Being an addict of this consuming sport of fly-fishing my very existence is linked to exploring far away waters. The problem is that I’m also financially challenged, spending too much time outside and not in an office. I dream about visiting the remote gems that litter the back of the magazines, but I just can’t afford the high dollars that it takes to stay with those amazing lodges. The solution; a self-organized adventure to the most remote locations at a fraction of the cost of the traditional lodge based trip. It sounds like a bargain, and it is, but it also takes months of research and a true spirit for adventure.

Almost seven years ago, while working at my local fly-shop I purchased a bargain airline ticket to Alaska for the following summer. I had no idea how or where I was going to fish, I just knew that I had to do it. When I phoned two of my best friends and fishing buddies I explained how this was our “once in a lifetime chance” to take this kind of trip and before long they had tickets as well. Over the next six months I devoted myself entirely to planning our trip. I poured over topographic maps, e-mailed outfitters, and picked the brains of anyone I knew who had been there. I was astounded with the amount of information I attained from the web and the people I talked to. We ended up cutting the trip into three parts. First we rented sea kayaks out of Whittier on the Prince William Sound. For seven days we kayaked next to glaciers and fished lagoons teaming with Salmon. Some nights we camped on the beaches and others we stayed in rustic cabins I rented from the Forrest Service for $30 per night. We then proceeded to fly via a float-plane into Lake Clark National Park and were dropped off at Twin Lakes with a raft. The three of us floated the Chilikodrotna River flowing out of the lower lake, and into the Mulchotna River where we were picked up 20 days later. We spent 12-14 hour days rafting and fishing for Salmon and Grayling in a wilderness more wild than any of us had ever dreamed. After the river trip, we finished things off backpacking in Denali National Park. The total cost of our trip was somewhere in the range of what it would cost for 3 nights at a luxury lodge.

One the main drawbacks to self guided trips is the days and sometimes weeks that it takes to learn the essential local techniques that a good guide can teach you in a half day. It definitely takes a patient and persistent fisherman to master sight fishing in New Zealand or how to stalk Bonefish in Belize but I can assure you that you’re first big Brown or Bone will be a special moment in you’re life. It feels more gratifying to me figuring out how to catch fish than it is just being told how to do it. I will never forget my first Golden trout on a high mountain lake in the Wind River range taking a Elk hair Caddis during a Mayfly hatch. The “un-match the hatch” technique I learned that day has served me well in many tight situations. The ability to study the water and adapt to the situation will help you where ever your travels take you.

The following is a list websites to help plan your next trip:

Secrets Of Fly Fishing- An informative site with trip reports and fly fishing travel secrets from locations around the world

Frontiers Travel- Frontiers features the best in Freshwater and Saltwater Fishing Destinations. They book lodge based trips, but there site has a lot of good information for planning you own journey.

Gorp- Provides extensive information on everything outdoors for locations around the globe.