newsminer.com

It wasn’t the big one everyone has been waiting for, but Jan VanderVoart’s halibut was big enough to put him in position to win $15,000.

VanderVoart, of Anchorage, reeled in a 251.5-pound halibut Sunday in Valdez to take the lead in the Valdez Halibut Derby with less than 3 1/2 weeks left in the derby.

VanderVoart displaced Valdez fisherwoman Lorena Jenkins as the new derby leader. Jenkins had held the derby lead for more than six weeks after catching a 244.2-pound halibut on July 14.

It was the first time that VanderVoart had ever fished for halibut. He was fishing aboard the Dan Orion with Capt. Dave Wiley. VanderVoart said he was shocked when he reeled in the monster flatfish and almost fell out of the boat.

Asked what he would do with the $15,000 first-place check if his fish holds the lead through the close of the derby on Aug. 30, VanderVoart told derby organizers, “You’d have to ask my wife.”

Whether or not VanderVoart’s fish holds up remains to be seen. It would be the smallest fish to win the derby since 2003, when Joe Prax of Valdez won the derby with a 251-pounder.

The winning fish in the derby the last four years has been more thsn 300 pounds, but all those fish had been caught by now, though 2006 derby winner and record holder Kevin Lincoln of North Pole did catch his 343.6-pound halibut on Aug. 5.

There have been some big fish caught late in August. The same year Lincoln won with his record-setting flatfish, Donovan Swindell of California caught a 262.7 pound fish on Aug. 29 to finish second in the derby. In 2005, Kevin Kane of Washington caught a 292.4-pound halibut on Aug. 26 to take second place.

There were two nice halibut weighed in on Sunday, according to weigh-in coordinator Bonnie Woods, but neither was big enough to challenge for the title. One tipped the scales at 178.2 pounds and the other weighed 179.2 pounds.

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Keith Padgett of Kennewick, Wash., has the lead in the Valdez Silver Salmon Derby after weighing in a fat 17.26-pound coho on Saturday. Carl Klaich of Fairbanks is currently in second place with a 15.06-pound silver he caught on Tuesday.

Fishing inside the derby boundaries still isn’t hot and weigh-in coordinator Bonnie Woods is hoping some silvers move in closer to Valdez by the time the fourth annual Valdez Women’s Silver Salmon Derby is held on Saturday.

So far, the silvers have been late in arriving, Woods said. Only a few coho have been caught off Allison Point, which is still littered with deteriorating pink salmon.

The women’s derby is a one-day affair with a $25 registration fee. There are prizes for the top 50 fish and the woman catching the biggest fish wins $1,000 cash and $500 in prizes.

For more information go to www.vadezfishderbies.com.

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The Copper River is still running high but dip-netters are still catching some fish at Chitina, though the season is beginning to wind down.

On his latest hotline report on Wednesday, charter operator Mark Hem said fishing was “mostly good” on Tuesday but that the river rose overnight due to rain and fishing remains sporadic. Dip netting should improve when the river drops.

But Hem said it’s getting late in the season and the number of fish passing through Chitina is dwindling.

“The good word is, if you need them catch them while you can,” Hem said.

Biologist Mark Somerville with the Department of Fish and Game in Glennallen said test fish wheel catches below Haley Creek are declining and will continue to do so. A few silvers are beginning to show up in nets but not many, he said.

The sonar counter at Miles Lake was pulled out this week but the number of fish passing the sonar had dropped under 2,000 on Saturday, the last day of counting. The total sonar count for the season was 717,000 fish.

Dip-netters should be aware that the dip net fishery will close at midnight on Sunday and will not re-open until noon on Aug. 12.

For the latest update on dip netting at Chitina, call Hem’s hotline at 823-2200.

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After an early and productive start, silver salmon fishing in the Mat-Su Valley remains good.

Sport fish biologist Dave Rutz at the Department of Fish and Game in Palmer suspects it has as much to do with cool water temperatures as the number of fish.

“It’s not looking like the strongest run ever; it’s just a real mediocre run that came in early,” Rutz said. “I think the water is so cold they’re just really getting after the lures.”

Fishing should remain good and will likely improve in the Little Susitna River now that bait is allowed (starting on Wednesday).

In addition to the Little Su and Deshka rivers, coho fishing is good in the Parks Highway streams north of Wasilla and in Jim Creek and the Eklutna Tailrace south of Palmer.

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The bad news on the Kenai Peninsula is that red salmon fishing in the Kenai River is poor and the bag limit has been reduced to one fish in the lower river to get more fish past a sonar counter at Mile 19 of the river.

The good news is that silver salmon have already started showing up in Peninsula streams and fishing for coho has been reported to be decent for this early in the season. It should only get better.

Silver fishing in the Kasilof River has been reported as slow but should improve. Red fishing on the Kasilof also is poor at this point.

Red salmon fishing in the Russian River, meanwhile continues to be fair and will probably remain that way until the season closes on Aug. 20. There are even a few coho in the Russian River.

The personal-use dip net fishery at the mouth of Kasilof River closes today, though dipping was reported to be slow.

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This past week was a big one for the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby, even though there was no change atop the leader board.

Robert Warner of Lewiston, Ida., caught a 310.4-pound halibut on Sunday, the second 300-pound fish to be weighed in this year.

Jeff Pardi of San Rafael, Calif. still holds the derby lead with his 348.2-pounder caught on July 9.

In addition to Warner’s big catch, which will win him $1,000 if its the biggest fish weighed in this month, Alan Eishens of Wasilla caught a 253.4-pound flatfish on Friday.