Double Derby Weekend! Leave a reply
Formerly known as "Presidents Day", this national holiday has been hijacked by local salmon anglers and derby organizers!
The Hot Plug and Olympic Peninsula Salmon derbies offered over $30,000 in cash and prizes during one of the best winter chinook or "blackmouth" seasons in recent memory, which certainly added up to a memorable three-day weekend!
The 25th edition of the two day "Hot Plug" Derby drew over 100 anglers plying the waters of Marine Areas 8-1 & 8-2.
Despite the gale force winds on Saturday, Curt Schaffer boated this 20.03 pound dandy good for the $2100.00 first prize.
Darrell Clark pulled a blank in the Saturday storm but scored this 16 pounder on Sunday which was good for second place in the Hot Plug and $925.00!
The larger of the two events in anglers and fishing area was the Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby featuring an incredible prize list worth $24,032, including a $10,000 first prize. An awesome 248 fish were submitted, resulting in a prize ladder of 34 fish; the smallest prize-winner was 11 pounds, and the winners had an average prize-winning weight of 13.2 pounds.
The first prize of $10,000 went to Rob Schmidt of Sequim, with an 18.90 pound blackmouth.
Second prize of $5,000 went to Ray Lampers of Snohomish for his 18.05 pounder.
Third prize of $1,500 went to Mike Thacker of Chimacum for a 17.35 pound chinook taken during the height of Saturday's storm. Thacker was motor mooching just outside the Port Townsend harbor just after first light!
After the event, Derby official Dan Tatum was beaming. “This was a giant undertaking. 500 square miles of fishing, five weigh stations, and a huge number of fish. But it‟s all gone really well and everybody is feeling great. We were worried about the weather, and we think that deterred a lot of people from Seattle and further away. This turned into more of a local derby, even though our ladder includes Santa Cruz CA and Scappoose OR.” Tatum also reminds us that the Derby is continuing to demonstrate that Selective Fishery is working. “This derby was „Clipped Fin to Win,‟ and we had plenty of fish. This is a sustainable fishery.”
The event was put on by the Gardiner Salmon Derby Association, a Washington State Nonprofit Corporation. Proceeds support local emergency services and other important community needs.
The Derby is part of the Northwest Salmon Derby Series, run by the Northwest Marine Trade Association (NMTA). All Derby ticket holders are entered in the NMTA’s end-of-year (September) grand prize boat drawing.
The next events on the Northwest Salmon Derby Series are the Geoduck Derby the weekend of March 5-6 followed by the Everett Blackmouth Derby at Bayside Marine on Saturday, March 19th.
See you on the tournament trail and good luck!