We’re in the process of filing up our boxes for our summer season at Alaska West (we hope some of you are too), and we’ve got one of our favorite species on our mind – Big, wild, Alaskan, leopard rainbow trout. Therefore, for all those looking to stock up on flies for the coming season, we…
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flies
When in Doubt, Go Gotcha
If you’ve been following our blog for some time, you’ve read on more than one occasion that our bonefish population on South Andros aren’t overly ‘selective’ when it comes to fly pattern. Many, many different fly patterns work well on our flats over the course of the season. It’s a fly tyer’s paradise! With that said,…
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Bonefish Flies – Weight Matters
We’ve said it many before, but when it comes to selecting bonefish flies for South Andros, our fish aren’t overly picky. Many, many different fly patterns work well on our flats, so when choosing flies we prefer to focus on a few basic variables for the situation at hand, rather than a particular fly pattern. Arguably the…
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Aqua Flies for King Salmon – 5 Favorites
In a few short months we’ll be heading North to kick off our summer seasons, swinging flies for one of our favorite species of all time – Big, bright, sea-lice ridden, king salmon. Due to their affinity for deep water, kings are a notoriously difficult species to target on the fly in many areas throughout…
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Trout Fishing – Solving the Riddle
Last week we ran a post asking you, our readers, what you’d like to read about on our blog. We received a bunch of great comments and questions, one of which is the topic for today’s post: “When things (flies, techniques) aren’t working, how do you solve the riddle?“ There are an uncountable number of variables present…
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Jerry French’s ‘Dirty Hoh’ Coming to a Fly Shop Near You
If you like swinging flies, odds are you recognize the name of steelhead guru and Alaska West guide, Jerry French. Along with his friends, Ed Ward and Scott Howell, Jerry was part of the braintrust behind one of the most widely used fly patterns in modern Northwest steelhead fishing; The Intruder. Since its creation, numerous steelhead…
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The Franc N Snaelda – Tying Instructions
Over the course of a year, we’re fortunate to fish with a lot of great anglers, many of whom hail from all over the world. Therefore, we get to witness a whole multitude of tips and techniques used for other species, that we might not have seen otherwise, and thus incorporate them into our own fishing! Fly…
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Bonefishing Tip: Adjusting Fly Weight on the Water
Today we present you with a super clever tip (and some well deserved snarkiness) courtesy of long-time Deneki pal, Michael Gracie, on how to quickly change the weight of your bonefish fly while on the water. Take it away Michael! Adjusting Fly Weight on the Water The Shea’s Bonefish Buttah has become one of my go-to flats…
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Selecting King Salmon Flies
In just over a month we kick off our summer seasons at our Alaska operations. That means it won’t be long before we’re swinging flies for big, bright, king salmon.. Heck, we’re getting antsy just writing about it! When selecting flies for king salmon, most of the time exact fly pattern is not overly important….
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Time to Learn Your Spey’s and Dee’s
One thing we love about tying flies is the rich tradition and history associated with our craft. There’s a whole bunch of history wrapped up (pun intended) in just about every pattern available today, and today our buddy Stuart Foxall put together a great write up on two classic styles of flies still used for…
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