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FAIRBANKS — The Valdez Women’s Silver Salmon Derby is the Alaska equivalent of mall madness.

“Think of a shopping mall full of women, only they’re all on boats,” said Lorri Howell of North Pole, one of the more than 550 women who participated in the one-day derby on Saturday in Valdez. “There are boats everywhere with crazy women on them.

“It was different,” said Howell, a 45-year-old payroll clerk for Seekins Ford in Fairbanks who ended up finishing in 15th place with a 14.66-pound silver salmon she caught while fishing with her husband, Simon, on their 21-foot Alweld riverboat.

Lindsie King of Valdez ended up earning the title of silver salmon queen by catching the biggest fish of the derby at 17.54 pounds, which was less than a quarter of a pound bigger than runner-up Kristin Ogonowski’s 17.38-pound silver. Andrea Boschert of Fairbanks placed third with a 17.00-pound coho.

While people in Valdez aren’t necessarily bowing down to her when she walks down the street, King said winning the women’s derby did give her celebrity status in the small Prince William Sound town.

“I did get a tiara out of it,” said King, a 31-year-old mother of 5-year-old twin girls.

King also took home $1,000 in cash, a Carhartt wardrobe and a pair of XtraTuf boots for the win.

In addition, King moved to the top of the leader board in the overall derby, though her lead was short-lived. King was knocked out of the lead on Tuesday by George Robinson of Idaho, who weighed-in an 18.48-pound silver on Tuesday.

King was fishing with her husband, Kalin, on their boat when she hooked the derby winner late in the day. Up to that point, it had been a slow day of fishing, she said.

“We were pretty frustrated. Hours had gone by and we only had two fish for the four of us,” King said. “Literally five minutes before we had to turn back to make the weigh-in deadline we reeled that one in.

“It was pretty exciting,” she said. “Once we reeled up toward the boat knew it was pretty big. We were thinking it was in the 15- or 16-pound range.”

She was surprised when it tipped the scales at 17.54 pounds.

Fishing with friends

Boschert, who was fishing with her in-laws, Ken and Sandy Boschert of Fairbanks, and her grandmother-in-law, Janice, from Wisconsin, may have challenged King for the queen’s crown if she had brought her 17-pounder in to be weighed sooner than she did.

“It was the second fish we caught and we had in the cooler for nine hours,” said Andrea Boschert, a 20-year-old service scheduler at Auto Service Co. in Fairbanks. “Everybody said if we had headed back to the dock right when we caught it, it would have been an 18-pounder.”

Boschert won $300 in cash and a Helly Hensen jacket for third place. The fishing wasn’t hot — they caught five silvers and a pink in nine hours — but Boschert said the weather was nice for most of the day and the festive atmosphere surrounding the derby made up for the slow fishing.

“Next year we’re going to get some more people to go with us and start a team,” she said.

Mary Green of Fairbanks finished eighth in the derby with a 15.32-pound silver.

“It’s the biggest fish I’ve ever caught,” Green said.

It was the second year in a row Green participated in the derby with her daughter, Debbie Norris, who lives in Willow.

“I thought it would be great to have a mother-daughter outing like that,” said Norris, who has competed in the derby three of the four years it’s been held.

Green also caught a pair of seven-pound cohos and her daughter netted a nine-pounder.

Fishing this year was slow this year, according to derby organizer Laurie Prax, who managed to sneak in some fishing around her official duties. The silver run is late and not many fish have moved into the harbor yet, she said.

“The fish just aren’t in yet,” Norris said. “They’re just outside the derby boundaries. If we had gone out past the boundaries we would have limited out.”

Norris and Green were fishing on a charter with four other women they had never met before but the women hit it off well and had a fun day of fishing, said Green.

“We didn’t know them in the beginning but we did when we left,” she said of her fishing companions. “We had a fantastic time.”

Radical women

Now in its fourth year, the Valdez women’s silver salmon derby was created to compliment the Valdez Silver Salmon Derby. It is the only women’s derby in the state.

The whole point of the derby, which boasts a motto of “Size Matters”, is to have fun, said derby organizer Laurie Prax.

“Our idea was just to get people down here and out fishing,” she said. “We’re seeing more and more women coming back.”

This year’s derby was the biggest yet, she said. The opening ceremony and post-derby awards ceremony are held in the Valdez Civic Center, and the building was filled to capacity.

The opening ceremony on Friday featured a bachelor auction in which women bid on single men to fillet their fish after the derby. The auction raised approximately $2,500 for Casting For Recovery, a program for breast cancer survivors, Prax said.

Howell went down to Valdez earlier in the week to accompany her husband, Simon, on a fishing trip when she found out about the derby.

“We were down there and happened to be there for the women’s derby,” Howell said.

Her husband caught a 16-pounder the day before the derby, so they decided to get her a ticket for the women’s derby on Saturday “just in case.”

“It was interesting,” said Howell, who doesn’t claim to be much of a fisher. “There are a lot of radical women down there.”

Cheryl Webber of Fairbanks placed 12th in the derby with a 14.78-pounder. She was fishing with Allen and Mary Roberts of North Pole, who invited her to fish on their boat for the derby. It was the first time Webber has ever participated in a fishing derby.

“It was my first derby, and it won’t be my last,” said Webber, a 47-year-old work clerk at Denali Center who attributed her success to nothing but luck. “It was a blast.

“I didn’t know I was going to have that much fun,” she said.

The camaraderie between the women was evident on the docks, Webber said.

“You come off the docks and everybody is like, ‘Where’s your fish? How big is your fish?’” said Webber, who won a fleece vest and a subscription to Fish Alaska Magazine for 12th place.

Contact staff writer Tim Mowry at 459-7587.