Fishing

Cash prizes of $10,000 will be awarded to the person catching the largest Silver Salmon and the person catching the largest halibut in the Valdez Fish Derbies.

The Valdez Women’s Silver Salmon Derby is this Saturday, and one lucky woman will be crowned “Queen of the Silver Salmon Sisterhood.”

Last week, the small town of Valdez was teaming with kids catching pink salmon from the shores of Allison Point and from boats in the Port.

Anglers are catching pink salmon from the shores of Allison Point in Valdez.

Kimberly Baridiano moved to Valdez from the Philippines two years ago and went halibut fishing for the first time last Tuesday.

Last season, Paul Casey of Shelbyville, Tennessee took home the Valdez Halibut Derby 1st place prize of $10,000 with a halibut weighing in at 316.8-pounds.

It generally takes a pretty big fish to win $10,000 in the Valdez Halibut Derby, but anglers are winning weekly prizes worth hundreds of dollars with fish weighing in at 120 to 150-pounds.

There is a lot of talk down at the Valdez Harbor about catching massive fish and winning prizes in the Valdez Derbies, but for some anglers being in Valdez and the thrill of the fight is what really matters.

Michael Olson of North Pole came down to Valdez to work on his boat trailer Saturday, left the port about 2pm and had a 151.6-pound halibut on his boat at about 3:45pm.

The Valdez Halibut Derby kicked off Saturday, May 25th with anglers excited to get their lines in the water.

The winners are in! The 1st place prize and $10,000 in the Valdez Silver Salmon Derby goes to LaVonne Baysinger of Fairbanks, Alaska with a 14.54-pound silver she caught August 4th.

When LaVonne Baysinger of Fairbanks reeled in a 14.54-pound silver salmon and won a daily prize back on August 4th, she was thinking that a bigger fish might come in during the Valdez Women’s Silver Salmon Derby and knock her off the leaderboard.

The Valdez Women’s Silver Salmon Derby is this Saturday, and one lucky woman will be crowned “Queen of the Silver Salmon Sisterhood.” 

Lacey Stevens of Austin, Texas only went on a silver salmon derby charter because a family member wanted her to experience things that she liked doing in Valdez.