The victors of Kenai’s annual selective fishing derby were crowned Wednesday at Kenai City Hall. The Kenai Silver Salmon Derby is an annual fishing derby that aims to eliminate selective fishing practices that can kill or injure Kenai River salmon.
Traditionally, fishing derbies award anglers who catch the largest fish. Kenai’s derby is different. It awards prizes using a ‘magic weight’ determined by spinning a wheel. The adult grand prize is $5,000, and the youth grand prize is $1,000. More than 150 people participated in this year’s derby.
Ten-year-old Carter Romero caught the winning youth fish. His 9.86-pound coho was within one pound of the magic weight of 10.77 pounds. It was the first and only fish he caught during the derby.
During Wednesday’s Kenai City Council meeting, Romero was presented with a novelty check that was nearly bigger than him. He took home $1,000 for his catch.
With the grin of a winner, Carter says he loves fishing and was excited to catch that salmon. He was even more excited to win. He’s still figuring out what to do with his earnings.
“Maybe I’ll open a savings account," Carter said. "I don’t quite know yet.”
While the fish earned him a grand, he said he was more happy to spend a day on the river with his family.
Kevin Dell, of Clam Gulch, reeled in the adult grand prize winning fish. His lucky catch weighed 10.82 pounds, less than an ounce of the magic weight. He caught two fish in one day of derby fishing.
“Fishing was a little slow, we picked up one early and then a couple right in a row," Dell said. "The third fish in the boat was the derby winner.”
Dell has been fishing for six decades. He says fishing is what he lives for. Dell's favorite part of the derby was getting out on the water.
“I think it’s a great program, I’m happy to participate," he said. "I hope more people get involved with it. It’s kind of a unique situation because it isn’t the biggest fish, it isn’t the most fish, they spin a wheel everyday and you have to try to catch the fish that’s closest to the weight.”
This year’s Kenai Silver Salmon Derby saw a total of 76 fish weighed in.
