Site Logo

Derby starts slow, but first fish has been caught

Published 10:30 pm Thursday, August 13, 2020

By Peter Segall

Derby starts slow, but first fish has been caught
1/4
Derby starts slow, but first fish has been caught
The first fish of the 2020 Golden North Salmon Derby at the Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor, Friday, Aug. 14, 2020. The 11 lbs coho was brought in just before 10 a.m. by a man on a jet-ski, according to derby volunteers. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
It was a quiet morning at the Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor on the first day of the 2020 Golden North Salmon Derby, Friday, Aug. 14, 2020. Volunteers manning the weigh station said not many people had turned in fish yet, but expected activity to pick up once people were off work. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
The parking lot near the Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor boat ramp was full of empty boat trailers Friday, Aug 14, 2020, for the first day of this year’s Golden North Salmon Derby. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

The 2020 Golden North Salmon Derby opened at 7:30 a.m. Friday, and though it was a quiet, rainy morning down at the Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor, the first fish of this year’s derby already came in just before 10 a.m.

An 11-pound coho was brought in by a man on a Jet Ski, according to Jonathan Gunstrom, lead volunteer for the derby weigh station at the Douglas Harbor.

“He had a pretty cool rig,” Gunstrom said.

The man had outfitted the Jet Ski to accommodate his fishing gear, and had his salmon in a small ice bucket, Gunstrom said.

The morning had been mostly quiet, Gunstrom said, but he expected activity to pick up after work hours. The parking lot near the Douglas Harbor launch ramp was already packed full of trucks with empty boat trailers Friday morning.

• Contact reporter Peter Segall at psegall@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SegallJnoEmpire.

You Might Like