Fishing tournaments offer prizes
From Seward silvers to Ship Creek kings, anglers can win big

By CHARLIE ESS
Daily News correspondent

It used to be that you measured the reward to a day of fishing by the heft of your creel or the fact that it took two of you to haul a cooler laden with salmon, halibut or trout back to the truck. Then came fishing derbies and the smell of money – make that big money – that offers the chance to convert that king salmon or that barn-door halibut into a cash cow.

Like them or not, chances are good that anywhere you wet a line there will be some form of contest this year. As for the prizes, look for cash, fishing tackle, boats, motors, gift certificates, guided fishing trips, free oil changes and other tantalizing awards. Enter the Seward Jackpot Halibut Tournament and you don’t even have to fish to earn a crack at the Holland America cruise for two.

There is, of course, the $35 seasonal entry fee, or you can pay the day rate of $5, but land a fat flatty, weigh it in and you could claim up to 55 percent of the pot. The prize breakdown allocates 30 percent to the 2nd place winner with the remaining 15 percent going to angler with the 3rd largest fish.

If salmon is more your style, enter the Seward Silver Salmon Derby. Now in its 45th year, the derby runs Aug. 12-20 and offers $10,000 for the largest fish, overall, and the breakdown is as follows: $5,000 for 2nd, $2,500 for 3rd, then $1,500 and $1,000 for 4th and 5th places, respectively. Because Alaska happens to be the 49th state, the angler to catch the 49th largest fish will take home a grand. In addition, there are four tagged fish ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. Organizers announce the prize money for the tagged fish after underwriters sell them an insurance policy to cover the cash, if the tagged fish is caught.

Another contest to generate big cash is the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby. Last year’s winner took home $30,300, not to mention the 259-pound flatty that won the contest. Tickets cost $7 per day and $2 of every ticket goes into the pot. Besides the grand prize, the derby pays $10,000; $5,000; 1,000 and $500 and $250 for the five largest fish caught each month from May through Labor Day.

You don’t have to fish to win the $2,000 random cash drawing. Better yet, the tickets double as coupons among some local vendors.

In Anchorage, there are two summer salmon derbies within a few blocks of its largest hotels. In June, check out the Anchorage King Salmon Derby. The Derby, in its eighth year, is a fund-raiser for the National Senior Services Corps’ Foster Grandparents/Senior Companion programs. The contest in the past has paid $5,000 for the winning fish with prizes of $10,000 distributed among nine tagged fish. Recent winners have tipped the scales at around 55 pounds.

But Ship Creek has produced fish even bigger: "Sixty pounders have come out of there," says Skyler Kay, a development associate with the Senior Services Corp. Tickets for the event, which takes place June 9-18, are $35 for the entire event or $6 per day.

Ship Creek’s silver salmon are nothing to sniff at either, if you ask Kay. Winning fish from the Anchorage Silver Salmon Derby have been running up to 13 pounds. This year’s derby will run from Aug. 4-13; tickets cost $30 for the weeklong event or $6 per day.

Anglers making the 45-mile drive out to the Mat-Su Valley will find a broad array of contests awaiting them when they get there. In June try for king salmon in the Valley’s streams, or if lakes are your preference try for the Lake Lucille Fishing Derby, which runs from June 30 through July 2.

Contest options vary, but for a $10 entry fee you can have a shot at prizes ranging from boats, motors, guided trips, fishing gear and cash. Sponsored by KMBQ and KASH radio stations, Cabella’s and 3 Rivers Fly and Tackle, prizes are awarded for the largest fish and tagged fish.

In late July through August, enter the Silver Salmon Derby, when the silvers are charging up the Little Susitna and other local streams.