Derby News - Week 12 (August 10 - August 16)

Silver Salmon Are In, Fairbanks Man Leads Derby with 19.12 lb. Fish

With only two weeks left in the Valdez Silver Salmon Derby and the fish finally in port and running strong, the derby leader board is rapidly changing. Right around 600 fish have been weighed in so far in the derby, with the top spot on the derby leader board declaring Thomas Lane of Fairbanks, AK in first place with a 19.12 pounder. The fish was caught on August 17th aboard a private boat. Currently, in second place is Charlene McCay of Anchorage, AK with an 18.96 pound silver. Third place at present is held by George Robinson of Valdez, AK, with an 18.48 pound fish.

Silver salmon continue to be caught in the Narrows, and Galena Bay has proven a productive spot according to Brittany Blain of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, but the number of anglers fishing from the small boat harbor is amazing. “We haven’t seen this many fish coming all the way into the harbor for a long time”, said Dave Cobb of the Valdez Fisheries Development Association. “There are harbor seals and sea otters in the harbor and we haven’t seen that for years either”. The action for silvers at Allison Point has dramatically picked up and Bonnie Woods of the Valdez Fish Derbies says the volunteers at the weigh-in Station have been slammed with fish to weigh and the big ones are coming from all over. “We’re seeing a lot more people coming back with their limit right now”, said Woods.

At the end of week twelve of the Valdez Halibut Derby and with his eye on the $15,000 first prize, Jan VanderVaart of Anchorage, AK holds the top spot on the derby leader board with a 251.5 pound fish brought to port on August 3rd. Lorena Jenkins is still holding strong on the charts in 2nd with the 244.2 pounder she caught June 14th. David Gatch, who has been on the leader board for almost the entire derby, is holding onto the third place title with the 207.2 pounder he caught June 9th. According to Brittany Blain of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, lingcod and halibut are feeding on pink salmon and will take large jigs as well as bait herring.

The Valdez Halibut and Silver Salmon derbies run through Sunday, August 31st. The Annual “Spawn ‘til Dawn” Derby Awards party is slated for 7pm at the Civic Center Sunday, August 31st. Admission is free with a derby ticket. Several 20 pound plus silvers have been reported and even weighed at the weigh-in station, but without a derby ticket they are not in contention for the $15,000 first place prize. Derby tickets for both the salmon and halibut derbies are $10 each and are good for one day of fishing in the derby. A season ticket for either species is $50. Participants of the derby will also get their names put into a drawing for a truck from Seekins Ford.