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Subscriber Shad Goldston gives a thumbs-up to the fishing and every other aspect of the service at Royal Wolf Lodge in Alaska (www .royalwolf.com). He fished there this past September after booking his trip through the Fly Shop (www.thefly shop.com).

Goldston says the focus on this trip was rainbow trout, which he caught in abundance, up to 28 inches, though the average fish measured only 20 to 24 inches. He says he mostly wade fished, but there was quite a bit of hiking involved. In that regard, he says he roomed with a 60-plus-year-old man who was concerned that the amount of hiking limited some of the Royal Wolf’s guests. “I loved the hiking myself,” he writes, “but given the price of this lodge, most of the clients were indeed in their golden years. I was the youngest paying client by 15 to 20 years.”

“My guide, Dave Goodhart, was the most talented guide I’ve had the pleasure of fishing with,” Goldston continues. “During the middle of the salmon spawn he was able to put me on a 27.5-inch rainbow on a greendrake dry fly! Anyone who fishes Alaska regularly knows how rare it is to take rainbows that have gotten big and fat on salmon eggs on a dry fly. This alone is worth the hiking and price of Royal Wolf.”

Goldston gives the cost his trip, including six fly-outs, as $7,300. He recommends the trip to fellow subscribers.