Derby News - Week 9 (July 20 - July 26)

Ten Dollars Would Have Been A Good Investment for Anglers

VALDEZ- The friendly folks at the Valdez weigh-in station hung and weighed the halibut as a courtesy, but they couldn’t write the names of the anglers nor the weight of their fish on the leader board because the anglers did not have derby tickets. Two different anglers brought in large fish without a derby ticket this week. One weighed 198 pounds and would have taken 1st place for the week and captured 3rd place in the overall standings. The second fish would have won the 2nd place prize for the week. Mark Twardowski of Grand Junction, Colorado is one person who benefitted from the anglers mistake. He took the 1st place weekly prize with a 192.6 pound halibut he caught aboard the Lady Luck.

Lorena Jenkins of Valdez is still leading the Halibut Derby with a 244.2 pound Halibut. For the last four years, the Halibut Derby winner has been 300 pounds plus and there’s still plenty of time for a big fish to be caught before the end of the derby August 31st. The Silver Salmon Derby began Saturday and the field is wide open. A few silvers have been caught in Port Valdez and Brittany Blain of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports silver salmon are starting to move into the Valdez Arm.

Lorena Jenkins of Valdez is still in the lead and in line to take home the $15,000 first place price with the 244.2 pound halibut she caught aboard No Excuses June 14th. David Gath of Fairbanks is currently in 2nd place with the 207.2 pounder he caught aboard the Faithful. And Robert Pfeil of Delray Beach, Florida is holding onto 3rd place with a 177.7 pounder. What will it take to win? Speculation is always rampant, but charter captain Dave Bruss says he thinks the winner will be in the upper 200 pound range.

Saturday was the first day of the Silver Salmon Derby and the largest fish weighed in was a 13.86 pound fish caught by Matt Subitch of Chugiak, Alaska. Last year, the largest fish reeled in on the first day of the derby was a 13.06 pound silver. There are daily 1st and 2nd place prizes in the Silver Salmon Derby a well as a $15,000 first place cash prize, $5,000 2nd place prize and $2,000 3rd place prize. Herb Weichert of Wasilla caught a 13.88 pound silver Sunday and is currently 1st in the overall standings.

This Friday, the angler catching the largest Silver Salmon in the derby will take home an inflatable raft from Marita Sea & Ski worth $2,500. There will be another Big Prize Friday, the last Friday of the Silver Salmon Derby, August 29th.

Silver Salmon and Halibut might be the big money fish in Valdez with more than $80,000 in cash and prizes offered up in the Valdez Fish Derbies, but there are plenty other fish to catch in and around Valdez. A 301.1 pound salmon shark was caught on the Faithful July 25th, commercial fishermen are reporting king salmon between Shoup Bay and Potato Point and Ruth Pond was just stocked with rainbow trout.

The Women’s Silver Salmon Derby is set for August 8th and 9th in Valdez. For all the details, go to www.valdezfishderbies.com