Nine-year-old Janaea Koch of Valdez bested more than 200 other young anglers in the Valdez Kids Pink Salmon Derby on Saturday by reeling in the biggest fish of the day.

Koch caught a 7.78-pound pink salmon off the shore at Allison Point to win the derby, bringing home a long board skateboard, a subscription to Fish Alaska magazine and the admiration of fellow anglers.

Some 228 children participated.

Second place went to 14-year-old Janissa Arzie of Chugiak, who reeled in a 7.60-pound pink. She and Koch were the only anglers to break the 7-pound barrier in the one-day derby.

"Actually it was pretty easy to get that fish up because I've caught way bigger fish than that," Arzie said at the awards ceremony Saturday evening. "I caught a 140 pound halibut the other day. That was hard work."

Canyon McAllister, 11, of Valdez netted third place with a 6.92-pound pink salmon.

Kenai dipnetting hours expanded

The Kenai River personal use dip-net fishery will be open 24 hours per day until it closes Saturday night.

Because the run has now exceeded 2 million fish, the daily 11 p.m.-6 a.m. suspension of fishing was ended.

Dipnetters are reminded to respect private property adjacent to the public beaches.

273-pound halibut clings to derby lead

Minnesota angler Mark Hilts continued to hang onto his lead in the Homer Halibut Derby, which was beset with rain and wind much of last week.

Hilts' 273-pounder leads both the monthly and the overall standings.

The only angler to break into the monthly top four last week was Miles Hash of Meridian, Idaho, who landed a 216-pounder on Sunday aboard Ivory Queen Charters with captain Eric Lehm. The fish was big enough for fourth, good for $250 if he hangs on.

Alaska's richest fish derby runs through the end of September.