Deadliest Catch in Ketchikan Alaska

Fishing for Crabs and anything else that pinches, Travel Droppings Style

In Ketchikan, Alaska there lies a famous crab fishing boat called the Aleutian Ballad. You may have seen it in on Discovery Channel show called The Deadliest Catch. The boat has since been retired and outfitted with seats and a viewing area for a great tour. Here is a brief run down of what the tour is like.

The Aleutian Ballad is hosted by a couple of the guys who were part of the crew on the Discovery Channels, The Deadliest Catch. Things begin easily enough as they throw out some bait for the next days tours. They don't just catch crabs because they know it wouldn't be as entertaining. These guys will pull up fish, shrimp, and a few more squishier creatures of the deep.

Here the Kiwi guide shows us a red snapper he pulled up. At least we think it is a red snapper.

The scenery that you motor past is pretty amazing. Mountains are everywhere you look and the houses appear to be from a much simpler time. It is beautiful. They also go past a few Bald Eagle nests and toss bait fish in the water so you can get your pictures of the eagles scooping an easy meal out of the water. Make sure you have a good camera and a steady hand to get non-blurry photographs. I didn't have either. I will spare you the proof.

They do "catch" an octopus as well. Luckily, this one just "happened" to get caught inside of a garbage bucket trap.
Even James Bond could catch this octopussy.

After some careful maneuvering they throw the hook to grab the first pot. Then these guys must be getting lazy in their older years as they pull up the pots with machines. Yes, that's right, they don't even use their arms to pull up these several hundred pound cages. Lazy.

The guests onboard do get to hold the King Crabs, some weighing up to 9 pounds.
Haven't held that much meat in my hands in weeks.
They do guarantee you will see crabs. At first you think, man they must be really great fisherman. Then, when the first crab pot they pull has a king crab partially devoured by its mates, the pieces begin to fall together.

After putting a few dead fish inside the crab pot for the captives to eat until the next tour, they lower it back into the waters of Ketchikan for some more water boarding. It's a good life for the crabs, I guess, and it sure beats Guantanamo Bay. So now we know why they guarantee the passengers will see crabs.

The Aleutian Ballad provides a great tour for those visiting Ketchikan during the summer months.

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