Looking for a Guide/Charter in Ketchikan AK

[nutntoit]

I was invited on a family cruise to Alaska in June and I am looking to do some fishing while there. I won't have a whole lot of time at each stop, but was thinking Ketchikan seems like a good place to do some fishing. Does anyone know of a good Guide or Charter in that area that does day trips?

[Russ McDonald]

I was invited on a family cruise to Alaska in June and I am looking to do some fishing while there. I won't have a whole lot of time at each stop, but was thinking Ketchikan seems like a good place to do some fishing. Does anyone know of a good Guide or Charter in that area that does day trips?

What cruise line.   We are heading out June 19 on Carnival.

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[trophyhunt]

Look up Chinook shores, great place. Jeff is a nice guy and they know the area!

[CallMeBigPapa]

Herring Cove bank action with eggs 4' under a bobber DIY

June is prime time

[nutntoit]

I was invited on a family cruise to Alaska in June and I am looking to do some fishing while there. I won't have a whole lot of time at each stop, but was thinking Ketchikan seems like a good place to do some fishing. Does anyone know of a good Guide or Charter in that area that does day trips?

What cruise line.   We are heading out June 19 on Carnival.

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Nice! We are on a Celebrity cruise the week before you.

[Rainier10]

Look up Chinook shores, great place. Jeff is a nice guy and they know the area!

We had a blast fishing with Jeff and on our own.

[nutntoit]

Herring Cove bank action with eggs 4' under a bobber DIY

June is prime time

Thanks for the recommendation! I called them and unfortunately they are all booked for the day I will be there.

[pawpaw1934]

Most of King fishing is shut down. May open June 15...Just got back from fishing outer areas (outside of Prince Rupert Island) and it was a bust, Fish are not in.....yet??  Beautiful country though and well worth the trip....

[trophyhunt]

Herring Cove bank action with eggs 4' under a bobber DIY

June is prime time

Thanks for the recommendation! I called them and unfortunately they are all booked for the day I will be there.

Dont look past Chinook shores, you can go guided or on your own.

[Russ McDonald]

It is going to be catch and release we can't keep any kings.  That is what the captain of the charter is telling us.  I have a charter out of Skagway.  That is our longest stay.

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[W_Ellison2011]

There are a couple up by Knudson Cove. One named Anglers Adventures and outfitters. Other named Fish Finder Ketchikan Charters. I would recommend one of those. We spent 5 days up there this past summer and they always seemed to be coming in with decent hauls of salmon and bottom fish. To be honest though you need to confirm how much time you will be spending in Ketchikan before you plan for one of these. If they say 8 hours... it could be anywhere from 1-2 hrs to 12 hrs you spend there. The wife and I spent a summer working in Ketchikan with the Great Alaskan Lumberjack show! LOVED the place and wish we could go back. Anyways, the issue you have is that you don't know 100% if your cruise is going to get to Ketchikan early or late and if you show up late they will NOT extend the cruise ships stay. They are on a tight schedule. If your cruise ship is going to pull in later in the afternoon/evening sometimes they stay the night and leave early the next morning which means you could hit a decent evening fishing trip IF they show up on time. You have to remember a few things when going on cruises to Alaska. Ketchikan is in a temperate rain forest and gets a TON of rain and stormy weather but its a beautiful place. We literally had a day where it hit the 80's around noon and everyone was overheating and then we got 30-40 mph gusts that blew in a rain storm in less than 30 minutes and it dropped the temp into the low 60's. I'm not telling you all this to make you not want to fish there. I'm just being honest with you about how things can go with a cruise trip going up that way. If you want to do some serious fishing up in that area I suggest you just plan a trip for a week or so and go enjoy your time up there!

[trophyhunt]

Whatever you do, go to the marina right by Chinook shores and get a burger!!!! Omg!

[W_Ellison2011]

Whatever you do, go to the marina right by Chinook shores and get a burger!!!! Omg!

You talking about the tiny little shack along the main drag out of town? If so I 100% agree. I can't remember the places name but burgers were AMAZING!

[trophyhunt]

Whatever you do, go to the marina right by Chinook shores and get a burger!!!! Omg!

You talking about the tiny little shack along the main drag out of town? If so I 100% agree. I can't remember the places name but burgers were AMAZING!

[W_Ellison2011]

Whatever you do, go to the marina right by Chinook shores and get a burger!!!! Omg!

You talking about the tiny little shack along the main drag out of town? If so I 100% agree. I can't remember the places name but burgers were AMAZING!

100% that's almost worth the whole trip lol!

[Bulldozer77]

Check out clover pass resort. I think they run a few boats out of there

[W_Ellison2011]

Check out clover pass resort. I think they run a few boats out of there

Can verify this. They also rent boats and gear to people that want to try it without a guide. That's what we did when we went up for a week this last summer. If you want salmon just start trolling right away and head to the mouth. You will know what I mean when you pull out of the marina and see all the boats in the one spot. We did our halibut and bottom fish fishing less than a mile from the marina. Literally drive out of marina and go straight. Theres 3 islands, 1 large and 2 small. Just find the 200'-250' deep flat and drop squid or herring down with wire leader and hold on lol!

[bearpaw]

Check out clover pass resort. I think they run a few boats out of there

Can verify this. They also rent boats and gear to people that want to try it without a guide. That's what we did when we went up for a week this last summer. If you want salmon just start trolling right away and head to the mouth. You will know what I mean when you pull out of the marina and see all the boats in the one spot. We did our halibut and bottom fish fishing less than a mile from the marina. Literally drive out of marina and go straight. Theres 3 islands, 1 large and 2 small. Just find the 200'-250' deep flat and drop squid or herring down with wire leader and hold on lol!

Do you mind me asking what size the halibut were? What kind of salmon?

[W_Ellison2011]

Check out clover pass resort. I think they run a few boats out of there

Can verify this. They also rent boats and gear to people that want to try it without a guide. That's what we did when we went up for a week this last summer. If you want salmon just start trolling right away and head to the mouth. You will know what I mean when you pull out of the marina and see all the boats in the one spot. We did our halibut and bottom fish fishing less than a mile from the marina. Literally drive out of marina and go straight. Theres 3 islands, 1 large and 2 small. Just find the 200'-250' deep flat and drop squid or herring down with wire leader and hold on lol!

Do you mind me asking what size the halibut were? What kind of salmon?

Salmon this last summer were mainly pinks and silvers. Pinks in the 5-10 lbs range and silvers all above 10 lbs. Did hook a few really good kings but didn't get them into the boat. Halibut we caught in that spot were 20 lbs and 65 lbs. We would have had a couple more but this last summer I was targeting bottom fish and we hooked into a 70-80 lbs butt on 20 lbs mono leader... it snapped at the boat. Another halibut my FIL hooked with a 100+ lbs wire leader was the biggest halibut I have ever had to the boat. We didn't have a gun to shoot it or a harpoon for it.. I shoved the gaf all the way into its head and it didn't come out the other side. Thing thrashed and yanked the gaf out of my hand and then popped the wire leader and gone. I know a lot of people tell fishing tales but that sucker was big. We also caught some black sable fish in the area. Those suckers are delicious. I filleted them right on the boat and used the bones and such for bait. Pink bellies work really well too!

[W_Ellison2011]

Ohh and Bearpaw we are skipping Alaska this summer in hopes we will have funds to go on a bear hunt with you spring or fall of 2019. A lot of areas of SE Alaska have closures on Kings right now and that might go all summer. Another thing that Alaska did was if you are on a guided trip and catch halibut.. they have slot sizes now. I want to say one has to be 35lbs or less and the other has to be like 135lbs or bigger. I can't remember the law 100% but the general rule was what a bunch of Alaskan guides told us. A lot of those guys are going to 5 day 6 night trips with first half day being guided to show you spots and then the rest of the time its self guided with boats, gas, and gear provided along with lodging and meals.

[Bulldozer77]

Check out clover pass resort. I think they run a few boats out of there

Can verify this. They also rent boats and gear to people that want to try it without a guide. That's what we did when we went up for a week this last summer. If you want salmon just start trolling right away and head to the mouth. You will know what I mean when you pull out of the marina and see all the boats in the one spot. We did our halibut and bottom fish fishing less than a mile from the marina. Literally drive out of marina and go straight. Theres 3 islands, 1 large and 2 small. Just find the 200'-250' deep flat and drop squid or herring down with wire leader and hold on lol!

Do you mind me asking what size the halibut were? What kind of salmon?

Salmon this last summer were mainly pinks and silvers. Pinks in the 5-10 lbs range and silvers all above 10 lbs. Did hook a few really good kings but didn't get them into the boat. Halibut we caught in that spot were 20 lbs and 65 lbs. We would have had a couple more but this last summer I was targeting bottom fish and we hooked into a 70-80 lbs butt on 20 lbs mono leader... it snapped at the boat. Another halibut my FIL hooked with a 100+ lbs wire leader was the biggest halibut I have ever had to the boat. We didn't have a gun to shoot it or a harpoon for it.. I shoved the gaf all the way into its head and it didn't come out the other side. Thing thrashed and yanked the gaf out of my hand and then popped the wire leader and gone. I know a lot of people tell fishing tales but that sucker was big. We also caught some black sable fish in the area. Those suckers are delicious. I filleted them right on the boat and used the bones and such for bait. Pink bellies work really well too!

Haven't been up there since 2001, but same story.

[bearpaw]

W_Ellison2011 I hope you can come over, and thanks for the info. I always read these Alaska fishing topics because one of these years I want to go up fishing. Lots of good info from people who have been there, thanks everyone. I'm anxious to see how nutntoit does?

[nutntoit]

W_Ellison2011 I hope you can come over, and thanks for the info. I always read these Alaska fishing topics because one of these years I want to go up fishing. Lots of good info from people who have been there, thanks everyone. I'm anxious to see how nutntoit does?

I will be sure to update! We will be in Ketchikan on June 10th and will only have 6 hours to fish. Salmon is all catch and release until the 14th, so we are going to go after Halibut with the hopes of getting some fish to send home. Either way it will be fun. This is my first trip to Alaska so I am pretty excited. 

[nutntoit]

Whatever you do, go to the marina right by Chinook shores and get a burger!!!! Omg!

You talking about the tiny little shack along the main drag out of town? If so I 100% agree. I can't remember the places name but burgers were AMAZING!

100% that's almost worth the whole trip lol!

Man I am going to have to find these burgers!

[W_Ellison2011]

Whatever you do, go to the marina right by Chinook shores and get a burger!!!! Omg!

You talking about the tiny little shack along the main drag out of town? If so I 100% agree. I can't remember the places name but burgers were AMAZING!

100% that's almost worth the whole trip lol!

Man I am going to have to find these burgers!

Ask the locals about the burger shack just outside of town heading towards knudson cove. I guarantee they will know what you are talking about.

[nutntoit]

So as an update I ended up fishing with Baranof Charters in Ketchikan. It was a blast and we caught a bunch of fish. Halibut, Rock fish and Lingcod. I would definitely recommend them. I will try to post a picture when I get a chance.

[W_Ellison2011]

So as an update I ended up fishing with Baranof Charters in Ketchikan. It was a blast and we caught a bunch of fish. Halibut, Rock fish and Lingcod. I would definitely recommend them. I will try to post a picture when I get a chance.

Baranof is a great charter! Did they take you to the far away hole or the closer one? That's what I love about Alaska. You can fish for halibut way out in 300-400' of water or you can fish closer in at depths of 100-200' and catch good halibut and other fish and a lot of times the bite never quits. Used to joke with the wife when we would go out on a 16' skiff. I'd drop a herring down on a mooching rig with a 6 ounce weight and tell her its the set it and forget it method.... yeah.. you don't forget though because its usually bouncing about 30 seconds after bouncing off bottom lol! Get your pics up man! I want to see the buts and ling! God I miss Alaska...

[nutntoit]

Picture proof!

[nutntoit]

So as an update I ended up fishing with Baranof Charters in Ketchikan. It was a blast and we caught a bunch of fish. Halibut, Rock fish and Lingcod. I would definitely recommend them. I will try to post a picture when I get a chance.

Baranof is a great charter! Did they take you to the far away hole or the closer one? That's what I love about Alaska. You can fish for halibut way out in 300-400' of water or you can fish closer in at depths of 100-200' and catch good halibut and other fish and a lot of times the bite never quits. Used to joke with the wife when we would go out on a 16' skiff. I'd drop a herring down on a mooching rig with a 6 ounce weight and tell her its the set it and forget it method.... yeah.. you don't forget though because its usually bouncing about 30 seconds after bouncing off bottom lol! Get your pics up man! I want to see the buts and ling! God I miss Alaska...

Our guide took us out about an hour and a half down the coast we were fishing in 170-200' of water.

[W_Ellison2011]

yup. The fishing in Alaska is top notch. They usually will take the tourists out a bit so you can get a good view of everything and there are TONS of whales always moving through the areas. Glad you had fun! Those are some good sized lings btw!