Fishing advice during an Alaskan Cruise

[Freefall]

I'm going to be going on an Alaskan Cruise from Anchorage (Whittier, AK) to Vancouver this June with my wife and in-laws and I was wondering if anyone here had any advice on fishing opportunities. We’ve discussed either going to Anchorage a few days early or staying a few days later in Vancouver so either one would offer an extra day or so for my wife and I to get in some fishing up north. We’re also going to be stopping in places down the coast like Sitka, Juneau, Ketchikan, etc but we’ll only have part of a day in each of those ports. My wife and I are both probably more comfortable using a spinning set up instead of fly fishing but that’s not to say that fly fishing isn’t an option. I’ve only used a fly rod once when I was much younger and although I had fun, my wife has never even held one so I think we would have more fun using something more familiar instead of going through a whole fly fishing class, etc. So if anyone has any recommendations on places, guides/outfitters, etc. please let me know.

Chris

[Gavin]

I cant recommend anyone specific, but here are a couple suggestions.

1)Take a fly out trip and fish the Alaskan back country for trout and salmon(best chance to see bears)

2)Rent a car and drive down the Kenai P., stay near Cooper Landing and float the Kenai for rainbow trout & dollies. Wade fishing for trout and dollies on the Russian.

3)Take a halibut charter (lots of hard work, but lots of fillets)

I'd also check with your cruise company regarding half day trips when you are in port. Cheers.

[jdmidwest]

Big rod, long line, big trolling spoon and you might catch a whale! Seriously, get a list of your ports of call and get on the net and research the towns. Most ports have streams nearby that enter the ocean. Salmon run out of the ocean into these rivers and the fishing may be right there in walking distance from your port. I know Whittier stocks Silvers and they run back into the harbor but have nowhere to spawn. Heavy spinning rods with 12 to 25 lb test and spoons or spinners. If it is the right time you may use bait also. Alaska has many rules for fishing, dependent on time of year, on what you can catch or what you can use. If you don't fly fish, Alaska would probably not be a place to learn, stick with spin fishing. Alaska Fish and Game, Alaska Magazine, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Fly Fishers are some of the places to go on the net. Whittier has great Halibut charters and the Prince William Sound is smoother waters for smaller boats.

[AKflyfisher]

their is all sorts of great fishing in alaska. IF you come to anchorage a day or two early check out the Kenai river their is huge (up to 36 inch) all natural rainbows 4 species of pacfic salmon and dolly varden. (oh larges sport caught king 96lbs came from this river) and the natural beauty of this river is great.

At the port calls their is fishing and guides will cater to the boats schedule(people of southeaster alaska make most of their money from torism so their is plenty of guides and outfitters)

what time of year are you taking the cruise?

[Freefall]

Thanks for all the input everyone. I've been doing a little research on the net and will do more as the time get's closer, but your suggestions are all helpful. I mainly wanted to see if anyone had been in a similar situation (great location/limited time) and had any definate places/outfitter/things to add to the to-do list... or things for the not-to-do list. We'll be going up there in mid June and leaving from Anchorage (Whittier), AK and ending up in Vancouver. The other ports along the way include: Sitka,AK Juneau,AK Skagway,AK and Ketchikan,AK, so I'm sure we'll find something. Thanks for your help!

[AKflyfisher]

mid June will put you in time for the first run of reds on the russian river (kenai river trib) Kenai KINGS early run, and valley King run.

So get a really big rod and plan acouple days fishing on the valley streams or russian or higher a guide and do some king fishing on the lower Kenai. I would book now there is alot of torist that come up in june and things book up fast

http://alaskaoutdoorjournal.com/index.html check out this website for info on fishing the Kenai Penisula

[Rajkumar]

You and your wife are very lucky, Enjoy the trip

[Samkam1]

a very good friend of mine runs a charter service on the Kenai -- I would highly recommend giving him a call!

Tell John Sam K. told you to call :-)

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