The Arctic Grayling (Thymallus arcticus) is one of the most beautiful freshwater fish found in Alaska. Arctic Grayling have the largest natural range of any sport fish, occupying nearly the whole state of Alaska. Arctic Grayling achieve a wide array of colors. Coloration can vary from stream to stream. Their dorsal fins are typically fringed…
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Trout
Rapids Camp Lodge 2021 July Availability
As the summer fishing season approaches, our team at Rapids Camp Lodge continues to make preparations for another fantastic year in Bristol Bay. Most of the weeks throughout our season are already at capacity, however, we still have limited space in the first three weeks of July, which is an amazing time to come fishing…
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Deneki Chronicles: Trout Fishing-Hold On To Your Hook Set
Today we present you with a simple tip that we’ve seen learned the hard way on, not one, but many heartbreaking occasions. When fishing for trout, particularly when fishing sub-surface flies from a drifting boat, most successful anglers agree that the most effective method of hooking fish on flies you can’t see is by setting…
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Deneki Chronicles: Sight Fishing for Trout
We’re really lucky to have an extremely diverse trout fishery at Alaska West. It’s not uncommon during any part of our season to catch trout by swinging flies, stripping streamers, dead drifting sub-surface patterns, or skating mouse flies on top. However, one of our favorite ways to target big leopard rainbows is by sight fishing…
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Advanced Bead Fishing for Trout: Matching Bead to Hook Size
With it being mega rainbow season here in Alaska, specifically at Rapids Camp Lodge on the Naknek River, this is the second post this week on advanced bead fishing tips. You can find the post on advanced bead fishing for rainbow trout about matching the egg-hatch here. Both of these posts are courtesy of Rapids…
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Swinging for Naknek Rainbows – Video
Fall on the Naknek River, home to our Rapids Camp Lodge, is a trout-spey angler’s dream. In fact, we’d go so far as to say you’d be hard pressed to find a better river to chase trophy-sized resident trout with spey rods anywhere else in the world. How good could it really be you ask?…
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How Close can you get to your Target? Trout Fishing Edition..
This is an important criteria to consider regardless of your target species. Ideally you want to stand as close to the fish as possible without spooking them. But what controls this distance? There are a range of factors and we break them down here. Water clarity. Are you fishing a shallow spring creek or a…
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Early Season Alaska, More than just Kings!
When our Alaska guests think of June in the Last Frontier one species immediately jumps into their mind, the mighty King Salmon. This is for good reason. We love to target these beast with a range of different fishing techniques and are lucky to be able to do so on some of the best King…
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Under Appreciated Food Source for Trout // The Crane Fly
On most productive trout streams, the food menu throughout the year can be intimidating. From the big three aquatic insects (mayflies, caddisflies, and stoneflies), to crustaceans, terrestrials, midges, and even other fish. Just walk into any Western fly shop and you will see an overwhelming amount of fly bins, all filled with different imitations. One…
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ANGLER AWARENESS : Why Are Felt-Sole Boots Banned in Alaska?
In 2012 the Alaska Department of Fish and Game passed a regulation that banned all felt or other “absorbent fibrous materials” on boot soles while sport fishing in the fresh waters of the state. It has been almost 7 years since this regulation was first passed, is it still in effect? The answer is yes…
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