Ron Davis has won the 69th annual Sitka Salmon Derby with a king salmon weighing in at 39.5 pounds. Davis pulled in the winning fish on May 28, the third day of the competition, with an edge of 1.7 pounds. Tom Gamble scored second place with a 37.8 pound fish. Taking third place was Jackson McGraw, who caught a 36.5 pound king salmon on the first day of the derby.
Eleven-year-old Caleb Gray, who won last year’s derby, took the win for total pounds of fish caught with 154.7 pounds, beating Schuyler Mace by 5 pounds. Gray will win $500 cash, and Davis will take home $5,000 in cash and two round-trip Alaska Air tickets.
Derby chairman John McCrehin said anglers faced challenging weather conditions this year, but still persisted.
“Overall, it was good, given some of the bad weather we had,” McCrehin said. “I think people were out there still trying. We have a few people that were out of town for baseball, so our numbers were down. But overall, I think it was pretty good and successful.”
The derby opened May 25 and ran for two weekends, closing June 2. Results aren’t official until fish tickets are verified. Official results will be released at a ceremony on June 20 at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
