Derby News - Week 1, 5/23-5/28

Derby halibut breaks 100 pound mark early

John Tester of North Pole, AK reeled in a 153.5 pound halibut aboard Dan Orion May 25 to take the lead in the Valdez Halibut Derby. Currently in 2nd place in the overall derby is Carrie Carpenter of Valdez, AK with a 138.4 pound flatfish. Third place overall is currently being held by Jim Dieveney of Screven, GA with a 115.4 pound halibut.
There is a weekly first and second place prize in the halibut derby and the derby week ends Saturday night at midnight. While 153.5 pounds is a nice size halibut and worth more than $300 in prizes for the week, the chances of it hanging on until the end of the derby are slim. The last couple years, fish in the upper 200 pound to mid-300 pound range have taken home the $15,000 grand prize.
The Valdez Halibut Hullabaloo is scheduled for June 9th through 19th. The 11-day event is a fishing tournament within the regular Valdez Halibut Derby with the angler catching the largest fish taking home $1,000 cash. There is no fee for participating in the Halibut Hullabaloo. Anyone with a daily or season Valdez Halibut Derby ticket is eligible to participate.
According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, halibut angling continues to be good inside the Sound specifically at the ocean entrances. There continue to be reports of medium to large sized fish being caught in Strawberry Channel and Hinchinbrook Entrance.
The Valdez Kids Pink Salmon Derby is slated for Saturday, July 16th and the return of pink salmon expected for Port Valdez is good according to Mike Wells of the Valdez Fisheries Development Association. Wells said the anticipated return of pink salmon is 15.5 million and they should be arriving around June 20th with the peak near July 4th.

The anticipated return of silver salmon to Valdez for the 2011 season according to Wells is 190,000. Wells said he anticipates them to be into Valdez around the third week in July. The Valdez Silver Salmon Derby runs July 23rd through September 4th.