Derby News - Week 10 (July 27 - August 2)

Anchorage Man Takes Lead in Valdez Halibut Derby

VALDEZ- Jan VanderVaart of Anchorage had never fished for halibut so when he pulled up a 251.5 pound halibut Sunday, he was shocked. VanderVaart said he had to be held in the boat so he wouldn’t go overboard as he reeled up his derby leading halibut. When asked what he would do with $15,000 if he hung on to win the Valdez Halibut Derby, VanderVoart said, “you’d have to ask my wife”.

Out-of-state angler, Keith Padgett of Kennewick, Washington, jumped ahead in the Valdez Silver Salmon Derby standings when he reeled in a fish weighing nearly two pounds more than the current leader. John Strang’s 14.40 pound silver was big enough to win the raft from Marita Sea & Ski for Big Prize Friday and to take first place in the overall standings, but his first place reign was short lived as Padgett reeled in a 17.26 pound fish Saturday to catapult into first place. Strang was knocked further down the leader board by Bill Rees of Eagle, Idaho who caught a 14.84 pound silver aboard Swifty I.

Hundreds of women will converge in Valdez this weekend to participate in the 4th Annual Valdez Women’s Silver Salmon Derby. The opening ceremony is Friday night 7pm at the Valdez Civic Center and will feature a Bachelor “Filet-A-Fish” Auction, door prizes, entertainment and more. During the regular derby, standings are posted immediately, but during the Women’s Derby everyone has to wait until Saturday night to see who the winners are. This year, the top 50 fish will win a Fish Derby commemorative vest at the closing ceremony. Pre-registration for the women’s derby is going on now at Reynolds Alaska and Prospector. Participants can register at either store, at the Civic Center opening ceremony Friday night or Saturday morning before going fishing. Both stores will open at 6am. The closing ceremony Saturday night will feature the Pipeline Club barbeque from 7 to 8pm, along with wine tasting and live music. Last year, 502 women registered for the derby and Sonya Simon’s 18.32 pound silver took the top prize.

Registering for the Women’s Silver Salmon Derby costs $25 and gets you: FREE Admission to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies; chances to win prizes for the TOP FIFTY largest fish caught and commemorative a Women’s Derby Dog Tag. Women’s Derby participants MUST purchases a Valdez Fish Derbies Silver Salmon Derby ticket in addition to women’s derby registration. To see the complete list of rules and regulations go to www.valdezfishderbies.com.