Had a great time with Captain Don on the Silver King. His communication through email was great and I booked direct with him. His boat was docked RIGHT at the cruise dock and he met us there as we debarked from our Holland America ship. What service! Compared to the other ridiculously expensive excursions in Alaska, this was a great deal b/c we only had SIX people on our private charter and for about as much money as we would have spent to go on a cheesy "tour a crab fishing boat" excursion!
The process was new to me, trolling for salmon, so rather than stand with a pole in your hand the whole time, all the poles are hooked up and trolling. We drew numbers as we headed out of port, and when the pole jerks up, if it's your turn you grab ahold and start reeling! Captain Don was enthusiastic and his excitement made me feel like we were definitely going to catch some salmon today, and catch we did!!! On the way back, you stop at the processing center to have you salmon cut up, smoked, etc and shipped back home.
As he said, "I hate fishing!!! .... I like CATCHING!" haha. I caught three salmon during our 4 hour trip (which Captain Don actually ended a little bit too, how awesome!) and my husband caught two. A mix of pinks and silvers salmon were caught by our group of 6. Captain Don was very personable, told funny jokes because he feels it's good luck. You can tell he's good, b/c two of the people on our charter had fished with him multiple times, every single time they came back to Ketchikan! Repeat business says something!
The boat itself, well, it's a fishing vessel. It's not fancy. The interior cabin is a bit musty so I preferred to stay out on deck. Captain Don offered snacks and cold beverages. There is a "head" below deck on the boat, but it is teeny tiny ! We saw a bald eagle, but unfortunately no whales. He took us by some totem poles on the ride back to port. Just an excellent day!!!! Be sure to dress in layers WARM b/c towards the end of the 4 hour trip, the winds kicked up and a storm was brewing and it got quite quite chilly! read more