For the second year in a row, a fisher hung on to the top of the leaderboard all weekend to take home the top prize at Port Alberni’s salmon derby.
READ MORE: Port Alberni fisher wins Ultimate Fishing Derby 2020
Terry Good of Nanaimo picked up the $10,000 first prize with his 31.12 pound Tyee, caught at Whittlestone on the first day of the derby using a white hoochie.
Good gives some credit to his two “great fishing partners” in Brad Dunn and George Gerard. They have been fishing together in Port Alberni’s Labour Day weekend salmon derby for more than 10 years. Good says he plans to split the prize money with his partners.
“We knew that we had a pretty nice fish,” he said. “It was basically the only fish we got all day.”
Good admits that he was worried when Mike Black brought in a Tyee from the Bamfield Wall on Monday with only 45 minutes remaining on the clock. But Black’s catch weighed in at only 31.02 lbs., earning him a close second place.
Carolyn Jasken of the Ultimate Fishing Town committee said she was happy with how the weekend went.
“It was a hard go [for fishers] the first day,” said Jasken. “But there was a steady amount of people down here all weekend.”
Ticket sales were “brisk,” she said, and the derby managed to sell more than 1,700 tickets, despite the fact that it was not accompanied by a festival or salmon dinner this year due to COVID-19 restrictions. Proceeds from the ticket sales will go towards salmon enhancement efforts in the Alberni Valley. Organizers also sold Port Alberni Salmon Derby t-shirts, with proceeds going to Tseshaht First Nation for their residential school memorial fund and to the West Coast General Hospital Foundation’s fundraising challenge.
“We’ve got our wheels turning now, looking at how to move forward in the future,” said Jasken. “Hopefully we can go back to having the full festival next year.”
Salmon Derby Winners:
Saturday—
1. Terry Good (31.12)
2. Rick Tremblay (27.2)
3. Christine Watson (26.10)
Sunday—
1. Len Van Vliet (29.14)
2. Brian Hermann (27.2)
3. Garth Ramsay (26.8)
Monday—
1. Michael Black (31.02)
2. Clint Jaworski (27.12)
3. Carter Flavel (25.14)
Gone Fishin‘ in Port Alberni is keeping track of winning hidden weights, and prizes were available at the shop (4985 Johnston Road).
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A pair of Port Alberni Salmon Derby participants drop their lines in Alberni Harbour on Saturday, Sept. 4, trying to beat the sealions to the salmon during the annual Labour Day fishing derby. (SONJA DRINKWATER/ Special to the AV News)
Kristy Pitts, centre, netted a Port Alberni Salmon Derby t-shirt while visiting with Enid VanKooten, left and Terry Needle, who were at Centennial Pier on Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021 to weigh in fish. (SONJA DRINKWATER/ Special to the AV News)
The fishing was quiet for these two participants in the annual Port Alberni Salmon Derby. They tried to catch a bite in Alberni Harbour to see if they bring in the winning fish for the annual Labour Day derby. (SONJA DRINKWATER/ Special to the AV News)
