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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Trout
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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5 Tips for Catching Educated Trout
I believe all fish are smart. If they weren’t, they’d be dead. With that being said, I think a fish being educated is different than a fish being smart. An educated fish (or trout for the sake of this article) is one that deals with a lot of angling pressure. As the popularity of fly…
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5 Favorite BWO patterns
In trout streams across the country (unfortunately neglecting Alaska as we are a couple months behind everyone) the spring thaw brings about a favorite food for the river’s residents, the Blue Winged Olive. A member of the mayfly genus Baetis, once the water temps get above 40 degrees, these little grey sailboats start to hatch…
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Fishing Winter Rivers in Low Flows
We are in that tough time of year where Alaska is entering a deep freeze and thoughts of Andros are the only thing keeping us warm. Depending on where you live, there can still be some great fishing options in the form of winter trout streams. One variable most all rivers have in common during…
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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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Timeless Tips: 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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Buzzer Beater!
Last week we informed you that we were wrapping up the last fishing day of our 2018 season at Alaska West, mostly to say thanks to all of you who made it such a memorable season. In case you missed it, and joined us on the Kanektok this season, well, thanks! We may have jumped…
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Set Towards the Tail
Today we address one of the most common mistakes we see made on the river; setting the hook in the wrong direction. When fishing in moving water, the direction in which your rod tip moves when lifting the rod to set the hook can be the difference between a fish that makes it to the…
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Guide Poll: Favorite Way to Target Rainbow Trout
One thing we love about our native Alaskan rainbows (aside from their size, beauty, and aggressive nature, of course) is that we get to target them using a bunch of wild techniques that you might not otherwise get to try in other parts of the world. From skating rodent imitations, to stripping ridiculously large streamers,…
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