Got one. Photo: Cameron Miller The period from late July through early September at Alaska West is just one big mess of silver salmon mayhem. At this time of year the leopard rainbows, dollies and other salmon species in the Kanektok make room in already crowded waters, because they know as well as we do…
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flies
King Flies – The Mikey Prawn
Looks shrimpy, no? Photo: John Ford Brian Niska will be one of our spey instructors at Alaska West in 2010, for the third year running. Today Brian tells us a bit about one of his favorite king flies, the Mikey Prawn. One of Brian’s spey weeks is sold out, but there’s still space in his…
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Rainbow Trout Rigs – Steak and Eggs
Did this fish like steak or eggs? The world will never know. Photo: Cameron Miller One of our favorite ways to target the Kanektok River’s rainbows in the late season at Alaska West is to fish a type of rig that we call ‘Steak and Eggs’ – a bead with a small flesh fly for…
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Spey Fishing for Trout, Part 2 – Gear
Workin’ the little rod on the Arolik. Photo: Cameron Miller UPDATE: Thanks for checking out this post in 2009. By 2012 spey fishing for trout had changed a bit, so we put out this post with an update on spey and switch fishing for trout as of 2012. Feel free to read on, though! We’ve…
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Rainbow Trout and Giant Flies
Medium fish, XXL fly. Photo: Cameron Miller Rainbow trout in the Kanektok and Arolik Rivers have a short season during which they can feed, so when it’s summer and the water conditions are good, they tend to pounce on flies that might be, oh, about 1/4 as long as they are.< If you look closely…
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Dean River Steelhead Flies – 5 Favorites
Today our manager at BC West gives us a little introduction into some popular flies used in the pursuit of Dean River Steelhead. Everyone is looking for that magical combination of fur and feather, flash and fabric that will induce a steelhead to take. There has to be as much debate over whether or not the…
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Mousing for Rainbow Trout – 5 Tips
Mouse flies are not delicate. Photo: Cameron Miller 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…
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6 Ways to Catch More Silver Salmon
Got one. Photo: Cameron Miller On the Kanektok River where we operate Alaska West, and on other rivers like it in Western Alaska, the classic method for catching silver salmon on flies involves targeting them in slow-moving water, casting a floating line, and stripping back a weighted fly. Here are 6 ways to make the most of this…
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5 Flies for Kings on the Kanektok
There are a bunch of anglers out there who are pretty darned excited these days, because they’re headed to the Kanektok River this summer to swing flies for kings. The ice is out on the Kanektok, our setup crew heads in just a couple of weeks from now, and fly boxes are starting to get…
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Secrets of the Flesh Fly
Sometimes all it takes is a little flesh. Photo: Ramsey Smith Trout that live in the lower sections of rivers like the Kanektok and the Arolik in Western Alaska get a lot of their calories from salmon flesh. That means that at Alaska West we spend a lot of time tying and fishing patterns that…
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