My wife and I are planning a cruise of the inside passage in Alaska for our 20th anniversary. We are hoping to take at least one day to do some fly fishing, but have no experience fishing anywhere north of Seattle, Washington. Do you know of any guides that you would recommend? We will most likely cruise from Juneau, down to Petersburg, then back up to Glacier Bay and then back through the Chatham Strait to Sitka.
We would be very thankful for any advice you would be willing to offer.
I have a very good friend and customer that owns his own guide service and has large boat.
His name is Art Peck and if interested in more info, please contact me. He is a fly fisherman, as is his young son.
I did a cruise 2 years ago and stopped in Juneau where I booked a fly fishing side trip. I booked the trip through the ship – it was a half day fly out. The outfitter picked me up on the dock, took us to the airport, outfitted us with gear and flew us about 30 minutes away in a float plane.
Caught lots of humpies and then moved up into a small stream for sea run cut throat. The humpies were about 5 pounds each and the cuts were 12 to 16 inches. Lots of fun and lasted about 5 hours or so. Included lunch and transportation.
Plenty of time fishing as far as I was concerned – after about 10 humpies, it started to get boring. They fought well and bust up your knuckles on the reel when they run but catching one on just about every other cast isn’t what I like to do. However, I would do it again.
The outfit was called Bear Creek Outfitters. They may book directly with cruise lines but you might try calling them in Juneau.
Thank you for the detailed info! We’re planning on taking a small-ship cruise, andI understand those don’t generally offer as many excursion options. I’ll check out Bear Creek Outfitters - I’d guess that they’d be amenable to independent bookings if they have openings after those of the main cruise lines.
I understand what you mean about the humpies. It’d be new to us too, and like you we’d enjoy it for a half-day trip.
I found a web page for Bear Creek Outfitters in Juneau. (http://juneauflyfishing.com/index.html) I believe that these are the folks you booked the excursion with. If I read it correctly, they offer bookings independent of cruise lines. Cool!
