NetJets US Autumn 2023

OUTDOOR PURSUITS
© HAWKS CAY RESORT
© RIFFLIN’ HITCH LODGE
© BIG CEDAR LODGE
WATER WORKS
Clockwise from top:
Hawks Cay Resort;
Rifflin’ Hitch Lodge,
Canada; Big Cedar Lodge.
Facing page:
Steamboat Bay
Fishing Club.
bigeye tuna, albacore, wahoo, red snappers,
barracuda, and more. After fishing, enjoy
the island’s namesake fortified wines and
exquisite cuisine. The historic luxury hotel sits
on the same harbor in Funchal as the charter
sportfishing fleet.
After billfish, salmon are probably the
quarry more anglers make bucket-list trips
for than any others, and the biggest, the king
salmon (also known as chinook), is practically
synonymous with Alaska. For this reason,
despite a short summer season, Alaska is
full of destination salmon lodges, none
swankier than Steamboat Bay Fishing Club
(steamboatbay.com). It’s operated like a toptier
African safari lodge, with a private boat
and captain for each of the ten lodge rooms
or the eight-person residence, and all meals,
wines, top-shelf drinks, fish processing to take
home, and seaplane transfers from Ketchikan
are included. Cabin cruisers are custom made
for the region, with full bathrooms, heated
cabins, and stable rides with shock absorber
seats. It’s hard not to catch your king salmon
daily limits here, along with big halibut, cod,
rockfish, and silver (coho) salmon.
In Alaska, Pacific salmon are commonly
caught in deep water with conventional
saltwater tackle, but Atlantic salmon are
also one the biggest prizes for avid flyfishing
junkies, and for that it is hard to beat
remote and luxurious Rifflin’ Hitch Lodge
(rifflinhitchlodge.com) on the famed Eagle
River in Canada’s Labrador. There are no roads
here, and guests arrive in Goose Bay and are
flown in by the Lodge’s A-Star 350 helicopters
or Cessna Grand Caravans. Guests are also
flown daily to angling hot spots, including
Rifflin’s satellite day lodge in a National Park
Preserve to fish for jumbo trout. The main
event is trophy-sized Atlantic salmon, but
anglers also land huge brook trout and Arctic
char. All fishing is catch and release, but the
food is gourmet and there is no shortage of
the local specialties, along with fine wines.
There are just seven suites and a ratio of one
guide for every two guests, much better than
industry standards.
Iceland is world famous for its fly-fishing
because of some unique policies. While it has
many pristine lakes and some of the best sea
trout, char, and salmon streams in the world,
all fishing rights are privately owned and
mostly leased to outfitters. This means fishing
is severely limited on all the best waters,
42 NetJets