FAQ

Welcome

The information below can help you plan for your time at the lodge.  There is also information to help you get a sportfishing license (including a king salmon stamp, if desired) prior to your arrival. Our special efforts to customize your vacation truly distinguishes our Alaskan adventure from others.

Currently, Alaska Airlines is the main airline serving Juneau. However, Delta also provides limited daily service. Connecting flights for both airlines are made from Seattle. As soon as possible, we ask our guests to email us a copy of their airline itinerary. Please remember to book your flight to arrive in Juneau the day prior to your first day at the lodge and schedule to depart Juneau the day following your return from Excursion Inlet.

Leaving Home

If you have questions prior to leaving home, please email Neal at nealdastrup@yahoo.com or  Brenda at brendadastrup@yahoo.com at least a week before the start of your adventure. If it is urgent, you can call 801-358-4400 or 801-318-4345. This provides you a last minute contact source if you need to share any special requests and/or ask questions that you may have forgotten earlier.

What to Bring:

Summer temperatures range between 50 & 70 degrees Fahrenheit, so bring warm layered clothing, wool socks, a hat, and light weight gloves. Rain gear will be provided at the lodge. Don’t forget your sunglasses and sun screen. Please travel light and keep your personal baggage to 40 pounds or less. We suggest you bring it all in a carry-on bag. That way your fish boxes can go home as checked luggage and not incur additional baggage fees.

Arrival:

Juneau International is a small, friendly and “easy to get around in” airport. Upon your arrival in Juneau, call your motel and they will send a van to pick you up. We keep our lodge van at Ward Air (2-blocks north of the airport) and it is sometimes available for you, along with others coming to fish during your same week. Typically, your Ward Air float plane will depart Juneau at 8:00 am, the morning after you arrive in Juneau. Your flight to Excursion Inlet is approximately 20 minutes and the scenery is spectacular along the way.

Orientation

Upon arrival at Excursion Inlet, our staff will be waiting dockside to greet and assist you with your luggage. After getting situated at the lodge, our guests are invited to an informal orientation where we will introduce our staff and discuss the lodge’s special features and services. This will also give us an opportunity to discuss fishing and will be a good time to answer any questions you may have. We encourage you to inform us of anything we can do to make you a bit more comfortable. Afterward, we will issue wet gear and get you out on the water to fish.

Lodge Facilities

The lodge has a great room, dining room, kitchen and a TV lounge area. There are 6 guest bedrooms with private showers, as well as a main level bunk room. Guest rooms have either 1, 2, 3 or 4 beds and the bunk room can accommodate 2 adults. We also have a separate bunk house for staff in a separate building near the main lodge and a recently completed owner’s cabin.  The lodge has a beautiful European sauna and we are set up for skeet shooting, horseshoes and cornhole for your enjoyment when you are not fishing. If you are just plain worn out, we also have a flat screen TV with some pretty good movies and a selection of nature tapes about Alaska. Additionally, you can hook up your video camera to view your daily fishing action, if you wish. There’s also an assortment of card and board games at the lodge. In the evening, you can fish for salmon and trout right off our dock.

We are situated on the beach and have a panoramic view of Excursion Inlet and Glacier Bay National Forest and we are certain you will enjoy our leisure deck and the expansive boardwalk that connects our three buildings.

Gift Shops

In addition to special fishing lures and other fishing equipment, Alaskan Bear Lodge has t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and miscellaneous items available to purchase. Other gift items are available at the Excursion Inlet general store and in several gift shops across the Icy Strait in Hoonah. On your trip home, Juneau also provides plenty of gift shops with a large selection of items.

Liquor

BYOB. The lodge provides a limited supply of soft drinks and bottled water for your enjoyment.

Fishing Schedule

Your first full day of fishing starts about an hour after you reach the lodge and get outfitted. The next morning (and each morning thereafter, you pick your own schedule. Some of the best fishing is during the early morning, but it is your choice to arise at the crack of dawn. There are plenty of fish out there all day long. Besides, the crack of dawn occurs around 3:00 am in the summer!

Each day is planned considering our guest’s desires in conjunction with knowledge of the weather, tides, and best places to fish or explore. A hearty 7:00 am breakfast is served in the morning and guests pack their own sack lunch – including soft drinks and treats – to take onboard. We do all we can to insure that you will enjoy each day of fishing and wildlife viewing!

The fishing day ends at about 5:00 pm. This allows you time to offload your fish at the dock, hop in our sauna to warm up and swap fishing stories, then to the shower to freshen up prior to dinner at 7:00 pm.

Water Conditions

Saltwater fishing is excellent in and around several nearby protected bays and inlets. The Inside Passage water conditions are usually calm and stable, with an occasional light chop during the season. If desired, you can also fish in the nearby streams.

Fishing Information

You will fish for salmon, cod, halibut & an assortment of rock fish aboard our comfortable, well equipped boats. Each boat is well equipped with safety equipment; VHF radio, GPS, and fish finders. Quality fishing gear is provided, including rods, reels, bait, tackle, lures and wet gear. If you prefer, feel free to bring along your own favorite rod & reel.

Sportfishing Methods

We have accumulated local knowledge while fishing in and around our area over the past 10-plus years and we can help you plan your fishing strategies from day-to-day. We have found that trolling with lures and herring is the most effective method for catching salmon. Mooching and drift fishing with bate is best for halibut and bottom fishing. Whether you are experienced or a novice fisherman, you will love the challenge and adventure.

Your Catch

Usually you will catch plenty of fish to take home. It is not unusual to leave Alaska after your fishing trip with a 50-pound box of filleted and frozen fish per guest. The harvest often includes a mixture of salmon, halibut, lingcod and an assortment of rockfish. (Additional boxes incur a $25 processing and floatplane fee to Juneau.). Most Juneau motels provide a walk-in freezer, if overnight storage is needed.  (Be sure to ask about this when booking your lodging.) Fish boxes can travel with you as checked baggage from Juneau to your destination when you depart for home.

Your Fishing License

The information needed to obtain your sportfishing license is the similar to that listed on your driver’s license. We suggest getting your license over the internet before coming up. To get your license online go to: www.alaska.gov.

1. When the site opens, type “fishing license” in the top, right where it says “search.”
2. Then click on Sport Fishing Licenses and King Salmon Stamps, Alaska.
3. When the Licenses & Permits page opens, Click on Sport Fishing in the middle of the page under “Fishing”.
4. The page will open and you can choose “Buy Your License Online (left side of page) or click purchased online at the end of the first paragraph.
5. Then you can click “Shop as a Guest”. On the page that opens, you fill in your personal information. The following page has a variety of choices.
6. Choose the top left choice beginning with “Sport Fishing”. Most of our guests choose 7-Day Sport Fish License on The License/Stamp Type. In the recent past, the license has cost $70.
7. Then type in your Start Date (the day you arrive at the lodge). You can then choose to add a King Stamp, if you like… just in case. I usually recommend to pass on that, since most Kings are caught in May and September. I always print off 3-copies of the license and keep them separate, just in case something gets lost.

IMPORTANT: REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR FISHING LICENSE WITH YOU!

Lodge Staff

Owners of Alaskan Bear Lodge are Neal & Brenda Dastrup. The staff consists of three Fish Boys at the dock and two Kitchen Queens inside. Our staff is professional, courteous, and very personable. Each employee has the desire and experience to assure you a quality sport fishing vacation.

Gratuities

While tipping is at the discretion of each guest, we are often asked “what is an appropriate amount?” Over time, we have observed that the average gratuity has been around $300 per guest, which is roughly 8½% of the lodge fee. Tips are evenly divided between our five employees.