Daily Fishing Itinerary at Wilderness Place Lodge

Arrival & Departure to & From the Lodge: We are a fly-in Alaska fishing lodge. There is no road access to our remote Alaska river. Therefore, we fly by float plane via Rust's Flying Service based on Anchorage, Alaska's Lake Hood seaplane base. Departure flights to our lodge leave Anchorage at 11am and return flights to Anchorage depart the lodge at 11:45am on the final day of your trip with us. For departure flights from Anchorage to the lodge, please arrive at Rust's Flying Service no later than 10:15am to check-in and begin to load luggage on the float plane. For those needing transportation to Rust's, they do provide a free shuttle pick-up in Anchorage. Please call them at 1-800-544-2299 the evening prior to schedule a time and place to be picked up. Flights are typically 45 minutes each way between Anchorage and the lodge.

Daily Fishing & Meal Schedules: We assign one guide per 2-3 guests. This allows for your group(s) to plan the day's fishing as you please. We do our very best to accommodate the preferred itinerary of all of our visitors. We offer a very liberal daily fishing schedule, but do request that every group take a break either in the afternoon or evening to allow your guide(s) to rest and take care of their other personal chores such as fish filleting, boat cleaning and gear maintenance.

Breakfast: For early risers, prior to 6am, we have a full and hearty continental breakfast available in the lodge with oatmeal, fresh fruit, cereal, pastries, toast/jam, etc. along with copious amounts of fresh coffee and hot tea. Starting at 6am, the chefs will set up an additional hot breakfast with a good variety of your favorite breakfast entrees. You have the option of grabbing breakfast and coffee to go, stay in and eat hot breakfast prior to fishing, or fish early and return for hot breakfast a few hours later. We typically have hot breakfast in the lodge until 9:00am. This will assure you maximize your morning fishing time!

Lunch: During the summer, guests usually prefer to eat lunch stream-side. Lunches will be prepared by the lodge chef team and sent on the water with you and your fishing guide. Your lunch is packed in coolers. If you prefer to return to camp midday, feel free to bring your lunch to the main lodge or to the picnic table creek-side. A 12 Noon lunch in the lodge is also an option for you if you prefer to return after your morning on the water. Fireside shore lunches with your guide can also be arranged for one day during your stay. We simply need a one day advance notice to prepare your fresh caught salmon. As with breakfast, we will speak with you prior to dinner each evening to coordinate your lunch plan for the following day. We pride ourselves on catering to your individual preferences. Be sure to let us know what we can do for you.

Dinner: Dinner at the main lodge is at 6:30 pm. Please join us for beverages and hors d'oeuvres in the lodge before dinner. Our chef team prepares exciting and diverse fare. They strive to use the freshest ingredients that our fine Alaskan purveyors have to offer. The chefs are happy to tailor the menu to your dietary requirements. Talk with them about what works best for you. Beer and wine at our lodge are complimentary (just keep it between the lines, ok?)

Fishing Regimen: Please always keep in mind we are on a remote, mountain-fed river system. Like all rivers, we experience variable conditions throughout the season and from year to year that are beyond our control. Being in a remote location and accessing fishing areas in a remote river requires a combination of boating, wading and hiking. Depending on where you wish to fish, current river levels, etc. will determine ease of accessibility. From the lodge down to the river mouth, along with a mile stretch of a 2nd river channel is accessible by boat summer-long. The upper 3 miles of river we fish is mostly accessible by boat, although in low-water conditions, we may need to walk 1/4 to 3/4 of a mile up a gravel river bed to access our boats upstream. As river channels and levels are constantly changing, this is hard to predict. Salmon and trout fishing in our river system can be easy to moderately strenuous depending on your chosen regimen. We prefer to primarily wade fish with spin and fly gear to target each species. This requires many hours daily of walking, wading and being on your feet, even if each fishing spots is accessible by boat. We ask that each person assess their physical abilities/limitations prior to booking at trip with us or any other remote fishing venue. Our focus is on the safety of our guests. We want to you to have a great time here, catch fish and make memories but not to push yourself beyond your threshold. There are particular times of summer where fishing is at it's best close to the lodge (early to mid-June and mid to late-July). This period offers both wade fishing or also boat fishing for those that do not wish to be on their feet all day, while still experiencing successful fishing. We encourage those with limitations to focus on those time periods if you feel hiking, wading, etc will be a hindrance to your experience.

Guiding Hours: Our guides are eager to help you enjoy fishing on Lake Creek. We try to be as flexible as possible with our guided fishing hours to give you the best fishing experience we can offer. This may mean late night or early morning hours. Note that legal fishing hours for June / July king salmon is 6AM – 11PM. We do require that our guides get an adequate amount of rest time to assure your safety and theirs on the river. When you return to camp, they have several hours of added duty time cleaning and wrapping your fish as well as maintaining their boats and the lodge fishing equipment before they are able to rest. Thus if your group is doing late night or early morning fishing, we request that each guide is allowed adequate time in the afternoon to rest. We suggest returning to the lodge by 2:30 pm if you plan on fishing again in the evening Thanks!

Lodge Electrical Power: The lodge functions on power from a 20kw diesel generator. The generator usually operates from 5:00 AM until 12:00AM, but we will keep it on later if needed for your convenience. When the generator is off, the water system does not function. Therefore, showers and flushing of toilets are only possible when the power is on. Periodically, we’ll run the generator all night. There is water available in the lodge at all water taps when the power is off and many guests ask for a pitcher of water and glasses prior to bed time. Feel free to help yourself.

Flexible Cuisine: Although we continue to be known for our fine lodge dining, we are constantly trying to change our menus to exceed our guests’ expectations. Please let us know if there are some foods you cannot have or prefer not to have. We are usually able to provide a healthful alternative to each of our meals. The coffee’s always on in the lodge! We feature Kaladi Silver Hook “Kodiak” blend. It’s truly an excellent cup of coffee!