Alaska cruise out of Seattle - Fishing?

I'm taking my family on a 7 day Alaska cruise in the third week of September of this year. Part of me really wants to do a fishing excursion on one of the stops (Ketchikan?), but I'm not sure if it's worth the high cost. Considering that booking through the ship (I haven't looked otherwise yet) is somewhere around $300/person I was hoping someone here could help me make a decision.

Can anyone recommend, or not, going fishing in September in Alaska? And, if so, should we book through the ship or are there other local vendors that are reputable and cost effective? What are we likely to catch, if anything?

Thanks y'all.

I've no experience fishing out of Ketchikan but I have gone out a number of times from Homer, Valdez and Kodiak. September is a little late for Salmon so you would likely be fishing for halibut, ling cod and rockfish, all of which are great eating fish. I've never done a cruise so don't know how much time you would have in port unless you are planning to fish after the cruise before flying home. Most charters run either half day or full day trips so you would have to determine what time you have available. I would bet you can get better rates by researching online and making some calls yourself vs. booking through the cruise line. I've had the best experiences on boats that only take 6 people or less. I imagine you would want to bring fish home or ship some so that is another thing to think about.

What are your expectations?

The half day type trips off the cruise ships are going to be pretty short affairs and they aren't going to go very far to get to any prime fishing grounds. Not sure what would be running that late, but the Kings are catch and release this year up there around Ketchikan, I think they would already be gone by September anyway though.

They won't let you take any fish on the cruise ship so you have to FedEx anything you catch home and that can be pretty spendy as well.

If you just want to go out on a boat and maybe catch a fish or two it could be fun. Some of the captains will work hard at getting Eagles to come in after the bait fish and help you spot a whale if the fishing is slow.

If you are going to measure your success based on the pounds of fish you catch you may be disappointed.

My 2 cents.

I went on this excursion a few years ago while cruising with Princess. We caught 9 decent sized Salmon, had a blast and I would do it again. We had the fish shipped back to Colorado with no issues. I can't remember the time of year but I think it was earlier.

I would talk to this guy http://ketchikan-fishing.com/about-us

Thank you all for your help! I don't necessarily have high expectations, but I would like to be catching some sort of fish while we are out on the water. However, I hadn't thought about the cost to get it shipped back to us. That additional cost (to get it all the way back to Florida!) might make or break the deal. I'll see what I can find on local guys as well. Thanks all.

The coho will be running in September and halibut should be good then as well. $300 a person is pretty high. They should be more like $150 a person.

Just got back from this Cruise last night in ketch we took the float plane and it was so worth it to see the fieords. PM me for more info

Day rates in Ketchikan are a little less than $300 … you can book thru your cruise ship or book direct before your day on shore. The guide will meet you at the ramp. It's usually about 6 hours from dock to dock. So figure about 4 hours of fishing. There could be weather days that time of year. 3 footers are no fun for fishing … but that late in the season many Halibut have moved in closer to the river mouths, following the Salmon. There could be a few Silvers left in the bay but most are in the creeks.


SE Alaska is on a reverse slot limit for Halibut. You can kill one less than 38 inches or over 80. Rarely are 80 or above Butts caught around Ketchikan. You can kill one non-pelagic Rock fish, 5 pelagic, one Ling Cod, no limit if you get into the Pacific Cod but there have been very few around this season.


A 38 inch Butt will run about 25 lbs with about 18 lbs meat yield. Be prepared to kill one less than the 38 inch limit. A minimum fish shipment will run about $125 at around 10 lbs. That is cut into 1 lb pieces, vac-sealed and frozen and shipped home FedEx overnight shipping the day you want it shipped. Most of that cost is the FedEx overnight costs. A 30 lb shipment will run around $250, give or take.


If you are sailing a Princess Cruise you are allowed to take one fish per person back on board and they will prepare it for you. Not all charter operators offer this service but some do. I would book with a boat that is moored downtown instead of out north so you can walk direct to the charter and not have any drive time.


If its nice weather as far as wind goes there can be some good fishing later in Sept. Even inside protected waters can produce.


One charter outfit offers a shore lunch. Go out and catch a rock fish and go to a nice beach lunch of your fish around a fire. If you also happen to catch a nice Butt or some Salmon you could ship that home.

One thing to keep in mind. If you book it through the Cruise line, and you encounter any problems (mechanical breakdown, etc), the Ship will wait for you because the vendors have direct contact with the Shore Excursion Desk/Director. If you have a bad experience, or aren't satisfied you can seek a refund with the Cruise Ship. On the other hand, if you go ashore and book the trip on your own, and something happens, the Ship might not wait for you. If you run into a bad operator, and the trip sucks, you are out of your money. Booking it through the Cruise Ship will be a little more expensive, but might be worth the Peace of Mind.

Also if you figure your tip for the Captain your cost will be over $300 … and as for what Laelkhunter said is true … there are pros and cons to booking either way.

muskeg said:

Day rates in Ketchikan are a little less than $300 … you can book thru your cruise ship or book direct before your day on shore. The guide will meet you at the ramp. It's usually about 6 hours from dock to dock. So figure about 4 hours of fishing. There could be weather days that time of year. 3 footers are no fun for fishing … but that late in the season many Halibut have moved in closer to the river mouths, following the Salmon. There could be a few Silvers left in the bay but most are in the creeks.


SE Alaska is on a reverse slot limit for Halibut. You can kill one less than 38 inches or over 80. Rarely are 80 or above Butts caught around Ketchikan. You can kill one non-pelagic Rock fish, 5 pelagic, one Ling Cod, no limit if you get into the Pacific Cod but there have been very few around this season.


A 38 inch Butt will run about 25 lbs with about 18 lbs meat yield. Be prepared to kill one less than the 38 inch limit. A minimum fish shipment will run about $125 at around 10 lbs. That is cut into 1 lb pieces, vac-sealed and frozen and shipped home FedEx overnight shipping the day you want it shipped. Most of that cost is the FedEx overnight costs. A 30 lb shipment will run around $250, give or take.


If you are sailing a Princess Cruise you are allowed to take one fish per person back on board and they will prepare it for you. Not all charter operators offer this service but some do. I would book with a boat that is moored downtown instead of out north so you can walk direct to the charter and not have any drive time.


If its nice weather as far as wind goes there can be some good fishing later in Sept. Even inside protected waters can produce.


One charter outfit offers a shore lunch. Go out and catch a rock fish and go to a nice beach lunch of your fish around a fire. If you also happen to catch a nice Butt or some Salmon you could ship that home.

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Muskeg: Maybe next year when I return to Coffman Cove I will look you up in Hollis I am interested in the Halibut rules that you stated. Are the measurements "ONLY" for people who charter fishing trips? If I go on my own (rent a boat) or go with a friend are these measurements applicable? Thanks

good luck to all
the dog

The reverse slot limit is for Charter fishing vessels, only.

muskeg said:

The reverse slot limit is for Charter fishing vessels, only.

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Thanks, That's what I thought.

good luck to all
the dog

Not to detour the subject but I'm researching Alaska cruises at the moment. If anyone would be willing to share some recommendations it'd be greatly appreciated.

cmc said:

Not to detour the subject but I'm researching Alaska cruises at the moment. If anyone would be willing to share some recommendations it'd be greatly appreciated.

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My family just got back from our first cruise experience. My in-laws were celebrating their 50th this year and took the whole gang on a trip from Vancouver to Whittier (Princess). Having been to AK nine years ago w/ my parents, my wife and I decided we would spend some extra time on the Kenai doing some "fun stuff," so we booked another 6 days in Moose Pass. To me, that was the real vacation- no timelines and free to do anything we wanted.

Pros of the cruise: Hospitality was amazing- food was great, drinks were free (likely due to the # of rooms in our group), kids had lots to keep them busy, some of the naturalist talks were informative, the inside passage had great calm water for most of the trip, and the cruise ship gets you into some cool areas (Glacier Bay and College Fjords). If you go, spend the extra money for a balcony (ours was on a covered level, so a little rain didn't keep me inside) and try to score the starboard side if doing a northbound trip. I saw whales every day, along with brown bears, black bears, seals, otters, porpoises, etc.

Cons of the cruise: Princess run "expeditions" were a bit hokey in my opinion- expect a college-aged kid up for the summer driving you on a bus. They were all super-friendly, and occasionally we'd have a full-time resident at the helm, but that was the exception. You can always book your own tours, but as mentioned, you could get left at the dock. My wife and kids were looking forward to doing a float plane trip, but that got cancelled due to fog at the last minute. To me they were all "manufactured" experiences.

As mentioned earlier, I really enjoyed our extra time on the Kenai more than the cruise. I made a couple trips to the Russian and brought home a limit of sockeye each time. We did a bunch of hiking and kayaking on our own (house we rented had free stuff to use), along with a zipline tour. Olive oil, montreal steak seasoning, and a hot grill made salmon that turned out better than any we had on the cruise ship. We took a halibut charter with ProFish-N-Sea and managed to boat enough halibut, lingcod, and rockfish to fill five 48-quart coolers (around 220# of fillets) so our freezers are all packed. $25/checked bag fees are way cheaper than paying FedEx.

We had extraordinary weather for late June/July, which was really nice, but that's the gamble of doing it this time of year. All in all it was a great trip, but (if the money was coming out of my wallet) I'm not sure I'd do the cruise side again.