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While luck always trumps skill, there are some key things you can do to stack the deck in your favor.

First, remember that kings are the thing.

That's kings as is big feeder king salmon. While both king and silver salmon (and the rare sockeye) are eligible for entry, it takes the weight of a king to win. Some huge silver salmon are entered each year-like the 19.6-pounder Martin Garvin caught in 2005 or 2006's winning 19-pounder-you better be weighing in a big king if you want to finish in the top prize money.

In the first three decades of the derby, it more often took a king over 40, or even 50 pounds to win it all. And Gary Hedges still holds the all-time derby record for a 59.5-pound king he caught in 1971, a record that may stand for a very long time.

But for the past 15 years, a fish over 30 pounds was a real contender, and in 2004 Carol Munro won the derby with a 26.5 pound king.

These will be feeder kings, not spawning this season but aggressively feeding in preparation for a future spawn.

They will be more aggressive and likely will be deeper than their spring run cousins, which are often caught in the top 20 feet.

Interestingly, while many of us think of August as silver season, a solid one-third of the fish entered in the 2005 derby were kings-125 out of 404 fish.

Lee Leschper photo   A group of friends gather for a day on the water and high hopes of a good day of fishing.

In 2006 the kings average 16.9 pounds, the Cohoes 12.3 pounds.

Second, plan to put in your time not at the dock, but on the water and with a hook in the strike zone.

Derby rules allow anglers to fish every minute of the full three days of the tournament. And while few anglers have 72 hours of non-stop fishing (or enough gas in their tank) to fish that long without a break, the more time you've got a bait in the water, the higher your chances of success.

Safety is always most important and don't be foolhardy if foul weather kicks up. But just sticking to daylight hours will give you 16 or 18 hours a day on the water.

And remember that there are many ways to win beyond just catching that biggest king. Entrants who do not weigh a fish have a chance to win special drawing prizes.

Because the fish will often be most active and most aggressive on moving tides, especially be fishing during the falling and flooding tides.

Third, change your approach.

The feeder kings (and most Cohoes) will be feeding deeper-50 to 100 feet-around huge schools of herring that will be jammed into traditional hotspots. Watch for feeding whales, which are a sure tip-off that massive clouds of herring are in the area.

Because the derby is confined to a relatively small area of nearby Juneau waters, a few hotspots get most of the pressure, because these are also the spots where herring school in massive shoals in August.

These include South Shelter Island, Point Retreat, the backside of Douglas Island and Aaron Island.

But remember that not every school of herring holds feeding fish. Plan to travel from school to school until you find feeding fish.

And if you're catching smaller Cohoes, its worth going looking again to find bigger fish.

For the biggest kings, draw a big bait very deep, 100 feet or more. Some still rely on cut-plug herring, but the old faithful J Plug is hard to beat.

Local Realtor Debbie White caught the 2005 winner, a 32.9 pounder, on a J Silver Bullet plug trolled very deep.

There are no rules or restrictions on anglers fishing with a guide during the derby, and hiring an experienced guide who's been on the water every day before the event can be a pretty smart investment.

Finally, be flexible and watch the signs. I'm amazed at how many anglers fish the same bait, the same depth, in the same areas, year after year, because it worked once. Certainly confidence in a tactic is important, but there are so many variables-migration, water quality, tides, weather, location-that can change the way the fish are behaving or feeding.

This month, we've been catching lots of early-run silvers at comparably shallow depths-20 to 35 feet.

But as soon as we break that run and drop a downrigger to 60 feet, we've also been picking up feeder kings and some bigger silvers. No change but the depth.

So keep trying and do buy that derby ticket!

Good luck!

Leschper is general manager of the Capital City Weekly and advertising director of the Juneau Empire, when he's not trying to unravel the mysteries of southeast Alaska fishing.