Wild Alaska.
On Your Own Terms.
TWO PROGRAMS. ONE PRIVATE LODGE.
DEEP IN THE TONGASS
Chrome Chasers is a small-group Alaska fishing lodge based in Wrangell, in the heart of the Tongass National Forest.
We run two programs each year — a spring steelhead season for serious anglers and a fall fishing-and-foraging program for groups who want a full Alaska experience centered on wild food.
Both are private, guided, and intentionally limited
Alaska steelhead program
Mid-April through Mid-May
Southeast Alaska holds some of the most productive and least-pressured steelhead water in the world. Our spring program puts four anglers on remote, boat-access rivers in the Tongass, targeting ocean-bright fish as they first push in from saltwater, before spawning begins and before most other programs are even on the water.
Every day looks different. You'll travel by enclosed cabin boat through coastal Alaska, rotating through rivers that see almost no fishing pressure. The fishing is active and physical, and the rewards are real.
This program is for anglers who: value solitude over crowds, want to sight fish for wild steelhead in true wilderness, and are ready to embrace whatever early-season Alaska throws at them. Prior steelhead experience is helpful but not required; a good attitude is essential.
Five weeks only. Four anglers per week. Spots go fast.
Great steelhead fishing is never about numbers. It’s about timing, water, and putting people in the right place at the right moment.
FALL FISHING AND FORAGING PROGRAM
Late July through September
This isn't a typical fishing trip. The fall program is built around the whole experience: fishing open water and inland streams, setting shrimp pots, foraging for wild mushrooms, and bringing everything back to the lodge to cook, smoke, preserve, and share. Your week is private, flexible, and entirely your own.
Wrangell in late summer is something people don't expect: warm enough to enjoy, wild enough to feel remote, and teeming with king and silver salmon, halibut, Dungeness crab, spot prawns, and the best chanterelle and hedgehog mushroom foraging in Southeast Alaska. You leave with a fish box of wild-caught and foraged food as well as the skills to prepare delicious meals for your friends and family.
This program is for families, couples, and small groups who want more than a fishing trip. If you care about where your food comes from, enjoy learning new skills, and want a private Alaska experience that blends adventure with real comfort, this was built for you. This trip is ideal for four, five, or six guests per week, and great for adventurous couples traveling together or families on an interactive vacation.
The lodge is reserved exclusively for your group each week.
THE LODGE
The Chrome Chasers lodge sits above Wrangell with panoramic views of the Stikine River and the surrounding bay. It's comfortable without being fussy. A beautiful place to land after a full day on the water. Dinners are made from your harvest. The wine is already open. There's nowhere else you need to be.
Featured on leading fly fishing podcasts
Rick joined April Vokey on the Anchored podcast to talk wild steelhead, conservation, and what it's like to guide across three very different places: Montana, Southeast Alaska, and the saltwater flats of Hawaii. The conversation digs into what guiding wild steelhead in Southeast Alaska actually looks like, why conservation has to come before everything else, and the differences between chasing trout in Montana, steelhead in Alaska, and bonefish in Hawaii. Rick also walks through Chrome Chasers' fall fishing and foraging program, which pairs stream and ocean fishing with mushroom and berry foraging in Southeast Alaska. The episode closes on why protecting wild steelhead runs matters for the next generation of anglers.
Rick left medical school to build a different kind of life: guiding, cooking, and living off the water and woods of Southeast Alaska. Host Travis Bader flew up to Wrangell to see what makes Chrome Chasers different from any lodge he's been to, and the conversation covers why Rick walked away from med school to guide full-time, what it takes to live and work in the Alaskan bush year after year, and lessons from years of hunting, trapping, and foraging. They also get into Rick's work with MeatEater, why conservation sits at the center of the business, and how wild food connects people back to the places it came from.
