Derby News
Nineteen year-old Chugiak Man Wins $15,000 with 19.72 Pound Silver
When Ryan Smith of Chugiak, Alaska reeled in a big silver August 1st he knew he had a good chance of winning $15,000 in the Valdez Silver Derby. Smith figured it would be a tough fish to beat at 19.72 pounds, and he didn’t have long to wait since there was less than 24 hours left in the derby at the time he weighed in his fish. Despite the fact that his fish looked like a sure winner, just minutes after his name appeared on the leader board in 1st place he was gearing up to go back out on the water. “Since we’re not going to be able to sleep, I say we stay out and fish for 24 hours”, Smith said. When asked why he comes to Valdez, Smith responded “It seems when we come to Valdez we have the most fun. There are more boats, more competition and always bigger fish”.
The wait was not so short for Janice Joseph, who caught her 19.12 pound silver August 15th and visited www.valdezfishderbies.com every morning when she woke up and every evening before going to bed for 16 days before being knocked out of 1st place by Smith. When asked how she would feel if she didn’t hang on to win the derby, Joseph replied “In the end the money is a big incentive, but catching that big fish has been my goal”. Joseph won $5,000 for second place and Sonya Simon of Tok, Alaska was happy to place 3rd overall and take home $2,000 with the 18.32 pound silver she caught August 11th during the Women’s Silver Derby. Jack West of Hook, Line and Sinker won $500 for selling the winning ticket and Terry Smith (Ryan’s Dad) won $500 for being the boat captain for the 1st place winner.
While the silver salmon derby was won at the last minute, the Halibut Derby was won July 28th when Jim Adams of North Pole reeled in a 340 pounder. Lots of sizeable fish were weighed in this year, but Jim’s flatfish caught aboard the Otter Dodger, won the $15,000 first place prize. Rob Rachow of Hager City, Wisconsin won 2nd place and $5,000 in the derby with a 328 pounder caught aboard the Harvester and Bonnie Woods of Valdez held on to 3rd place and won $2,000 with the 275.5 pounder she caught aboard No Excuses. This is the first year two fish have been weighed in at over 300 pounds and the first year any single person has made the top 3 in the Valdez Halibut Derby twice. Bonnie Woods won 3rd place back in 1994. Zack of Crowley Petroleum won $500 for selling the winning ticket to Adams, while Dennis Petre of the Otter Dodger won $500 for being the captain during Adam’s successful fishing trip.
A crowd of close to 300 people filled the Civic Center Sunday night at the Spawn ‘til Dawn Derby Awards Party. After an evening of games called the Fish Olympics, awards and door prizes, the winning ticket was pulled for the 4x4 Ford Truck. The huge spinner packed full of every derby ticket sold during the 2007 season was brought to the stage and a representative from Seekins Ford pulled the winning ticket belonging to Robert Anderson of Fairbanks. Anderson was not present, but the emcee Glenn Anderson (no relation) made several phone calls to reach him and left a message as the crowd listened in the auditorium.Halibut Derby - Overall Leaders |
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| 1st | 340.0 on 7/28 | Jim Adams of North Pole, AK (Otter Dodger) |
| 2nd | 328.0 on 7/17 | Rob Rachow of Hager City, WI (Harvester) |
| 3rd | 274.5 on 6/25 | Bonnie Woods of Valdez, AK (No Excuses) |
Silver Salmon Derby - Overall Winners |
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| 1st | 19.72 on 9/1 | Ryan Smith of Chugiak, AK (Private) |
| 2nd | 19.12 on 8/15 | Janice Joseph of Fairbanks, AK (Private) |
| 3rd | 18.32 on 8/11 | Sonya Simon of Tok, AK (Private) |
Halibut Derby - Week 14 (August 16th- September 2nd) |
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| 1st | 189.4 on 8/28 | David Marsh Jr. of Albuquerque, NM (Dan Orion) |
| 2nd | 170.0 on 8/30 | Ray Emigh of Hillsboro, OR (Dan Orion) |
WINNER OF 4x4 FORD TRUCK – Robert Anderson of Fairbanks