An amazing start to the 2024 Yukon fly fishing season

In the spirit of The A-Team’s Col. John “Hannibal” Smith, “we love it when a plan comes together.”

Booking fly fishing travel is not without its stress. From our end, it’s one thing to sell a trip to one of our valued clients. It’s another thing to make sure the trip lives up to expectations – that it’s what we said it would be. 

That’s why, with very few exceptions, we never sell a trip we haven’t experienced ourselves. And even then, we keep a close eye on things.

So when I booked a trip for a group of four anglers to Dalton Trail Lodge in the Yukon for the lodge’s opening week of the 2024 season, I had my ear to the ground. First, we’d never sold a trip to the lodge that early in the season. Until this year, we’ve tended to focus on the later-season trips, because that’s when the lake trout in the southern Yukon start to migrate and become very aggressive. 

But, Hardy Ruf, the lodge’s long-time owner and operator, assured me that the lake trout would be around, and that they’re around all summer long in the shallow waters of the region’s lakes. And, Hardy told me, the area’s northern pike are much more active early in the season, so I shouldn’t hesitate to recommend the first few weeks of the season. 

I was tentative, but I listened to the expert, and prescribed the trip for the precise reasons Hardy suggested: big pike. big lake trout, and lots of them.

So, my relief was palpable when the leader of the group of four reported back this week that they’d enjoyed world-class fly fishing for pike and lake trout, and that all members of the group caught trophy fish. 

“Buddy, you told me no lies!” his email read. “That place was incredible. Top-notch everything!” He went on to talk about his 50-pike day the first day the group was there, including several trophy pike over 40 inches. The next day came photos of leviathan lake trout they caught while wading in one of the area lakes they anchored over a sandbar and cast flies over the drop-off. 

I wasn’t the least bit worried about the lodge or the service – the Ruf family has been doing it right for more than 40 years. But the early season fishing had me on edge. 

I should have known better. Hardy has never steered me wrong, and he’s always taken great care of our clients. 

“I think your group had a great time,” he wrote to me in an email.

But the best part? As you read this, I’m in the Yukon with 10 other anglers – all of them clients – for our first-ever hosted trip to Dalton Trail Lodge. Stay tuned. We’ll post more photos soon. 

And, if you want to visit Dalton Trail Lodge, know this. There is no bad time to be here. And it’s not too late to visit this summer. 

If a trip this year isn't in the cards, consider putting your preferred dates for next year on the books. Or, you can join our next hosted trip. Mark your calendars: Sept. 7-14, 2025. Drop us a line and let us know you want in on one of the best deals in fly fishing travel. 

 — Chris Hunt

To learn more about Dalton Trail Lodge, visit the link below.