Bonefish are tough to see. Even on sunny days and light colored bottoms, bonefish still blend in pretty well. Heck, they’re referred to as ‘ghosts of the flats’ for a reason.. However, when fishing over light bottoms in bright sunlight, some anglers find they are able to spot the fish’s shadow before they’re able to…
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Tips
Don’t Fish This Fly
No, we’re not talking about a Gotcha, they work great on South Andros! We’re talking about that subtle brownish discoloration at the back of the fly. That’s a sign of rust, and that’s a bad thing. While stainless hooks certainly hold up better in saltwater, they are not rust proof. Rinsing off your flies with freshwater…
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Point Your Feet at 12 O’Clock
When poling for bonefish, being on the same page as your guide is key to success on the flats. That way, when you hear the sweet words, “Bonefish, 11 O’Clock, forty feet,” you know just where to look. Therefore, knowing where you’re pointed on the ‘clock face,’ is important. Always making sure your feet are…
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Keep Calm and Fish On
Just a reassuring reminder that it happens to all of us. Unfortunately for us, we tend to fish with people who get a kick out of taking photos when we’re hung up. Have fun out there! Posts on Spey Casting in Tight Quarters Back Against the Wall Casting Stations Less Overhang
Steelie Pot Bellied Pig – Tying Instructions
Every once in a while we like to run step by step tying instructions for some of our favorite patterns at our lodges, and judging by your comments, you like them too! Because of this, we ran a post earlier this month asking what fly patterns you want us to tie on our blog. The resounding…
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10 Commonly Forgotten Items on Fishing Trips
We operate fishing lodges in some rather remote locations, pretty far removed from drug stores, big box stores, and fly shops. Therefore, we encourage our guests to bring along any non-fishing items that they feel would make their trip more enjoyable. Over the years we’ve noticed some common items that are needed by our guests during their trip. Most…
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Trout Fishing – Swing Out Your Drift
It’s safe to say, more trout are hooked dead drifting sub-surface patterns than by any other technique. Whether fishing gaudy flesh and egg patterns in Alaska, or delicate nymphs on your local trout stream, there’s no denying imitating a natural drift works. However, we’ve all been there; you finish your drift, start to make your…
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6 Tips for Landing Big Fish
A while back we ran a post on the top 5 mistakes made fighting big fish, where we highlighted some of the most common mistakes we see at our lodges in Alaska and British Columbia when fighting big fish like steelhead and salmon. However, fighting fish well does not always put the fish in the net. In…
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Fly Fishing Travel Tips – Roundup
We spend a lot of time traveling to and from our fishing lodges around the world, and we’ve picked up a few tips for the traveling angler along the way. We’ve also had the good fortune of spending time with of our well traveled guests, many of whom have shared their experiences with us as…
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Sight Fishing for Trout – 10 Tips
We’re really lucky to have an extremely diverse trout fishery at Alaska West. It’s not uncommon during any part of our season to catch trout by swinging flies, stripping streamers, dead drifting sub-surface patterns, or skating mouse flies on top. However, one of our favorite ways to target big leopard rainbows is by sight fishing…
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