The 78th annual Golden North Salmon Derby was among the slowest in years due to poor fishing conditions, although a few fish managed to outweigh last year’s winner, according to derby officials and participants.
A 27.7-pound king turned in by Karie Sims early Sunday morning at the Auke Nu weighing station was the heaviest fish as the three-day event ended at 6 p.m., according to Alysha Reeves, the station’s dock chair.
The Auke Nu station dominated the unofficial leader board with nine of the 10 heaviest fish turned in there, including a 26.6-pound king by Cohen Odenheimer that placed second, a 26.1-pound king by Amberly Mielke and a 24.6-pound king by Willie Harris.
Last year’s winning fish was a 24.4-pound king caught by Dylan Kubley.
The heaviest fish turned in at the Douglas Harbor weighing station was a 20.5-pound king by Randy Beason that ranked eighth overall and the heaviest at the Amagla Harbor station a 17.7-pound king by Cameron Hotch that placed 21th overall.
The biggest coho salmon turned in during the derby was a 15.2-pounder caught by Jayden Listberger turned in at the Auke Nu Station that ranked 37th overall.
A total of about 175 fish weighed on the scales were turned in, said Shawn Hooton, co-chair of the event. The number of scholarship fish — which surpassed that total on the first day — is still being determined.
But the fishing overall was described as less than kingly by both participants and derby officials throughout the event.
“It’s as slow as I’ve ever seen it,” said Dylan Murdoch, a derby participant for many years who was turning in seven coho scholarship fish at the Auke Nu station Sunday. When asked what might be contributing to such conditions, he said “the cohos might be late. I’ve never seen the coho run this small.”
A similar observation about this year’s local salmon population was offered by Mike Bethers, a participant in the derby for more than 50 years, as he turned in a couple of salmon early Sunday afternoon.
“It’s really slow for the big ones,” he said, although there have been “lots of small fish.”
Reeves said the overall number of fish turned in is also small compared to last year.
“Last year we had people limiting out early during the weekend, this year we don’t,” she said.
Participation in the derby was roughly average with about 1,010 derby tickets, Hooton said.
Proceeds from the derby, including the sale of salmon caught, go to the Territorial Sportsmen Scholarship Foundation, which to date has awarded more than $2 million to more than 330 Juneau youths, according to the foundation.
The awards ceremony for the derby is scheduled at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Juneau Moose Lodge 700 at 8335 Airport Blvd.
Results from the derby updated daily are available at www.goldennorthsalmonderby.com/derby-results/78th-annual-derby-results-2024.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
