Second day of salmon derby sees higher yield
- Ellie Ruel
- 19 hours ago
- 3 min read
More fish, but worsening weather conditions
By Ellie Ruel
Juneau Independent
The Golden North Salmon Derby’s second day may have gotten off to a somewhat mediocre start, but anglers quickly made up for lost time in the final few hours. By the 7 p.m. weigh station closing time, 142 fish had been entered in the derby and countless others were collected as “scholarship” fish, which Territorial Sportsmen will collect and sell to fund scholarships for local kids.
Only one notable leaderboard shakeup has occurred since yesterday, with Hayden Kuzakin replacing Shane Rear in the third-place spot by bringing in an 18.3-pound king salmon. Stephen Beedle’s 31.2-pound king still holds a considerable first-place lead over the rest of the entries, but that could change over the next 24 hours. Derby officials have hypothesized that anglers might be stowing their larger fish until the final bell in a strategic attempt to maximize their lead.
During a morning lull at the Auke Nu weigh station, Patrick Petreueuak weighed in a 7.8-pound coho and dropped off six smaller scholarship fish. Petreueuak had been out most of the night, starting in Douglas, circling the island, and winding up in Auke Bay.
“We started in Douglas and went all the way around the backside of Douglas last night on 13 gallons, that isn’t too bad,” he said.
Things picked up at Auke Nu later in the afternoon, as boaters started reporting worsening conditions on the water and a flurry of smaller crafts headed for the weigh stations. High winds required drivers to employ skillful maneuvering in order to safely pull in dockside. Some fishers opted to drive their catches over from their dock slip rather than braving the steadily growing line of boats.
“They’ve already taken four totes, and we’ve got this one, so we’ve filled five already,” said Alysha Reeves, who was running the Auke Nu station.
The Douglas weigh station was similarly sleepy with a few sporadic arrivals throughout the day (aside from a highly exalted magnet rescue of a stapler lost in the water during an attempt to secure plastic sheeting to the weigh station roof). But a last-minute rush brought in nearly 30 fish.
The final salmon run of the day was weighed in at Douglas five minutes before closing time. Noah Ault caught a 13.4-pound king and Osian Morris caught a 10.2-pound coho, and their boat also brought in a few scholarship salmon.
The weather reports out of the Douglas station were also less than ideal due to thick fog over Gastineau Channel.
“Even earlier, people were saying it’s so socked in over here, it’s like driving into a cloud,” said Caroline Allen, one of the derby officials.
As of 9:17 p.m. Saturday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a small craft advisory for Southeast Alaska Inside Passage waters from Dixon Entrance to Skagway. Southeastern winds will blow up to 25 knots tonight with five-foot seas, continuing into Sunday with 20-knot winds and four-foot seas.
The weather at the Amalga station was much milder with light drizzle and a slight breeze, and weigh-ins came in trickles and waves. Fishers there reported better water conditions further north.
Mike Huntley, who’s currently on vacation from Florida, launched his boat at Amalga Harbor early in the afternoon. This is his first derby, and he said he’s looking forward to a different fishing experience.
“We're running about 80 to about 95 degrees in Central Florida when I left, this is quite a change. The big deal for me today is just staying warm, not too bad out right now,” Huntley said. “You can get different kinds of fish, different kinds of baits, and different techniques.”
Going into the final day, the number of registered anglers has increased to 811 and only a fraction of those fishers have entered salmon.
• Contact Ellie Ruel at ellie.ruel@juneauindependent.com.
