Top honors for the Eighth Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby went to Kevin Dell in the adult division and 10-year-old Carter Romero in the youth division.
During a brief awards ceremony held during Wednesday’s meeting of the Kenai City Council, Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer said that this year’s derby had 153 participants fishing 395 daily derby tickets and catching 76 silver salmon.
This year’s number of participants is up from only 79 last year, though those fishers were able to land 116 fish in 2023.
The grand-prize winners were the fishers who caught the fish that weighed in closest to the “magic weight,” a random value determined by spinning two wheels. This year’s final magic weight was 10.77 pounds.
Dell won the $5,000 grand prize with a 10.83 pound silver salmon. Romero brought home $1,000 by bringing in a 9.86 pound salmon.
This year’s derby came amid low abundance of silver salmon in other areas of Cook Inlet. Harvest of the species was restricted to one per day on the Kenai River last month, and that restriction was reinstated on Thursday, Sept. 19. Springer told the Clarion earlier this month that the chamber met with the State Department of Fish and Game to ensure the derby could be held responsibly and proceeded with their assurance.
Proceeds raised are designated for management and protection of riverbanks and other riparian zones in Kenai. Last year, derby funds were allocated toward the replacement of a culvert in Cemetery Creek to promote passage of salmon smolt.
Daily winners were named for each day of the derby, with adults taking home $100 prizes and youths winning $50. All winners also received a two-year subscription to Fish Alaska Magazine.
In the adult division, in order of each day of the derby, the daily winners were Kenneth Bingaman, Barbara Esteban, Tomi McMurry, Märit Carlson-Van Dort, Tali Birch and Eddie Khanthachack. Romero was the only youth daily winner, with “no youth participants” on the other days of the competition.
For more information about the Kenai Silver Salmon Derby, visit kenaisilversalmonderby.com or find “Kenai Silver Salmon Derby” on Facebook.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
Kevin Dell, center left, is awarded a $5,000 novelty check for landing the adult grand-prize salmon in the Eighth Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby by Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, a representative of Marathon Petroleum’s Kenai Refinery and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer during a meeting of the Kenai City Council on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Carter Romero, center left, is awarded a $1,000 novelty check for landing the youth grand-prize salmon in the Eighth Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby by Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, a representative of Marathon Petroleum’s Kenai Refinery and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer during a meeting of the Kenai City Council on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
