Chum Fun Charters Salmon Fishing in Juneau: the Most Active Fishing Ever

Salmon fishing is one of the big goals for people visiting Alaska and there are lots of ways to do it, including a guided fishing trip from shore. Starting in May and running into October, Chum Fun Charters in Juneau leads shore fishing trips that are easy to add to a cruise itinerary or that you can add to your own travel plan through Southeast Alaska. While the fishing style and type of catch changes through the year based on many factors, the experience of guided fishing from shore is one that’s quintessentially Alaska and is great for all ages.

Are you planning on visiting Juneau and don’t have your own fishing gear? You may want to consider doing a shore fishing trip with Chum Fun Charters so that the gear, location and transportation are all put together for you. Yes, fishing trips are a pretty penny, but if you want an experience like this and aren’t budgeting for a big fly-out trip, this is a solid option. Please let us know if you have any questions about shore fishing or going out with Chum Fun Charters; leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to share about our experiences and recommendations, so let us help YOU plan a wonderful Alaska trip!

Highlights of Shore Fishing with Chum Fun

Everyone has a different vision of what they want to experience when it comes to fishing in Alaska, and for some it’s the simple experience of fishing from shore and enjoying the outdoors, while others want to be out at sea with giant poles landing 100 lb salmon. Both have their perks, but keeping it simple is always something I enjoy. We went out with Chum Fun Charters and had a really nice time, very chill and very simple. Very fun!

Because Chum Fun doesn’t take you out on a boat, you maximize your fishing time and your flexibility to do other activities during your day. I’ve been on fishing trips where you meet your guide, go through a long tutorial about safety, regulations, and then outfitting, and then they have to talk to you about boat safety and THEN you get out on the water to get to your fishing spot and THEN you can start fishing. Nobody has ever called me patient, so that sort of experience for me is fun but also can be irritating. When Chum Fun Charters picked us up in Juneau right by the Goldbelt Tram and cruise port, we immediately started our adventure. We made a quick visit to the DIPAC Macaulay Salmon Hatchery to learn about the INSANE salmon run we would be fishing, then we got setup with boots and raingear, and then were fishing five minutes later.

While the type of fish you’re going for changes throughout the season, Chum Fun Charters in Juneau will doing shore fishing for all types that are open. You can even fish for King Salmon from the shore if the run is open for fishing. We did the Chum Salmon run and the fishing experience was really cool and great with kids. Because the chum run is so solid in Juneau, it’s the easiest catching I’ve ever done. You cannot “snag” fish when you’re salmon fishing, but when it’s the peak of the chum run it’s difficult not to. Due to our timing at the end of the run, we didn’t keep any fish (called sport fishing) but released all 12 that we caught. This was a great experience for the kids to learn more about lure fishing, gear, and how to properly do catch and release fishing. If you’re fishing with Chum Fun Charters during a different salmon run, they’ll help you with processing the fish (or connecting you to a service) that you’ll keep if you want.

Book Juneau Shore Fishing here!

Tips for a Great Chum Fun Charters Salmon Fishing Trip

Fishing can be so many things for different people. I remember slow, boring fishing with my grandpa, and then fly fishing on my own all over Alaska as a teenager, and now I get to do all kinds of fishing with my kids. Every experience is different and some are more action packed and memorable than others. Taking the kids out with Chum Fun Charters was great because there was somebody else leading them and explaining how to do shore fishing. I love that this separated me from instructing my teenager. And that’s my first tip: allow the fishing guides to do their jobs and be the ones instructing everyone. Let your kids have a teenage beef with the fishing guide who 100% knows better than them and is there to ensure safety and success. If you’re not traveling with kids, this may not apply to you, but for me this made my own experience way better.

Another thing to think about when you’re planning to go shore fishing with Chum Fun Charters is to know what you want out of the experience and communicate that before your fishing trip is done. If you’re hoping to land a 40 lb king salmon and your hopes and dreams are built on it, you better share that with your fishing guides in advance so they can set some realistic expectations including what fish are running, what they’ve successfully pulled in recently and if you’re even booked onto a tour that’s intended for what you want to fish for. Spending money on a fishing trip, whether it’s shore fishing with Chum Fun Charters or heading out to see to pull in halibut, it’s a financial commitment and you want to end your experience feeling good about your purchase. Communicating with your fishing guides and setting realistic expectations with yourself and your fishing pals is key to this.

Being Prepared for Shore Fishing in Juneau

Dress warmly when you’re heading out with Chum Fun Charters. Even though you’re fishing from shore, it can still be pretty cold with the wind coming off the water, especially if there’s mist or rain too. Dress in layers that you can wear UNDER rain gear, and wear warm socks that will insulate your feet in rubber boots. Yes, Chum Fun Charters hooks you up (like the pun?) with raingear so you can stay dry if the clouds open up, but you’re responsible to be smart about your general clothing.

When you book any sort of fishing trip or tour, you should always expect that the guide provides the correct fishing poles and tackle/bait for the experience. When you’re shore fishing with Chum Fun Charters in Juneau, you’ll likely be doing lure fishing, but if the species, location or Fish and Game rules dictate something different, the guides will be sure that you’re all set.

Something YOU are responsible for before you start fishing, and this goes for any fishing guide service in Alaska, is to have a valid fishing license. Visitors 16 years old and over are required to have fishing licenses valid for their tour or whenever they intend to be fishing. These are time sensitive, so be sure when you’re buying your license, in person or online, that you’re completing the information accurately to your fishing trip timing.

Note: because the type of fishing from shore is dependent on the open runs, you may be fishing for king (chinook), red (sockeye), dog (chum), coho (silver), or pinks (humpy). King salmon do require a specific license tag to keep them.

Tipping on a Fishing Trip

I absolutely despise tipping culture in America, and I say this as somebody who worked in tipped positions in tourism and food service for years, as well as in management and HR positions within those industries. Tipping is very much expected when you are doing a fishing trip, a rafting trip, a guided hike, or any sort of guided experience, and the general rule is that it should be about 20% of the base price of the experience. People, let me tell you that it is 100% up to you to tip what you think is appropriate.

When you go out with Chum Fun Charters there are signs in their transport vans that state that gratuities are appreciated and then it states how much that should be per person based on their standard fishing trip rate. I get it that this is clearly posted because there are many international visitors who come from places without a tipping culture (good for them!) and this allows the practice of giving gratuities to be called out to every guest. YOU make the decision, however what you feel is the right tip to provide to your guide, doing this experience or any other sort of guided tourism you partake in.

For us, we always consider how involved the experience is, how much interaction or additional work a guide had to do, and how personable our time together was. If the experience and actions by the guide are what is expected as a standard of booking the service, then there you have it. If your guide goes out of their way to really ensure a wonderful experience and the tour/trip is better than expected because the guide is such an awesome person, then we’ll for sure provide a great gratuity. You really need to do what feels right to you.

Note: we did go on a fishing charter once in the Florida Keys (not Alaska) and the booking rate was about $800 for the day, but it was gifted to us so we didn’t know the ticket price. After our fishing experience was done our guide texted me to inform me that I didn’t tip enough and that they would be processing a complete 20% gratuity on the cost of the trip onto my credit card because I didn’t tip enough. Hells no, that’s not okay and is terrible service. This was NOT with Chum Fun, but was a fishing company in Florida that did this. Chum Fun does NOT have this policy, but if you book through other fishing guide services, it’s something to be aware of just in case.

Parking for Chum Fun Charters in Juneau

When you book your shore fishing with Chum Fun Charters, you will arrange your transportation at that time. If you’re booking this as a cruise excursion, then they will pick you up at the docks with clear instructions to make sure you get on the right tour with the right timing. If you’re traveling on your own, you can coordinate with Chum Fun, including meeting them at their office on Channel Drive. They’ll make it easy for you and they’re good about making sure that nobody misses the all aboard for any cruise ships.