Jeff Hickman knows rainbow trout. He spent a bunch of years guiding at Alaska West, and during that time he came up with a really popular mouse pattern called Mr. Hankey that’s now available from Idylwilde. Jeff now combines his Larimer Outfitters guiding with conservation work with the Sierra Club’s Hunter and Angler Heritage Program. He…
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Rainbow Trout
Trout Food: Flesh Fly
Last week we started our series on Alaskan trout foods with some information on salmon flesh. Today we’re covering a simple, effective fly pattern that’s used to imitate salmon flesh – your basic ‘Flesh Fly’. Our recipe and photos are courtesy of Matt Hynes, senior guide at Alaska West and recent addition to our management…
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Trout Food: Salmon Flesh
Today we’re starting a series of posts on Trout Food in Western Alaska. We’ll tell you about the major food sources that make up an Alaskan rainbow’s diet, and we’ll also show you some flies that can be used to imitate that food. The first food source that we’ll cover is arguably the most important…
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Nice Fish, John
John Hawk visited us at Alaska West a couple of years back. Among just a couple other fish, he had a brief encounter with this specimen from the Arolik. There are some pretty rainbows in that river! More Nice Fish Dean River Coho Fly Fishing for Sharks Kanektok King Salmon
Alaska Rainbow Fishing – When To Go
Here’s one from late August. Photo: Cameron Miller We get lots of questions from anglers planning trips who want to know ‘the best time to go’. When it comes to rainbow trout in Western Alaska, the answer depends a lot on what you’re looking for. Since rainbows in the Kanektok are all resident fish and…
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Just Another Cool Underwater Trout Picture
We like rainbows and mouse flies. Photo: Cameron Miller Sometimes it’s hard to pick which super-cool Cameron Miller picture from Alaska West to post, just because we’ve got so darned many. Today’s edition is just a nice, normal, beautiful Alaska West rainbow trout underwater shot- heavily spotted, nice red stripe, and with a very run-of-the-mill…
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Ask The Experts – Most Overlooked Trout Lie
Think like a trout. Photo: Cameron Miller Mike Sanders isn’t the only Deneki expert who gave us some great input on those spots that Alaskan rainbows live in, but don’t always get covered by anglers. Here’s what we asked our expert panel this time around – “What’s the most overlooked type of trout lie in…
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Rainbow Trout Lies
I live in the couch water. Photo: Mike Racine We asked our Deneki Expert Panel a question a little while back about trout lies – no, not the tall tales that trout spin about the size of the anglers who almost caught them, the places in the river where trout like to live. A later…
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Spey Fishing for Trout, Part 3 – Tactics
Trout spey tactic #427: Put the wood to ’em. Photo: Cameron Miller In the past couple of weeks we’ve covered why we think you should spey fish for trout, and which gear you should use when you do it. Today we’ll talk a bit about tactics to use when chasing rainbows with lightweight two-handers. Spey…
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Bead Fishing for Rainbow Trout
Just a couple to choose from. Photo: Cameron Miller Rainbow trout in Western Alaska eat a lot of salmon eggs. Over the years a lot of different flies like the Glo Bug have been tied to imitate salmon eggs, but recently it’s become clear that the most effective way to trick a rainbow trout into…
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