GARDINER — Brandon Leeper’s 15.7-pound blackmouth caught Friday morning held up as the winner of the Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby, though several anglers did their best on Sunday to challenge Leeper’s catch.
Leeper brought his catch in to the Port Townsend Boat Haven at 11:46 a.m. Friday. That catch held up over the next 2½ days.
On Sunday, with less wind and better overall weather, the fish were biting.
Jason Holbrook of La Conner had the second-place fish at 13.60 pounds, brought in to Port Townsend at 11:40 a.m. Sunday.
The third-place fish was caught by Douglas Holleman of Seabeck, also Sunday at 10:34 a.m.
The fourth-place fish was a 12.80-pound blackmouth at 11:55 a.m. Friday. All of the top four fish were brought in to Port Townsend.
The biggest fish brought into Sequim was by Randall Huppen of Belfair — a 12.25 pounder caught Friday.
The top local angler was Edward Cooper of Sequim, who came in sixth with a 12.15-pound fish that he brought in to the Gardiner launch Sunday.
Fighting some seriously bad weather on Friday and Saturday, a total of 820 people participated in the derby. There were 144 fish caught with a total weight of 1,184 pounds. The average weight of the fish caught was 8.23 pounds.
Look in Tuesday’s Peninsula Daily News sports section for more on the derby.
