Cruise passengers to Alaska get plenty of opportunity to take fishing excursions, but it is hard to prepare a newcomer to Alaska for thrill of landing a 20-pound king salmon or the thrill of fishing for 100-pound halibut. If you'd like to come home from your Alaskan cruise with some fish stories even your best fishing buddies would not believe, just test the icy waters of Alaska.

It's really better for the tourist to go with an excursion or guide than to set off alone. The main advantage to the tour is obvious: no gear. Just getting in and out of Alaska can be a bit of an adventure; so can travel within the state. After all, this is the only state in the Union whose capital city can only be accessed by ship or plane. Traveling with a rod and reel, tackle, and an assortment of lures is asking for trouble.

Guides are also important if you will only have a very limited amount of time to spend and want to maximize your fishing opportunities. Guides know the best spots to fish, can advise you of local regulations, and will assist you in getting the most productive fishing time out of your day.

The most abundant fish in Alaska's abundant waters it the sockeye salmon, sometimes called "reds." These fish are best known as being fighters. Born to swim against the current, a sockeye who takes a hook tends to explode and fight. They're pretty good at it, too. Only one out of every three sockeyes that gets hooked will get cooked. That's because most sockeyes never are landed.

Alaska's most famous fish has to be the king salmon. Seward is probably the best known fishing epicenter for king salmons. The season starts in May.

Silver or Coho salmon come in fresh water and salt water versions. Silver salmon season is July to September, and the best way to go for these fish is by trolling. The limits are six a day (saltwater) or three a day (fresh).

If you've ever seen pictures of fishermen with gigantic fish caught in Alaska, you may be looking at a halibut. A 50-pound halibut is pretty normal, and it's not unusual for these fish to top 100 pounds or more. They're prized for their mild taste and gargantuan size. It takes a lot of strength to land a halibut. Many fishing organizations prefer that the monster halibut get tagged and released.

Ling cod is another popular fish but it has a reputation of being tough to catch. Ling cod live in and around rocky areas and often keep company with silver salmon and rockfish. They are an appalling ugly fish but are known as a real delicacy with flesh as mild as halibut. Most ling cod have white flesh, but some of them are green in the raw state and cook white. While raw green fish is not very visually appealing to some consumers, fish connoisseurs prize the green ling cod filets (which cook to be white anyway).

Ling cod are best pursued with jigs and bait teasers. A 25-pound ling cod in Alaska is considered just about ordinary, and it would not be unheard of to land one that tops 50 pounds. They're wily fish, tough to attract, and when they bite they tend to run to the rocks and swim around, which can often effectively cut the line. The ling cod season is from July to September with the daily bag set at one fish.

Those cruise passengers who opt to go on a fishing excursion should find out before they go if their catch of the day can be served to them or frozen and stored. Cruise lines may have special rules, so ask or read materials first. You may be able to have your catch of the day served for your dinner. Some fishing excursion places will freeze fish and ship it. Airlines going in and out of Alaska also have provisions for passengers to check frozen fish. Please ask your airlines since regulations change constantly, but at one time, passengers on most flights in and out of Alaska could check up to 50 pounds of frozen fish at no charge.

If you do have fish frozen, find out how it is packed and how long it will last. Many flash-frozen products are placed in insulated coolers, but still can only be expected to last about 24 hours before they need to get in refrigeration.