In less than two weeks we’re going to be kicking off our seasons in Alaska and British Columbia. With it comes the year’s return of ocean fresh chinook. So, in light of their return we offer a simple tip practiced by most experienced chinook anglers.. When you land a nice fish, celebrate, but get back…
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swinging flies
Spey Fishing Roundup
Our summer seasons in Alaska and British Columbia are just around the corner. That means it won’t be long before we’re swinging flies for ocean bright anadramous critters. When it comes to steelhed and salmon (and heck, trout for that matter) we really love spey fishing. We know a lot of you do too, so…
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Stuart Foxall’s King Rig
If you’re a regular to our humble little blog, odds are you’ve heard the name Stuart Foxall before. Stu is a professional fly designer for Aqua Flies as well as part of Loop Tackle’s development team. You could say he knows a thing or two about swinging flies for big, bright, anadramous fish. In fact,…
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Prime King Salmon Spots at Alaska West
As far as we’re concerned, when it comes to fly fishing, swinging flies for big, bright, sea-lice ridden king salmon is as good as it gets. At Alaska West, we’re extremely fortunate to be located on arguably one of the best rivers to target king salmon on the fly in the entire world – and…
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Hoh Bo Spey Tube Fly – Tying Instructions
A while back, Stuart Foxall presented us with step by step tying instructions for Charles St. Pierre’s Hoh Bo Spey – An absolute deadly pattern for steelhead and salmon. Today, Stu’s back again with another great step by step on how to tie the Hoh Bo Spey – This time, on a tube! Enjoy! Hoh…
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Swinging for Kings – The Broadside Presentation
We love swinging flies for anadramous fish, and we do a lot of it at our lodges in Alaska and British Columbia. However, swinging flies effectively often takes more than simply casting across the river and letting your line swing on through.. After all, it’s how your fly swims, not your line, that matters most. With…
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Spey Casting – Pull More, Push Less
We do a lot of spey fishing at our lodges in Alaska and British Columbia, and by far one of the most common mistakes we see spey anglers make on a day to day basis is not using enough bottom hand on the forward cast. At one time or another, every beginning spey caster has heard, “pull…
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Underdog
In case you weren’t aware, yesterday was National Underdog Day. Seriously folks, we couldn’t make this stuff up. So, in light of this major holiday (insert sarcastic tone), we’re coming at you with a photo of one of the biggest underdogs of them all, the chum salmon. During the first half of our season at Alaska…
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Spey Fishing from a Boat
We really love working our way down a run on foot, swinging flies, and catching big fish like king salmon on spey rods. Who wouldn’t, right? At Alaska West, we’re really lucky in that our fishery is about as perfect as it gets for swinging flies – long, lazy, low gradient runs made up of big…
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Swinging for Trout – The Tumble Rig
We really enjoy swinging flies for trout on small spey or switch rods. Here at Alaska West, that usually means swinging large sculpin or flesh flies on or near the bottom. In other words, getting your fly down is often the name of the game. Earlier this year, we were fortunate to spend a week…
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