Steve Merlo: Fishing in Alaska is affordable if you shop around
| Thursday, Aug 13 2009 08:30 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Aug 13 2009 08:32 PM
OREN'S WAR Steve Merlo's book is available for purchase at www.orenswar.com. Starting next week, the book will be available at all local gun shops and Russo's bookstore. Renowned outdoorsman Keith Warren has a short intro describing the book on his website: keithwarren.net.
Hard economical times have even reached the northern boundaries of the U.S. My recent trip to the 49th state with three friends was exciting, rewarding and spectacular, as we had hoped, but not without its monetary challenges. Someone once said that no one should ever put a price on a good time, and for the most part, I agree. However, people planning a trip to stay and play in the Last Frontier need to be forewarned that the hidden costs will be the ones that get your attention.
Our trip actually began six months ago, when we bought our airfare and put a deposit down on a nice chalet/cabin where we would stay. Air travel had gotten fairly inexpensive, around $510 per person round trip to Anchorage, which wasn't too bad, and we paid $650 for both couples' 5-night stay in Sterling and $600 for an upgraded rental SUV. We were very happy with the results, and besides buying $130 in the fresh food we'd need in the fully stocked log cottage plus $70 in gas, our total expenditure so far only ran $872.50 each. For 4-days fishing in Alaska, we were off to a great start.
We are not penny-pinchers, but we were on a modified budget, as most Americans are today The last time we visited Alaska, a day's halibut fishing ran about $125 per person. The new rates are $200-225 per day per person, so six of us spent $1200 to catch a whole lot of big flatties. We had a ball, but the halibut costs did not end there.
First, there was the tipping we gave the skipper a C-note because he did a superb job of putting us on fish and also baited, gaffed and handled any fishing problems that arose. He was good, and deserved the cash. He then filleted our catch, with the help of a young woman, who also did a good job busting her you-know-what for us. Add another $20 in tips. Total cost for that trip? About $1,320, or another $330 each for a dozen quality fish, but a priceless adventure on the high seas.
And then we went salmon fishing on the Kenai for a couple of days. We were not out any appreciable expenses, because we had taken care of my two Alaskan friends' halibut fees, and they took us to their hotspots with their own boat. Other folks on the river were paying a minimum $300 per person, per day, to be guided usually 3-4 people per craft so be prepared to pay out big bucks for the river fishing, too.
Anyway, we caught an awful lot of nice Kenai fish, and had a ball catching and releasing some mighty fine trout and salmon, keeping enough for everyone to take about 25 pounds each home.
Processing those fish was another story altogether. The fish company told us we'd spend $1.20 a pound to handle the 136 pounds of halibut fillets we brought them, and another $1.35 per pound to fillet and process our 120 pounds of salmon or about $325. We were under the impression that processing meant exactly that, but it does not. Times must be extra tough up there because they also managed to hit us for $80 for four styrofoam boxes, $5 per box "boxing" fees, 2 percent sales tax, a $30 freezing charge, a bagging charge and heaven knows what else. Total 'processing' cost for our four boxes of fish came to $450, or about $1.76 per pound, about 50 cents per pound higher than the original estimate.
Going home, we each opted to take one box of fish as a second bag in our luggage, rather than have it shipped. Shipping would have run $170 for each 50-pound box, but we only paid the airlines $100 total to get'em home, still frozen solid and in great shape. We also paid an additional $70 for our community rod case, coming and going, and about $820 in incidentals, which included $220 in fishing licenses, some tackle, gifts and a few meals.
Total cost for the four of us ran about $6,250, or $1,563 each, a real bargain, not including any river guiding fees, which would have added a grand each had we had to pay a regular guide for three days river fishing. We bought our airline tickets early enough that we did not have to pay for our personal suitcases, and $35 for each additional. New rates do not include that nice feature, and everyone will pay at least $25 for each item of luggage.
Anyway, the moral of this story is that, unless one is well enough off not to care, shopping around for the very best vacation deals can reap big savings. $1,557 each for 4 solid days of fishing in Alaska was a real deal and we hope to do it again next year.
By the way, the total dollar value of the fish we brought home came to $31.25 per pound, in case you were wondering. Supermarkets carry Alaskan salmon and halibut for around $12-16 per pound, so it's obviously not the fillets that keep us returning to the most beautiful state in the Union. Trust me, you really can't put a price on a great time.
