Fishing

Hefty 16.22-pound silver is now the fish to beat in Seward derby

Update, 1 p.m. Saturday: There was a new leader in the Seward Silver Salmon Derby. Mike Hanson of Anchorage landed a 16.22-pound silver on Friday from the vessel Fishing Machine off Tonsina Point, according to derby organizers.

Hanson was the leader as of Saturday morning, with Mick Hunter in second.

The derby ends at noon Sunday.

Original story:

As the Seward Silver Salmon Derby heads into its final weekend, Anchorage angler Mick Hunter is praying for a downpour. Or rough water. Or big wind. Anything to keep anglers on shore.

Hunter is leading one of Alaska's biggest fish derbies with a 15.42-pound silver caught near Cape Resurrection on Monday, and if nobody brings in a larger fish before noon Sunday, he'll walk away with the $10,000 top prize — plus 15.4 pounds of Kaladi Brothers coffee.

Hunter's fish is smaller than last year's winning fish of 16.2 pounds — a coho that Jerry Bixby of Soldotna weighed just before the derby ended to ward off the prospect of the first sub-15-pound winner in a derby that stretches back to 1956.

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Jesse Morrison's 15.01-pound silver, caught in 1958, is the smallest winner in the 61-year-old derby. Shirley Baysinger's 22.24-pounder caught in 2002 is the largest.

As of 10 p.m. Thursday, 377 silvers had been weighed at the derby booth, said Cindy Clock, director of the Seward Chamber of Commerce — "about a third of what's normally turned in," she said.

Clock characterized those fish as about two pounds heavier than normal, weighing an average of 9.5 pounds.

"They're fishing a lot," she said of Resurrection Bay anglers. "They're just not doing a lot of catching.

"Nobody's limiting out in this derby. Some people think they're coming late, some people think they're not coming at all."

Clock said she hoped lower air temperatures over recent days could trigger a late rush of salmon into the bay.

One lucky derby angler is 86-year-old derby angler Otto Hanson of Ninilchik, who landed the first tagged fish turned in so far — good for two roundtrip Alaska Airlines tickets.

Mike Campbell

Mike Campbell was a longtime editor for Alaska Dispatch News, and before that, the Anchorage Daily News.

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