What Should You Look for in a Quality Alaska Fly Fishing Lodge?

This is Part 2 on The Ridge Lodge, and fly fishing in Alaska. Part 1 can be found here.

In Alaska, catching fish isn’t hard — most guides can find you fish. But not all guides are fun to spend a week with. The grumpy, short-tempered, arrogant guide is a cliché for a reason, and a week of that can ruin a trip — especially at fly-out lodge prices.

The Best Guides Do More Than Catch Fish

A great guide stays positive, patient, and easy to be around. They simplify what's complex, can read the room, and know when to talk and when to stay quiet. Their attitude can turn an average trip into a great one.

A Ridge Lodge guide helping out his client spot a fish on the side of a river. — Teamwork makes the dream work. | Photo by Mason Cochran

Choosing Guides Who Fit the Mission

John Coffman excels at hiring good guides. As the head guide and managing partner of The Ridge Lodge, he is very selective about who he brings onto the team. He knows what the position requires because he does it every day.

A Ridge Lodge guide with a big rainbow trout he is holding up for the camera. — John Coffman showing off a guest's healthy and thick Alaskan wild rainbow trout. | Photo provided by John Coffman

Effort, the Right Attitude, and a Lot of Fish

The Ridge guide team is John Coffman, Luke Valentino, and Patrick Harris. I spent a week working alongside them — not as a guest, but as a fourth guide on the team. I also wanted to get some stories, so I watched as much as I worked. All week, I never saw a bad attitude, never saw one of them shirk a responsibility. What I did see was plenty of laughing, teaching, fish caught, and a whole lot of effort — heavy on the effort.

A Ridge Lodge guide carrying a raft on his shoulder on a dirt road. — Luke Valentino doing the work of two. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

A Ridge Lodge guide showing off a big trout that his client caught — Guide Patrick Harris getting his client into big trout | Photo provided by Patrick Harris

The Main Event: Fishing

With all the pieces in place, this sets you up for the main event...to fish. If you've never fished the interior of Alaska, it rates as one of the best trips you can take for catching big, wild fish, while viewing nature up close, and stunning scenery everywhere you look.

Fly-Out Fishing at Its Best

A lake's shoreline in full Fall colors. — Sometimes you have to stop fishing and take in the beauty. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

The Ridge, with its jet boats, rafts, and a fleet of planes, has access to 25+ flyout destinations to choose from. You can fish for wild rainbow trout, Arctic char, Dolly Vardons, lake trout, grayling, massive pike, and all 5 species of salmon.

A big char being held by a fly angler in Alaska — The char color up during the Fall to match the Autumn colors. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Into the Wild - by Air

And this is where the trip gets exciting. Like a scene out of a movie, you board a bush plane (usually the Beaver De Havilland) and lift off from a lake. If you've only flown the big, commercial airline jets, this is going to feel very analog and maybe a little scary.

Flying the Classic Way

This is old school flying— props, yokes, cranks, and levers. The plane is built from aluminum, rivets, wood, and leather, and it sounds like a Harley-Davidson. Rest assured, they are built for Alaska and are the best for what they do.

Fishing, Wildlife, and Wild Country

The plane takes you to a wild, pristine river, where you can explore by jet boat, raft, or on foot — the choice is yours. The day is about fishing, but it also includes up-close bear viewing, wildlife photography, and a great lunch prepared by Mike Lynch, the lodge chef. Allow yourself time to just take in where you are — a part of Alaska few people will ever see.

A view of an Alaskan river from the cockpit window of a River Lodge bush plane — A wild and beautiful place with few foot prints. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

A Private Basecamp in the Wild

Set high above the Copper River, The Ridge is a low-occupancy lodge with room for just six guests between its main building and private cabin. A shared deck and cedar hot tub overlook the valley, offering a great way to end your day.

More Than You Imagine

An Alaskan Brown Bear jumping into a school of salmon. — A photo taken at one of the smaller creeks the lodge flies out to for fishing and bear viewing. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Traveling to Alaska to fish and calling it a fishing trip is misleading — it’s an adventure. The fishing is some of the best you’ll ever experience, but what stays with you is the raw, wild beauty of it all.

On as big a screen as you can, sit back with a drink and take the time to watch this stunning YouTube video of The Ridge and fly fishing Alaska. It's worth it.

Move It to the Top

Put this one on your bucket list. If you live in the United States, you need to see the treasure we have in our backyard; it really is the last frontier. Warning to the fly angler, the quality of fish you will catch and the clear, wild rivers you will experience will ruin you in the best possible way.

A close up of a Winston rod with an insect on it and the writing The Ridge. — The Ridge | Photo by Jordan Wells @phos.tou.kosmou

A Hidden Gem

For a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Alaska’s interior, The Ridge has impressed me as being the way to go. KB

"Slow down...listen to the hoppers...be patient with yer wife...eat sardines with hot sauce... catch “Gagger” trout!!!" –Flip Pallot