This week’s Deneki Chronicles…”Boondoggin.” Bryan Burke works in our Anchorage office now, but he earned his stripes guiding guests at Alaska West on the Kanektok. In a recent conversation about favorite fishing techniques, Bryan declared boondoggin’ (huh? read on…) to be at the top of his list. We asked him for some tips, and he…
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mending
Deneki Chronicles: Spey Fishing – Watch How Your Fly Lands
When swinging flies for salmon and steelhead, we talk a lot about the importance of ‘fly profile,’ the broadside silhouette the fly takes on while in the water. Many fly tyers go to great lengths trying to achieve the desired profile, and it is this idea that has stemmed many modern steelhead and salmon patterns….
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Timeless Tips // Anticipate Your Mend!
Often when you are nymphing a pool, you may not notice but you are mending in almost the exact same spot on every one of your drifts. Typically, this is once your flies are out, directly in front of you. One thing I try and encourage my clients to do is to get their mend…
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Spey Casting – 3 Benefits of Aerial Mending
It’s long been said that great presentations catch fish, not great casts. Its one of the most governing truths in fly fishing. Mending, the act of repositioning the fly line after the cast, is what makes this possible in moving water. Make no mistake, like casting, mending is a skill, and those that are able…
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Mend to Fix
Mend: /mend/ verb. To repair (something that is broken or damaged). Synonyms: repair, fix. When fishing moving water, whether swinging flies for steelhead and salmon or dead drifting nymphs and/or dries for trout, great mends catch more fish than great casts. After all, a proper mend can create a effective presentation, and effective presentations (not casts) are…
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Timeless Tips: 3 Slack-Line Presentations Every Trout Angler Should Know
As most effective trout anglers know, a well executed drift is far more important than a perfect cast. Whether we want our fly to drift naturally in the current, or swing through the water column at a particular depth, this is best achieved by mending – That is, repositioning the line on the water after the…
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Turning ‘Bad’ Casts into Great Presentations
Good casts feel good, but good presentations catch fish and today Alaska West guide, Greg Houska, is coming at us with a great writeup on how saving the less-than-perfect cast can help you catch more fish in the long run. Enjoy! Turning ‘Bad’ Casts into Great Presentations Not every cast is perfect, and you should never…
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3 Slack-Line Presentations Every Trout Angler Should Know
As most effective trout anglers know, a well executed drift is far more important than a perfect cast. Whether we want our fly to drift naturally in the current, or swing through the water column at a particular depth, this is best achieved by mending – That is, repositioning the line on the water after the…
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Mending – Lift, Don’t Flip
It’s often said that a good drift is more important than a good cast. While we would certainly agree, that’s not to say getting a proper drift of your fly is always easy. Proper mending is an art in itself and today Alaska West guide, Jason Whiting, is back with a great tip on making…
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Micro Mends for Tucked-In Trout
Last week Alaska West guide, Jason Whiting, presented us with a great technique for targeting hard to reach trout with streamers by using a series of micro mends to provide action to your fly. It’s a super deadly technique, and if you didn’t get a chance to read it, we suggest you check it out,…
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