We tell people all the time at our lodges, especially our female guests, that women typically make better fly casters than men do. Sorry fellas, but that’s the truth. Good casting results from a smooth application of power, not brute force and therefore, women tend to pick it up a little faster. Oddly enough however,…
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Trout
Stu’s Quick-Tie Sculpin Tube Fly – Tying Instructions
When we asked you, what you would like to see more of on our blog, many of you suggested we run more step by step fly tying posts. Some of you were a little more specific, requesting tying instructions on some of our favorite sculpin patterns. A few of you even requested information on tying…
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Reading Trout Water – Simplified
How to identify those areas most likely to hold fish, aka reading water, is one of the most requested topics our humble little blog receives each year. It’s no surprise however, reading water well is a skill that requires countless hours on the water to posses. It can be an extremely complex subject.. Entire books have been…
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The Reach Mend
Manipulating the fly line so that your fly behaves correctly in the current is one of the most important skills an angler can master. Its called mending, and its one of the many techniques perfected by that 10% of anglers that catch 90% of the fish. Most of us understand the importance of mending line when fishing moving water (if not, click…
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Streamer Fishing for Trout – 5 Techniques
Yesterday marked the first official day of Autumn here in the northern hemisphere, and for many of us, that means streamer season. Fall spawning trout (brook and brown trout) are most territorial during this time, rainbow trout are on the prowl for large food items to fatten up for the long winter ahead, and as always, the…
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Pre-Rigging Nymph Rigs
Whether dead drifting flesh and egg patterns or tandem nymph rigs, if you’re not breaking off flies, odds are you’re not fishing deep enough. There’s no question that nymphing for trout is effective. However, it can be frustrating having to constantly re-rig new flies, tippet, and split shot every time you set the hook on…
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Nymphing For Trout: Hook Sets Are Free!
When fishing for trout in Western Alaska, we dead drift a lot of sub surface patterns in search of the big boys. The majority of a trout’s diet is found near the bottom of the water column. Therefore, nymphing is essential to consistently hooking trout. While most of the time we fish flesh and egg…
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Retrieving the Mouse Fly
Mousing for trout in western Alaska is about as cool as it gets. We’re not talking about strapping on the headlamp for night time browns or waiting for a “mouse hatch” every seven years (although they both sound awesome as well!), we’re talking about chucking big gnarly mammal imitations day in and day out to…
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Trout in Low Water
Summertime in Southern Chile means hot weather and that can mean low water and higher water temperatures. Places that hold fish in higher water can be void of fish. When water temperatures are high, fish will seek out cooler, more oxygenated water – typically the faster water. Riffles and pocket water are good places to find fish during…
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Mending – The Finish Line
We’re wrapping up our mini-series on mending your fly line. Written by Chris Price, our manager at Chile West, this group of posts so far has covered an introduction to mending, Belly, How to Lift and Lay, and Nymphing and the Complete Mend. Today we’re putting it all together to fish a complex current well, by mending well!…
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