Now that EPIC has a new owner, we thought it was important to maintain the some of the original history… EPIC Angling & Adventure was created in 2004 when Rus Schwausch took over Alaska Wilderness SAFARI from the original owner after guiding for a few seasons. The SAFARI camp had already been established in its current location since 1993, but there was an interesting series of events that occurred before he actually became an Alaskan fishing guide. Getting dropped at headwaters of remote Alaska river In 1995 Rus and 2 friends boldly embarked, with all their own gear, upon a 100 mile ung ..read more

It’s The End of an Era, The Start of a New Don. We’ve sold the EPIC Angling & Adventure business, including both camps, to longtime guide Don Mutert. Congratulations, Don! Don has worked with us since 2018, so he knows the camps, fishing, and the outdoors – you’re certainly in good hands. Don has formed a new LLC business entity, Rugged Creek Outfitters, but will continue doing business as EPIC Angling & Adventure. That is, you’ll still write your checks to and fish with EPIC Angling & Adventure. The names of the camps, Alaska Wilderness SAFARI and Alaska Wilderness OUTPOST, will r ..read more

Based in Bozeman, MT, author Anne Vollertsen wrote an article on the Alaska Wilderness SAFARI camp in the 2023 winter issue of Trout, Trout Unlimited’s quarterly magazine. Click here to read the article. The post Alaska Wilderness SAFARI article in Trout Unlimited’s magazine appeared first on ..read more

Guest and Guide Don enjoy a nice silver salmon. If you like pictures more than words, check out the 2022 SAFARI camp photos instead of reading the summary below. Fishing Summary 2022 delivered a light silver salmon run in camp’s home waters. The chum salmon run was very good. The pink salmon numbers were good. The Dolly Varden fishing was excellent in the river. The bay fishing for halibut was very strong in August. Fishing Details Chums salmon are most recognized by their tiger stripes, which develop as they enter fresh water. After 8 or so years of really strong silver runs, the 2022 sil ..read more

Trout fishing was good to OK in 2022. If you like pictures more than words, check out the 2022 OUTPOST camp photos instead of reading the summary below. Fishing The king run was decent but below average. Overall 2022 was a below average season of fishing at our Bristol Bay fly fishing camp, which is, unfortunately, a reminder that fluctuations do exist in Alaska’s incredibly fisheries. To keep things in perspective, though, most “bad” days of fishing in Alaska are still pretty damn good days by most gauges. And despite the lighter overall fishing, we still found a few rays of light in the ..read more

Guest overlooking the river valley at SAFARI camp. Please check out and enjoy the OUTPOST camp photos and SAFARI camp photos from the 2022 season. (More coming soon…) We are really lucky. We have sooo many amazing photos from over the years. And as usual, the 2022 SAFARI camp photos are quite breathtaking. But, honestly, it’s not terribly hard to take an interesting photo there – the dramatic Alaska Peninsula scenery makes it an easy job! And in spite of a wet SAFARI season, we thankfully managed enough good weather days to capture a lot of great material. Guest and “Obi-Don” with a nice OU ..read more

Phil, Davis, Pete, Rus, Shane, Don, Paul (AKA Savage, Cookie, Junebug, Big Worm, Black Widow, Obi-Don, Frog) (This is our first post after the 2022 season, and yes, it was definitely more delayed than typical. More posts coming in the near future.) “Radios off” is declared over our handheld 2-way radios when the last guide is back at SAFARI camp at the end of each day. It’s symbolizes that everyone is safe and the guided fishing day is complete. So yes, we are all home safe and sound, and by now decompressed and readjusted back to city life. Well, I’m not sure anyone crazy enough to spend th ..read more

Funny how pictures say a lot… If you like pictures more than words, check out the 2021 SAFARI camp photos instead of reading the summary below. Fishing Summary 2021 had a phenomenal silver salmon run. The pink salmon numbers were solid but not out of control (like 2017 and 2015). The chum salmon run was lighter than average. The Dolly Varden fishing was excellent, but in more concentrated areas of the river. The bay fishing for halibut was really good. Fishing Details The silvers, on average, were larger in 2021. Like 2019, the silver run WOWed us again this season. Our home waters fished ..read more

Dear Bristol Bay supporters, It’s pretty clear why Bristol Bay is special – it’s home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon run, Indigenous traditions, trophy trout, bears at nearly every river bend, generations of hardworking people, and so much more. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced proposed Clean Water Act protections for the region and has opened a public comment period to hear what we think. Please tell the EPA you support Clean Water Act protections today.  It’s crucial that Bristol Bay supporters near and far weigh in here. If finalized, these protections get ..read more

By Guide Jordan Romney (reprinted with permission; original 2015 post here.) Where to begin? If you haven’t seen Alaska in your life you haven’t seen shit. I have always had my eye on guiding in AK and when I saw how bad the drought was getting here [in CA] it was time to make it happen. Getting a guide job in Alaska is not the easiest and through a few connections I was put in touch with a outfit called Epic Angling and Adventure (www.epicaaa.com). Epic is a smaller operation that truly shows guests a very different remote side of Alaska. We offer two different camps which have two different ..read more