Lazenby, 29, caught a 19.15-pound coho while fishing with his father on the second day of the nine-day derby last Sunday. He spent the next seven days with his fingers crossed.

"For the first couple of days it was nail-biting," he said, "and as the week went on and as the hours counted down, it got a little bit more nerve-wracking. I got on (a computer) the other day to check the leaderboard and saw another 19-pounder had been caught and my heart kinda dropped."

Not to worry. The other 19-pounder, caught Thursday by Tom Harmer of Anchorage, weighed in at 19.02 pounds, which held on to claim second place and $5,000. Third place and a Holland America cruise for two went to Karen Pauley of Seal Beach, Calif., who hooked a 17.94-pound coho.

Both men hooked their fish at Caines Head and Pauley got hers on the east side of Resurrection Bay. Lazenby caught his with silver squid on a single hook.

"We trolled around there for the day and it was the first fish we caught," he said. "As it got closer to the boat we knew it was big (but) it was not until we pulled it in and saw the size of it -- it took both of us to pull the net up over the back of the boat -- that we said, 'This is a hog, let's pack up and get it in.' ''

Lazenby, who works for the Kenaitze Indian Tribe, said the prize-winner came during his annual fishing trip with his dad Ron, who also lives in Kenai.

"We go down to Seward almost every year, and we had the same old debate -- do we buy a ticket, do we not buy a ticket," Lazenby said. "This year it happened that we did."

So, apparently, did a lot of other people.

Cindy Clock of the Seward Chamber of Commerce said numbers were up over last year -- despite a miserable day Saturday when rain and wind kept fisherman at bay.

"We had 11-foot seas out here," she said. "We had only 66 fish turned in. It was one of our worst days ever."

Clock said anglers turned in a total of 1,615 fish this year. They entered 1,235 last year. Total weight was up too, although the average size of the silvers was down. Last year the total weight of derby entries was 11,737 pounds (an average of 9.5 pounds per fish); this year it was 12,314 (an average of 7.6 pounds per fish).

David Rush of Wasilla single-handedly accounted for 408.59 pounds, making him the winner of the non-Seward division of the cumulative weight contest. Robert "Buck" Wall won the Seward division with 298.5 pounds. Each earned $500 for his victory.

Proceeds from the derby go to fish habitat and restoration, Clock said.

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Reach Beth Bragg at bbragg@adn.com or 257-4335.

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56th annual Seward Silver Salmon Derby

Top 10

1) Phillip Lazenby, Kenai, 19.15 pounds (caught at Caines Head);

2) Tom Harmer, Anchorage, 19.02 (Caines Head);

3) Karen Pauley, Seal Beach, Calif., 17.94 (east of the bay);

4) Trudy Baydo, Anchorage, 16.51 (head of the bay);

5) Jim Sey, Anchorage, 16.23 (Caines Head);

6) Jason Westervelt, Anchorage, 16.19;

7) Robert Buck Wall, Seward, 15.46 (south of Fox Island);

8) Autumn Hoeldt, Eagle River, 15.25 (Fox Island);

9) Heather Sumner Soldotna, 15.19 (Fox Island);

10) Guadalupe Rodriguez, Eagle River, 15.05 (Bear Glacier).

Youth division --

1) Hunter Robuck, Anchorage, 13.09 (Whidby);

2) Lawrence Agosti, Anchorage, 12.72 (Hive Island);

3) Michael Mathews, Anchorage, 12.26 (Mary's Bay).