Royal Coachman Lodge Fishing Itinerary

Arrival Day

You will need to be in Anchorage on Sunday morning to catch a 1.5 hour charter flight to Dillingham.   This flight will leave around 11am out of Anchorage, arrive in Dillingham around 12:30  (please note that exact times will be confirmed on your final invoice letter 90 days before your arrival).   You will land at the Dillingham International Airport. A Royal Coachman Lodge representative will meet you at the airport. Please note, occasionally we have delays on our side. If no one has arrived after 15 minutes please call the lodge at 907.644.0641 or the Sweetwater office at 888.347.4286. There is a payphone in the waiting area, cellphones do not work in Dillingham. You will then be transferred in the Royal Coachman Lodge’s  van to Aleknagik, where our floatplanes will be waiting for you. This van transfer takes about 30 minutes. We will pack the plane and leave for the lodge as soon as you arrive. Not everything fits in 2 beaver loads, so we return for the remaining luggage. You will arrive at the lodge around 3:00 p.m., and the luggage flight will not get back to the lodge until roughly 6:00 pm.

Sunday is not a guided fishing day.  We usually have a couple guides available to go through equipment and take guests out in front of the lodge. Upon arrival the manager will discuss the week's itinerary with you, check your licenses, and have guests sign waivers. Appetizers and a hearty dinner will be served around 6:30 p.m.

Monday – Saturday:

Full fishing days! You will generally have breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and depart at 8:00 a.m. You will return around 6:00 p.m.
after a full day of fishing. Dinner is usually served at 7:30 p.m. Repeat!

Departure Day:

We normally have a luggage run at 8:00 a.m., so you will need to pack in the morning before breakfast, which will be
served at 8 a.m.. After the luggage plane leaves you will have time to settle up with the manager for your bill which will
include alcohol, fishing licenses, apparel purchased, and gratuities.  The recommended gratuity is 10%-15% of the package price.   Please feel free to tip more or less depending on the services you have received. 

After breakfast you will depart in our beavers for Dillingham. You will depart Dillingham on a private charter to Anchorage.

Weather: 

We are lucky to have a lodge in a very remote location, but this can also create difficulties.  Please note that the above itinerary depends on good weather.  Clients can get stuck in Anchorage, Dillingham, or even at the lodge due to bad weather especially on our transfer days (Sunday).  The charter between Anchorage and Dillingham requires good weather at both locations.  Also there are times where both Anchorage and Dillingham might have flyable weather, but we cannot fly at the lodge.  In this case we will often delay the charter so clients do not miss the outgoing charter, and that incoming guests do not get stuck in Dillingham.   In general there are many moving parts and we will do our best to get guests safely in and out of the lodge.  It is often a situation that can change hourly please call the lodge at 907-644-0641, Pat's cell at 406-223-3072, or Scott's cell at 406-223-2994, to get the most up to date information if you have delays.  Royal Coachman Lodge is not responsible for any added costs due to delays caused by bad weather, such as added hotel costs, or missed flights.  A full weather day (no flying) is rare, maybe 5-10 days out of a 112 day season (4-9%), but it is good for clients to know it is a possibility.    We can always fish our local river.