This photo is of RCL guide Jake Bishop after he got whipped with a bead hook on a recent guide trip. Jake had always wanted a face tattoo of a stinger hook so this incident worked out surprisingly okay but it does show how important it is that we prioritize safety out on the water….
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Tips
Timeless Tips with Stuart Foxall// Fishing as a Team
Stuart Foxall, is a regular at Alaska West during our King Salmon run. Not only is Stuart a world renowned fly tier, he is also an expert with a two handed fly rod. His obsession with chasing steelhead and salmon started at a young age and has given him experience in a range of fishing…
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Silver Salmon Round Up
Coming soon to a river near us, Silver Salmon! It is just about that time of year when the acrobatic Silver Salmon fill the rivers outside both Alaska West and Rapids Camp Lodge. We are already anticipating the first top water explosion from a Coho on a bright pink Pollywog. In honor of this event,…
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Timeless Tips // Bonefish Flats to Avoid
Are you a DIY saltwater angler, looking for the silver ghost and not getting many shots? How high is the tide? If it is to the point where the mangroves lining the flats are filled with water, you need to find another flat. Fish will follow the tide up into the mangroves and use them…
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A Sticky Situation, Unsticking Ferrules…
The more time you spend on the water, the more likely it is that you are going to encounter some of the slightly annoying issues that can happen when fly fishing. One of these issues that almost seems like a rite of passage that a fly angler will eventually have to face is when 2…
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Timeless Tips // Fishing for Warm Weather Kings
We have been experiencing some near recording break temperatures so far this year in Alaska. While this may good for our sunglass tans and Vitamin D intake, it does make for some tough King fishing. For those of you who have chased the mighty King Salmon before know, hot and sunny conditions are not ideal….
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Timeless Tips // Clean your Hydration Bladder
You have got to stay hydrated out there and with various manufacturers incorporating hydration bladders into their backpacks, this is easy to do. One thing that commonly gets ignored with the hydration bladders however is the need to clean them. Even if you are only filling your hydration reservoir with clean water, the bladder itself…
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Timeless Tips // The Strip Set
Saltwater guides worldwide know they are in for a frustrating day when they have a trout fisherman on the bow of their boat. The process of going from setting the hook with the rod tip (aka, the trout set) to strip setting is a right of passage every saltwater angler must pass. Unfortunately, the best…
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Benefits of Using a Tippet Ring
The purists of the sport may not enjoy reading this but I will be the first to admit, I am all on board the tippet ring train. Companies like Rio have been selling tippet rings for years but it seems like they have really taken off recently as more and more people became aware of…
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Timeless Tips // Snell Your Bead Hooks
If you want to catch a lot of fish in Alaska, bead fishing is a great way to achieve that goal. Fishing beads was developed in the streams of Bristol Bay as a cheap yet effective way to imitate salmon eggs. Over the years, small improvements have been made to the bead fishing game to…
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