With the tough economic times, there are some great travel deals out there. I have been fortunate to have two Alaskan cruises under my belt. Now I could never see myself cruising for the sake of cruising, but add the opportunity to get in some world class fly fishing, or any fishing for that matter and I am ready to party.

My wife, Parents, Mother-in-law, kids and spouses were happy to just cruise. If I had pushed for an Alaskan lodge for my fly fishing fantasies I would have never had any success. But by using the cruise as my vehicle, I was able to make sure everyone had something of interest to do.

We went with Holland America and they offered a first class cruise. They offer several excursions at each stop, including fly fishing, spin fishing, or trolling for salmon. There are also excursions to watch whales, or to explore glaciers. Here is the great part about the lower prices we now see, it should make it easier to go on these excursions. When I went the cost of the cruise was higher and adding too many excursions seemed a little prohibitive. With some prices for a seven day cruise being as low as four hundred dollars per person it should be easier to budget in a couple of nice excursions.

On our first Alaskan cruise I went on a fly in fly fishing excursion to a remote creek which ran into one of the Alaskan bays. It was surreal to land on the water, get out, wade to shore, hike upstream and start casting flies to pink salmon. The excursion lasted only four hours but in that four hours I hooked more salmon and dolly varden than I could have in a year of fishing back home.

Now one day out of seven is not enough fishing for me even with those great results. I had to find at least one more fix. I found a simple low cost solution in Ketchican. There were hundreds of pink salmon sitting right off the shore in the marina area. People were casting spoons and jigs right off the bridge. It did not take me long to find a nice little store to rent me a rod and some lures. I was in business and I was soon hooking and releasing more pink salmon.

The best part was one of the Native American kids from the town showed me the ropes. He even volunteered to traipse down off the bridge and unhook some of my salmon. My wife ended up getting more pictures of him fishing than me. Go figure.

Now on our second cruise I was bound and determined to fit even more fishing time, so I brought my own fly rod and spinning rod a long with my waders. I did not want to pay the full four hundred this time and I wanted my new daughter in-law to enjoy a trip with me, so I went on-line and booked a trip outside the cruise line. I was able to book a trip with http://www.searunner.com. I was able to get both of us a fishing trip for the price of one on the float plane. It was by boat rather than plane, but it was still a great experience. We also had the guide to ourselves rather than sharing him with a whole group.

In Sitka I was told how to fish the Indian River. I took my six weight fly rod and went down to where the river ran into the bay. I was soon hooking pinks right in the salt and in the creek as I walked upstream, being chased by the rising tide. The tide in Alaska comes in quick, so be careful.

I ran into one of the town residents and he was nice enough to let me hike upstream with him to where we found a nice pool where I hooked more pinks and some nice dollies.

When we arrived in Ketchican I was armed with my own spinning rod this time, but soon wished I had stuck with the fly rod. I did not catch as many here, but it was still fun to cast into the schools of milling salmon.

In Alaska a non-resident fishing license for one day is twenty dollars. On my second trip to Alaska I was lucky enough to have all our fishing stops be consecutive, so I was able to get a three day license for thirty five dollars and save a little.

If you just want an Alaskan fishing trip a cruise would not be your best bet. If you want to do a vacation, which includes your whole family, but would at least let you fit in a little me time it is a perfect compromise.