Alaska's 2026 fishing derby winners, from Valdez to Wrangell and Juneau

Chase Edstrom of North Pole won $10,000 in Valdez's Silver Salmon Derby with an 18.80-pound coho, the derby's largest since 2010. He caught the fish Aug. 12 aboard the Liquid Asset. Warren Blood of Valdez took second with a 16.80-pound coho aboard the Arctic Blonde for $3,000, and Cheryl Wagner of Copper Center placed third at 16.02 pounds for $1,500.

Rodney Myers of Franktown, Colorado, won $10,000 in the Halibut Derby with a 256-pound catch July 16 aboard the Hooked Up. Matthew Cox of Salcha took second with a 198-pound halibut caught Sept. 4, and Jason Sackmann of Newman Lake, Washington, placed third at 191.4 pounds.

The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce ran its derby from June 7 to Sept. 7. Diana Nore-Ellison won the king salmon category with a 27.9-pound fish, and Bristol Wagner won halibut at 133.6 pounds. Corey Ostrander won the coho category with a 14.7-pound fish, followed by Jeff Rooney Jr., whose fish also weighed 14.7 pounds.

Patrick Dryer placed first in the organizer’s posted unofficial results for Juneau’s 80th Golden North Salmon Derby with a 26.2-pound king salmon. Oliver Dryer placed second at 19.5 pounds, and Ivan Odenheimer placed third at 18.4 pounds. The derby donates fish proceeds to the Territorial Sportsmen Scholarship Foundation, which has awarded more than $2 million in scholarships since 1953.

The Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center canceled its Silver Salmon Derby this year, saying it lacked reliable coho data to run the harvest-based event. The chamber may bring the derby back in August 2027.