For our final day at Alaska’s Tikchik Narrows Lodge, stayed on the lakes with guide Will Paul, with the goal of catching a big char and a few northern pike. We set up in the narrows, right next to the lodge, as a chill wind blew down from Nuyakuk Lake. The . . .
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Tikchik Narrows Lodge, Day Five: Creek Walking
For our fifth day at Alaska’s Tikchik Narrows Lodge, guide Will Paul planned a cool adventure: “creek walking” in Tikchik State Park. Our targets were migratory rainbows, which should be just coming into the small river in anticipation of the sockeye . . .
Read MoreTikchik Narrows Lodge, Day Four: The Char Hop
Day Four at Tikchik Narrows Lodge featured no fog, but reports of plenty of wind in other location came over the radio. Our plan was to engage in a “Char Hop,” in which we would fly around to different drainages to see how many char were stacked at . . .
Read MoreTikchik Narrows Lodge, Day Two: The Pak
Day Two at Tikchik Narrows Lodge began with a short but glorious flight southward to Lake Beverley, where our guide, Brendan Heselton, was waiting for us. We loaded up the jet boat and headed across the lake to its outlet. The plan was to fish both ends . . .
Read MoreTikchik Narrows Lodge, Day One: The Noosh
When you first set eyes on Tikchik Narrows from the air, as the floatplane prepares to land, you’re struck by the incredible scale of the landscape that surrounds it. Perched on a peninsula between Tikchik and Nuyakuk Lakes in western Bristol Bay, the lodge . . .
Read MoreA Combined 81 Years of Experience is a Sign of This Group’s Passion for Guide Life in Bristol Bay
When most fly fishers think about the life of a guide in Alaska, it seems like the best job in the world, but any guide in Bristol Bay will tell you that the lifestyle isn’t easy. From June 1st through September 15th, there are no days off. Whether it’s camping on . . .
Read MoreWednesday Wake-Up Call: 01.31.24
Welcome to the latest installment of the Wednesday Wake-Up Call, a roundup of the most pressing conservation issues important to anglers. Working with our friends at Trout Unlimited, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the Theodore Roosevelt . . .
Read MoreWednesday Wake-Up Call: 11.29.23
We live in a sound-bite culture, so here is a rare opportunity to get a concise, in-depth analysis of an important issue. In this video, Cameron Sabin of the National Park Diaries YouTube channel explains what the proposed project is, its recent . . .
Read MoreClassic Story: Patience Pays Off in Alaska
The huge rainbows that Alaska is famous for are not always easy to catch.
All photos by Jeremy Kehrein
In early July 1995, I was guiding two of my favorite clients of all time—a father-and-son team from Annapolis, Maryland—on the Copper River, which drains into Alaska’s Lake Iliamna. Tom and. . .
Read MoreBrian Kraft and the Movement That Stopped the Pebble Mine
Brian Kraft first arrived in Alaska in 1988 as a wide-eyed 21-year-old from Chicago, recruited by the University of Alaska to play division 1 hockey. “I wasn’t even a fisherman when I arrived,” he told me, “but it was so wide open. . .
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