Derby News - Week 13 (August 17 - August 23)

Largest Silver Salmon in Valdez Derby History Weighs in at 22.14 Pounds

With just one week left in the Valdez Silver Salmon Derby, Derek Werder of Valdez caught the largest silver salmon in Valdez Derby history. On Saturday his fish tipped the scales at 22.14 pounds, a half pound larger than the previous record of 21.76 pounds set by Albert Verrall in 2002. When asked what techniques or skills he could share Werder responded, “I decided to change to what I call my secret weapon and after that point none of the other poles were getting fish, just mine consistently. Werder said an orange squid was half of his secret weapon and would not reveal the other half of his secret.

The fish were late to Valdez, but it appears they are definitely in and there are a lot of big ones out there. The 2nd place leader is a 19.12 pound fish caught by Thomas Lane and the 3rd place leader is a 18.96 pound silver caught by Charlene McCay. Both McCay and Lane could easily have been put out of the money last week if two Alaskan anglers had purchased derby tickets prior to going fishing. Sandy Dillon of Palmer, Alaska reeled in a 20.82 pound silver and brought it to the weigh-in station along with Fred Hyder of Willow whos silver weighed in at 20.92 pounds. Neither angler had a derby ticket. Hyder said he always has a derby ticket when fishing for halibut but never for salmon. After weighing in their catch, Hyder immediately bought a silver salmon derby ticket for the next day. Bonnie Woods of the Valdez Fish Derbies weigh-in station said they are weighing in 30 to 40 silvers per day and expects that pace to pick up as the end of the derby draws nearer.

This Friday, the scales should be in action as it’s Big Prize Friday and the person catching the largest silver salmon August 29th will win an inflatable raft from Valdez Fish Derbies and Marita Sea & Ski worth $2,500.

With the Valdez Halibut Derby ending this Sunday, it looks as though Jan VanderVaart of Anchorage may have his claim on the $15,000 cash prize and the honor of holding the title of the Valdez Halibut Derby winner of 2008 with his 251.5 pound halibut. Last year the winning fish was 340 pounds and the year before was 343.3 pounds. If Jan does win, he will have won with the smallest fish since 2003. Second place on the derby leader board is Lorena Jenkins from Valdez, with a 244.2 pounder. And currently in third place it’s David Gatch of Fairbanks, with a 207.2 pounder.

Prizes will be awarded at the Valdez Fish Derbies “Spawn ‘til Dawn” party starting at 7pm this Sunday, August 31st at the Valdez Civic Center. Admission is free to anyone who has purchased a derby ticket and the event features the live drawing for the 4x4 Truck from Valdez Fish Derbies and Seekins Ford. Everyone who purchases a derby ticket is entered to win the truck, whether they catch a fish or not. For more information, visit www.valdezfishderbies.com.