Deneki Friend and Alum Jerry French tied the original version of “The One Sculpin,” an articulated stinger style fly. Jerry came out with the Ultra Rig Kit last year, and we decided to tie his pattern using that system. We also changed the throat material as well. What is the “Ultra Rig” you ask? In short,…
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Jerry French
Aqua Flies: Ultra Rig Kit
Stinger-style flies are the way to go when it comes to fishing on the swing. Typically tied with wire or braid, both have their respective challenges. A wire is brittle, hard to work with, and you can’t change out flies very easily, especially in the cold. If you use braid, it is soft, so larger…
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Deneki Chronicles: Swinging for Trout – The Tumble Rig
In this week’s Deneki Chronicles, we revisit a handy, DIY tool that will help your swung fly get down when you need to get down and deep. The Tumble Rig will help you get down and get down fast to put your fly in front of the fish. Tie up a few of these at…
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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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Jerry French on Tying the ‘Ultra Rig’ – Video
Earlier this year we expressed our excitement about Alaska West alum, Jerry French’s latest steelhead pattern; the Ultra Squid. Why were we so excited? Because the pattern was the first on the market to utilize Jerry’s Ultra Rig; quite possibly the most innovative idea for trailer hook style flies we’ve seen since, well, trailer hooks!…
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AquaTalon Swing Hooks
Our good friends from Aqua Flies have teemed up once again with our pal and Alaska West alum, Jerry French, to bring the latest in hook design with their new AquaTalon Swing Hooks designed specifically for swinging flies for salmon, steelhead, trout, or anything for that matter. Although he needs no introduction, Jerry is arguably…
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Jerry French’s ‘Ultra Squid’ Coming to a Fly Shop Near You
The good folks at Aqua Flies have teemed up once again with our good friend and Alaska West alum, Jerry French, to bring the latest and greatest in steelhead/salmon flies; The Ultra Squid. Responsible for the design of innovative patterns like the the Intruder and the Dirty hoh, Jerry is widely accepted as one of…
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Jerry French on the Double Spey – Video
Our pal, Jerry French, has teemed up with the folks at Aqua Flies to kick off a series of videos on spey casting tips. And to that, we say, FINALLY! Their first video focuses on the double spey, although does a great job at highlighting an important fundamental of any skagit-style spey cast – sweeping…
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Jerry French’s Steelhead Sculpin – Fly Tying Video
A while back we shared a great fly tying video put together by our pals at North 40 Fly Shop on the Summer Sculpin, a great sculpin pattern for trout designed by anadramous authority and Alaska West alum, Jerry French. Well, they did it again, this time with a more steelhead worthy version of the…
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History of the Intruder – Interview with Jerry French
Steelhead anglers rejoice! The folks from the Ashland Fly Shop recently conducted a great interview with our pal and Alaska West family member, Jerry French, featuring some great insight on fly selection, spey casting, and an in-depth history of the evolution of the intruder-style fly patterns many of us use today. If you like swinging flies…
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