In Alaska, the amazing fishing and outstanding scenery make up the heart and soul of any fly fishing excursion. However most adventuresome souls tend to return with memories of so much more.

The plane’s engine whines as streams of water slap at the pontoons of our floatplane. This would be a good time to say good-bye to civilization (I say to myself as the plane takes off) and hello to an anticipated “pure ­version” of Mother Nature. Such is the initial sensation for passengers on the fly-out fly-fishing trips out of Juneau, Alaska.

Just after takeoff we settled in with great anticipation for the described triple treat experience touted in this excursion’s advertising materials. Our first treat, albeit sensation, would be that of “a bird’s eye view of Alaska’s amazing scenery” including Mendenhall Glacier. From the floatplane, our guide Matt Boline and five fishermen all had great views of Alaska’s rugged topography as we headed to our destination of Game Cove. After a short flight of roughly 40 minutes, we soon set down and taxied to a sandy beach near a pristine mountain stream named Wheeler Creek. A short time before, we had all donned waders at the Bear Creek Outfitters shop, where we also purchased fishing licenses and received a brief indoctrination. However, the difference between Matt’s description of where we were going and the reality of actually setting foot on such a desolate location now slapped us in the face like a bucket of ice water. As we exited the plane, all our senses were on maximum input!

Soon everything was offloaded as we set up an impromptu base camp near the high tide line. Tides here rise and fall 20 feet or more, so it’s best not to leave personal items within King Neptune’s grasp. The first order of business for Matt was to pull out and load “Ole’ Bessie,” a 12-gauge shotgun only used as a last ditch deterrent for the commonly seen brown or black bears known to roam this beach. That was clearly reassuring, especially when we almost immediately came across a bear’s femur bone that must have weighed more than 25 pounds. With the base camp set up, and our protection in ready reach, Matt rigged up each of us. Today we would be fishing with Sage 8-weight rods and Ross reels. A barbless (catch & release) Clouser minnow in olive/white and pink was today’s wet fly of choice. Now it was time to produce! Initially we were blind casting off the beach toward occasional tailing ripples. Richard from Colorado, perhaps the most seasoned fly fisherman among us, was first to hook up. A nice pink salmon was soon landed. Now the intensity of casting and stripping line picked up noticeably among the remaining fishless anglers. Soon Shane, my new friend from down under, had a nice fish on followed by Dan landing a dolly varden char.

As we continued to fish, it became obvious that the tide was quickly going out, so our guide encouraged us to move down the beach toward Wheeler Creek. Now with the clouds parting, the overtaking sunlight on the translucent green mountain water began to produce dark silhouettes of schooling fish. Richard hooked up again and I soon followed. Almost ­simultaneously, everyone began finding their fishing groove as salmon and char were landed up and down the stream. I ­remember being surprised how comfortable I was fishing in waders in water approaching the low 50’s and air temp’s in the 60’s. In fact, I momentarily considered taking off my sweatshirt. However, with our departure clock ticking, there were just too many fish both up and down stream (now clearly visible through my polarize sunglasses) to consider a wardrobe change.

Down stream from my position, Dan and his son Garrett fished feverishly. Both were near the final bend in this creek as it heads for the open waters of Chatham Straits. It was quite clear that this was a bonding moment as fish darted before them. Later, Dan emailed me, ecstatic about their experience: “Our trip to Alaska was breathtaking and the fly-out-fly-fishing was truly the highlight for Garrett and myself. We really lucked out with the weather, and the total experience of being out in the back country with my son is one I'll never forget. Seeing the pod of whales just yards off the coast and the three large bald eagles competing with us for the salmon are etched deeply in my mind.”

Oh yea, I left out the whales and eagles!! Perhaps it was catching my first salmon, but more than that, the scenery here is all consuming, and even if I had not caught a fish, this was a shore excursion never to be soon forgotten. However, the amazing fishing and outstanding scenery completed the remaining components of a triple treat, i.e. catching my first salmon (not to mention the ten or so that followed) and being one with nature. These combined with seeing Alaska from the vantage point of our seaplane were indeed the trio I had hoped for.

As an award-winning travel and outdoor photojournalist, Dale Sanders has ventured to more than 100 islands and coastal destinations around the globe. He is the associate editor for SmallShipCruises.com, travel editor for Antique Bottle & Glass Collector, and national travel examiner for Examiner.com. Dale is the current NATJA first-place winner of the travel photojournalism award in sports and recreation. His numerous credits and outlets can be found at www.phototext.biz.