Just got back from Alaska and had a great time...3rd trip up there....I booked the Knudson Cove fishing...GREAT..22 lb, 21 lb and 10 pound salmon....BUT next time I will bring my own fishing tackle, and buy the $20 license and fish by the ship...Salmon were jumping all over the place and a few passengers did bring their own tackle....saved $180....Happy Cruising...

Bob E

Welcome home, Bob! When we were in Ketchikan a few weeks ago, we met another cruise ship passenger who did just that. I don't know if the gear was his own, or if he rented it, as well. The creek was so filled with salmon that it appeared that you could use them to walk across.

But what do you do with the fish? It has to cost more to ship them home than to just buy a prepacked fish from the store there.

It's called CPR...Catch, Photograph, Release...

My fish were given to another person on my boat...3 fish were way over $100 to send back..and yes, I can go to Sam's and get salmon..it was just the fun of catching them...
Happy sailing and fishing...

Bob E

The fish you catch from shore are not all that edible. By the time they're in the rivers and streams they're "necrotic"... that's "dead and rotten" in lay terms.

If you're truly just after the experience of snagging a fish, by all means fish from shore. If you want the real Alaskan experience (us locals fish for food, not sport) get on a boat owned and operated by a local.

It's kinda like saying, "I can see whales from my cruise ship... why would I pay for a whale watching excursion?"

If you knew where the fish at Sam's came from and what the Commercial Fishermen are doing (politically) up here, you probably wouldn't buy any of that stuff! ;-)

Happy Alaska Travels!
-Case

Thanks for the information, but the fish I was talking about were not in the streams...we did see plenty of them though...and yes, they were dying and rotting...Circle of life.....and I only buy salmon recommended by the Monteray Bay Aquarium "Seafood Watch"....and I shall return to Alaska....it really is Gods' Country...Happy Sailing....

Bob E

quote:

...I only buy salmon recommended by the Monteray Bay Aquarium "Seafood Watch"...

The MBA "Seafood Watch" is great if you're worried about the sustainable catch of various species... The problem we're having up here is that the commercial fishermen are getting greedy and want ALL of the allowable catch now. I wouldn't be too opposed to the idea, except that I catch my own food, and depend on the same resources for sport and for my business. In the face of several laws that say the catch must be "fair and equitable" how can anyone justify buying fish when it was caught by the Commercial fleet that monopolizes over 90% of OUR PUBLIC RESOURCE?

If the Alaska Board of Fish and the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council get past even a small fraction of the proposals that are in front of them this month, you will not be allowed to catch a halibut, salmon or rock fish when you do choose to return to this beautiful area!

Keep buying in the stores, and that's the ONLY place you'll be able to get fish within 5 years!

Oh, Happy Alaska Travels!
-Case

Keep the faith Case....:-)

and to me, Minnesota is Alaska without the beautiful mountains.....

I shall return....

Bob E