GARDINER — It was a matter of time, not weight, that determined the winner of the 2018 Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby.
Micah Hanley of Mount Vernon caught a 16.85-pound fish Saturday to take the lead in the derby. He knew it could be a leader and a winner when he caught it. What he didn’t know is that he won by the thinnest of margins.
Port Angeles’ Kyle Madison caught a fish Sunday that turned out to have the identical weight — 16.85 pounds.
However, the derby rules state that because Hanley caught his fish first, he remained in first place. That catch held up for the winner of the derby.
And the difference between first and second is pretty big. The first place fish is worth a $10,000 prize, while the second-place fish gets a $2,000 prize.
“He [Madison] knew the rules. He was cool about it,” said derby President Kathy Watrous.
Hanley split his winnings with his friend, Jason Lightle of Arlington. He caught his winning salmon from Lightle’s boat.
Hanley and Lightle set out from Everett in Lightle’s boat early Saturday morning. Hanley had agreed with his family that he would come out to the Peninsula just for Saturday to participate in the derby.
After “we had been trolling for two-and-a-half hours with hardly a scare,” they quickly got a nibble off the south end of Marrowstone Island. The salmon took off with 150 to 200 feet of line.
“I told Jason to ‘put the motor in neutral because this one’s got some size to it,’ ” he said
Once they reeled it up to the boat, “Jason threw this huge silver slab on the deck” of the boat. They estimated at first it was about an 18-pounder. They knew they had the No. 1 fish in the derby.
Hanley had to break his promise, returning to the Olympic Peninsula on Sunday (this time via motorcyle on the Coupeville-Port Townsend ferry) to collect his winnings. When his wife heard how much he had won, she was fine with changing family plans, Hanley said.
Watrous said it was a successful derby with the largest number of tickets sold — 857 — in at least six years. Last year, 735 tickets were sold.
Watrous said moving the event from February to March because of the delay in salmon season may have been a factor. Anglers generally had great, sunny weather for the derby, with some gusty winds early in the event.
A total of 233 fish over six pounds were caught with an average weight of 8.15 pounds — compared to 208 fish averaging 8.0 pounds in 2017.
The third place winner was Larry Phillips of Olympia, who won $1,000 for his 16.40-pound salmon.
The $500 mystery fish prize winners were Carl Robinson of Poulsbo, Jerry Thomas of Mount Vernon, Brett Volkmann of Port Angeles and John Waller of Poulsbo.
The Gardiner Salmon Derby Association sponsored the event, with proceeds going to community support, emergency services and high schoo scholarship. The derby has been going on since 1973 and is run by volunteers from Gardiner and the surrounding area.
Olympic Peninsula Salmon Derby leaders
The Top 20 winners:
Micah Hanley, Mount Vernon, 16.85 pounds, first; Kyle Madison, Port Angeles, 16.85 pounds, second; Larry Phillips, Olympia, 16.40 pounds, third; Steven Coulter, Port Angeles, 15.65, fourth; Andy Shoop, Port Hadlock, 15.40, fifth; Jeremy King, Georgetown, 14.75 pounds, sixth; Greg Benton, Discovery Bay, 14.10 pounds, seventh; Danny Davis, Anacortes, 13.80 pounds, eighth; Jesse Justis, Chimacum, 12.95 pounds, ninth; Justin Yeoman, Port Townsend, 12.70 pounds, 10th; Ray Lampers, Granite Falls, 12.70 pounds, 11th; Joe Elias Sr., Sequim, 12.40 pounds, 12th; Daniel Hotchkiss, Missoula, Mont., 12.15 pounds, 13th; Pat Schmidt, Port Townsend, 12.10 pounds, 14th; Shane Whited, Arlington, 11.80 pounds, 15th; Jared Thacker, Port Hadlock, 11.70 pounds, 16th; Jesse Justis, Chimacum, 11.70 pounds, 17th; David Luxton, Bremerton, 11.60 pounds, 18th; David E. Bunch, Oak Harbor, 11.05 pounds, 19th pounds; Marc McBride, Sequim, 10.80 pounds, 20th.
