We’ve told you in the past about how to cut back Skagit heads to match your switch rods – something we’ve had to do to get a good casting setup for rods like the Scott Fiberhammer or the Sage 5110-4 Z-Axis. Modern Skagit heads (with a real front taper) just weren’t available in lengths that worked well…
Read More
Spey
Dean Chinook – It Doesn’t Take Many
Dana Sturn knows anadromous fish like Linsday Lohan knows rehab. Dana started speypages.com. He fishes a lot, and he fishes well. He hosts groups of anglers at BC West when the Dean is all loaded up with Chinook salmon, and that’s no coincidence. Dana wrote up a fine piece of literature that really cuts to…
Read More
Running Line – Holding Loops
If you’re making long casts with a spey rod and a Skagit-style line system, you need to deal with loops of running line. Skagit heads are short but casts can be long, and shooting 50 feet or more of running line happens all the time. Unfortunately you can’t just strip all that line in and…
Read More
Skagit Master Forum
You know we like spey casting, right? You know about Skagit Master Volume 1, featuring Ed Ward telling you all about his approach to Skagit-style fishing, right? You might even know that Skagit Master Volume 2 is in production, this time featuring Scott Howell giving his take on all things related to Skagitology. Well today…
Read More
Swinging Flies – Cast, Then Step.
Cast, mend, swing fly, take a few steps downriver, repeat. That’s how you fish for steelhead, right? Not necessarily. Michael White stops by in video form today, straight from the Dean River, to tell us a bit about how he likes to present flies to steelhead. The basic idea – rather than stepping downriver after…
Read More
Get the Right Line for Your Spey Rod!
At Alaska West and BC West, we spend a lot of time chasing anadromous fish with two-handed rods. We see this situation all the time: Angler arrives in camp with new spey rod. Angler sets it up with the line that his or her buddy/mentor/favorite author/shop guy/rep/mother-in-law said would work well. Angler fishes it for…
Read More
Sometimes It’s Simple
One of our followers on Twitter recently chimed in with a question for our friend and Alaska West spey instructor Dec Hogan. The question basically boiled down to asking about “the nuances of casting deeper-bend spey rods”. You see, Dec likes rods that are relatively slow and that literally bend all the way through the…
Read More
Scott Baker-McGarva’s Steelhead Rig
Scott Baker-McGarva is our head guide at BC West. He’s got a whole bunch of years under his belt chasing steelhead with two-handed rods. He’s an incredible caster and one fishy dude. Wouldn’t it be cool to see what gear he uses and how he rigs it when he fishes for steelhead on the Dean…
Read More
Just a Friendly Reminder
…of what’s happening at Alaska West right now. There’s a bunch of people up there chasing king salmon with swung flies and two handed rods. They’re chasing rainbow trout too. More on King Salmon Dec Hogan’s King Rig Greg Thomas on Fresh Fish George Cook’s King Quiver
Future Spey Anglers
Looking for the next generation of fly anglers? Here you go – they’re in Quinhagak, Alaska. And you know what? They probably know more about salmon than you do! More on Culture at Alaska West Job Requirements: Facial Hair Native Crafts The Arolik Bus