Island Point Lodge: Alaska's Fish On Your Own Lodge

By: Joe Byers

Island Point Lodge offers anglers the chance to maximize their skills and talents while minimizing price. Limits are generous, and you can fish from dawn to dark, a long time in Alaska summer. Best of all, you’ll enjoy great hospitality, get guidance in your gear, and fish for a week at the price of a weekend at a fly-in lodge.

I recently returned from Island Point Lodge, located just south of Petersburg Alaska, and I shared the experience with two fishing couples. Neither couple had fished in Alaska previously, and most of the group had barely fished at all. Despite their novice experience with salmon and halibut, we boarded our plane home with just under 200 pounds of frozen fillets and enough memories last a lifetime. We had a fantastic week and did so without the use of a guide, special equipment, or remote fly-in.

I first fished Island Point Lodge in the late 1990’s, and I was immediately impressed by the opportunity to successfully fish for species I’d never caught before. The allure of this area is the five species salmon run and halibut fishing with an allowance of two fish per-person. Additionally, fishing by boat doesn’t require extensive experience, because you mainly fish the Wrangle Narrows, which is sheltered from ocean waves and windy weather. The experience is more like fishing a river or small lake, instead of in salt water. If you’re interested in this angling adventure, keep these tips in mind.  

1. Travel like a Minimalist

Lund 17-foot skiffs are ideal for navigating small channels and islands. The latest electronics are a big help in finding fish.

Even if you arrive in Petersburg wearing shorts, t-shirt, and flip flops, you can still find success. Most visitors bring more gear than they need, and it’s best to maximize luggage weight with fish on the way home. As a result, Island Point Lodge has a room filled with waders, rain pants and jackets that guests may borrow. Personally, I’d recommend a pair of fresh breathable, lightweight waders, wading shoes, and a quality rain jacket with hood. Temperatures will be in the 60’s and 70’s, so dress with a moderate level of insulation.

Island Point Lodge provides a 16-foot Lund skiff, 50-horse motor, bait, tackle, and gas. All you need is a knife and needle-nose pliers, which can be purchased at the lodge.

2. Pack Reels Not Rods

A sunrise in Alaska at Island Point Lodge where every day is an adventure.

If you are an experienced angler, you may want to bring your favorite reels with fresh line and leaders. I brought six rods this trip thinking that my friends would want to borrow them. I only used one- my flyrod. Island Point Lodge has dozens of rods set up for halibut and salmon, including floats and hooks.

Taking my rod cost me forty dollars in luggage fees each way, so it wasn’t a wise decision. Fly fishermen can usually take a rod tube as a personal item and pay no baggage fees.

3. Don’t Bring A Cooler

IPL will clean, vacuum pack your fish, and freeze them for the trip home. No need for a cooler.

Unless you fly first class on Alaska Airlines, which entitles you to three pieces of luggage up to 70-pounds, it’s more economical to buy a freezer box when you get there to send fish home. Coolers weigh between 10 and 18 pounds, which consumes much of a normal 50-pound baggage allotment. An insulated cardboard box, which is available at the lodge, weighs less than four pounds, optimizing your baggage weight limits. Remember, halibut sells for $15 per pound, so the more you ship home the more you save.

4. Wear An Organizer

A fishing vest and waders are about all you need, as extra gear is available at the lodge.

I wear a fly-fisherman’s vest whenever possible. Whether in a boat or in wading streams, you’ll need to change lures, re-bait hooks, and often re-rig after fish have broken your line.

Throughout a day of fishing, you will need simple angling tools. Having them on your chest, where they can be quickly reached is very satisfying, even after you lose a big one. Also, you should have angling glasses, a pair of gloves, and a small box for flies, lures, and sinkers.

5. Bring Binoculars

Bring your binoculars as you will see many an abundance of Alaskan wildlife.

Sure, this is a fishing trip, but it’s also Alaska. As we returned to the lodge one afternoon, three orcas swam so close they were nearly under the boat. While fishing a stream, we watched a black bear search for salmon and then swim across to the other side. Another time, we had a 2,000-pound sea lion within casting distance. You’ll see as many eagles as robins back home and seldom tire of watching them.

It’s thrilling to see these creatures up close, and good pair of binoculars will help you see them even better.

6. Time Your Trip

Because IPL is on the Inland Waterway, small boats are ideal for navigation.

The Petersburg area experiences all five salmon species’ runs, as well as spring steelhead fishing. Because of the extensive water system, halibut fishing remains strong all summer, and fish over 100-pounds are not uncommon.

King or chinook salmon fishing begins with trolling, mooching, and jigging in saltwater in May, followed by river fishing in June and early July. The reds, sockeye, move into selected streams in mid-July with pinks, chum, and silvers following in August and September. For the best times for certain species, visit the Island Point Lodge website. You can speak directly with someone by calling their main number, (508) 450-2820. Ask for Frank, the owner, and tell him Joe sent you.

7. Take Your Family

Bring your family. Women and children often frequent the lodge.

Island Point Lodge offers amenities like hot showers, prepared meals, laundry service, and advice on boating and fishing. Also, Petersburg is a quaint fishing village with most of the amenities of American small towns.

Two large glaciers are within boating distance of Petersburg. You can schedule tours to kayak among icebergs or just get up close and personal with more ice than you’ve ever seen. Petersburg has three main hotels, bed-and-breakfast establishments, and Airbnbs.

8. Generous Limits

In local waters you can fish for five kinds of salmon from shore or boat.

The Blind Slue may be the best king salmon fishing hole in Alaska; you’re allowed four king salmon per day. There is a salmon hatchery at the mouth of the waterway. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game captures the eggs needed to sustain the fishery, and they allow anglers to harvest the rest.

Halibut fishing in much of Alaska has a one-fish limit, sometimes with a size maximum. When fishing on your own, the Petersburg area allows two fish per day with no maximum size.

9. Camaraderie

At the lodge, you can sleep in or fish 16 hours a day. Plan on having lots of fun.

Island Point Lodge is still a fish camp, and as one might expect, many anglers are tight-lipped about their favorite fishing holes. If someone brings in a 100-pounder, don’t expect him or her to say exactly where it was caught. However, over a good meal with lodge guests, the kinder side of humanity emerges, even among fishermen, and soon secret locations and tackle designs are shared. This is particularly true if you have a youngster with you, a teenage son or daughter, after their first big fish.

Our group had a wonderful time fishing and sharing each other’s company. The views were spectacular and the harvest satisfying, even though several big ones got away. We will definitely return.

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