Halibut Derby

2018 Derby Dates

Halibut Derby: May 19th through September 2nd
Halibut Hullabaloo: June 8th through 17th
The Valdez Halibut Derby features a $10,000 cash Grand Prize for the largest halibut, $3,000 cash for 2nd place and $1,500 for 3rd place. In addition, the Valdez Halibut Derby features 1st and 2nd place  weekly prizes. It all starts with a derby ticket and you can find out where to get one by visiting our Tickets page.

Prizes

Download a list of weekly prizes here!

 

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 2018 Overall Leaders

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Weekly Winner

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Week Fifteen – August 26 through September 2

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Previous Week Winners

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Week Fourteen – August 19 through August 25

Week Thirteen – August 12 through August 18

Week Twelve – August 5 through August 11

Week Eleven – July 29 through August 4

Week Ten – July 22 through July 28

Week Nine – July 15 through July 21

Week Eight – July 8 through July 14

Week Seven – July 1 through July 7

Week Six – June 24 through June 30

Week Five – June 17 through June 23

Week Four – June 10 through June 16

Week Three – June 3 through June 9

Week Two – May 27 through June 2

 

Week One – May 19 through May 26

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General Information

The Valdez Halibut Derby features a $10,000 cash Grand Prize for the largest halibut, $3,000 cash for 2nd place and $1,500 for 3rd place. In addition, the Valdez Halibut Derby features 1st and 2nd place  weekly prizes. It all starts with a derby ticket and you can find out where to get one by visiting our Tickets page.

The halibut charter season starts in May and runs into September. During May and June, halibut charters head to the icy waters of Prince William Sound in search of halibut and rockfish, but once it hits July charters also target lingcod. Halibut are found throughout Prince William Sound waters, on or near the bottom over mud, sand or gravel banks and below steep drop offs.

Anglers will catch halibut near Valdez in the Narrows and along the coastlines of the islands in Prince William Sound. Some of the closer popular fishing spots include Knowles Head and Red Head, Galena Bay, and Sawmill Bay. Further out, halibut can be found on the outside of Hinchinbrook entrance and the edge of the Gulf of Alaska. The preferred method for fishing halibut is anchoring and using bait. There are 32 species of rockfish that live in the Gulf of Alaska and lingcod up to 30 pounds are caught regularly. Fishing for salmon sharks out of Prince William Sound has also become quite popular, although there is not a shark derby.

The average halibut is 30 to 35 pound range, but several over 300 pounds have been brought back to Port Valdez. There is a two fish daily bag limit for halibut. Charter vessel anglers may keep one fish of any size per day and one fish that is no more than 29 inches in length The Valdez Small Boat Harbor has numerous fish cleaning stations available that feature high pressure hoses and disposal chutes.

While fishing in Valdez and Prince William Sound, anglers can expect to see majestic mountains, eagles, many species of birds, seals, sea lions and sea otters. Dall porpoise and humpback whales are also residents of Prince William Sound likely to make an appearance.