Sparkles, kicking things off. Photo: Louis Cahill

It’s a beautiful day on South Andros.  You’ve made the run to the morning’s flat of choice.  Your guide pulls up to shallow water so you can hop out and start wading.

The wind is light and the visibility is fantastic.  What will this flat bring?

What Happens Next

• Wading for Bonefish
• Fighting Bonefish
• Nice Fish, Gary

Don’t forget your waders. Photo: Cameron Miller

Headed on a fishing trip to Alaska, the Bahamas or British Columbia any time soon?  Great – we have trip planners and packing lists that can help you prepare.

If you’d headed to one of our lodges, these documents were put together with you in mind.  If you’re visiting some of our friends in the industry instead, no worries!  Grab them anyhow – we hope there’s something in there you find useful.

Alaska

Alaska Fly Fishing Trip Packing List

Alaska West Trip Planner

Bahamas

Bahamas Bonefishing Trip Packing List

Andros South Trip Planner

British Columbia

British Columbia Fly Fishing Trip Packing List

BC West Trip Planner

More on Preparing for Your Trip

• Bonefishing Trip Prep Roundup
• Tim Rajeff on Casting Practice
• 13 Things to Bring on Your Fishing Trip

More is better.

Fishing for steelhead is fun.  Catching steelhead is even more fun.

Here are 6 ways you can can more steelhead on flies.  Let us know how you catch more!

6 Ways to Catch More Steelhead

1. Fish the near water first.  Steelhead can hold in really shallow water, really close to the bank.  Always fish the near water before you go tromping through it.
2. Fight them hard.  The longer the fight lasts, the higher the chances of the hook pulling or the leader breaking or the line getting wrapped around a root wad.  Shorter fights are easier on the fish too.
3. Keep your fly in the water.  Don’t waste time constantly changing flies or tips or trying to hit the perfect cast.  Especially that last one – if your cast doesn’t sail exactly as you imagined, just mend it out, fish it as best you can, and keep on moving.
4. Be patient on the hang-down.  Hang-down eats are tough – if you get a grab directly below you, it’s probably best to let the fish grab it and run.  More here.
5. Actively fish your fly.  Don’t just wing it out there and wait.  More here.
6. Believe!  Never, ever lose the faith.

What else do you do to catch more steelhead?  Leave a comment and let us know.

More on Steelhead Fishing

• Steelhead Rig Roundup
• Tube Flies – Why We Like ‘Em
• Favorite Trailer Hooks

Up the lazy river… Photo: Cameron Miller

The Kanektok River, our home at Alaska West, is what we often call a ‘low-gradient’ river.  Flipping through the Deneki photo archives this week, we came across this picture that does a pretty cool job explaining what that means.

Down in the left quarter of the picture you can barely make out our camp – that collection of tents and buildings you see on the far bank of the closest bend in the river.  Off in the distance you see ‘the mountains’, about 30 miles away.

We fish the bottom 18 miles of the Kanektok, and around our part of the river the landscape is flat – it’s wide open coastal tundra.  The river meanders back and forth a lot, because there’s not a lot of elevation loss per river mile.

The river has a ‘historical channel’ that it rarely leaves year over year, but inside that big channel, it bounces around a lot.  What was a gravel bar last year might be underwater this year, and vice versa.  New braids and channels split off, merge, form out of nothing, go away…every year!

That’s one of the reasons we love our home river – she’s an incredible resource, but a little bit different every year, and we like it like that.

More on Alaska West

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Best Time to Go Fishing in Alaska
• Comfortable, Casual Accommodations

Freddy is happy. Photo: Gary Davisson

Greg Davisson and his dad Gary are great long-time friends and guests at Alaska West and Andros South.

Earlier this month they joined us on Andros, and among other critters Greg caught this dandy of a barracuda.  No, that’s not a fly in its mouth.

Nice ‘cuda, Greg!  We look forward to seeing you guys again.

More on Barracuda at Andros South

• Presenting Flies to Barracuda
• Barracuda Flies for the Bahamas
• Bruce Chard’s Barracuda Rig

60 seconds well spent.

Today it’s time for another update on the Pebble Mine saga – this is a great chance for you to help, and it’ll only take a minute of your time.

The EPA has released the second draft of their Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment, and they’re seeking public comment.  The EPA has the ability to decide that Bristol Bay is not the place for a giant open pit mine, and you can add your voice to the conversation.

Click right here for a quick and easy way to make your voice heard via email.  You have until May 31st, but why not do it right now?

Thanks!

More on Conservation

• 7 Ways to Treat Your Fish Better
• Lani Waller Audio Book
• Fishing for Science

We don’t understand it but we like it. Photo: Louis Cahill

We go out of our way to post pictures from the Bahamas that include deep blue skies, brilliant orange sunsets and rich green palm trees.

Here’s a very different look for you!  This is not your every day black and white photo – Louis Cahill shot it with an infrared camera.  You photography buffs will know what that means for real…we just know it means a very cool new way to look at something we see every day.

More on Andros Island

• West Side Tarpon
• 5 Things You Might Not Know About Andros South
• Lots of Wading

Angler and King. Photo: Cameron Miller

With our summer seasons at Alaska West and BC West right around the corner, we thought we’d hit you with some articles loaded with salmon fishing tips.

We cover kings (chinooks), silvers (cohos) and chums (dogs) – the titles are all pretty self-explanatory.

Have fun out there!

Salmon Fly Fishing Tips

• Swinging Flies for Kings – 10 Tips
• How to Catch Silver Salmon
• 5 Ways to Catch More King Salmon
• 6 Ways to Catch More Silver Salmon
• Chum Salmon Techniques from Brian Niska

More on Salmon Fishing

• You’re Probably Not Up for Dean Chinooks
• The Best Silver Salmon Fishing in the World
• King Salmon at Alaska West

Spey women rule.  Photo: Bill Lenehan

Whitney Gould is a master spey caster and guide, and we’re really happy to have her back at Alaska West this summer.

Thanks to Whitney for this great overview of spey line selection, and the best applications for Skagit and Scandi heads!

Keeping it Simple

The phone rings, and when I answer my Mom’s voice blares, “Your brother is getting married.  You better get a dress. We’ll see you Thursday before the wedding”. (As though my brother didn’t already tell me, and I don’t know to show up dressed for the occasion!). But to my mom’s credit, as a guide living in my waders, I didn’t exactly have the appropriate attire.

So, I walk into the store and am immediately greeted by the perfect pair of boots. Wait. It’s a summer wedding, but I dreamily eye the boots, they’re perfect! Buying one-time-use items such as a pair of wedding appropriate high heels is outrageous in my line of work, but boots? That’s a different ball game; I can wear those to the boat launch.

Better focus. Brother’s June beach wedding, mom’s deadly gaze – that equals functional and practical shoes. Better keep it simple. I walk out of the store, bummed, with less money, and dangling a pair of plain black heels. It’s all about keeping it simple.

Fly fishing is the same (or should be). For my first timer clients interested in discovering how two handed fishing relates to them, I provide rod size and line configuration options, giving them the correct tools to be semi successful fishing the two-handed game for the first time. They often read on the internet about Skagit and Scandi casting, but the mixed messages, conflicting information, and stout devotees to either side totally confuse the majority of newcomers into the sport of Spey.

There are few anglers who understand the nuances and differences between Skagit and Scandi (Scandinavian) heads, and fewer still that know there are times that a Spey caster can use both. An angler needs to meet the fishing challenges with the appropriate tools required to get the job done and, in an ideal world, a caster adjusts the tools to the conditions they are fishing.

Skagit Heads and Lines

The most current, popular tools used at Alaska West are Skagit-style shooting heads. RIO’s Skagit Flight, IFlights and Skagit Shorts are the line of choice for many who enjoy a sustained anchor cast (casts that are associated with Skagit casting). Skagit heads tend to be thicker and offer more water resistance to get a better load on the two-handed fly rod. The line design aides the mantra, “it takes mass to move mass”. There is more mass in an equally sized Skagit head than that of a Scandinavian style heads, which is what helps Skagit lines throw large, heavy flies and tips. Density of the fly and sink tip is what sinks the fly. When lining your favorite rod, remember to match the line (head) to the rod and the tip to the line and fishery and the current fishing conditions.

Scandi Heads and Lines

Scandi Lines, on the other hand, are designed to throw smaller flies. They are a great line design for “airborne anchor” casts – casts such as the single spey and snake roll, and they are fun and enjoyable to perform. Scandi heads, such as RIO’s Steelhead Scandi, AFS and Scandi Short VersiTip lines, are thinner in diameter (particularly at the front end) and have a long front taper that allows the energy to unroll easily and efficiently to the end.

Line Selection

As with most things in life there are exceptions to every rule. An angler can quite easily use a Scandi head for sustained anchor casts, or fish a floating tip on a Skagit head and smaller flies. However, using the most suitably designed line for particular conditions will generally pay off best, and make casting and catching fish a whole lot easier.

I like to keep it simple and recommend to my clients that they utilize the relevant tips that are designed to complement the various Skagit and Scandi heads. I would suggest investing in a set of MOW Tips for Skagit heads and a set of Spey VersiLeaders for when fishing Scandi style heads. With the right balance of head and tips, you know that your gear is set up with every chance of success.

More on Spey Fishing

• Our Giant Spey Fishing Resource Page
• Spey Fishing at Alaska West
• Whitney Video on Snap T Basics

Looking for bonefish out West.

At Andros South our guests are often surprised at how often we fish the West Side of Andros Island.  It’s an amazing fishery, our access is really easy, and fishing on the West Side is a totally normal part of our fishing program.

More on those points!

An Amazing Fishery

The West Side of South Andros (that’s the part of Andros south of the South Bight) is completely uninhabited.  The island itself in this area is really a gigantic mangrove swamp – there’s very little land here that would support buildings, let alone roads.  It’s remote, pristine and beautiful.

No one knows why, but there are a lot of very big bonefish on the West Side.  Very few fish over here are less than a few pounds, many are in the high single digits, and there are definitely fish in the mid double digits.

Bonefish on the West Side tend to travel in smaller groups – singles and small groups up to 5 or 6 fish make up the bulk of the shots over here.  Unlike some other parts of our fishery, we don’t see many huge groups of bonefish.  This makes the West Side particularly attractive to more experienced anglers – big, smart fish in small groups mean good shots help.

Besides bonefish, the ocean teems with life on the West Side.  This is where we see most of our tarpon.  Sharks, turtles, sponges, you name it – it’s a big, healthy chunk of ocean.

Easy Access

Unlike almost every other lodge on Andros Island, at Andros South our access to the West Side is simple, smooth and pretty darned close.  We launch our boats every day at the mouth of Little Creek, which provides access to the West Side through the middle of South Andros Island.

The path to the West Side goes over shallow water.  It’s protected from the wind since it’s not wide open water like in the Bights of Andros.  Getting to the beginning of the West Side from our boat launch takes about 30 minutes most days.  Now the fishery over there is massive so you might run further than that, but there are no hour-plus, pounding boat rides involved here.

There are sometimes days on which recent wind has blown the water out of Little Creek, meaning that we can’t make it through to the West Side.  But overall, we have at least some anglers fishing on the West Side on about 75% of our fishing days.

It’s a totally normal part of our fishing program.

Totally Normal Part of Our Fishing Program

This is such a surprise to most folks that we’re pounding you over the head with it.

Fishing on the West Side is a totally normal part of our fishing program.

• There’s no extra charge.
• It doesn’t need to be scheduled in advance.
• There’s no long, pounding open-water boat ride.
• We fish on the West Side on about 75% of our fishing days.

We love the West Side, and we fish it all the time!

More on Our Fishing Program at Andros South

• Longer Fishing Days
• Join Us As a Single
• Multi-Species Flats Tourney – Why Not?