Joshua Jones, a 25-year-old soldier at Joint Base Elemendorf-Richardson, pulled a 35-pound king salmon out of Ship Creek less than a day before the end of the Downtown Soup Kitchen Slam'n Salm'n Derby to win the urban fishing derby's top prize on Sunday.
Jones' big fish, weighing in at 34.85 pounds, earned him a 14-foot Jon boat with an outboard motor. He also took home $600 cash, mainly because he caught the biggest fish among military anglers.
Second place went to Nicolas Cavolas' 33.3-pounder, caught on opening day of the derby and good for a four-day fishing trip and 50,000 miles on Alaska Airlines. Fred Nolan nailed down third with his 31.6-pounder, winning a 55-inch flat-screen television. Felipe Martinez was fourth with his 27.4-pound king, good for two roundtrip tickets on PenAir.
Aaron Volden, who helped several anglers land their fish, won the Andy Sorenson Sportsmanship Award, $500 from the Alaska Fly Fishers and former champion Jim Lavrakas.
The top 16 derby anglers turned in kings exceeding 20 pounds. Get complete results here.