Featured photo credit Heather Hodson In fly fishing especially, it pays to know your knots. Knots are quite often overlooked in the grand scheme of things. All the attention is paid to the perfect flies, the sleek fly rod, the fancy reel, and the smooth fly line, and the leader… What about the knot? It’s…
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Search Results for: fly tying
Deneki Chronicles: Rigging Stinger Hooks – The Twisted Hitch
Deneki Chronicles is an archive of past blog posts that are still relevant, effective, or funny. We don’t have a lot of funny ones. This post is a classic from one from Alaska West Lodge Jerry French. Today we present you with some rigging wizardry courtesy of Alaska West guide, Jerry French. You may recognize…
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Deneki Chronicles: How to Pack for Your Day of Bonefishing
It actually matters a lot what’s in here. Today’s post relates to packing and bonefishing, but it’s not about loading your big bag before you leave your house – you already know how to do that. Today we’re talking about your typical day on a bonefishing trip – it’s the first morning of your week…
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Leader Building 101: Rapids Camp Edition
From our Head Guide at Rapids Camp Lodge Chad Bryson drops some great tips on building leaders. Since it’s coming from Chad…I’d take it to heart. Enjoy! There are probably as many different opinions about how to build the perfect Alaska fly fishing leader as there are opinions on the perfect Alaska fly rod. So…
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Mousin’ with Stuart Foxall
It’s pretty well known that one of the most exciting and fun ways to catch fish at Alaska West or fly outs from Rapids Camp Lodge is mouse fishing. It really does get the heart racing. One of the issues with mouse fishing is “bumping” fish. Bumping fish is when a fish want’s your mouse…
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Why Knot
Ask 5 angling professionals which 5 knots are most important, and you may very well get 25 answers. In our humble opinion, here are the 5 knots you need to know for fly fishing, in priority order. Non-Slip Mono Loop. For attaching any sub-surface fly to your leader, this is our go-to knot. It’s extremely…
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Silver (Coho) salmon Flies: Updated Favorite List
Silver (Coho) salmon are starting to show up here in Alaska. Silver salmon are known to be super aggressive. Either straight out of the ocean or even 100 miles upriver, silver salmon are a hoot to target and super fun on the fly. The nice thing about Silver salmon is they will attack various flies,…
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Veverka’s Mantis Shrimp – From Its Creator
Classic fly patterns are classics for a reason. They simply work. Bob Veverka’s Mantis Shrimp is one of those patterns. Classic flies, like classic cars, can be modified, painted a new color, add or take away parts to match personalties. Some would say, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Whichever way you lean, this…
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Deneki Chronicles: Ed Ward’s King Rig
This post is one of our favorites from 2009 about one of our favorite people, Ed Ward and his arsenal for striking kings. This is the first picture ever taken of Ed when he wasn’t casting, or holding a chrome anadromous fish. Photo: Cameron Miller Ed Ward has been called many things. ‘Jedi knight’, ‘Zen…
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Friend of Deneki: Jerry French
What can we say about Jerry French…pioneer, innovator, inventor, creative…all adverbs to describe Jerry. You can add up the years of experience like dog years…they are exponential. Through trial and error, collaboration and many years on the water, Jerry French is a purveyor of all things fly fishing. From flies, to rods, and reels, Jerry’s…
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