VALDEZ – Anglers are finding out the hard way that it doesn’t always take a record-breaking fish to win a weekly prize in the Valdez Halibut Derby. And others are finding it doesn’t matter what size fish you caught if you don’t have a derby ticket. The fish caught with a derby ticket stand little chance of holding on until the end of the derby to win the $15,000 first place cash prize, but were big enough to win weekly 1st and 2nd place prizes. The Valdez Fish Derbies weigh-in station reported there were a few fish caught that would have placed in the top two this week, but the anglers did not have derby tickets. Anglers without derby tickets might not have picked up any prizes, but most are bringing back their limit of fish.

The good news is, there are fish out there, but the bad news for derby anglers is they didn’t seem to be sizeable fish ...until the weekend. Over the weekend many larger fish were hauled in and Jacob Schneider of Fort Greely, Alaska is currently leading the Valdez Halibut Derby with a 147.2 pound halibut he caught aboard the Faithful. Cliff Napier of Fairbanks took the 2nd place weekly prize with the 110.4 pound flat fish he caught aboard the Harvester on Memorial Day.

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the high-tide cycle had made it difficult for anglers to keep bait on the bottom in Prince William Sound and many fish were caught during slack tides. ADF&G reported tidal ranges would fluctuate less over the weekend, and that’s when Schneider and many others brought in big fish. A few kings have been caught in Port Valdez and ADF&G reports action should increase in the next week or two as fish start returning to the remote release site at Old Town Valdez. The Copper River dip net fishery is open now through June 7th.

Charters are booking up for the “Halibut Hullabaloo” tournament to be held in Valdez June 11th through 21st. The largest halibut caught during that time will win the lucky angler two round-trip tickets anywhere Alaska Airlines flies. There is no fee to fish during the tournament other than a regular derby ticket and the winner of the tickets is eligible to win the cash 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes.

Halibut Derby Overall Leaders

Halibut Derby Weekly Winners

Source: http://www.valdezfishderbies.com/pages/news/Week1Up.php