Meet Captain Jim
A lifelong fisherman, twenty years on Ketchikan water, and ten years guiding it. Your day on the boat runs on what he has learned out here.
A lifetime of fishing, two decades of it here
Jim has fished his whole life. Twenty years ago Ketchikan’s water got hold of him, and ten years ago his love of fishing this area became a guiding career. He wanted more days on this water, and eventually all that time on it became the job.
The fishing he loves most is trolling for salmon, and it rewards what twenty years on the same water teach you about where fish move and how the tide sets up. But it is one part of a much wider skill set. Jim has years of experience across every fishery Ketchikan offers, from bottom fishing for big halibut to working lingcod and rockfish grounds, and guests have landed halibut well over a hundred pounds with him at the rail.
A teacher as much as a captain
Jim is comfortable with everyone from first-time anglers and families to experienced fishermen, and he shapes each day around the people on the boat. Teaching is one of the parts of guiding he genuinely enjoys, and plenty of his days include walking someone through a first salmon or coaching a kid through a fight bigger than they expected. Groups that mix newcomers with lifelong anglers are a normal day on this boat.
He also fishes quality, well-maintained tackle matched to the way he fishes these waters, because good days are built on details you can control.
How Jim runs a trip
- The fish set the plan. Tide, weather, and recent fishing decide where the day starts, not a fixed route.
- Honest expectations. If your dates or window don’t suit a trip, he’d rather tell you than book you.
- Everyone fishes. Beginners get instruction, kids get coached, and experienced anglers get a captain who talks water with them.
- He compares notes daily. Jim works closely with a group of Ketchikan captains who share what they are seeing each day, where fish are showing and how the weather is setting up. More than one boat’s read on the water goes into your day.
- Full days when possible. Because that’s the trip with the range to reach the farthest grounds. See why we recommend full days.
You’ll fish from the Laney-Roo, a 27-foot North River Seahawk set up for exactly this work. Meet the boat, or see what past guests say in our reviews.
Fish a day with Jim
Send your dates and he’ll tell you what the water can offer.