James G
Tikchik Narrows Lodge is a testimony to how it should be done. I don't know if there's a Harvard Business School case study for how to run an Alaska fishing lodge out in the bush -- but if there is, this would be be the one.||||And that really speaks to the commitment and work ethic of the owner/manager, Bud Hodson, a veteran fishing guide, bush pilot, hotelier and conservationist. He does what all great managers do: He finds smart, committed people; delegates; and then holds them accountable for performance.||||Start with the fishing program, which is over seen by head guide Chip King, who if memory serves has been working there 20 years or so. Chip oversees a staff of about a dozen guides, each of whom is assigned each day to no more than two anglers to work with. At night, Chip made assignments for who would fish with whom, taking into account what species people wanted to target and where fish were present or running.||||Our first request was for an overnight at the remote Sunset Camp on the upper reaches of the famed Nushagak River to target trout. The camp, about 60 or 75 miles from the main lodge, while out there, isn't exactly roughing it -- there's running water (not hot; it's frikkin freezing), electricity for a few hours to charge phones, batteries, etc. and wonderful cooking thanks to Karen Moore. We were joined by another couple and had a blast fishing with ace guides Breon King (Chip's older brother) and Ben Streitz (Chip's uncle). My wife, who had never fly fished before caught her first rainbows, dolly varden and grayling as well as a shocking fire-engine red king on a light trout rod. What a tussle!||||We were only supposed to spend Sunday night at the camp, with a pickup by float plane Monday afternoon. But weather moved in, the planes couldn't fly and we were stranded. The only problem was lack of food. So out we went in the boats to fish for dinner. After catching a half-dozen fish, we were set. It was a wonderful, unscripted moment where we stopped being clients and workers and were just people having a wonderful time. Thank you Karen, Ben and Breon.||||Tuesday morning the weather cleared and the float plane retrieved us. By the time we got back to the main lodge it was really too late to head out to fish, so we loaded up one of the planes, flown by pilot Steve Larsen, to head to Katmai Natl Park to see the brown bears catching salmon at Brooks Falls. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO MISS. And if you happen to fly with Steve, you're with the best. I think he's been flying for something like 36 years in Alaska. Not only does he inspire confidence, he's a super guy and a talented photographer as well. The first time I flew with him my knuckles were clenched so tight that I think I cut off the circulation to my fingers. By the end of the week I was dozing off with him at the controls.||||On Wednesday, we flew to another very remote location to fish a river called the Kulukak to target king salmon. Our guide that day was Adam Franceshini, a big bear of a bearded guy who looks the part of an Alaska guide but is a really sweet, patient fellow who was great with my wife. Working with him, she hooked probably 10 kings and landed about 8.||||The next day, we hit the middle part of the Nushagak, again for kings, with guide Joe Leonardelli. Friendly, upbeat ex-Marine who worked his tail off to get us kings. Among our catch was a 40+ inch raging red king that my wife landed.||||Last day was back to the Kulukak with Breon King, who praised it as "the little river with big fish." Ain't that the truth. My wife hooked one of the two hardest-fighting fish we tied into on the trip -- a broad-shouldered female hen that took her about 15 minutes to get to shore for a quick pic and release. Just as an aside, this is big-time bear country and on one of the sand banks we stopped to fish we saw monster fresh footprints twice the size of my size 11 wading boots. These are giants! And indeed, as we were leaving in the motor boat to rendezvous with the float plane I spotted a huge, blond bear running along the river bank startled by the sound of our motor. Other than an elephant, I've never seen a larger land animal.||||Ok, you kind of expect great fishing in Alaska, and we got it. But then you return to the lodge. Drink requests have already been radioed in ahead of time, and are waiting for you in your room. Dinners ranged from quite good to outstanding (and I'm writing this from Greenwich Village in NYC where we're a picky bunch about restaurants). The service was excellent: prompt, courteous to a fault and uniformly friendly. Again, I attribute this to the person Bud Hodson has running hospitality, Carol Smith, and the crew she had working for her -- Shelley Gress, Emilee Johnson, Mariah Ore, Heidi Bergt along with Daria Mikrut.||||But here's what made evenings at the lodge so enjoyable: After dinner and KP was done, the guides and servers would join the guests for sundowners in the lounge or on the deck overlooking the turquoise waters of Tikchik Lake, dense forest and snow covered mountains for mingling and story-telling. ||||Again, as much as the fishing and Alaska was wonderful, so was the gang at Tikchik. Think about that if you decide to go.