Alaska's Valdez Silver Salmon Derby 2003 Winner! $15,000 Richer!

Alaska Outdoor Journal's Photo of the Day!

A $15,000 Smile!

Told by Pat Welch: My good friend Frank Koterba and I were out fly fishing for silver salmon at Gold Creek in Port Valdez on the early afternoon of 27 August 2003. I spotted a nice bunch of silvers jumping out of the water just about 50 yards away from our position.

I motored over to the location and cut the engine on the Zodiac. At that same time, I told Frank to start casting. He did and he had a hookup almost immediately. The fish hit hard and took Frank into his backing almost twice while circling the boat. On the third go around, the fish dove just as it got around to the front of the boat. Frank moved to the front of the boat with his fly rod doubled over and stuck on the bow of the Zodiac. I told Frank to give the fish a little slack and lift the rod but it was to late. The seven weight fly rod went "POP" and now Frank has a four piece instead of a three piece rod.

Frank continued to keep a tight line on the fish as the tip of the fly rod traveled down the fly line into the water. A short while later, Frank managed to bring the fish along side the Zodiac and I stuffed it into the net.

We were amazed at the size of the fish and I laid my eight weight Lamiglas rod along side the fish with the tape marked at the 32" section of the rod. The fish was two inches longer than the tape mark. We both agreed this fish was a potential derby contender and I put the silver into a big plastic bag filled with water.

We made good time getting back to the small boat harbor and took the silver salmon up to the Derby weigh-in station. When the lady put the silver salmon on the calibrated digital scale, it registered 18.18 lbs., was 34 inches long and had a girth of 20 inches!

Frank managed to hang onto the lead for the rest of the Derby and collected a check for $15,000.00 for first place in the Valdez Silver Salmon Derby.

The Valdez Silver Salmon Derby ran from 1 August through 31 August of 2003. As mentioned, first place prize was $15,000.00, second prize was $5000.00 and third prize was $2,000.00. Also, everyone that purchased a Derby ticket had a chance to win a 4x4 truck. This year, a gentleman from Fairbanks won the truck.

Derby information is available at valdezfishderby@hotmail.com or 1 (907) 835-2984.

Oh, about the fly Frank was using - he has christened it "The Lawyer."

Photo & story courtesy of Patrick C. Welch Š2003

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