About Kevin Foley Kevin Foley is the fly-tying instructor at Mossy’s Fly Shop in Anchorage, Alaska. His philosophy and teachings on fly tying involve the use of natural and synthetic materials to create the illusion of life. As a scientist, having received his Master of Science in Fisheries, he believes that observation and time on…
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Rainbow Trout
Tips on Mousing for Rainbow Trout and Grayling at Alaska West
Mousing for big rainbow trout at Alaska West is exciting. Big Alaskan Rainbow Trout like their protein and small mammals like mice, voles, and shrews offer them an excellent opportunity to get their protein fix. Watching big trout eat a mouse is quite an experience! The same goes for grayling. Grayling also have an appetite…
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Trout Spey and Four Reasons We Like It in Alaska
You’re likely to hear the words “swing season,” “trout Spey,” or even “Micro Spey” if you speak with enthusiastic trout fly-fishing anglers across the nation. Swinging for trout gives fly anglers an alternative method of fishing and a different pace to chase trout during trout season. Trout Spey is essentially just the standard two-handed Spey…
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4 Tips for Trout Fishing in Side Channels, Braids, and Small Tundra Creeks
We’re lucky at Alaska West Lodge and Rapids Camp Lodge to have incredibly abundant and healthy rainbow trout fishing. Mice, sculpins, leeches, flesh flies, beads, and smolt fly patterns are favorites at both locations. We use single- and two-handed, trout Spey rods. And we fish lots of different parts of our rivers, from the big main…
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Deneki Chronicles: 19 Reasons to Fish a Mouse Fly
In This Week’s Deneki Chronicles, it’s trout week and we’re looking back at what the trout have been and continually gorge on. It’s no secret how much we love fishing mouse patterns for big Alaskan rainbow trout. We do a lot of it, and, as odd as it may sound, it is our most productive…
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The Fly Box: Alaska West Lodge Rainbow Trout Flies
At Alaska West Lodge, Team Deneki Outdoors is fervently getting things ready for the Twenty-Twenty-Two Season. As a part of that process, we are filling our fly boxes with the essentials. In Today’s Fly Tying, we, review some of our favorite flies for Big Leopard Rainbow Trout at Alaska West Lodge. In Alaska Rainbow Trout…
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Fly Tying: Neil Creek Slider
One of the more awesome things you can see at the beginning of the season in Alaska is a smolt bust. During early summer, large schools of salmon smooth begin their migration down the river to the ocean. It will be obvious when the smolt bust starts, as you’ll see the Arctic Terns doing flybys…
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Deneki Chronicles: 5 Guide Secrets to Catch More Alaska Rainbows
More fun than a frog in a glass of milk. Okay, we’re not exactly sure what that means either, but we’re sure it means it is hootenanny when it comes to Rainbow Trout Fishing in Alaska. In this week’s Deneki Chronicles, we can’t help but get excited about Rainbow Trout Fishing. Have a gander. Alaskan…
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Deneki Chronicles: Trout Fishing in High “Off-Colored” Water
In this Episode of Deneki Chronicles, we explore the idea of fishing in high water. For the most part, a blown-out river is not a good thing for any fly angler. But we’re here to tell you, that it is not the end of the world. Have a read. Whether early-season run-off or late season…
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Deneki Chronicles: 5 Ways to Catch More Rainbow Trout
Catching rainbow trout at Alaska West is not all that difficult – in fact, it’s easy to catch ‘some.’ That being said, great anglers catch more, and great anglers catch the bigger ones. Here are five ways you can make yourself into a ‘greater’ trout angler in our part of the world. Mend less. Our…
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