From Dream to River: How One Man Built a Life as an Alaska Fishing Guide

These days I run FishHound Expeditions out of Willow, Alaska — a guide-owned, guide-operated outfitter offering fly fishing trips on some of the best water Alaska has to offer, from day trips on the road system to remote multi-day float trips and heli-fishing adventures. We live and fish Alaska year round, and that intimacy with the water is what sets us apart. But getting here? That's the part worth telling.

Me, like a lot of us transplants or sourdough's who now call Alaska home are often asked “how”? How we ended up here? Why here? Are questions that we get all the time. Answers to this question are similar for a lot of us. Myself included. I was originally planning on coming up for a season and then return to Colorado. I was here a whole 2 minutes before realizing Alaska is home and that I would not be returning Colorado. For me, Alaska was a place I had been dreaming about since I first got into fly fishing when I was about 13 or 14. In the early and mid 90’s (damn I don’t feel it, but I’m getting old), pre-social media and high-end production fish-porn’s we had magazines. And staring at those glossy photos of never-ending wilderness, huge rainbows, flying in planes and helicopters, and of course salmon so thick it’s all you can see in the water. My buddies and I dreamed of guiding in Alaska and flying to remote areas and seeing the vast expanses of the last frontier. These images were forever stuck in my brain and though I didn’t know it at the time would end up being a driving force in what my life ended up being.

Roots in the Rockies: Where It All Began

I was born in the foothills of Colorado and grew up camping, fishing, and snowboarding. My folks taught my younger brother and I at an early age to respect and enjoy wild places by getting out and experiencing them. As kids we started spin fishing and I very clearly remember seeing people fly fishing and thinking that it looked so cool. I equated it to bow hunting and archery, something challenging and different to a 14 year old mountain kid. I jumped at the chance when a good buddy and his dad offered to take me fly fishing for the first time! I bought a $20 Eagleclaw fiberglass rod and borrowed another buddy’s Pflueger Medalist reel and was set to hit the upper Frying Pan River above the reservoir. In my ignorance, I thought I would get a lesson from my buddy but he was so amped to hit the water and merely said “cast up river” and was gone around the bend before I could say anything. After a bunch of catching the brush, myself, and the trees again I managed to land a beautiful 6 inch brown trout! Well, pun intended, I was hooked.

Adam Cuthriell of FishHound Expeditions with a beautiful Alaska Rainbow Trout

Trading Law Books for a Fly Rod

I fished through middle and high school and while I was in college studying to be a water law lawyer, I quickly realized that wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a fly fishing guide. In my head I made up a degree called outdoor recreation leadership, it turned out to be an actual degree of study at Colorado Mountain College. Much to my parent’s disappointment at the time, I changed schools, and soon graduated with a degree in outdoor recreation and began guiding on famous tail waters like the South Platte, Blue, Colorado, and other great rivers in Colorado. I learned a lot about guiding and fishing on these iconic waters. I eventually learned that I wanted less people around. So, I moved to the western slope of Colorado and started guiding multi-day trips in the hallowed Black Canyon of the Gunnison and other rivers on the western slope. It was here at 30 years old I decided that if I didn’t go check out Alaska now, I may never. So, I loaded up my jeep with my dogs and gear to head north to follow a dream. I was warned that I would never leave Alaska and even if I did, Alaska wouldn’t leave me…

From the Kenai's Crowds to Crystal Clear Wilderness

I came to Alaska in October, which most years is basically winter. I was very aware of the Kenai River and that is where I caught my first Alaskan trout in late October of 2011. I thought the glacial blue water was beautiful but hard to sight fish in. Also, it was late October and below freezing so needless to say not many people. After one of the snowiest and best winters ever, over a thousand inches of snow! It was finally the trout opener in June! I was so excited! That feeling was quickly squashed upon seeing 35 plus boats trying to put on and people shoulder to shoulder on the Kenai. Please, don’t get me wrong, the Kenai River is a phenomenal fishery but all that was not what I envisioned moving here. A buddy recommended that I should head north and check out the Alaska Parks Highway river systems and that may be more what I was looking for. He was so right! Crystal clear water, tons of wild fish, and way less humans. I instantly fell in love with all these different watersheds! It was also my first season guiding remote multi-day fly in float trips across AK. Needless to say my mind was blown! That first year guiding trips on rivers that I had read and dreamed about for years had finally become a reality. Having those magazines from the 90’s turn into something I could see and touch changed me. I should have known, I was warned. I will never leave, and even if I did Alaska would never leave me.

FishHound Expeditions: No Blueprint, Just a Dream and Wild Water

Fast forward to 2015, I had a choice to pursue my career with the fire service or get a loan to buy an overpriced, outdated guide service. Fortunately, my wife had a 3rd and way better option, start my own. With her encouragement FishHound Expeditions was born in 2015 named after our bluetick bloodhound, Hatch, the original FishHound. Having guided both day trips and multi-day trips for other outfitters that only did one or the other. I decided that since I enjoyed guiding both, that’s what I would do. The Parks Highway river systems just has so much different water! From larger rivers that can accommodate float trips to tiny rivers that resemble spring creeks and every type in between. With all the different types of water that are accessible via road, float planes, and heli access choosing Willow was an easy choice! The amount of different rivers and different access that we have is hard to find in other parts of AK and one of the main reasons it works so well. As a guide there is something to be said about being on the same stretch of river 7 days a week, you learn it well, know every hold and run, and get extremely bored. Having different water keeps it fun and as a guide it also gives us options. So that if one river is blown out we can pivot and fish another. This is good for guides as well as our clients. Having plan A through Z gives us more flexibility of providing a great experience for our guests.

Alaska has a way of grabbing hold of you and not letting go. I was warned about that before I ever crossed the border and I didn't listen. I'm glad I didn't. FishHound Expeditions is everything I dreamed it would be and more — built on wild water, great people, and a passion for this place that only gets stronger every season. Your Alaska adventure is waiting — come find it. Book a guided trip with FishHound Expeditions and see the Alaska I fell in love with for yourself.

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