Hard-fighting silver salmon can be an angler's dream when they are sizeable opponents, tearing off yards of line on sizzling runs and leaping from the water.
But some anglers contend that this year's batch of returning silver salmon has been smaller than usual, even dinky.
The just-completed Seward Silver Salmon Derby was hours from crowning the lightest winning fish in the 60-year history of the Resurrection Bay fishing tournament when veteran angler Jerry Bixby came to the rescue with a 16.19-pound silver.
It's a similar story at the ongoing Valdez Silver Salmon Derby, where Fairbanks angler Karen Phillips leads with a 16.48-pounder.
In previous years, both derbies have seen champions weighing more than 20 pounds, with the record fish exceeding 22 pounds.
'Running smaller'
"There's a lot of small fish this year and a whole bunch of humpies, 12-to-14 inches," Bixby said Sunday. "We were constantly reeling up something, not that that's a bad thing, but they (were) 7- to 8-pound ones.
"I've been talking to a few of the guys about how small the fish are overall," he said. "Some friends of mine went out yesterday and they caught and released 23, and not a one of them over 10 pounds. They're just running smaller for some reason."
Alaska Department of Fish and Game area management biologist Dan Bosch has noted the trend too.
"It has been an unusual coho season from the get go," he said. "Coho showing up in unusually strong numbers in early June, with good fishing earlier than typical in Prince William Sound. The Seward Silver Salmon derby always starts the second weekend of August, and this year Aug. 1 fell on a Saturday, so the derby was early this year – less time for coho to fatten up.
"I have also talked with a charter operator out of Seward whose husband is a long-liner and he is says they are seeing an unusually high number of silvers off shore. We still may have a solid number of silvers off shore feeding."
Laurie Prax of the Valdez Fish Derbies said anglers appear satisfied that there are more silvers roaming Prince William Sound than last year, even if they're smaller.
"We have a 16-pounder in the lead, but winners are usually 17, 18 pounds. Sometimes the winner can be 22," she said. "The bigger fish seem a little farther out. People are hoping the last couple weeks of the derby will be better."
Ocean sunfish
While nobody is sure why silvers may be running small, warmer water is a suspect.
"Very warm surface temperatures have also been bringing warm-water fish such as mola mola (or ocean sunfish) with them," Bosch said. "In Kodiak the warm water is bringing the feeder fish (baitfish) right up to the shore, and this is bringing the coho in with them."
Phyllis Shoemaker, lab manager at the UAF Seward Marine Center, said the highest surface temperature recorded by the center this summer is 51.8 degrees F.
"It's too early to jump to conclusions right now," Bosch cautioned. "We are still in the middle of the return. Maybe after the season is over we will have a better idea, but the warm water is likely a factor."
Contact Mike Campbell at mcampbell@alaskadispatch.com