A deep, cozy hole where a 50-pound king might pause on its way upstream should be ideal.
But perhaps more important is whether Jioji "George" Lino is within shouting distance.
That's because for the last three years, Lino has helped the derby winner drag his fish to shore.
And while Lino is ready to help himself to the top spot this year, fellow anglers voted him the recipient of the Andy Sorenson Sportsmanship Award last year for his effort in securing David Edmonds' victory.
Getting Edmonds' 48.37-pound salmon ashore was anything but easy.
When Edmonds hooked the big fish, he was about 150 feet from the Ship Creek bridge. Lino watched from the opposite bank.
Before long, Edmonds, 53, began struggling mightily.
Lino waded across and grabbed Edmonds by the suspenders to keep the angler from falling in. That was just the stability Edmonds needed to avoid disaster.
"He bobbed across to rescue me," Edmonds said at the time.
The effort appropriately earned Lino the Andy Sorenson Sportsmanship Award, named for the avid angler who passed away in 2008 at age 48 of a heart aliment. Like Lino, Sorenson was renown for aiding fellow Ship Creek anglers, whether handing out dozens of his hand-made flies or helping 2007 women's champ Meghan Kincaid after she hooked into her fat 33.6-pound winner.
For the effort, Lino's name was permanently etched on the Sorenson trophy, and he earned $500.
"It's my turn next year," he announced after last year's derby.
But even if he didn't win, Lino had plenty of king salmon to eat last year after landing a 41-pound king on the third day of the derby. The fish was large enough to take second place, but by the time Lino got it ashore, the derby's nightly 11 p.m. deadline had passed.
Days before the derby was to begin, derby director Chip Gallagher on Monday was still hustling up sponsors. Gone was last year's presenting sponsor, GCI. But AlaskaUSA and others had signed up.
Gallagher was happy the first place prize of a 16-foot Klamath fishing boat with a trailer and 25 horsepower outboard was secure. He estimated its worth at $13,000.
"We didn't really set a goal (for number of tickets sold), but the last couple of years, we've done pretty well," Gallagher said. "It brings awareness of the soup kitchen to folks here, and it pays for food for about a year."
Last year the Soup Kitchen earned about $40,000 from the derby. One $40 pro class ticket, good for the entire derby, is enough to feed a Soup Kitchen client a month; cheaper day tickets are available.
Fish and Game expects about 3,500 kings to return a Ship Creek, a stocked run. Some 750 of them need to get upstream to spawn so biologists can get the 315,000 smolt needed for next year.
Reach reporter Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.
Recent Ship Creek champs
2009 David Edmonds 48.4 pounds
2008 Robert Hayes 41.0 pounds
2007 Tom Salow 42.1 pounds
2006 Vinney Eben 39.4 pounds
2005 Craig Harrison 50.2 pounds
2004 Jim Lavrakas 45.2 pounds
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