About a year ago, we shared a step by step video of Alaska West alum, Trevor Covich, tying one of his go-to sculpin patterns, along with the handy camera work of another Deneki alum, Ben Paull. The video was a big hit, and many of you expressed how much you enjoyed it! Therefore, we were…
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Tips
All About Switch Rods – Interview with George Cook
We love fishing switch rods at our lodges in Alaska and British Columbia. For the most part, we think of them as ‘mini-spey rods,’ and use them when swinging flies for everything thing from dolly varden to king salmon. We get a lot of questions from our guests and readers about the use and practicality of…
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2014 Bonefish and Tarpon Trust Symposium
Its almost that time of year for the annual Bonefish and Tarpon Trust (BTT) Symposium. BTT will be holding their 5th annual International Bonefish and Tarpon Symposium on November 7-8, 2014 at the IGFA museum in Dania Beach, Florida. According to BTT, the symposium will include numerous presentations from today’s top bonefish, tarpon, and permit…
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Holding Fish for Better Photos
In the past, we’ve ran a few posts on taking better fish photos, some of which have become our more popular posts of all time. After all, who doesn’t love a good hero shot. For the most part, these posts have touched on areas like composing a quality fish photo or taking photos with the fish’s best interest in…
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Fishing From a Boat – Cast Downstream!
At our Alaskan operations, we’re really lucky to have access to some extremely diverse trout fisheries. At any point during the season at Alaska West, we target trout by sight fishing for rainbows in side channels, fishing the main river on foot, or fishing from our jet boats ‘drift boat style.’ The beauty of our river is that trout can…
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The Becker (Orvis) Knot
For most fishing situations, our knot of choice is the non-slip mono loop knot. We use it to attach flies to tippet for everything from trout, to bonefish, to king salmon. It’s strong, dependable, and allows for good action on the fly. However, the non-slip mono loop can be a bit bulky and sometimes a…
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Streamer Fishing for Trout – 5 Techniques
Yesterday marked the first official day of Autumn here in the northern hemisphere, and for many of us, that means streamer season. Fall spawning trout (brook and brown trout) are most territorial during this time, rainbow trout are on the prowl for large food items to fatten up for the long winter ahead, and as always, the…
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Don’t Stress
Most fly anglers today would agree that catch and release practices are important in promoting healthy fisheries. Not only is it beneficial to the well being of our sport, but having the opportunity to release a fish back to the wild to fight another day, is an event most of us would agree adds to the…
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Keep ’em Close!
We recently came across this cool shot of a silver salmon caught on the swing by Alaska West guest, Craig Kopcyzk. It reminded us of a great piece of advice from Deneki alum Cameron Miller on taking good fish photos.. Leave the fish close to the water! Not only is it much, much better on the…
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Presenting on the Backcast – 3 Common Mistakes
Being able to present the fly quickly and effectively on the back cast is one of the most important casts to know on the flats. Presenting the fly well on your back cast enables you to cast safely when the wind is on your right shoulder (or left shoulder for you leftys), as well as cast to fish on either side…
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