Trip Summary Detals

A Father and Son Alaskan Adventure
By Ken Morrish

Truth be told, I had been looking forward to and planning this trip for many years. I have known Mike Trotter, owner of Baranof Wilderness Lodge and Justin Johns of Fishing Bear Lodge for years, and while I have always wanted to pay them each a visit, I really wanted to wait until my son Max was old enough join me. So this August, a week after Max's 10th birthday, we set off on a trip that will forever remain a hard one to beat.

Chapter One - Fishing Bear Lodge:

We began by flying to Dillingham, Alaska and then on to Justin John’s Fishing Bear Lodge. Located in the heart of the Wood/Tikchik State Park and Togiak Wildlife Refuge, Fishing Bear Lodge is a modest “mini-lodge” that is very well run and very reasonably priced. Taking no more than eight anglers per week,  the lodge provides access to a wonderful variety of wilderness creeks and rivers by jet boat. On Max's first cast of the trip, he hooked a big rainbow that thrashed his knuckles and eventually broke him off. Max then managed to break off three big char in a row, and then he hooked another fish he swore was “huge”. Roughly ten minutes later, the guides netted something they had never seen before; a 25 inch arctic char and a 19 inch char on a single hook! Welcome to Alaska!

My hope for Fishing Bear was that it would be a place where Max could learn some skills and be rewarded for his efforts and at the same time experience the wilds of Alaska. Ultimately, it was a great deal more. Max learned how to sight cast dry flies to huge grayling, how to indicator fish and even how to sight cast and strip flies for pike. By day three Max had developed the skill to sight cast, hook and land super hot rainbows over 20 inches. He even got so close to a 1,600 pound bull moose that he hit it with a rock! Kulik Creek, which flows out of the surreal spires of the Wind River range, was gorgeous and such great sight fishing for big grayling that we had to go back for a second visit.

Fishing Bear Lodge was everything we expected and more.  The distinct family feel and accommodating staff made the experience all the richer.  We felt like we were  "roughing it" and it  was a perfect complement to the spectacular scenery and fishing. For fathers and sons or entire families wanting to step into the Alaskan Wilderness with both feet, I can’t imagine a more perfect setting or a more diverse selection of quality wilderness fisheries. I will definitely be heading back, I hope with the entire family.

Chapter Two - Baranof Wilderness Lodge:

From Dillingham Max and I flew to Sitka, hopped on an amphibious float plane for a scenic flight across the island’s peaks and ice fields. We landed in the protected waters of Warm Springs Bay right in front of Baranof Wilderness Lodge. A hard place to describe, Baranof Wilderness Lodge has a massive waterfall crashing into the sea, schools of salmon breaking the surface, and natural hot spring surrounded by forested peaks. It's not hard to figure out why Mike Trotter built his lodge here. Back in the days of prohibition, this place was booming with a small mill, a large still, and a brothel. Today less than 30 people live here but pleasure cruisers and commercial fishing boats often anchor here for a soak in the hot springs.

Trotter runs one of those operations that is really hard to improve upon -- spotless boats and an immaculate dock, a smiling staff who knows your name before you get off the plane, fabulous food that showcases the bounty of the surrounding sea, and lots of things to do for every guest.  With conventional fishing for salmon, halibut and rockfish, it is by no means a typical Fly Water destination but there is some great fly fishing for pacific salmon, abundant Dolly Varden and cutthroat trout. The real beauty of it all is that regardless of skill level, visitors here will all have great fishing and a comfortable interface with the spectacular scenery and wildlife that Alaska is famous for.

Our first day out we crossed the Chatham Straits in a big boat and then hit the tides right to get into a seldom fished system on Admiralty Island. There were thousands of pinks swarming around and the river was packed with fish. We hiked way up the river and the only prints we found were from the numerous bears cruising the river. We crushed Dollies up to 20 inches on wets and skated dry flies, saw bears and eagles and had a blast. The following day we went salt water fishing and my son put the hurt on the halibut, landing one that weighed as much as he did. We caught a few nice coho as well. We saw roughly 30 humpback whales that day and knocked off fishing early to watch them feed and breech. It was an awesome experience for all of us. On the way back to the lodge we also paid a visit to a huge sea lion colony. Our last morning we fished rockfish with flies and light spin tackle and had a great time.

All and all it was a real treat and I cannot say I have ever been to better run operation. Also I must admit that showing up at home with 40 pounds of fresh halibut for the freezer was pretty good, even for a catch and release snob like me. All the stories have made my wife quite jealous --especially all the whale watching -- so next time we will visit with the entire family and maybe even invite the grandparents.