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VALDEZ – The Valdez Fish Derbies organization ordered 500 hats for the Valdez Kids Pink Salmon Derby. By the end of the day Saturday, 481 of those hats were given away and kids lined the shores at Allison Point casting their lines. Fish were caught from shore at Allison Point and the Valdez Harbor as well from boats in the Port.
Lissa Lake of Wasilla said this was her granddaughter Cori Apperson’s first trip to Valdez and her first pink salmon. “We have brought our kids here since 2008 to fish the derby and now we are bringing our granddaughter Cori,” Lake said. “She loves all the sea life and fishing”.
Heather Campbell of Eielson Air Force Base said her son Isaiah participated in his first Kids Pink Salmon Derby this year and they had lots of luck at their favorite fishing spot not far from Solomon Gulch. “Now he’s hooked and wants to fish for the rest of the weekend,” Campbell said. For anglers wanting to do more fishing, not only were the pink salmon plentiful but the silver salmon derby started on Saturday and there were reports of anglers catching silvers in the narrows.
The Valdez Kids Pink Salmon Derby is open to kids age 5 to 16 and there are four age divisions for prizes. The Valdez Fish Derbies organization gave away hats early Saturday morning and to qualify for prizes they had to submit a picture of themselves with their pink salmon catch and a derby hat. Submission flooded the inbox of event organizers and at 12:01am Sunday the winners were announced on the Fish Derbies website.
Four lucky anglers won $100 cash and eight others won fishing poles. The four kids that won fishing poles were Madyson Lovett of Port Lavaca, Texas, Aaliyah Luke of Fairbanks, Ace Nylund of Valdez and Aawen Peters of Fairbanks.
KVAK Radio hosted a Kids Broadcasting Camp this summer and four kids from that camp hit the airwaves Saturday evening to host a Kids Derby Show. The one-hour live radio show was “For Kids – By Kids” which meant that only kids age 5 to 16 could call in to win prizes. One lucky listener won 10 pounds of jelly beans. The Kids Broadcasting Camp was sponsored by Alyeska Pipeline and Prospector and Capt’n Joe’s donated prizes for the program.
For more information about Valdez Fish Derbies or to see photos, visit www.valdezfishderbies.com
