Lodges, Outfitters and Guides We Recommend
Anglers Inn - El Salto
Billy Chapman Jr. has built and operated the ultimate fishing lodge on the longstanding king of the Mexican fishing scene. We first went as a “once in a lifetime” trip for my 40th birthday in late 2009, then returned in 2013, and since 2014 we’ve been going two or three times a year. It’s bass fishing nirvana.
Adventure Travel Alliance - Steve Yatomi
We’ve been to Brazil twice and Africa once with Steve, in search of peacock bass and tigerfish, respectively. He’s the consummate host and storyteller, an exceptional photographer, and he knows everyone everywhere. We hope to visit his arapaima operation in Guyana in the not-too-distant future.
Anglers Inn - Lake Picachos
Picachos is the newcomer on the scene, less than an hour from the Mazatlan airport and generally considered a “numbers” lake but Hanna caught her personal best 9-12 there before the lodge officially opened. Like everything Billy Chapman Jr. does, service is their focus.
Bear Trail Lodge - Alaska
The Bristol Bay region of Alaska hosts some of the world’s largest runs of Pacific salmon, and the Naknek River, upon which Bear Trail Lodge is situated, is known for an abundance of 30-inch class trophy rainbow trout. Pete traveled here in 2019 with bass pro Keith Combs, and Hanna “forced him” to go back in 2020.
Anglers Inn - Amazon
Billy Chapman Jr. was a leading pioneer in developing the Amazon fisheries for “gringos,” and he continues to blaze new trails. In 2019, Pete visited the Mato Grosso region with him for wolf fish and payara, and in we’ll soon visit his luxury operation on the Rio Negro.
Camelot Bell
Mike Frazier has made it his goal to breed the world record bass, and he's undertaking that process in the little town of Coolidge, Texas. He invited Pete to his ranch on Pete's 42nd birthday and the gift was a personal-best bass, a 12-pounder that slammed a 3/4 ounce spinnerbait in the midst of a horrible cold front. Since then he's built a second lake, and his property continues to pump out double digit fish.
Casa Vieja Lodge - Guatemala
We visited CVL in February 2020 to celebrate Pete’s 50th. It was Hanna’s first time billfishing and Pete’s first time in 25 years, and we chose the right place. We landed 37 leaping sailfish in three days, including an amazing 23 in one day. That day included six doubles, one of which was almost a triple.
Chad Morgenthaler - Table Rock
Elite Series pro Chad Morgenthaler has been a friend for years, and Pete has flipped grass with him on Okeechobee, his known expertise, but we’ve also been amazed by his deep water skills on his adopted home lake. He took us to “video game” massive schools of spotted bass, with the occasional spastic smallmouth or lunker largemouth.
Chiawa Camp - Zambia
The Zambezi River is a dreamlike background for a fishing trip, populated by lions, hippos and elephants. Along with its sister camp Old Mondoro, Chiawa provides a luxury tented home base from which to go out and chase fierce, fanged tigerfish. Hanna caught the camp’s biggest for the 2016 season.
Elite Angler Academy - Clark Reehm - Sam Rayburn
Clark has been a friend since he was in high school and Pete was in his mid-20s, so we’ve watched him develop into the consummate expert and educator with electronics. He can teach you more about your graphs in two hours than you can learn in a lifetime on your own, and he happens to be on one of the best lakes in the country.
Fins & Grins Muskie Charters - Lake St. Clair
We’ve gone on casting and trolling trips multiple times with brothers Matthew and Jason Quintano, and they’ve led us to three 50-inch class fish.
Grosse Savanne - Louisiana
Louisiana truly is a Sportsman’s Paradise, and whether you want to fish freshwater or saltwater, or hunt gators or ducks, or even just go on an eco-tour, this lodge outside of Lake Charles is the place to do it. We visited in October 2019, and under extreme cold front conditions still caught 100 bass in a day. The food is exceptional, too.
Niagara Region Charter Service - Frank Campbell
The Buffalo portion of Lake Erie is home to some of the fattest smallmouths on earth, and is also blessed with various other species including salmon, trout, walleye and muskies. Captain Frank is good at finding and catching all of them.
Outer Coast Adventures - Alaska
In the summer of 2019, Pete and Keith Combs took an epic 24-hour charter with Captain Chris Hanna out of Seward, Alaska. We caught 50 to 100 pound halibut until our arms tired, along with lingcod and various types of rockfish, without seeing another boat for up to 8 hours at a time.
Spencer’s Angling Adventures - Lake St. Clair
Spencer Berman may be the greatest muskie angler alive and his passion matches his skill, Get ready to throw “the Pounder” and figure eight until you’re blue in the face, but his numbers and averages speak for themselves.
Triple Creek Ranch - Montana
For our 10th anniversary in 2005, we traveled to this upscale ranch in Darby, Montana and booked a day floating the Bitteroot River with Steve Grant of Fly Fishing Always. He schooled us in drifting dry flies for cutthroats, rainbows and cutbows. We enjoyed it so much that before we had the raft back on the trailer we’d already booked a second day.
Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge — Panama
Popping for tuna should be on the top of every serious angler’s list for heart-pumping excitement, and Capt. Shane Jarvis has the art of it wired. Stay on a private island in the Gulf of Chiriqui and chase not just tuna but billfish and inshore species, too.