As they say – Behind every great angler is a great net man.. Okay, maybe no one says that, but they should! Landing big fish takes team work. Any body who has attempted to put the mesh on a hot fish in heavy current knows that there’s just as much skill required of the net…
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Tips
Spey Casting – Pull More, Push Less
We do a lot of spey fishing at our lodges in Alaska and British Columbia, and by far one of the most common mistakes we see spey anglers make on a day to day basis is not using enough bottom hand on the forward cast. At one time or another, every beginning spey caster has heard, “pull…
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Bonefishing on Cloudy Days – 6 Tips
Fly fishing for bonefish is extremely visual. Stalk the fish, spot your target, and make your cast. Blind casting is virtually non-existent and its this feeling of ‘hunting’ that make bonefish so sought after by anglers. Therefore it’s no surprise that weather (or more importantly, light) plays a big part when chasing bonefish. Bright sunny days illuminate…
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Stripping for Bonefish – 3 Techniques
When retrieving your fly for bonefish, most of the time a slow, medium length strip will get the job done. Strip speed should be roughly the same speed as the fish, which of course is dependent on how fast the boat is moving as well. But, sometimes even with a smooth retrieve, fish can follow the fly a…
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How Do You Travel With Fly Rods?
With fly fishing lodges around the world, you could say we do our share of traveling. And, you’d also be safe to assume we hardly go anywhere without our rods! We’ve learned a few tricks over the years while toting our gear from airport to airport, but today we want to hear from you! So…
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3 Random Bonefishing Tips
We’ve accumulated quite a few bonefishing tips on our blog over the years. So, today we figured why not add a few more? Here are.. 3 Random Bonefishing Tips Fish in the Mangroves – Loosen up! By all means try to keep your fish out of the mangroves, but if you can’t turn him away from the sticks,…
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Trout Spey Retrieve Methods – Video
Swinging flies for trout on light weight two-handers has gained quite a bit of popularity over the last few years, and for good reason.. It’s super fun! In a lot of ways, spey fishing for trout is very similar to swinging flies for salmon and steelhead. The casting is nearly identical, and most of the…
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Spey TV Episode 5: Critical Elements of Presentation
The good folks from Spey TV are back with another great video on the fundamentals of spey fishing. Episode 5 focuses on the finer points on presenting the fly throughout swing from spey legend, Charles St. Pierre. If you’ve ever wondered if you’re fly is doing the ‘right’ thing throughout the swing, we think you’ll…
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10 Obvious Truths of Successful Anglers
It’s been said many, many times before that 10 percent of anglers catch 90 percent of the fish. We’d have to agree, but what if we told you what sets those 10 percent apart are things you already know? There are all kinds of tips and tricks out there to catch more fish (heck, we run…
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Fighting Fish Under the Boat
At Alaska West, we’re lucky to be able to target fish in a whole bunch of different ways; from swinging flies on foot, to walking smaller side channels, to rowing our jet sleds in traditional ‘drift boat’ fashion. Sometimes, when fishing for aggressive ‘podded up’ species like silver salmon, fishing from a fixed position makes…
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