Most premium fishing pliers these days are built to withstand a lifetime of abuse (such as these, or these). However, it seems like we’re always scrounging around for replacement lanyard bungees to keep our pliers from falling into the drink. So, today we present you with a super clever way to make your own lanyard bungees,…
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universal tips
Fly Tying Tip – Cheap and Easy Bodkin Cleaner
There’s a lot of different fly tying tools out there, but if you’ve spent any time at all hunched over the tying vise, odds are you own a bodkin or two. You know, that little needle like tool. The bodkin might be the simplest tool of all time, but nonetheless its pretty handy for everything…
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Carry a Permanent Marker
The ability to adapt to changing conditions is often the key to success on the water. Although we’d all love to have every fly, gadget, or gizmo with us to tackle anything mother nature throws at us, it’s not necessary, not to mention expensive! So, today we offer you some super simple advice to help…
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Frozen Rod Guides – Try Lip Balm
With a daily high of a whopping 13 degrees Fahrenheit outside our Anchorage office, we’re starting to come to terms that winter is upon us. For many of us, winter brings fishing conditions that are far from ideal. Although, winter fly fishing in cold-weather climates can have its perks, such as less crowds and fish…
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Keep Your Fly in the Water
One of the universal truths in fly fishing, regardless of what species you are pursuing, is the longer your fly is in the water, the greater chance you have to catch fish. After all, a fly in the air catches no fish. With that said, we haven’t mastered the art of ‘shadow casting’ yet.. And we’ve seen…
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Keep Your Hands on the Cork
Most modern fly rods are well engineered pieces of equipment, and contrary to popular belief, they rarely break on their own. Often times an errant fly or a slight nick from the gunwale of a boat is actually the culprit of a rod that surprisingly ‘breaks for no reason.’ With that said, we’d be lying if…
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Removing a Hook From Your Skin
If you fish often enough, it’s only a matter of time before you are faced with having to remove a hook from either yourself or a fellow angler. Safely removing a hook is actually quite simple, but we’ve found that many anglers do not know how, or are unsure of the method they’ve heard of…
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The Tool Every Angler Should Have On Them (But Probably Doesn’t)
For the most part, fly fisherman are gear heads.. and we’re certainly no exception! The amount of gadgets and gizmos on the market for today’s techie fly fisherman are endless. However, we are always surprised with the number of guests we fish with who have everything imaginable in their vest or pack EXCEPT a hook…
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‘Wind’ Knot in Your Leader? Don’t Neglect It!
It’s safe to say that there’s no such thing as a ‘wind’ knot. Blaming the wind for the knots found in your leader is nothing more than excuse for a few common casting flaws. Nonetheless, knots find their way into the leaders of even the best casters from time to time, so to protect our ego, we…
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Universal Fly Fishing Tip – Soak Your Fly
Today we present you with a common sense, yet not so commonly practiced tip courtesy of Alaska West guide, Grant Turner. If you’ve ever spent a day in Grant’s boat, odds are after tying on a fresh new fly you’ve heard him say, “tea-bag your fly!” In other words, soak your fly until it is…
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