Ketchikan, Alaska the “Salmon Capital of the World” is the perfect place to go sport fishing for salmon. Five varieties of North Pacific salmon abound in the frigid waters off Ketchikan. A friend had recently returned from Alaska, stating that salmon fishing is a MUST for anyone visiting the 49th state.

After careful research on our Alaska cruise, we book the “Chartered Salmon Fishing” with Ketchikan Charter Boats. Our cruise ship, the Coral Princess, docks in Ketchikan on a foggy, cloudy, damp morning. Attired in warm clothes, my husband and I are among the first passengers off the ship at 6:30 AM. We meet our contact and take a short walk to Ketchikan Charter Boats, Inc. The manager checks us in and gives us our required Alaska Fishing license. It looks like we are the only two scheduled for the charter when a young man signs up to join our group.

Skipper Robby drives us several miles to a dock to board the “Lady O”. By 7:00 AM the four of us are aboard the “Lady O” heading out into the cloud covered waters off Ketchikan. The Skipper begins to set the poles with bait and weights from the outriggers. He explains the weights will keep the bait at a certain level, 30 – 40 feet for trolling for salmon. Then it is wait and see if the fish take the bait. Looking out over the water, we are the only boat.

Wham! Within a few minutes there’s a hit, the Skipper signals Richard to take the rod and start reeling. Richard is reeling in and you can see the rod bending from the weight of the fish. He stays cool and slowly reels in our first fish of the day. An 11-12 pound Silver (Coho) Salmon. The Skipper brings the fish in with a net and drops it on the deck of the boat. It is flopping around and he clubs it on the head. Richard holds up the salmon for a great photo. From the smile on his face, I decide that if we don’t catch anything else all day, the excursion was worth it. Just as we start to relax there is another hit and the Skipper signals to Chris to reel in the catch. It is a big one – over 15 pounds! Chris is 6 ‘8” tall and fittingly caught the biggest, longest fish. Just then there is another hit, this time its my turn and I start reeling in my first fish “ever”. Richard tells me to brace the rod on my hip. The adrenaline is pumping but I stay reasonably calm as I bring in my fish! Wow! This is perfect, we each have caught a fish. I am “HAPPY” and it would be okay if the excursion ended now.

The fishing fun has only just begun! The activity continues for a total of 11 Silver Salmon for the morning. Richard with four fish, Chris with three catches (all big ones) and me with four (one was too small and tagged). The fish weighed from eight to fifteen pounds. Most of our fish are all caught before 9:30 AM. We didn’t see any other charter excursions until after 9:30 AM. Skipper Robby sure knew his business by getting us out early.

We elect to have our catch processed into Frozen Fillets which are vacuum sealed in plastic pouches and shipped to our home. Upon our return home, we receive the 36 pounds of salmon. This experience was fantastic! Whenever anyone asks what we enjoyed most about our Alaska trip, we both chime in “the Salmon Fishing”. To me the smile on Richard’s face as he reeled in his first fish will always be a special memory. The extra benefit is each week as we enjoy our salmon filets we relive our exciting salmon fishing adventure.

To book directly go to Ketchikan Charter Boats, Inc, P.O. Box 9076, Ketchikan, AK 99901.
Phone 800-272-7291
Email: kcbifish@aptalaska.net