THE TIME HAS COME. From the age of twelve, you've dreamt of it. The Great Land. Alaska. You've read and re-read every magazine article ever written about it, pored over brochures filled with photos of incredible vistas, giant grizzlies and monster trout. You've thrilled to savage strikes from the comfort of your Barcalounger, staring gape-mouthed as the celebrity host hooks an unending parade of impossibly fresh, wildly cartwheeling salmon.

At outdoor shows you spend hours drooling over every lodge's promotional video, imagining yourself standing waist-deep in that crystal clear tundra stream. Your nights are filled with visions of hook-jawed Arctic Char, ablaze with autumn colors, sail-finned grayling delicately sipping tiny dries, and thick, leopard-spotted rainbows slashing mice patterns off the surface. You, my friend, are a goner. There's no turning back now, no pretending you enjoy your local trout stream just as much "in it's own way." Your life will never be complete until you've experienced The Last Frontier.

Mentally, you've made the commitment. The vacation time is there, for once the taxman was kind to you, and your spouse thinks you deserve it. Your obsession is starting to take shape and, like your first kiss, makes you almost giddy with equal parts of lust and trepidation. Will it be as good as you've fantasized, or will actually getting what you've wanted for so long prove a disappointment? The outcome, I assure you, is in your hands. Alaska can either be a trip of a lifetime, or a complete disaster, and a great deal of the outcome will depend on the research you do beforehand. There are questions you'll need to ask yourself, questions you'll need to ask your lodge or outfitter, and then you'll have to choose from an amazing array of options.

As a travel specialist, it's my job to help people find the answers to all those questions, and choose the Alaska lodge that is best for them. Read on, and I'll attempt to do the same for you.

Book Early

First, and foremost, choose the year you want to go. This may seem a bit obvious, but you should understand that the best lodges have incredibly high rates of re-booking clientele. Returning guests, given the standard first right of refusal for their particular week, often choose to go again every year at that same time. Consequently, at some operations, time slots are rarely made available to new anglers. Your best shot at acquiring high demand dates is to book your trip a year in advance. This gives you first shot at any openings that do arise, and the lodge owners an opportunity to try and fit you in with a little creative juggling.

Using an Outfitter

If you are a real do-it-yourselfer, not afraid of a daunting amount of research, arranging your own first Alaskan trip can be a rewarding challenge. If, like most people, you have too little time to accomplish too many jobs, I would suggest looking into the services of a qualified travel outfitter. A good outfitter knows the ropes. They know which questions to ask, and how to listen to the answers. Their experience and breadth of knowledge will save you untold hours of phone calls, e-mails and Internet surfing. Whether you want to catch large chrome-bright kings at tidewater, or spring-run steelhead, a good outfitter will be able to give you a short list of options. Typically, I'd hook as many big rainbows in a 100-yard stretch as I would in a week back home. And it was all mine, whenever I wanted it.

Strong working relationships with their lodges allow them to quickly and thoroughly canvass a wide variety of destinations for potential available dates, and give invaluable insights into each operation. They can tell you what the rooms are like, what the guide to angler ratio is, and if beer is included in the rate. They understand they are dealing with your vacation time, possibly the trip of a lifetime, and take that responsibility very seriously.

A good outfitter will also be a serious angler, and able to make specific tackle recommendations. They know itineraries, motels and restaurants, en route. They can take the mystery (and uneasiness) out of how much to tip. They know details you never even thought to consider and, if they don't have an answer, they'll get it. Perhaps most importantly, they are able to help match you to a destination that will fulfill your individual expectations. And the best part? They're absolutely free!

Budget Constraints

If you are on a tight budget, it will to some extent decide the style of adventures you'll need to choose from. A few lodges offer less than full week packages, at correspondingly lower prices. Your round trip travel expenses are fixed, of course, so you'll need to decide if all the traveling is worth a two- to four-day stay. Some operations offer float trips, providing rafts, equipment, meals and guides for a weeklong drift down a wilderness river. Assuming you're rowing down a lightly used stream, this is an unparalleled way to observe undisturbed wildlife, become part of the backcountry, and lose yourself in its magnificence. Only experienced outdoorsmen or self-sufficient adventurers should consider this option, though, as damp clothes, an absence of bathroom facilities and a limited approach to style of fishing are all part of the game.

An often overlooked, but wonderful, option are the discounts that some lodges offer on less popular weeks. It's not uncommon to see lowered rates for early- to mid-June dates at operations that don't have king salmon fisheries. On the upside, this is normally the absolute best time for rainbows on dry flies and surface-fished smolt imitations. Similarly, a few destinations will reduce rates for the short window of time (usually in July) when the fewest species of "glamour" fish are available. If catching obscene numbers of bright, fresh, six- to ten-pound sockeye salmon appeals to you, however, this may be the week for you.

Wilderness Camps

Generally speaking, after a partial week, or a discount week, the next most affordable option is a week spent at a fixed base wilderness camp. At one time the mainstay of Alaskan operations, these camps are now a vanishing breed. The best are often located on remote reaches of rivers rarely accessed by other lodges. Truly sequestered from the outside world for a week, with no televisions, telephones, or blinking computers, can be an indescribably delicious experience. A good wilderness camp puts you right on top of the best water at the most affordable price. You will be comfortable, and close enough to the water to fish all day.

Using jet boats, you'll cover seemingly endless miles of river, each day fishing water that sees only a handful of anglers annually. In the evening, after a hearty meal served in a woodstove-heated dining tent, you'll trudge wearily to your Weatherport "cabin," marveling at the clarity and immenseness of the cold night sky. Snuggling into the cozy warmth of a thick down bag, you'll sleep like the dead until the guide wakes you in early morning light, a steaming mug of coffee ready to jump start you into another day in paradise.

Should you decide on a wilderness camp, understand that they usually place a higher emphasis on the angling than the creature comforts. Will you take a hot shower and sleep in a comfortable bed every night? Absolutely. Will the toilet flush and meals be served on fine china? Not likely.

Short on luxury, these camps are long on fishing. Normally, camp owners carefully choose their camps location, making sure they sit dead center in the region's best fishing water.

In the unlikely event you don't get enough during your guided day, the river always beckons just a long roll cast away. Recently I spent some time on such a camp in the Bristol Bay region. Every night after dinner, I'd shiver back into my damp waders, grab my still-rigged rod and follow the beargrass trail down to the "camp water." The fishing was always incredible. Typically, I'd hook as many big rainbows in a 100-yard stretch as I would in a week back home. And it was all mine, whenever I wanted it. (All except that stretch right in front of camp, where five-pound rainbows make the water froth every night as bread scraps are deposited into the river. Sadly, the camp owner had declared these fish off-limits, and had the good sense not to let my sniveling and whining sway his decision.)

It is critical, when choosing a wilderness camp, that you know about the fishery. If you really want to go catch a bunch of rainbows, for example, and the camp is located on an estuarine salmon river, you'll be disappointed. Ask the outfitter or lodge owner specific questions. What is the rainbow population like? Do the trout move in and out of the river, or are they there in good numbers all season? What significant salmon runs are in the fishery, and how do they effect the trout fishing? A good outfitter or operator will be excited that you are interested in such details, and more than happy to give you explicit answers. Remember, at wilderness camps, moving to another watershed is not generally an option. Make certain you understand the fishery, since you'll be there for a week.

River Lodges

If a wood lodge and full amenities is more to your liking, the next jump in price will usually be to a river lodge. These operations will run the gamut from rustic to quite comfortable, with most falling somewhere in the middle. They will normally have full bath/shower facilities in each room and cabin, or a separate, shared building with these facilities. This is always a good question to ask, if it's important to you. Some river lodges have both options. There will usually be a separate building that serves as the gathering/dining location. Here, anglers returning from a long day astream will gather, sharing lies in front of a crackling stone fireplace. Often, these permanent operations will have boardwalks and septic systems, luxuries the more temporary wilderness camps cannot always legally construct, due to stringent environmental regulations. In short, what you're really paying for is improved creature comforts.

Like wilderness camps, river lodges are located on a particular watershed, and generally fish their anglers in exactly the same manner, using jet boats. Often, however, they have the option of hiring local air taxi services for their clients, sometimes on short notice. (Understand that flying time is expensive, so this alternative will not be included in the original package price.) For a fee, you can decide on any given evening to try a fly-out experience the next day. If several anglers want to go, the cost of the flight is split between them.

I remember staying at a top quality Iliamna region river lodge some years back, with a group of hard-core rainbow fanatics. The fishing had been fabulous, with everyone hooking dozens of fish each day. On our second to last night, the owner got off the radiophone and casually mentioned that a friend reported a huge push of silvers pouring into a particular small Kamishak Bay estuary. The noisy chatter in the room came to a dead stop. Suggestive eyebrow arches filled the air, and in short order a wad of cash was lying on the table. Early the next gray dawn, we stood huddled against the droning propwash of a pair of Beavers, piling in with all our gear. Watching the sunrise en route was worth the price of admission, as was the spectacular flight through coastal passes. Landing in the mouth of a tiny glacier river, we could see finning salmon everywhere. You can imagine the rest. Later, sitting around the fireplace at the lodge, each and every fisherman told me it had been the best hundred bucks they'd ever spent!

Fly-Out Lodges

The final category of accommodations are full fly-out lodges. Once thought of as luxurious options for the well-to-do, fly-out lodges now comprise the majority of backcountry fly-fishing operations. Generally speaking, they are the most expensive option, and provide their clientele with amenities that, considering their remoteness, border on opulence. Many have greatrooms that comfortably accommodate 12-24 guests, complete with leather furniture, impressive wildlife art and million dollar views. Private rooms or cabins are as nice as home, complete with full bath, reading areas — the works!

While almost every Alaska lodge will feed you well, the top lodges go above and beyond the call of duty. Double entrée's have become more the rule than exception, and you'll never see the same menu twice. I've eaten food that you couldn't find at any but the nicest restaurants elsewhere, thanks to highly qualified chefs imported in for the short four-month season.

What you are really paying for at these top-notch lodges is flying time. It's not cheap fueling and maintaining aircraft in wilderness Alaska, and these lodges normally own their own fleet. The advantage, of course, is being able to fish new water every day. Fisheries vary tremendously in Alaska. On any given day, you can choose between slinging heavy lines and oversized leeches to big river mega-bows, or quietly stalking small, ultra-clear creeks, sight-fishing for nervous two- to four-pounders. The next day you can opt for a 50-fish grayling adventure, all on dries, then switch gears, and throw gaudy streamers into short coastal streams for salmon so close to the ocean, they glow. For the really adventurous, fly a bit further for sheefish, northern pike and lake trout, or enjoy lunch served lakeside, inside an ancient volcano crater.

Some of my most memorable visuals have occurred, not streamside, but from the air. Memories flood back, like the time we emerged from an Alaskan snow squall and found ourselves directly above a beach full of at least two hundred walruses, braying and scattering in all directions; or holding my breath as we flew over immense stone escarpments, closing my eyes as the view vanished abruptly beneath the wings; and, just this year, following my pilot's pointing finger down to a small clearing, where a pure white wolf intently tracked our progress. Yes, flying adds a whole other element beyond merely accessing the fish.

Despite nightmare stories of losing days of flying time to bad weather, the truth is most fly-out lodges lose less than two or three days in an entire season. Nevertheless, it's always prudent to make sure any such destination has great "home water." In the unlikely event you can't fly, this will ensure you don't lose any fishing time. Again, ask specific questions. What kind of fish will be present at the time I will be there? Are there enough jet boats for the whole lodge, if weather prohibits flying? These are all pertinent, important questions.

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