This review is for the quick and honest response from fishtail river guides. There were no fish…read morerunning when I called last summer and Eric was very honest and describing the situation. I'm sure he's a great guy. Same flight as an over the phone.

Our office went out with Andy on the Deshka River fishing for Kings!!! Had a blast. Andy kept us on…read morethe fish, was very helpful with his instruction. A couple of us needed a little extra help and he was very patient, changing out bait when needed, and watching our lines. We ended up with some very nice fish!!! Highly recommend Fishtales River Guides!! A++++++ Tonya K

the charter was extremely kind and understanding when showing us how to fish and the food and beds…read morewere amazing

We had a wonderful adventure with Deshka Landing Charters and Lodge, July 2023…read more Jim and Maria are the best hosts and treat you like family. Maria's cooking is fabulous! Every meal was so delicious. The guides are great, know where to go for silvers and were especially patient with me while I learned to fish for salmon. The lodging cabins were clean and the beds were very comfortable. The main cabin felt like home away from home. We were also able to find time, when not fishing, to see the beautiful sites in Alaska recommended by Jim and Maria. They have a wealth of knowledge about Alaska. We brought home plenty of salmon to enjoy throughout the year.

Ray is a POS (period). Rude and unprofessional and his other charter guests were also embarrassed…read morewith his unprofessional demeanor. In fact the few chum we pulled out of the river had more personality than Ray. His website also claims numerous awards over the years - fact check it, as it just isn't true. Save yourself the embarrassment and go somewhere else!

Not trying to ruin this business, but I would be doing a disservice to other customers if I wasn't…read morehonest with my experience with Fisherman's choice. We got completely skunked (zero fish) during peak season; first warning sign should have been when they had availability (unbooked) for the entire week I inquired about, and they were also the cheapest. You get what you pay for, this is an inferior guide. Second red flag I should have noticed was when he took us fishing in a river that absolutely nobody else was fishing in; now keep in mind that this isn't some small secret hidden lake nobody else knows about, it's a huge river that nobody else chooses to fish in. And we learned that too late, for good reason. The lake is dead. Completely dead. Lake may have been good back in 1987 when he may have started fishing in Alaska, but now, the lake is completely dead. Guide probably keeps fishing this dead lake because he lives close by and is the only lake he can access, rather than more productive lakes like Kenai. Don't come fishing here with this charter. He blamed Chinese people for illegally fishing his waters, and said that we weren't catching anything because we were right in between the King and Silver runs. Bullshit, saw folks catching so many silvers yesterday at Ship's Creek. Just a bad guide taking none-the-wiser customers' money and fishing a dead lake. Their website goes on and on about how customers need to tip, even if the guide doesn't put you on any fish, that it's not the guides fault. Well, it sure as hell ain't the customer's fault, either. The customer is already paying upfront the fees, why should the customer pay for getting skunked too? Business owner chose to go in to business that has uncertainty, the business should eat the costs (tips) when the conditions aren't ideal, not expecting the customer to pay for that too. Yet his website goes on and on about tipping 20% to 50%, even if they don't get you any fish. What kind of participation trophy did these guys grow up depending on? Plus, they complain about their "good reviews" being intentionally hidden by Yelp. I find that hard to believe, the more likely explanation for their "good reviews" "hidden by Yelp" may be due to them writing fake good reviews about themselves, and Yelp recognizing the fake reviews and thus hiding them, appropriately. Plus, this guide hadn't caught a fish in over three weeks, just duping and collecting fees and tips from unsuspecting out of town visitors. Not like he made the trip enjoyable, he had the personality of a wet log, he ignores your questions, and plays with his phone while you try for fish. Absolutely do not recommend, this is a inferior, cheap, not booked up charter that fishes a dead lake that every other fisherman was smart enough to abandon.

One of the best experiences of my life. I found them on a YouTube channel I watch and have been…read morewaiting over a year to get here for this. I took my son and my six year old grandson. We needed nothing but to show up. Everything we needed was supplied. They treated us like gold. This was truly a five star experience. Captain Sam is truly a good man. He made my grandson feel like he was a king. Sam made sure we were taken care of the whole time while helping my grandson catch lots of fish. I will be coming back again next year. Will be making my reservations soon !!

Even though I had planned this trip months in advance they called and changed my time from 7am to…read more3:30pm. This disrupted all plans that day. When I got there they didn't even have me listed on the boat. The captain took us to a 100 yard stretch that 3 other boats had already been working. We all reeled in one king. The gear was crap. I could barely get the lure to cast because of the cheap pole, heavy old line, and light spinner. Had to buy fish on the way home. It seems we didn't even try. This was a hell of an expensive boat ride. If you are a fisherman this is not the trip for you. Major disappointment.

We just went out with Todd this morning and had the best time, despite the rain, wet and cold! My…read moreboyfriend and I had Todd and his sweet dog, Bandit, all to ourselves and we were one of the first ones on the river this morning! While the spot is a popular spot, it was teaming with salmon and plenty for all! Todd literally caught a fish on his first cast (he was giving a quick tutorial). My boyfriend and I caught and released about 20 chum and pink "humpy" salmons and still caught our quota of silver (coho) salmon. (In AK you can only keep 3). We only reserved him for a half day, which was plenty for us given the unlucky weather. Todd was super helpful and had all of the gear we would need, including waders, printed our fishing licenses for us, had multiple rods ready to use, had fly fishing rods (which we didn't try, but he was using them) and took care of all our netting, and filleting our fish. You could tell he really knows his stuff and that the other outfitters were a little jealous of all the fish we were catching. Apparently it all has to do with the "rig" we were using (aka the hook, tackle, set-up of the rod). He then gave us the number of a really nice lady, Crystal, who doesn't normally work on Sundays, but met us anyways to help process and ship our fish home. (I will review once we get home and reunited with our fish.) Overall, our experience was great and exactly what we came to AK for. When you're out with a guide for several hours, personality is important. I was worried that our guide might be a grouchy local snob (since we are from SD and clearly tourists) or overly cheesy (which we were a little sick of after being on a cruise ship). Todd is the guy that lives here, owns and operates his own business, and clearly takes pride and care in guiding others in what he does very well. We caught a ton of fish and had a great time :) Thanks again, Todd.

We (me + 28 yr old son) hired owner/guide Todd Kingery to take us "up river" to chase some trout…read moreand brush up on our fly fishing skills. Absolutely perfect day on the river. Todd patiently worked with us to get our casting down then we spent the day sight casting to trout -- catching several really nice ones! What an experience and what a fantastic time with a great guide and really nice guy. Highly Recommend.

I'm with Joy G, this place is like a liquor store for Baptists: a place everyone goes, but no one…read moretalks about going to! I had only heard about it when my brother was visiting. He's a avid fisherman and did extensive research, and stumbled upon this area. Now that I've finally visited, I recognize it as the place where a lot of drone videos posted on social media are shot. There's a well-maintained parking lot with no fee. From here, you can go right to the water and fish. There's also a very short, but very well-maintained hiking trail. (maybe ¼ of a mile) The highlight here for me is the small bridge. It's right at the start of the hiking trail, over a milky-turquoise canal, and Pioneer Peak almost perfectly frames the scene in the background. It's an easy-to-take show that will blow away all your non-Alaska friends. If you're a tourist: this place is a must-visit. If you're a fisherperson: this place is a must-visit. If you're an avid hiker: this place is a must-visit...once. It's probably a good place to look for the Northern lights though! Decent sky views and you can stay close to your (warm) car!

Wanted to visit this area after reading great reviews from Elite Yelpers. I call the road you need…read moreto take to get there the "Palmer back road." Growing up religious we had these yearly summer camp meetings and that road is the only road I know to use to get there. Funny, I never noticed the sign for this place before, which is pretty large and obvious. Any way, it was my birthday and I wanted to get some fresh air with my family. We get there about 10am on a Monday morning. I was surprised to see a lot of fishermen in spots all around. I think they were just as surprised to see us. We started off strolling my youngest then found it easier to put her in a carrier. This place is breathtaking. The water is so calming and so tranquil. Love the bridge and as other yelpers mentioned, it is super close to the parking lot. Luckily it was sunny and we enjoyed the short hike through the wooded area. We were definitely the only people there not fishing. Greatful to have found this place.

If you have limited time in the area, do not hesitate to book this tour. Fred will go out of his…read moreway to make sure you have a wonderful, authentic Alaskan experience. During our visit to the Talkeetna area there were wildfires burning, we were unable to make it to the meeting area but Fred and his helper Rich came to the hotel and picked us up so we wouldn't miss out on the fun. He first took us to a secluded spot by a river where the salmon were literally swimming between our feet. We could have reached down and scooped them up, but we were there to learn how to fly fish, so learn we did! Fred was extremely patient with me and my husband....and our limited fishing abilities! He came supplied with everything you could need or want during the tour. The waders fit perfectly, and kept us warm in the glacier water. While driving to our second fishing spot he supplied yummy croissant sandwiches to snack on during the ride. The second fishing spot had just as many salmon and we were able to catch quite a few fish. I had a beautiful trout on my line but unfortunately I didn't snag him and he got off the hook. I was bummed, but Fred is so encouraging before I knew it I had a huge salmon on the line and brought it in successfully. While we enjoyed fishing Rich cooked up some salmon by the shore along with vodka tonic and rum and cokes. We took a break to enjoy a perfect meal of deliciously cooked salmon and a nice cocktail. It was seriously a perfect day, despite the wildfires in area. I just hope that Rich and Fred's property were not impacted. If I am ever back in the area, this would be the first tour I book. It was a great experience and a super fun day!! Thank you Fred and Rich for making this the highlight of our trip!

This was the highlight of our Alaska trip. We did the fishing trip with Fred and He was amazing. We…read moremet up with Fred around 2pm. Had a delicious lunch and drinks and caught fish all afternoon. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. The spot Fred took us the fish were jumping out of the water right before our eyes. As the sun started to go down it was impossible not to catch a fish. We even ate our fresh fish on the beach. We were celebrating my Mom's 60th Birthday and Fred made it an extra special day. My brother is already wanting to make another Alaska trip next year just to fish with Fred!

Ice Fishing was my favorite part of our trip…read more We did a lot of fun things on our trip to Alaska and ice fishing was by far my favorite. My husband may disagree but that's only because I caught more fish than him... Dustin is the shop owner and an all-around cool guy. He had a great set up for us before we even got to the location - a heated shelter, cameras so we could see below the ice, and rods all ready to go. We enjoyed chatting with him about his experiences fishing all over the world (he won't brag...but he's kind of famous). We're always looking to support Veteran-owned businesses and we're glad to have found The Bait Shack! Don't worry, all of the big char went back into the water to swim another day. But man was it fun! It was so exhilarating to watch these fish come up from the ice. Dustin also made sure they were handled gently and watched for any signs of distress from the fish as we were sending them home. We're fully committed to a summer trip so we can fish out a few Kings with Dustin and his crew. If you're looking for a fishing adventure near Anchorage, call The Bait Shack!

What a great first ice fishing experience! Dustin put us on plenty of fish and we caught fish all…read moreday. Dustin made everything super easy and made sure we had everything we needed for our first experience. We did the DIY package, and we were catching fish within a few minutes of fishing. Would definitely come back again- highly recommended and a great genuine guy.

Repeat customer and I can't say enough good things about these guys! We had the best time on our…read moreJuly 4th fishing trip with Clay! Everything was well-organized and welcoming. We've had a Clay as our guide a few times before, and he's always fantastic--knowledgeable, patient, and genuinely fun to be around. He made sure we were in the right spots, gave great tips, and kept the energy up all day long, even at 4am. The owners, Lori and Travis, clearly care about their business and their guests. You can tell they've put a lot of heart into making sure every trip is a great experience. The boat was clean, well-equipped, and comfortable, and we came back with not only a great haul of fish but also memories we'll talk about for a long time. If you're thinking about booking a fishing trip, we absolutely recommend Fish Em. Clay, Lori, and Travis make a great team, and we can't wait to go out with them again!

We were visiting Alaska and wanted to get some ice fishing exposure. We went out for the 2 hour…read morefamily experience and I couldn't believe my 6 year old kept focused and enjoyed it. Jake did. Fantastic job putting us on the fish. We all caught fish totaling a couple dozen. If you're looking for a friendly knowledgeable Alaskan book a trip with them.