Suddenly it burst into a fit of short erratic runs before abruptly stopping again to resume its arrhythmic convulsions. Finally I saw it writhing below us, a brilliant streak of silver flashing in the black tea stained water. It was a Dolly Varden! And it was big.

This is the epitome of fly fishing distilled down to its finest form. To use light tackle, to fish a dry on the water’s surface, sighting fish, making a precise cast to the one you want and watching as it comes willingly to your fly.

Is it worth going the distance? Absolutely. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I have a hundred memories of rainbow trout that were fooled by the mouse, so many now that it is hard to select one that stands out in my mind. I’ve seen days when the trout fishing was so good we all lost count before breaking for lunch.

Chum salmon are truly bare-knuckle brawlers when hooked, testing the limits of any rod in the 6 – 8wt range. I’ve seen more rods snap when the unwitting angler underestimated just how powerful these fish are, the second largest of all Pacific Salmon.

Our Socially Distant campaign originated out of sarcasm and satire, but it didn’t take long to figure out how compatible the concept truly is with wild, remote Alaska. It also didn’t take much longer to realize the contrary is so blatantly obvious.

Welcome back for the fifth installment of Machete’s Guide Gear Talk! So far we’ve talked fly fishing trip clothing, fly rods for OUTPOST, plus which reels and lines are best suited for anyone fishing at either of our two remote …

Welcome back! In the last segment of Machete’s Guide Gear Talk we discussed fly reels. Before that we talked about fly rods for our OUTPOST camp. Now we’ll talk about choosing an appropriate fly line for your remote fly fishing …

Welcome back! In the last segment of Machete’s Guide Gear Talk we discussed fly rod recommendations for our first remote fly fishing camp, OUTPOST. Here we’ll dive into a general discussion about which reel will go best with your rod. …

If I’ve learned anything after spending my last three summers guiding in Alaska it’s this: good equipment matters.