Jason Koertge has caught a lot of fish on swung flies. Besides having landed 52% of the kings and steelhead that have swum into Oregon since 2003, Jason has also chased kings with us on the Kanektok and the Dean as well. Needless to say, he’s learned a lot in the process, and in particular…
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Timeless Tip Tuesday
Timeless Tips: Point Your Rod at That Bonefish
We’ve gone on a few diatribes over the years about how to set the hook on a bonefish – here’s our most thorough post on the topic. One of the points that we stress the most (partly because we’re all guilty of screwing it up from time to time) is the importance of keeping your…
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Timeless Tips: Spey Fishing – Finish Your Swing with Some Action
Here’s a scenario that most two handed anglers can relate to; You’ve made a nice cast to the opposite bank, kicked over a big mend, and stepped down the run setting up your swing to perfection. Your fly tracks through the gut of the run at that magical speed at what you’re confident is the…
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Timeless Tips: 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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Timeless Tips: Skagit Casting – Keep Your Hands Close
When you’re making spey casts in the Skagit style, try to keep your hands as close to your body as possible! Ed Ward, long-time guide at Alaska West and one of the fathers of Skagit-style spey casting, has been called “the man who can spey cast inside a phone booth”. That’s a bit of an…
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Timeless Tips: 6 Tips for Landing Big Fish
A while back we ran a post on the top 5 mistakes made fighting big fish, where we highlighted some of the most common mistakes we see at our lodges in Alaska and British Columbia when fighting big fish like steelhead and salmon. However, fighting fish well does not always put the fish in the net. In…
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Timeless Tips: 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 5 ways you can make yourself into a ‘greater’ trout angler in our part of the world. Mend less. Our…
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Timeless Tips: Fly Casting for Distance
Let’s face it.. We all want to know how to cast further. Regardless of whether it’s necessary to catch fish or not, casting a bunch of line is just plain fun, and certainly a skill worth aspiring to. Rarely do fish in our neck of the woods require really long casts, but the ability to…
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Timeless Tips: Active Swinging Techniques for Trout
When swinging flies for species like steelhead or king salmon, more often than not a slow uniform swing is best. Rarely do salmon and/or steelhead actively feed upon first entering freshwater. Therefore, a slow uniform swing swept past the nose of the fish is usually the most likely presentation to elicit a strike. The take may…
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Timeless Tips: The Best Time to Go Fishing in Alaska
When talking to folks about fly fishing in Alaska, inevitably we get asked the question, “what’s the best time to go fishing in Alaska?” Unlike other fisheries the ‘best time’ to go fishing in Alaska is extremely dependent on your own interests and goals. Our Alaskan seasons are extremely diverse – There is no ‘best time’ per…
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