Fishing Report: Heavy fish and heavy cash prizes at Valdez Fish Derbies concluding Sunday
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Although the main staples of the popular Valdez Fish Derbies wrap up on Sunday, a $10,000 coho salmon may still be swimming in Prince William Sound.
”We’ve had the winners caught the day before the derby ends. It’s happened in both the halibut and the silver derby,” Joe Prax, President of the Valdez Fish Derbies said on Thursday. “Generally, the silvers get larger as the season goes on, so it wouldn’t be surprising if that one does not stand.”
The current leader of the 2024 Valdez Silver Salmon Derby is Valdez resident Tony Cunningham, who reeled in a 13.76-pounder just earlier this week.
The grand prize is $10,000 cash, with $3,000 and $1,500 going to second and third, respectively, while there is another silver still out there with another $10,000 attached to it as part of the Tagged Fish Contest.
”We’ve tagged a silver and if you catch one with the Valdez Silver Derby tag in its dorsal fin, you’ll want to bring that in and see if that’s the fish that’s worth the $10,000,” Prax said.
Meanwhile, the heaviest halibut hauled in at the famed Halibut Derby was 374 pounds by Valdez’s Frieda Wiley in 2017.
”She fishes hard,” Prax added. “You would not keep up with Frieda fishing.”
Although this year’s heftiest halibut doesn’t quite measure up to that record, the top three still hover around 200 pounds, with Fairbanks’ Natalie Cevasco leading the way at 205 pounds.
The derbies run for much of the summer and are a staple within the fishing community.
Copyright 2024 KTUU. All rights reserved.
