Over the past few seasons, mild winters and reasonably dry summers have made for some low water conditions on our home river at Alaska West. However, this year we’ve been experiencing significantly higher water levels of late, and we really dig it! Due to a few substantial rain (and even hail) storms, we’ve seen a couple…
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Trout
Flesh Hatch
The flesh fly is a staple in any Alaskan trout fly box. Throughout the majority of the summer, our trout love to gorge themselves on chunks of salmon flesh – Big flesh, small flesh, fresh flesh, dead flesh.. You name it, there’s a time and place for each. That’s ‘matching the hatch’ in our neck of the…
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Eric Robbin’s Nymphing Rig
Last week, we presented you a clever way to rig up when digging deep for western Alaska rainbows shown to us by Alaska West guide Eric Robbins (in case you missed it, check it out here!). In fact, we liked it so much that we asked him to give us all the nitty gritty details of…
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Alaska Style Nymphing with Palsa Pinch-On Strike Indicators
We love fishing dry flies for trout as much as the next guy (ahem, that means rodents in our neck of the woods), but the fact remains that the a vast majority of a trout’s diet actually exists sub-surface. Therefore, if catching a lot of fish is your prerogative, nymphing is hard to beat. While…
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3 Slack-Line Presentations Every Trout Angler Should Know
As most effective trout anglers know, a well executed drift is far more important than a perfect cast. Whether we want our fly to drift naturally in the current, or swing through the water column at a particular depth, this is best achieved by mending – That is, repositioning the line on the water after the…
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7-Weights for Alaskan Trout
Ask any group anglers, “what’s your favorite trout rod,” and odds are you’ll hear of a wealth of different makes and models, somewhere in the 3 – 6 weight range. That’s because rods in the 3 – 6 weight range cover a whole bunch of trouty applications from presenting tiny flies on spooky spring creeks to banging…
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Trout Spey Retrieve Methods – Video
Swinging flies for trout on light weight two-handers has gained quite a bit of popularity over the last few years, and for good reason.. It’s super fun! In a lot of ways, spey fishing for trout is very similar to swinging flies for salmon and steelhead. The casting is nearly identical, and most of the…
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The Not-So-Secret Secret to Catching More Trout
Want the secret to catching more trout? Here it is – Show your fly to as many fish as possible. Okay, we all know there’s more to it than that, but if there’s one universal truth in fly fishing it’s this; the more fish that see your fly, the more fish you’re going to catch. Period….
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Popular Posts on Winter Fly Fishing
We might be hiding out in the Bahamas, but that doesn’t mean our hats aren’t off to all of you out there planning to get after it this winter. Winter will be here before you know it, and while it might not fit the description of perfect fishing conditions, fly fishing in the winter can…
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We Love Our Trout
It’s been a while since we showed some love for our leopard rainbow trout, so today we’re coming at you with nothing but a cool photo of one of our favorite fish from Alaska West. Go ahead, try to count the spots. More on Trout Fishing Fishing Techniques for Western Alaska Trout How to Fish…
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