We’re back today with another edition of our ‘Weekly Fish Stories,’ where guides and guests from our lodges share a brief snapshot of memorable moment on the water. Today, our own Jason Whiting shares a quick story from a day of trout fishing with a fishy father-son duo, Ted and Dean Tsandes, at Alaska West….
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mousing
Mouse Fishing for Trout – Try a Dead Drift
When fishing mouse flies for hungry Alaskan rainbows, a typical presentation goes something like this – Cast at a slightly downstream angle above your target, raise your rod tip, wiggle your rod tip back and forth roughly 8 inches apart while at the same time slowly drawing in line with your line hand. This creates…
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Mousing for Trout – Work Upstream
When mousing for trout, we tend to target fish using two different methods – banging the banks from the boat while rowing ‘drift boat style,’ or walking smaller side channels on foot. Both methods have their advantages. Fishing from a moving boat covers far more water than wading, in theory allowing you to put your…
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Morrish Mouse – Tying Instructions
We’re fast approaching one of our favorite times of year, mouse season! Chucking rodent patterns for voracious rainbow trout is one of our favorite past times, and we’re lucky to do a fair amount of it at our lodges. In preparation of the upcoming season, today we present you with a great step by step, courtesy…
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Makeshift Dolly Skaters
Dolly varden are a fan favorite during the back half of our season at Alaska West. Big, vibrantly colored, aggressive fish? What’s not to love? Towards the end of our season, dollies stack up in staggering numbers behind spawning salmon to benefit from the gravy train of fresh salmon eggs tumbling down river. More than any…
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Sockeye on Mouse Flies?
Most folks that have fished for sockeye salmon are aware that sockeye are extremely reluctant to take a fly. However, at Alaska West we’ve honed in our sockeye program to catch them on mouse flies. Just check out the photo of our buddy, Kasey Halcro, above! Okay, okay, we’re totally kidding. However, the sockeye above…
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Price’s Five O’Clock Shadow – Tying Instructions
We love fishing mouse flies for trout whenever possible. However, not all mouse patterns are created equal, and today our buddy Stuart Foxall presents us with a great step by step on how to tie one of the most clever mouse patterns of all time, Kevin Price’s Five O’Clock Shadow. Enjoy! Price’s Five O’Clock Shadow…
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Opportunism
This year at Alaska West, our run of chum salmon came in a bit later than normal (don’t worry, they’re here in full force now). However, our resident rainbow trout count on the conveyor belt of salmon flesh each season to fatten up for the winter, which on our river consists of mostly chum and…
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Mousing for Chums?
We talk all the time about our run of chum salmon being extremely aggressive. They have a reputation for eating a lot of different flies, from leeches, to sculpins, to even flesh and egg patterns. They’re not afraid to hammer a fly, and that’s one of the reasons we think they’re so cool. Last week however,…
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Get Your Swivel On
Today we’re coming at you with a great trout rigging tip courtesy of Alaska West guide, Larry McKurtis. If you’re planning on chucking big flies for big trout (especially in Alaska), you might want to read up on this one. Take it away Larry! Get Your Swivel On Here at Alaska West we’re always tinkering…
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