For decades fly fishing has been an excuse for adventurous people to liberate themselves from daily routine into nature and find peace and connection at a slower pace. To grasp fly fishing requires one to develop a profound understanding and appreciation of the natural environment, the seasons, the river, and its habitants. One of the…
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Tips
Bonefish Fly Fishing Essentials: A Comprehensive List
Fly fishing for bonefish isn’t easy, and if you’ve never done it before, trying to figure out new water is challenging. Learning what works with particular fish in a different habitat can be challenging. Understanding what gear to bring and how to use it will give you a leg up by not wasting time figuring…
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Deneki Chronicles: Net The Head- Universal Fly Fishing Tips
In today’s Deneki Chronicles, we provide a fly fishing tip that will save relationships. Imagine, you have a fish of a lifetime on the end of your line, and your buddy flubs the net job. That’s a long boat ride back to camp. So here are some things to consider while netting your buddies’ fish….
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Deneki Chronicles: How to Land a Bonefish
OK, you’ve spotted a bonefish, hooked him, and fought him in close to you. Now what? For those new to it, landing bonefish isn’t easy. You can’t use the same techniques used with smaller fish like trout – and at a place like Andros South where we do a lot of wading, you’ll often be…
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Deneki Chronicles: Get the Right Line for Your Spey Rod!
At Alaska West we spend a lot of time chasing anadromous fish with two-handed rods. We see this situation all the time: Angler arrives in camp with new spey rod. Angler sets it up with the line that his or her buddy/mentor/favorite author/shop guy/rep/mother-in-law said would work well. Angler fishes it for a while and…
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Sockeye Will Take a Fly
The biggest myth about salmon fishing in Alaska is Sockeye (Red) Salmon won’t take a fly. Sockeye will take a fly, and when they do, it is one heck of a rodeo. Everyone knows about Coho (Silver) Salmon in Alaska. They are aggressive, you can get them from stripping flies, or creating wakes with a…
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Deneki Chronicles: 5 Ways to Control the Speed of Your Swing
When swinging for anadramous species like king salmon or steelhead, more often than not, the slower the swing the better. As long as it is moving just enough to suggest life in your fly, odds are you are in the game. However, from time to time, increasing the speed of your swing can be just…
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Hot Topic: Fish Handling
When it comes to fishing, particularly fly fishing, one of the biggest issues is fish handling. Fish mortality is a sensitive topic. We didn’t use the word “controversial” intentionally as it’s not so much a controversy but more of a matter of polarizing perspective and context. As fly anglers, we should assume all fly fishing…
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Deneki Chronicles: Casting Short for Bonefish – 3 Tips
We say it all the time, but at Andros South you don’t need to cast very far to catch bonefish. Most of our shots are within the 30-40 foot range, with many creeping in even closer. We know, we know, everybody wants to know how to cast further, but contrary to popular belief, some of…
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Deneki Chronicles: Swinging Flies – Don’t Block Your Hookset
In any avenue of fly fishing, one thing that separates successful anglers from not-so-successful anglers is complete, undivided, fully engaged, focus whenever your fly is in the water. Many fish are lost (or perhaps never hooked at all) from anglers who’s minds were wandering or whom were not expecting a fish to eat the fly in…
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