Halibut Fishing

[RICKAR]

OK, so I am trying to figure our Cruise tour to Alaska and my DH stated that he wants to go fishing........:o Has anyone else gone fishing for halibut? Can you recommend a good fishing outfit to contact? Will need to have our catch cleaned, processed and shipped home for us.

 

BTW, I am not a fisher, but will join my DH on this trip. TIA for your help.

[want2retire]

Last July we were on the Amsterdam, 14 day cruise. My husband fished for halibut out of Homer. This was organized thru HAL. He had a fabulous time and caught MANY halibut. You can only keep two and he had them cleaned and shipped home. They arrived, frozen solid, two days after we came home. The highlight of his trip for sure!

[AkSusan]

I strongly recommend Homer too. There are quite a few halibut charter companies, but we've been with North Country http://www.northcountrycharters.com/ and Silver Fox http://silverfoxcharters.com/ Those are the two, that I can currently remember off the top of my head.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

[RICKAR]

When you cruised on HAL was it a cruisetour and how many days? Did you fish before or after the cruise?

 

Thanks,

Karen

[tee_harbor]

When you cruised on HAL was it a cruisetour and how many days? Did you fish before or after the cruise?

 

Thanks,

Karen

 

Homer is not a regular port on most cruises. It is probably the best halibut fishing town, however. I don't think it's even a common stop on cruisetours; most go to Denali.

 

Take a look at a map of Alaska and you'll see what I mean. Realize distances are vast in AK and that simply going to one place may cost you dearly in dollars and time.

 

What are the ports of the cruises you're looking at? What time of year?

[mytime53]

I would suggest you do a one-way cruise, and rent a car to do your own tour before or after the cruise. Homer isn't your only choice for halibut, but it has other attractions, too. There are many fishing charters; my mom's favorite halibut charter is Rainbow Tours: http://www.rainbowtours.net/Rainbow_Tours/Half_Day_Halibut_Charter.html

One reason is that she likes the larger boat, and usually they stay closer in for more --but smaller --halibut. If you're looking for the "barn doors," you want a smaller boat with fewer people, not interested in smaller fish.

[RICKAR]

Homer is not a regular port on most cruises. It is probably the best halibut fishing town, however. I don't think it's even a common stop on cruisetours; most go to Denali.

 

Take a look at a map of Alaska and you'll see what I mean. Realize distances are vast in AK and that simply going to one place may cost you dearly in dollars and time.

 

What are the ports of the cruises you're looking at? What time of year?

 

We are looking into the June 2012 timeframe, but prices are not our as of yet. Wanted to do 2011, but too many committments already for May-Aug 2011, ugh!:eek:

 

Wanting a cruisetours (12-15 days) options with the cruise beginning from the Anchorage location ending in Vancouver. We are wanting to spend some time in Denali, not exactly sure what else to see on our first trip. There is sooo much to see and I know that it will take more tha one trip to accomplish that. So any suggestion would be welcomed.:)

[msubobcats]

I caught halibut, salmon and ling cod out of Seward. Caught salmon out of Juneau and Icy. Shipped them all home, about 110 lbs for my freezer. Fish were everywhere the first week of August.

 

Go Cats

[missouriallie]

Did you go with any particular charter? We are planning a couple days in Kenai this August and fishing is on my husband's agenda.

[bottom-dragger]

homer has the best reputation for halibut.

 

are you not going to fish? i've worked with some operators that would allow a reduced rate for non-fishing customers. esp if it would help fill a less than max boat capacity. it's all about negotiation and communication. it won't happen if you don't ask.

[diverearl]

Another thing you might consider is buying a license and fishing since you are already planning to join your husband on the boat (just try not to catch the big one cause the wife or kid always seems to be the lucky one :D). Halibut is one of the best eating fish you can catch (IMO) and with a two fish limit you might help put some fish in the freezer.

 

For us the trip works best on a north bound cruise. The scenery gets better (again IMO) as you go north and if you save the fishing for the last few days of the trip you can have the catch flash frozen - pack the catch in a fish box from the processor and bring it back as an extra bag on the flight home. It will cost you $100.00 per 50 pound box as a third bag on the flight home, sometimes as little as $0 if you are flying first class or using certain credit cards to purchase flights.

 

Just an option you might want to look into. :cool:

[mytime53]

It will cost you $100.00 per 50 pound box as a third bag on the flight home, sometimes as little as $0 if you are flying first class or using certain credit cards to purchase flights.

 

Just an option you might want to look into. :cool:

 

Totally depends on your airline...for example, if you begin your travel on Alaska Air, and don't have any connections over 12 hours, your 3rd bag is $20, and your 4th is $50. We frequently send frozen fish home in coolers with relatives (or travel with it ourselves). You can't beat the price!

http://www.alaskaair.com/as/www2/help/faqs/CheckedBaggage.asp

 

If you have a lot of luggage, this can offset the price of a slightly more expensive ticket.

[msubobcats]

Did you go with any particular charter? We are planning a couple days in Kenai this August and fishing is on my husband's agenda.

 

Seward - went with Crackerjack full day and Fishhouse for a half day. Liked Crackerjack the best, only 6 people on the small boat. Fishhouse had about 20 people.

You can google both companies and find out all you need to know.