Angler: Dale Dunbar
Date: August 8-11, 2021
Trip Taken: Alaska Fishing Lodge on Kodiak
Consultant: Patrick Kissel | Outdoors International
We had originally scheduled to take this trip in 2020, but when Covid crashed upon us all, the folks at the lodge were gracious enough to reschedule us for the next year.
So after several emails, and phone calls with Kelley at the lodge, we departed from Grand Junction, CO on the afternoon of August 6. An uneventful flight, and a stay-over in Anchorage had us ready for the next leg to Kodiak Island. Once at Kodiak, we had a few hours to kill so we found our shuttle airline, Vertigo, and they graciously took us to downtown Kodiak City where we had lunch and enjoyed the local brewery. About 4:00 we called Vertigo, they picked us up and back to the waiting room we went anticipating our 5:00 flight to Old Harbor.
The weather decided it wasn’t going to cooperate, and the pilot that was going to take us called the flight off. We then were scrambling for a motel room, which we found at the Quality Inn. Next morning, August 8th, Emma with Vertigo picked us up along with Roger and David, our fishing partners for the next two days, and told us that we were scheduled to go, it looked good.
We flew with Mark to the Old Harbor airstrip, a gravel strip that had been carved out of a hill.
We met Rick who gathered our gear, us, our partners and headed for the lodge. Once there we finally got to meet Kelley in person. She showed us our rooms, and Rick led us to the back and issued us all our rain gear for the next few days. The gear was brand new Onyx gear and in great condition. After sizing was done, Rick had us go back and visit with Kelley who issued our licenses to us. As soon as we were ready we would head down to the boat where we met Gary, co-owner of the lodge, and our guide for the next three days.
We fished hard the next three days and were able to get limits of Halibut, Black Bass, Cod, and a couple of Golden Eyes.
Weather wasn’t our friend for most of the trip, the second day we actually cut our time by about an hour as we had dealt with driving rain, and wind all day and were all cold and wet. The third day we were intent on going out of the strait a little farther, but weather reports of large swells as high as 16 feet didn’t entice us to staying out past the mouth of the strait long. We headed back in and fished inside the strait for the rest of the day as we did for most of our time on the trip.
The lodge is well done, it had at one time been a theatre, and was remodeled into the great lodge it is today.
The rooms are very comfortable and nice. The upstairs has a fireplace, several couches, recliners, and a library for when you aren’t able to fly, or fish. Our meals were first rate, with a cooked to order breakfast two of the three days. Guides packed lunches for on the water, and our dinners were delicious each night.
We were again weathered in on our departure day, and again we were scrambling. This time with airlines and connecting flights.
As things worked out with the airlines, we were able to relax in the lounge and take advantage of the fireplace and the library. The next morning was the type we had hoped for the whole trip and were greeted by clear blue skies, and no wind. We each had one 50 lb box of fish to take home that had been filleted, vacuum sealed, and frozen. Each box was a freezer box and was banded for the airlines, all very professionally done.
We were able to fly out on Thursday, made connections in Kodiak City, stored our fish in the Anchorage Airport in their cold storage and checked into our motel. After a day and a half in Anchorage, we gathered our boxes from storage, checked it in as baggage, and flew home. Upon arrival, at the Grand Junction Airport, our fish boxes were the first things on the carousel. When we got home, the packages were still frozen.
This was a really fun trip.
Rick, Kelley, Gary, and Jeanne all do a great job. We would recommend them to anyone who may want to experience this type of a trip. We look forward to going back soon.
Get More Information About This Trip
- How would you rate your trip overall? Fun Trip, Great People. Would go again. Give them a try!
- How were your guide(s)? Good
- How was your food and lodging? Good
- How was your outfitters communication? Great
- How physically demanding was your trip? Easy
- How would you rate your consultant? Patrick listened to what we wanted. Suggested this Outfitter. Followed through, and even though we had to delay it a year due to Covid, stayed in contact with us. He also followed up with us after the trip.
- Would you book another trip with Outdoors International in the future? Yes
- Can we use your stories and/or photos on our website? Yes
- Can we use this in social media? Yes
I expected big trout on this trip based on all the stories I've read over the years, and I was not disappointed! I broke my own personal best rainbow trout record at least SIX times on this trip, with the biggest being a 16 pound beauty. I will be going again soon!
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