips on steelhead fishing that are pretty simple, but really important. Fish your bad casts. Let ’em swing right into the bank, even…
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Fly Fishing Research
We recently discovered a web site that we thought you’d be interested in if you like fishing for steelhead or salmon. It’s called Fly Fishing Research, it’s written by Tom Keelin and Bob Pauli, and they’ve done their homework to say the least. They’ve written a bunch of interesting articles based on research in areas…
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Running Line – Holding Loops
If you’re making long casts with a spey rod and a Skagit-style line system, you need to deal with loops of running line. Skagit heads are short but casts can be long, and shooting 50 feet or more of running line happens all the time. Unfortunately you can’t just strip all that line in and…
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Let Your Guide Pick Your Fly
It’s time for another Universal Fishing Tip – pointers that are useful anywhere in the world you go fishing. When you’re headed out for a day in a new fishery, show your guide your fly box and ask what they think you should fish. You might be the best angler in the world, but you’re…
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Wading in Shallow Water
Bonefish swimming in very shallow water are often at their spookiest, especially when the water’s calm as well. If you’re chasing shallow water bonefish on foot, these handy tips will help you get your fly into that fish’s mouth – which isn’t going to happen if you spook him first. Walk slowly. The noise created…
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Watch That Thumb
Today we continue our series of weekly posts straight from The Little Red Book of Fly Fishing – a new collection of 250 nuggets of fly fishing wisdom from Kirk Deeter and the late, great Charlie Meyers. We’re lucky enough to have gotten permission to post some excerpts from the book – read on! Our…
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Swinging Flies – Cast, Then Step.
Cast, mend, swing fly, take a few steps downriver, repeat. That’s how you fish for steelhead, right? Not necessarily. Michael White stops by in video form today, straight from the Dean River, to tell us a bit about how he likes to present flies to steelhead. The basic idea – rather than stepping downriver after…
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