Last week we told you about Maxima’s Sharktooth Line Management System; one of our favorite ways to tame unruly leader and tippet material. However, with five species of salmon, trout, dolly varden/char, and grayling roaming around our waters (sometimes all at the same time), we tend to carry a whole bunch of different leader and/or…
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Search Results for: King Salmon
Timeless Tips: Mousing for Rainbow Trout
One of the most fun and unique ways to target rainbow trout in Western Alaska is by ‘mousing.’ Small voles and other rodents often find themselves in the river, intentionally or not, and our bigger predatory rainbows are always on the lookout for a meal that’s even more filling than their usual diet of salmon…
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Maxima Sharktooth Line Management System
Whether we’re swinging flies for salmon and steelhead or skating mouse patterns for resident rainbow trout, when it comes to leader material plain ol’ Maxima Ultragreen has become a staple at our lodges in Alaska and British Columbia. Why? It’s super strong, abrasion resistant, relatively stiff for nylon monofilament, and pretty inexpensive compared to most…
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Fly Tying Tip: Anchoring Jungle Cock Eyes
We’re excited to have our good friend and world-renowned fly tyer, Stuart Foxall, in house this week at Alaska West. That means evenings in our ‘lounge-tent’ have been transformed from a casual social hour to a fly tying masterclass, and in no way is that a complaint. Stu recently shared a great tip with us…
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AquaTalon Swing Hooks
Our good friends from Aqua Flies have teemed up once again with our pal and Alaska West alum, Jerry French, to bring the latest in hook design with their new AquaTalon Swing Hooks designed specifically for swinging flies for salmon, steelhead, trout, or anything for that matter. Although he needs no introduction, Jerry is arguably…
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The Stain Remover – Tying Instructions
A while back our pal, Daniel Cope, gave us a great fly tying step by step on his go-to pattern for coastal steelhead; the Steelhead Phantam. For those who don’t know Daniel, he’s one heck of a fly tyer. He’s also a frequenter of our humble little blog, so naturally we were honored when he…
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Fly Tying Step by Steps – Roundup
Way back in 2014 we started putting together detailed fly tying step by steps on how to tie some of our favorite fly patterns for salmon, steelhead, trout, bonefish, and more. We’ve accumulated quite a few since then, so we thought it was time to put together an updated roundup of all of our step…
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Timeless Tips: 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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Custom Dyed Arctic Fox from Waters West
If you’ve ever tuned in for some of our step by step fly tying posts, odds are you’ve noticed we love tying with Arctic fox. Arctic fox (particularly the tail) is an incredible material. It’s easy to handle, extremely durable, and offers incredible movement in the water. Plus, unlike many natural materials, it also holds color…
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Plan D Articulated Fly Boxes – New and Improved
Way back in 2016 we told you about the first release of Plan D Articulated Fly Boxes – fly boxes designed specifically to house articulated and ‘stinger-style’ flies (something we use a lot of at our lodges). Plan D’s innovative ‘eye-hook’ and slotted foam design was the best solution to taming free-swinging articulated patterns we’d…
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