When mousing for trout, we tend to target fish using two different methods – banging the banks from the boat while rowing ‘drift boat style,’ or walking smaller side channels on foot. Both methods have their advantages. Fishing from a moving boat covers far more water than wading, in theory allowing you to put your…
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Tips
Arctic Grayling – Fish the Traditionals
For the majority of our guests at Alaska West, the first few weeks of our season is all about two things -swinging flies for big bright king salmon and/or chucking big mouse and sculpin imitations for hungry rainbow trout. However, during the first part of our season, an often overlooked species on our river are…
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Timeless Tip Tuesday: 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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Rigging Backing Solo
When rigging fly reels for hard fighting species like king salmon, bonefish, or any other fish capable of long blistering runs, we’re sticklers for winding on backing tight.. Really tight. Backing wound on too loosely (like you might reel up your fly line), is bound to cut into itself, particularly on hard pulling fish, locking…
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Timeless Tips: 6 Ways to Catch More Steelhead
Fishing for steelhead is fun. Catching steelhead is even more fun. Here are 6 ways you can can more steelhead on flies. Let us know how you catch more! 6 Ways to Catch More Steelhead Fish the near water first. Steelhead can hold in really shallow water, really close to the bank. Always fish the…
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Spey TV Episode 9: Single Spey with Simon Gawesworth
Our pal George Cook is back with another edition of Spey TV, this time accompanied by Simon Gawesworth to talk about the finer points of one of the most traditional, yet arguably most difficult spey casts to master, the single spey. For those looking to dial in their single spey, we think you’d be hard…
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Timeless Tip: Rainbow Trout Fishing – Mend Less
There are trout streams out there where highly educated trout demand perfect presentation. Long, light tippets are key. Pure, drag-free drift is essential, and if your fourth mend falls 3 inches left of where it should have, that fish is not going to eat. The Kanektok is not one of those rivers. Before we cover…
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Timeless Tip Tuesday: Steelhead Hang-Down Eats
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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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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