Ok, here's a sampling of the main course from my saltwater fishing "dream trip" to Alaska. The place I visited for my fly-fishing article is called Jumping Salmon Lodge. It is on its own island deep in the heart of the pristine Prince William Sound Wilderness. The closest town is over 60 miles away - by boat or plane. There is one native Alaskan village of 50 people across the bay, and that's where our plane landed to drop us off, but it's barely a blip on the map. The area is actually a sub-arctic rainforest - the northernmost rainforest in the world. The mountains here get over 600 inches of snow per year! Of course, I packed my heavy-duty raingear, but it barely drizzled and temps hovered in the 50's to mid 60's with partly sunny conditions. As you'll see from the photos, this place is amazing with scenery and wildlife. We saw humpback whales all over the bays, pods of orcas, sea otters, sea lions, bald eagles, puffins (neat little sub-arctic birds with toucan-like beaks), black bears, and caught lots of fish.

Special thanks to our lodge hosts, John and Doreen. They run a top-notch outfit at Jumping Salmon Lodge, so if you're wanting the dream Alaskan fishing wilderness vacation, I highly recommend this place. You won't leave disappointed (or empty-handed - I brought home lots of yummy halibut for the freezer!).

Here are some of the pics....

A shot from the charter plane ride over the Chugach mountains (note the incredible ice fields)

A tidewater glacier as it "flows" into the ocean below (the "blue" ice is the oldest ice and can be thousands of years old)

The island and the lodge (bottom-middle, cabins and docks)

Our fishing boat is the bigger one in the foreground (with the twin outboards and cozy heated cabin)

Jumping Salmon Lodge

Fish on!

Humback whale breaching

Sea otter and baby on its lap

Beautiful (and brightly colored) yellow-eye rockfish

Our fishing grounds - the stunning Prince William Sound

The day's catch

A beautiful silver salmon

A colony of stellars sea lions

A rockfish caught on fly - a unique fishing opportunity, only in Alaska!