I jumped on the computer after day one to check out the wind chill factor and an online program spit out a chilly -15 for Friday and -8 for Saturday. Ironically the only other time I've seen a forecast like this was in a derby in the San Juans back in the early 90's. Yeah baby!!!!
This is what the downriggers looked like when we arrived at our fishing spot Friday morning. Not only were the downriggers encased in ice...the whole boat was encased in ice.
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Day 2 ice build up
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Tom had Jack Thompson along on his new Weldcraft for the filming of his new tv show Pro Guide Outdoors that will begin airing in January on Root Sports. The weather didn't hold Jack back at all...he was right in there learning how to run the downriggers and he stayed on the back deck freezing his butt off like the rest of us for most of the morning. If you've never met Jack he's about as fine a person as you'll ever meet!
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Jack Peters was the other Jack on board the boat and he too was layered up for the frigid weather. The cold weather was playing havoc with their camera gear but they still got a show from the first day of the derby.
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Here's Jack Thompson with his limit of San Juan Island blackmouth.
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Well on our way to filling our limits of blackmouth on day one. Lots of small blackmouth in the islands this winter and a surprising amount of shakers.
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Nelly had Silver Horde paint up a Yellow Tail Coho Killer and the blackmouth couldn't leave it alone. Nelly had a KF Lite in the Yellow Tail color pattern that just tore up the blackies the last few years so why wouldn't a Coho Killer work in the same color scheme? It did!
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Once back at the dock all the fish are weighed in by derby staff. Jack Thompson was on the leader board for about 4 minutes with his 8.52 pound blackmouth.
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Since these are all hatchery fish scale samples and DNA are taken from every fish that's weighed in and they scan them for coded wire tags. Lots of data retrieved from these derbies!
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When it was all said and done Dale Nelson from Anacortes won this years derby with a 16.92 pound blackmouth. He was fishing with team mates Paul McAbee and Luke Hemnes. These guys are salty dawgs that know their way around the islands!
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Here's the rest of the top finishers in the 2013 Resurrection Salmon Derby:
2nd place- Randy Welch, 15.8 lbs
Team mate: Jim Aggergaard
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3rd place- Kevin Kurras, 15.29 lbs
Team mates: Jim Ramos, Ray Burt
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4th place- Jennifer Payne, 14.68 lbs
Team mates: Greg Gorder, Chuck Payne, Hugh Allen
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5th place- Mike McAuley, 14.51 lbs
Team mate: Kirk Hawley
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Total weight: 79.37
Greg Gorder, Chuck Payne, Hugh Allen, Jennifer Payne
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Mystery Weight (9.23)- Erin Parberry, 9.36 lbs Team mates: Neil McGourty, Dani Parberry
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And of course derby fishing legend Pete Nelson had to cap the whole event off with the singing of Mountain Dew...a highlight of any derby in the San Juans. Love this man!
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Despite the Arctic weather everyone had a great time and I know most of the boats will be back again next year. We have an absolute blast at this derby every year!
I need to thank Chris Long and the rest of the gang at the Resurrection Derby for helping us participate in this awesome event every year. They put us up in the Friday Harbor Suites where a lot of the derby-goers stay. The hotel has a killer breakfast that starts at 5:00 a.m. and a shuttle to run folks back and forth to the harbor.
Already looking forward to next years derby!
(I have no idea why this photo keeps appearing at the bottom of this post. Must be a bulletin board glitch.)
