You can go down a rabbit hole when it comes to fly tying. The craft of creating artificial flies to imitate insects and other aquatic creatures as bait for fly fishing can be a wonderfully creative and relaxing hobby, but it can also become an obsession for those who are truly passionate about it. Fly…
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dry flies
One Question: Fly
Welcome to One Question, where we ask one question at a time, allowing us to delve deeply into the complexities and nuances of all our readers and subscribers. These one questions will help us create content that speaks to the hearts and minds of our audience, encouraging thoughtful reflection and meaningful discussion. Thank you for…
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Fly Tying: Tools You Need
Today’s post is from Mike Brown. Mike is the owner of Mossy’s Fly Shop in Anchorage, Alaska. A lifelong Alaskan with a passion for family, fly fishing, and fly tying. In today’s fly tying world, materials and tools are changing and advancing constantly. You see all kinds of ads telling you about how great this…
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Aquatic Insects in Alaska
The saying is, ‘everything is bigger in Alaska’. This also includes bugs. For example, the giant water bug (lethocerus americanus) found in Southeastern Alaska can grow up to 2.5 inches in length. That’s a big bug. From the Arctic tundra to the Southeastern panhandle, aquatic insects exist throughout Alaskan waters and play a large role in the ecosystem. As fly anglers, it’s prudent…
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Dry Fly Time at BC West!
It has been a cool and rainy season on the Dean River so far but things have been turning on as of late. As the rain has continued to fall, it has the fresh fish active and moving. It is also getting to be that time of year where our guests have a very legitimate…
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Timeless Tips: 4 Ways to Fish Dries in Alaska
Everybody loves fishing dry flies. There’s just nothing that beats the excitement of a surface take. In Western Alaska we fish dry flies quite a lot, but the vast majority of the time they’re about as far as you can get from a traditional “match the hatching insect” dry fly program. Here are 4 ways…
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Arctic Grayling – Fish the Traditionals
For the majority of our guests at Alaska West, the first few weeks of our season is all about two things -swinging flies for big bright king salmon and/or chucking big mouse and sculpin imitations for hungry rainbow trout. However, during the first part of our season, an often overlooked species on our river are…
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Trout are Trout
It goes without saying that Alaskan rainbow trout are different from their brethren in the lower forty-eight. Their feeding behavior alone more closely resembles the predatory nature of a Northern Pike than that of a resident trout. Therefore, with mice, sculpin, salmon smolt, and huge chunks of dead salmon flesh on the menu, often times bigger is…
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It Pays to Experiment
Earlier this fall, while enjoying a round of Kaliks and conch salad after a day of flailing away on the flats, Andros South guest, Gordon Macleod presented us with an opportunity – A couple of flies, immitating something in the vicinity of a crab, tied with a buyoant closed-celled foam body.. That’s right, a dry fly,…
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Steelheading: 5 Reasons to Fish a Dry
Catching fish on the surface is certainly not an everyday occurrence for most steelhead anglers. However, during certain parts of our season at BC West we’re pretty fortunate to have a very real opportunity to target them on top, and today Kara Knight gives us a few reasons why you should give the dry a chance….
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