Alaska Fly Fishing Tours - Anchor Point, AK

David Izquierdo

I contacted Grant 6 months prior to our trip, arranged for 2 guides to help our novice group of 5 people and asked that we avoid "combat fishing". He said the best option was the Kenai river for our group to fish for reds and silvers, so I took his word for it and agreed.
The trip was disappointing. He showed up late, he didn't actually bring another guide, but a friend of his who spent most of the time fishing on his own. Despite being booked far in advance he spent a lot of time setting up equipment prior to actually fishing. We drove an hour to the river, only to pull into a parking lot, walk down a small trail to a very popular fishing spot and try and squeeze our way into the 20 other fisherman who were there. This wasn't actually fly fishing, but "flossing" fish with a fly rod. An hour into our trip I asked him if this was all we were going to do, he said yes, and I asked about moving to a different location. While he did say it was possible, he was very hesitant, talked about the other fishing being unproductive, and the high limit we had on this river. We ended up with 3-4 fish and a few folks in our group had to step out to warm up since we just stood in a river, knee to thigh deep for the 6 or so hour.

Overall, It seemed like there was minimal preparation for this trip on his end and we could have gone another route to better appreciate the fly fishing Alaska has to offer.

Robert Darke

For my 60th birthday, I planned a fly fishing trip to Alaska to fish for steelhead. I contacted Grant to coordinate guide services and figure out what time of year gave me the best opportunity to catch this elusive fish. Grant was very helpful and informative and we settled on some dates in mid September.

When my son and I arrived in Anchor Point, we were immediately taken to the Anchor River to get some hands-on instruction from Kim, one of Grant’s instructors. Kim is an expert on Spey casting and he gave us some super valuable advise on casting technique and fishing tips. I had brought my switch rod and a new Scout Skagit line along with various sink tips. Instead, he rigged up my line with a heavy test monofilament line and weight rather than the sink tips and it made it extra easy to cast. Thanks Kim.

Over the next 6 days my son and I fished multiple sections of the Anchor river. We were guided to a beautiful upriver section that required a bit of hiking but it was well worth it. We were treated to sunny skies and very nice fishing water. We also fished the river closer to the coast and were treated with witnessing the largest bald eagle I’ve ever seen doing his own fishing. We kept swinging flies and floating beads without much success but we were determined.

Mid-week we planned a float trip on the Kenai for rainbows. Grant was very familiar with the Kenai River and we felt safe and well attended to. This was an amazing float trip. Immediately upon putting my lure in the water I caught a Dolly Varden fish. Ok here we go. The Sockeye salmon were getting ready to spawn and they were EVERYWHERE in the river - very visible with their bright red bodies! The fishing was great. We caught big fat Rainbows, Dolly Varden andPink Salmon. Grant knew all the best spots to fish and we caught a lot of fish.

As the week progressed, we continued to fish the Anchor River for steelhead. There was moderate pressure from other fishermen, but we always managed to find a good spot to fish. While using the set up that Kim recommended, the line finally came tight and I knew I had a steelhead on. With Grant’s help, we managed to land a beautiful 28” chrome steelhead. I was treated to an immediate second hook up after re-entering the water, but was dazed when the fish jumped out of the water literally 5 ft from me. The resulting slack in the line resulted in losing that one. It took until the last night and the last hour of fishing for my son to get his online. What a thrill when he finally landed the beautiful fish!

The week of fishing in Alaska was one of the best experiences in my life. Grant and his team were essential in making that happen. I would recommend him to anyone looking to come to Alaska to fish.

olivia allen

These guys are the real deal! I booked this excursion as a 30th birthday gift for my husband. We spent about 2 weeks in Alaska and this was definitely a highlight of our trip. Grant and his team are incredible teachers- patient and welcoming. My husband and I were new to the sport and thanks to their instruction, it didn’t take us long at all to catch on. This is the right team for any skill level- couldn’t recommend more! Will make the trip back to Alaska from nyc just to do this again and hang out with this awesome team!

Jodi Richter

Talked to Grant a couple days before booking while we were vacationing in Alaska. I told him my wife and I would like to do some silver fishing. I told him it was my wife's first time fly fishing so I didn't want to do "combat" fishing. The day we arrived at his shop we suited up and headed to a state park which was packed. I ask him if there were a lot of people there and he said " are you the one who didn't want to combat fish"? I said yes and his reply was well we'll try it out and see. Needless to say we were elbow to elbow with people. You had to remain in the water or someone would jump in your spot. He kinda stayed with my wife to help her out while I did my own thing. At one I looked up and seen that my wife was standing behind me and Grant was fly fishing! I ask her what was going on and she said she needed a break and he took her pole and started fishing. I was a little upset at him fishing on my dime. At one point an older lady was wading out into the stream to free up a snag for a younger kid and Grant was actually dropping the "F" bomb at her because she was in the water helping the kid. I get it but come on, she was just trying to be helpful. At another point in our day Grant took off and said he needed to run back to his shop to fillet the 2 fish i caught. Kinda odd, He could have done that on the creek like everyone else or have brought a cooler or something. So when he got back he decided to take us upstream. There were no people up there which was nice but also no fish other than a few pink salmon which I told him we did not want to target. So for the remaining few hours of our trip was kinda torture, we fished shallow waters where he said there are silvers but none were seen or caught. My wife didn't catch a fish the whole day. For a women just starting to fish it made for a bad experience. He was very unfriendly and seemed like he just wanted to day to be over. Also after the trip was over my wife told me he was getting an attitude with her because she wasn't able to get the fly out far enough or where he told her. (Wish she would have told me this then and there) The only saving grace was we had done another fish with another outfitter in Talkeetna and it was an awesome day on the creek. Would never refer anyone to this company. Grant seems like a person who sees an tourist as only a paycheck. Very unprofessional.

Cheyenne