Our Fishing Guides

My wife, a nature photographer, and I, an avid fly fisherman, visited Bear Claw Lodge in early September after meeting the owners, Rob and Lisa Fuentes, at the Safari Club International annual meeting in Houston, Texas, in 2010. …

Another Incredible Visit! Booked next year too!! Rob and Lisa Fuentes have perfected the southwestern Alaska lodge adventure! We are headed back for our fifth visit this year and we cannot wait to return. This exceptional, comfortable lodge is located on a 14 acre peninsula in the natural beauty of the Wood-Tikchik Park Lake Aleknagik area. The amazing, pristine lakes and rivers are teeming with many species of salmon and native fish. You can catch silver or pink salmon on the fly or with a spin cast, or lure nice big rainbows, grayling, dolly varden or Arctic char on a dry fly, or lure some voracious northern pike on the fly. Stay in the well-equipped Hog Island boats ( very stable, with grippy decks for excellent footing and a front support stand for fishermen to enjoy extra stability. if you choose, or get out and wade either the river, or hike a creek and enjoy some of the best sight casting round. The accommodations and food at the lodge are superb. Every comfort you could want in a wilderness lodge. The incredibly quiet generators and on-demand limitless hot water are great. Internet and phone service is available to keep up with the outside world. The guides are very hardworking, highly skilled professionals committed to ensuring your safety and to providing a world class fishing experience. The high quality Simms waders, boots and fishing gear are top notch. The chef-prepared food is amazing, and the lodge hospitality and ambience is exceptional.

What to take: Gore-Tex rain jacket, layers of clothing since you could have the 70s or rain and the 50s, fingerless gloves, Buff or similar face mask, polarized sunglasses, slip on lodge shoes, ankle high rubber boots

Note to mobility-challenged people like me: if you have 70 degrees of knee flexibility and can walk with a trekking pole and stand for an hour at a time, this trip is very doable. Everything from arriving in Dillingham, boarding the comfortable small transport bus for a 40 minute drive to the large jet boat, then a 30-minute boat ride to the lodge and a 125 yard walk up a gently sloping groomed trail to the lodge ( which has a ramp.) Guest rooms are located on the first or second floor.

A dozen or fewer guests at a time allow you to get to know some very interesting people and to learn how Rob and his crew responsibly operate this lodge in an environmentally responsible manner, with a small footprint. You can also go on flyout trips offered by a highly experienced, top pilot, either to the equally amazing Kingfishers camp to fish for king salmon, or to a remote creek for a chance to catch the rainbow of a lifetime!

The lodge is very nice with a very cozy atmosphere to it. It allows the guests ti mingle and really get to know each other. The guides work hard and do a great job. …

Fly fishing Alaska I stayed at Bearclaw Lodge last August with 9 other friends and had a great time The accommodations were nice. I shared a comfortable room w/a fellow angler. The guides were very good and we caught a lot of trophy sized fish. Since this was my first trip to Alaska, I don't have any other lodges to compare it to but I would go back for the fly-fishing.

I had a great time. I can not wait to go back again.