Well, that’s a wrap folks! The 70th annual Seward Silver Salmon Derby is now in the books and it truly was a wonderfully memorable event! The harbor area was buzzing with excitement as people watched anglers weigh-in their catches and the bay was filled with fishing boats and eager fishermen and women. The Salmon Derby took place from Saturday, August 9th to Sunday, August 17th with a total of 1,242 registered anglers. Over the span of nine days, 1,921 silver salmon were caught and turned in and 14,206.11 pounds of fish were weighed; that’s almost three times the amount weighed-in last August! Participants had the option to either donate the fish or buy them back for $5 each with proceeds going towards fish restoration efforts in Resurrection Bay.
Our Grand Prize winning angler was Seward local, Tracy Squires. After fishing in the Derby for 30 years, her hard work and dedication to the sport paid off and she reeled in a 15.26 pound silver on Day 2 of the competition! She is building a house here in Seward and is looking forward to spending her prize money on furnishing her new home for her and her children. Upon speaking with her about the Derby and her experience fishing, one can see the genuine joy the sport brings her and how well deserved her win truly was.
In Second Place we had Joseph Lind, from Anchorage, with a 15.12 pound catch and in Third Place we had Erik Johnson, also from Anchorage, with a 14.5 pounder. Tracy, Joseph, and Erik are all receiving double their catch weights in Kaladi Brothers Coffee! Do you think that will be enough to get them through the winter?
In the special Kayak category, we had Steven Hill take the win with a 12.2 pound salmon and Martin C Hribernick reeled in a 10.5 pound catch. Our Cumulative Weight winners were Randy Knopick from Seward with 379.72 pounds of salmon and Zane Armstrong, only 13 years old, from Wasilla with 437.6 pounds of catches.
New this year, we had a Pro-Fishing category where local captains could take out fishing clients and offer a free Derby admission to them while also qualifying captain and client for a $500 prize on top of all other potential Derby prizes. The winning captain was Andy Mezirow from Graylight Sportfishing and angler Mike Martino who reeled in a 14.29 pound coho. Not only did the captain and client both win $500, Captain Andy got a big ol’ Salmon Derby trophy for his win. Other local charters that participated were Miller’s Landing, Crackerjack Sportfishing, and Latitude 60 Marine.
This year’s Derby was dedicated to Dororthy Urbach- longtime Derby advocate, angler, and beloved community member. She was the Derby Publicity Chairman for thirty years and a major contributor to the Derby for decades, including the weigh-in booth. Dorothy won the Derby in 1979 turning in a 16.11 Coho! There was a lovely Kick-Off Barbeque on August 8th that drew in both Derby anglers and locals with hotdogs, cake, and music by Randy Altermatt. Dororthy’s daughter, Susie Urbach, says that Dororthy would have loved that this year’s winner was a local fisherwoman. Not to mention that the First Place winner in the Youth category was also a local girl! Savanna Wilkerson took First with her 14.2 pound catch!
On the very last day of the Derby, Jim and Denise Cottrell (from Anchorage) weighed-in the first fish of the day as their family quickly returned to the harbor after their daughter’s water broke and she went into labor. Jim weighed in a solid 14.45 pound coho and off they went on their way to the hospital. The baby’s name is Ray Ray. This had to be one of the more heartwarming moments from the week!
Tidewater Taphouse, located on the north side of the Seward harbor area, graciously hosted the official Derby Awards Ceremony on the afternoon of the 17th. Guests enjoyed local cuisine, Alaskan beer, and craft cocktails and mocktails. It was also a perfect sunny Alaskan afternoon, so we could not have asked for a better end of the Derby week.
A warm and heartfelt thank you to all of our wonderful returning and fresh-faced volunteers. Because of their help, we were able to staff the booth during all hours of the Derby and keep things running smoothly. A huge thanks, also, to Coho Joes Dockside Coffee for providing delicious free beverages to those who set time aside to help us put on this competition.
As we put away our rod and reels and lean into the upcoming change of seasons, we look forward to planning for next year’s competition. As a new team at the Chamber of Commerce, we had a total blast getting in on the action, meeting longtime Derby participants and hearing their stories, and we learned a lot about the Derby and how it runs. Enjoy your fresh caught salmon, everyone!
