One of the more awesome things you can see at the beginning of the season in Alaska is a smolt bust. During early summer, large schools of salmon smooth begin their migration down the river to the ocean. It will be obvious when the smolt bust starts, as you’ll see the Arctic Terns doing flybys…
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Search Results for: fly tying
Fly Tying: Chinook Graboid
The Graboid Leech by Midnight Sun Custom Flies is uber fishy, effective, versatile, and a great tie. Like other great patterns, the Graboid’s beauty is in its simplicity. This week in Fly Tying, we leverage the Graboid pattern and turn it into a Chinook (King) Salmon Pattern. Why not? Original Fly Design: Jonathan Farmer of…
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Fly Tying: Lefty’s Deceiver
Lefty Kreh is one of the more well-known and prominent names in the fly fishing community. If you’ve been fly fishing for any amount of time, chances are you’ve heard the name, Lefty Kreh. In a sport that can be, at times, burdened with tradition, Lefty was known to go against the grain, always trying…
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Fly Tying: Larimer’s ES Loop Leech
The beauty behind the Larimer ES Loop Leech is its simplicity with the materials. This super wiggly, swimmy pattern is effective for salmon, steelhead, and trout. The best part of this particular fly is the combination of colors you can tie it in. One of our favorite color combinations is a Chartreuse head and Black…
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Fly Tying: Blue Suede Shoe
Tie, Instructions, Photos, and Write-up By Kevin Foley. The Blue Suede Shoe came about in early June 2015 after a day of fishing tributaries of the Susitna River in search of King Salmon. At the time, reports had suggested that King Salmon, the largest of the five species of Pacific Salmon occurring in the Susitna…
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Fly Tying: Tyler’s Big Pheasant Tail
Every fly angler has tied on a pheasant tail nymph at one time or another. If you have not, you should. The pheasant tail nymph is a fly that has a long history in fly fishing. Versatile, this fly can be used in a broad spectrum of watersheds across America, and yes, even in Alaska….
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Fly Tying: Flies to Tie for Alaska Fish
The 2022 Alaska fly fishing season is coming upon us, and it’s never too early to start tying flies. If you search our blog, we have a plethora of flies for Salmon and Trout, and they all catch fish, or we wouldn’t feature them. Below is a curated list of flies you should start tying…
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Fly Tying: Llewych (Gleamer)
Recently I was asked to do a magazine article for Trout & Salmon magazine in the UK. I had to write it about a “sea trout” (sea-run brown trout) pattern and I could think of none better to ask than Sean Thomas in Wales. He gave me one of his nighttime patterns that he calls…
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Fly Tying: Fish-Skull Skulpin Bunny
Sculpin patterns are a go-to when it comes to trout. Dead drift or a slow strip imitating a sculpin swim, sculpin style patterns are effective in rivers worldwide. Normally fished close to the bottom, the Fish-Skull Skulpin Bunny goes down and gets down fast to where the fish are, thanks to the Fish-Skull Sculpin Helmet….
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Fly Tying: Bling Fry
Today’s Tie comes to us from Kevin Foley. Kevin is a scientist, fly angler, fly tier, and drinker of dark beers. Kevin’s philosophy on tying flies involves using natural and synthetic materials to create the illusion of life. As a scientist, Kevin believes observation and time on the water are just as important as spending…
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