We fish a lot of flesh flies for rainbows at Alaska West. Here are 5 reasons why. There’s always a flesh hatch. Our rivers get jammed with salmon biomass every summer, and when the salmon die, their flesh winds up in the river. It sticks around for a long time. Flesh hangs up on snags…
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Search Results for: big fish
Why They Call ‘Em Leopards
One of the coolest features about the amazing rainbow trout that we chase at Alaska West is their spotting. Patterns and coloration vary wildly, but it’s the massive number of spots that have earned these fish the ‘leopard rainbow’ nickname. We’ll take it. More on Alaska West Rainbow Trout Mike Mercer Caught One When to…
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Nalca
There are some weird plants in Southern Chile! One that’s particularly memorable is the Nalca or Giant Rhubarb. The Nalca grows in dense rain forest areas. With its impressive broad leaves and long stems it makes for a great makeshift umbrella or parasol. In the spring, the young stalks can be eaten raw, and they’re not as…
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IFTD Gear – Sage, Rio, Redington, Tibor
…and the gear reports from IFTD continue! This afternoon’s update covers the highlights of what we’ve seen so far from Sage, Rio, Redington and Tibor. Sage 589-4 Xi3 Sage is making the kick-butt Xi3 in a 5 weight. The 8 foot 9 inch length helps it feel really light in your hand. This rod would…
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IFTD Gear – Ross and Ross Worldwide
Here on day 1 at the International Fly Tackle Dealer show, we just got a walkthrough of the new products from Ross and Ross Worldwide. There’s some cool stuff here – have a look. Rx Rods The new Rx rods are now the top end of Ross’s reel line. They’re faster and lighter than Ross’s…
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Sage 99 Review
Last summer, Sage introduced their ’99 Series’ rods – purpose-built nymphing sticks from 4 to 9 weight, and all 9 feet, 9 inches long. We cast them at the big industry trade show last year and thought they felt fine, but after a shoulder shrug and a grumble that “the world doesn’t really need dedicated…
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Dolly the Clown
Come late August at Alaska West, the Dolly Varden (and/or Arctic Char – it’s confusing) in our rivers get their spawning colors. This time of year, we think they’re just about the prettiest fish around. Late August is pretty fun – ‘clowned up’ dollies like the one above are a nice addition to the already…
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Dean Chinook – It Doesn’t Take Many
Dana Sturn knows anadromous fish like Linsday Lohan knows rehab. Dana started speypages.com. He fishes a lot, and he fishes well. He hosts groups of anglers at BC West when the Dean is all loaded up with Chinook salmon, and that’s no coincidence. Dana wrote up a fine piece of literature that really cuts to…
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Gear Galore – Blogging from IFTD
Last year we attended Fly Fishing Retailer, the fly fishing industry’s big annual trade show, and we did our best to tell you all about the coolest new gear that the manufacturers in our industry came up with for your fishing pleasure, straight from the show floor. This year AFFTA, our industry’s trade group, took…
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Hey Buddy
We get some really high-quality pictures at Alaska West – beautiful landscape shots, great pictures of wildlife, and of course lots of shots of anglers with nice fish. Then sometimes we get really weird but cool pictures of a resident porcupine who decided to hang out in a tree long enough to get his picture…
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