Our Ketchikan cruise ship fishing charters offer anyone a chance to catch salmon. Starting with King salmon fishing in May and rolling into our early coho’s and then to the outrageous action of pink salmon. Salmon fishing charters in Ketchikan are great because our short runs to the fishing grounds and ease of access for our guests. Whether you arrive on a Disney Cruise, Holland America, Princess, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Carnival, Celebrity Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean, or any other that comes through town, we move our charter boat close to your ship to pick you up. No long walks, cab/van/bus rides, and no wasting time to get you on the fish. We offer licenses on the boat, drinks, snacks, and all the fishing gear. King salmon start our season off. They typically range from 15-25 lbs with many fish breaking the 30lb and even 40lb mark. Depending on the area, timing, and availability of fish, we will use herring, vinyl squid (hoochies), and metal spoons while trolling. These are the lowest number and hardest to catch of all the salmon species in Ketchikan. The time and fighting effort put into each King Salmon makes them all a great reward.
We then roll into our early coho run and then to a mixed bag of salmon. Some king salmon are still lurking, along with a few coho. Pink salmon become the name of the game. Lots of aggressive salmon converge on Ketchikan and the action can be overwhelming. It can be hard to get all the lines in the water and avoid tangles when the pink bite hits full throttle! Doubles become the norm, with the occasional triple and quad hookup. 4 wild Alaska salmon running and dancing behind, beside, and under the boat is a situation sure to get anyone’s excitement to rise! The limits on pinks in Ketchikan, Alaska is 6 per person, and our fishing charters yeild limits many, many times throughout the season!
Some of our groups try their hand at an extended 6 or 8 hour Ketchikan Fishing Charter. On these trips, salmon and/or halibut are available. We get to run a bit further from town to find fish as needed. Having an extra 2-4 hours can make a huge difference in catches, and fish availability. These charters typically take us 15-20 miles from town and put us into some very productive fishing areas. Most of our cruise ship guests book a charter to focus either on halibut fishing, or salmon fishing. Sometimes we get into it all…both on purpose, and by accident. Halibut will come off the bottom and strike a bait being trolled for salmon, and that can be quite an interesting fight!
Arriving by cruise ship, staying in town, whatever your itinerary, we have a charter that can be customized to your group! Contact us today for more information or to book your date with us!
