Daily Sitka Sentinel

Home

Sitka Salmon Derby Casts Off Saturday

Details: Category: ROOT; Created on Friday, 25 May 2012 10:15; Hits: 1558

    The 57th annual Sitka Sportman’s Association Salmon Derby will kick into gear Saturday morning.
   Fishing will be open over the long Memorial Day weekend and again next Saturday and Sunday.
   The top prize this year is $7,000 cash and two round trip Alaska Airlines tickets. A host of other prizes will be up for grabs, not only for big fish but for total weight and hidden weights.
   Sitka’s salmon derby began in 1956, three years before Alaska became a state. That year, Connie See won the derby with a 73-pound king salmon and set a record that has held for more than half a century.
   Three winners have weighed in at 71 pounds over the years, but as derby fishers prepare to hit the waters of Sitka Sound for the 2012 event, See’s fish is still the standard bearer.
   In the last 10 years, the biggest winning fish was a 66-pound king hauled in by Sharon Gillispie in 2002.
   The average weight of the winning fish over the last five years has been 50.4 pounds.
   Last year’s winner, Petersburg resident Steve Burrell, pulled in a 45-pound king to win the top prize. Burrell told the Sentinel he fished only one day of the derby, catching his prize-winner on the last of the event’s five fishing days.
   Ken Rear caught a 42-pound king on the first day and led the derby until he was passed at the last minute by Burrell, who 45-pounder was the smallest fish ever to win the top prize.
   As in past years, the Sportman’s Association will operate a leader board at the weigh-in barge in Crescent Harbor.
   Elaine Strelow, who is in charge of prizes and publications for the derby, said she’d heard that charter fishing clients have been pulling in good-sized kings in recent days.
   “We know there are some nice salmon,” Strelow said. “They’ve brought in some nice kings.”
   Derby fishing will officially begin Saturday morning and continue until 7 p.m. on Monday. Fishing will begin again next Saturday morning and close for good at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 3.
   Fishermen can validate derby tickets beginning at 7 a.m. Saturday at the local harbors (except ANB) and the Starrigavan boat launch or at 8 a.m. at the two “outlying” stations at Kalinin Bay and near Goddard Hot Springs.
   This is the 25th year that Eric and Sarah Jordan, who run the F/V I Gotta, will be stationed in Kalinin Bay to accept derby fish.
   Sherry and Jay Clifton will be anchored near Goddard accepting fish on F/V Nor’Gale. This is the first year the Cliftons will operate a fish station, Strelow said.
   The two fish stations will not operate on the final day of fishing each weekend, so on May 28 and June 3 all fish must be entered at the Crescent Harbor barge.
   Strelow said about 150 entrants turned in kings during the 2011 derby. In addition to the top prizes, the Sportsman’s Association has prizes for a variety of “hidden weights” to encourage participants to turn in their smaller fish.
   “Turning in even those smaller fish is one way to pick up little extra money for fuel,” Strelow said.
   A list of the prizes is available in the official derby brochure.
   The derby fish are turned over to Sitka Sound Seafoods, which sells the fish and splits the proceeds with the sportsman’s association.
   For many Sitkans, fishing the derby is a tradition. It’s not uncommon for at least three generations of families to be out on the waters during the derby.
   Strelow said the event also draws visitors. About an eighth of tickets sold last year went to visitors. Some of the out-of-towners are former residents who return to fish with relatives and friends, and some come especially to fish the derby.
   “It’s a combination,” Strelow said. “It is definitely a tradition, very much a community thing. Although we sell a good number of tickets to people who are not local.”
   The weather this weekend should be decent, but Strelow said she hadn’t really looked at the forecast.
   “It’s rarely exactly what everybody wants,” Strelow said. “We definitely hope for fishable weather. There are varying opinions about what’s the best weather for fishing.”
   Derby tickets are being sold at Orion Sporting Goods and Murray Pacific and will be available at the barge in Crescent Harbor. Participants also need a fishing license and king stamp. The current daily bag limit for residents is three kings, Strelow said. For nonresidents the daily bag limit will be two this weekend, and one on the second of the derby, when the calendar will have turned to June.
   The season limit is four kings for nonresidents.
   Participants who are also members of the Sitka Sportman’s Association are eligible for additional prizes.
   Strelow said derby participants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with derby rules and with Alaska sport fishing regulations, which remain in effect during fishing derbies.