Larsen Bay Lodge

Larsen Bay Lodge was established in 1979 by Frank Carlson, a Karluk-born Korean War veteran, and calls itself the oldest hunting and fishing operation in Larsen Bay. His son Mike Carlson — who grew up hunting and fishing on Kodiak, started guiding at 15, and later ran a commercial fishing vessel — took over management in the mid-1980s and now owns and operates the lodge with his wife Tamarin. Mike is a Registered Big Game Guide, and a third generation, his son Frank, guides with a Coast Guard license and Big Game Assistant Guide credentials.

The lodge fishes salt and fresh water for salmon, steelhead, halibut, lingcod, and rockfish, and runs Sitka blacktail deer, duck, and Kodiak brown bear hunts plus bear viewing, using landing-craft-style boats with heated cabins and its own floatplane. It has grown from six guests to room for 24 while staying family-run.