We welcome you to join us in an outlook to fishing our local waters of the Bristol Bay drainage in southwestern Alaska. Please look forward to our posts on the areas finest fisheries and most amazing adventures. We will be posting photos, videos, and great information on techniques. Having years of experience between our staff we will share our passion for a sport we all love. Check back frequently to see what makes Rainbow River Lodge one of Alaska's finest fly out fly fishing lodge in the state!


Tuesday, December 2, 2014

"The Rock" Video


"The famous rock at Lower Talarik Creek"
Below is a link to a video our guide staff put together a few seasons ago.  This film took place at Lower Talarik Creek, a small river that flows into Lake Iliamna.  The video's main goal is spread awareness of the proposed Pebble Mine that would devastate Bristol Bay! Please share with your friends to show them how special these fisheries truly are, and why they should be left alone for generations to come.  Adjust your settings on your player if you wish to view in HD. 


"Dorian holding a nice Lower T. Rainbow"











Monday, March 11, 2013

Fish Alaska Magazine

Good article about Rainbow River Lodge and fishing the Copper River in this month's Fish Alaska Magazine.

Fish Alaska Article

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Coho Video

Posted here is a video filmed at the Kamishak River, AK.  Guides Chris Leeman, and Ben Todd had a chance to film with a few of our willing guests for a couple of days when the Coho were thick.  The silver run on the Kamishak begins around the first week of August and tapers off with the first big rains of September.  


Silver Salmon Video 
Click to Watch


Silvers can be a blast on the fly,  just a day or two from the ocean makes them very aggressive towards a variety of flies.  When the water runs clear you have a good chance to bring them to the surface on wogs!  Click on the link to preview a typical day on the magical Kamishak river!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Thanks for a Great Season!!!

John with a 29" Rainbow!

Posted here are a few pictures of some big rainbow trout our guests landed the last week of our season at Rainbow River Lodge. We were very fortunate the weather held and the fishing continued to be phenomenal!

Ben holding a 31" Rainbow!!! 

Another Hog!

 The staff at Rainbow River Lodge would also like to thank everyone who had a chance to stay and fish with us this season!  We are already looking forward to next year!  Get in touch with Chad Hewitt soon if you would like to join us for the 2012 season.  Our schedule is filling quickly.  Keep checking the blog this winter and spring.  We will continue to post throughout the off-season.      

Picture perfect Rainbow!

Mo holding a Large Rainbow!

Jeff and Chris with a Nice buck!

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Late Season Hog Bows!!!

We are approaching the end of our season here at Rainbow River Lodge with one week left. The leaves on the trees are turning, the air is cooler, and some fresh snow has covered some of the higher peaks on the mountains. Even though winter is rapidly approaching, the rainbow trout are still feeding.  The past few weeks our guests have landed some of the biggest rainbow trout of the year!  The pictures below are the reason our guests brave the cold temps of September and try to bend a few rods on these big hogs.  Check back next week as we will post a few more pictures of what the last week will bring us.

Hans Rudi and Chad with a toad!

Picture Perfect Rainbow!

Stu and Devyn with Chrome Buck! 

Pat with a 29" Rainbow

Fred with a Nice Hen Rainbow 

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Eggs, Eggs, and more Eggs...

Assortment of Painted Beads

We are rapidly approaching the end of our season here at Rainbow River Lodge.  Throughout the next few weeks we will catch some of the fattest rainbow trout of the season on egg patterns.  These protein packed eggs are everywhere in the rivers and the rainbow trout are on a feeding frenzy to beef up before winter arrives.  

Sockeye Salmon Eggs on the Copper River


To match the natural sockeye eggs that are being dropped in the river we use a 6mm plastic bead.  Our guides will take a plain orange plastic bead and paint them with a variety of fingernail polishes.  We fish these eggs underneath a strike indicator and use a small amount of weight to get the egg down.  The State of Alaska will allow anglers to fish these eggs in "fly fishing only" water but there are a few regulations.  You must have some sort of material on your hook shank, and your bead must be no further than 2" from the hook.

Matt a guest at RRL fooled this Rainbow on Moraine Creek with a 6mm bead

Fishing a plastic bead is not the most traditional way to fly fish, but it has been proven to be much more effective than the classic glo-bug fly pattern.  The mortality rate of the rainbow trout is also greatly reduced when fishing a bead rig. With a glo-bug the fish would sometimes swallow the fly and be hooked deep into the gills.  The plastic bead setup ensures when a hook is set that the egg will slip and the fish is hooked on the outside of the mouth.  

Tim with a beautiful Iliamna Rainbow

Click on the link below to read a fun article written by our guide Jonathan Streeter

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

New Flags on the Golf Greens

View of our Driving Range

The Renewable Resources Coalition sent over a couple of weeks ago some new flags for our golf greens.  We felt they were very appropriate to place on our greens.  If you get a chance please take a look at the following link regarding the proposed Pebble Mine that is endangering our wonderful land. 

Our New Flags


Custom Club Rack


We are very fortunate here at Rainbow River Lodge to have the only floating driving range in the state of Alaska!  Chris, and Ben are two of our fly fishing guides. They were golf professionals before starting work as guides in Alaska.  Receive some instruction on your casting stroke during the day, and then take a quick evening golf lesson from our pros after dinner on the range.
  
Hitting Area