Although the majority of our guests at BC West fish two-handed rods most of the time, spey casting is not at all a requirement. Many, many steelhead were caught on the Dean for many years before the first spey rod showed up! Yes, there are reasons that people use spey rods, but single-handed fishing and…
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Steelhead
Fish Thy Feet
Scott Baker-McGarva is our head guide at BC West, and he knows a thing or two about fishing for anadromous fish like steelhead and chinook salmon. Scott checks in today with a simple but very important tip… Hey! Quit Standing on the Fish. True, the spey revolution has changed the way anglers view the water,…
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Is it the Fly?
Thanks to Beau Purvis for today’s post on confidence, fly selection and more, all told through the lens of steelhead fishing on the Dean. Beau’s a super photographer – we’ve covered his stuff our our site before. Today, though, flies and confidence! Thanks, Beau. Is It The Fly? The other day I was reading my…
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An Evening on the Dean
Chad Jaques and his wife Marjorie own Trout Bum 2, a fly shop in Park City, Utah. Chad’s been fishing with us at BC West for a few years now, and in 2010 he finally talked with wife Marjorie in to joining him for the week. Chad and Marjorie had a pretty special evening on…
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Ken Morrish’s Steelhead Rig
As one of the fine folks behind Flywater Travel, Ken Morrish has had the chance to go steelhead fishing in some pretty fantastic places. Ken is also an innovative angler and fly tier, with an extensive line of signature flies by Idylwilde. If Ken was to step onto any given river in British Columbia to…
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Cold Water Dry Line Steelhead Fishing
Tom Larimer, as you may know, is one of the top-shelf guides in the Northwest, spending a whole boatload of quality time on the Deschutes River and the surrounding area. Tom also leads group trips to Alaska West and BC West each year, which we’d be happy to tell you more about if you drop…
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Top 5 Mistakes Fighting Big Fish
At Alaska West and BC West we see a lot of big fish fought by our guests – we’re talking steelhead and king salmon here. Sometimes our anglers do a great job fighting the big ones. Other times…not so much. Fight hard, fight smart, and get it over fast! Top 5 Mistakes Made Fighting Big…
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Steelhead Hangdown Eats
It’s one of the toughest situations in steelheading, but it happens quite a lot. Most often it’s early or late in the day, and light is relatively low. Feeling safe, a steelhead tucks himself in right against the bank. You make a long cast (because even though the fish are in tight, that’s what we…
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The Dean is Back
The Dean River in 2010 You may have heard some noises during our summer season at BC West about the fact that the fishing was pretty darned good. We’re all shut down for the year, so we thought we’d sum things up. The Dean is back. Anadromous fisheries tend to be cyclical for a whole…
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Switch Rods and Heads – Sage TCX and Rio Steelhead Scandi
Last weekend at IFTD we told you a little bit about two new products in the world of spey – TCX switch rods from Sage, and Steelhead Scandi heads from Rio. We thought they were both pretty interesting, so we asked George Cook, Pacific Northwest angling stalwart, to make a few casts at the spey…
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