The 2023 Edmonds Coho Salmon Derby was held Saturday, Sept. 9, with sunny skies and glassy smooth water on Puget Sound, where 911 hopeful anglers set out in search of a lunker big enough to win them a share of over $25,000 of cash and prizes.
Included in the derby pool were 77 youth participants in the under-14 division. Every youth angler at the awards ceremony received a tackle prize donated by Silver Horde Fishing Supplies, and 20 of them even took home a new fishing rod donated by the Everett Salmon & Steelhead Club.
After 451 coho salmon were cleaned and weighed, Mike Vandermeulen of Pasco was crowned the 2023 champion with a $5,000 check and a cleaned fish weighing 10.67 lbs. In the Youth division, Roland Nixon from Seattle took home top honors and a $1,000 cash prize for his fish weighing 8.29 lbs.
The complete leaderboard and all event details can be found at www.edmondscohoderby.com.
“We are so grateful to our sponsors and participants for another successful derby fundraiser,” said Doug Campbell, longtime PSA club member and 2023 volunteer. “The weather on Saturday was perfect, and we are seeing another very strong run of coho salmon headed for our rivers and hatcheries this year.”
This healthy run of coho is still entering Puget Sound, and fishing should remain very good for a few weeks to come. The next big derby event is the 30th annual Everett Coho Derby on September 23-24. For ticket locations, rule and information on the big prizes, visit www.everettcohoderby.com.
The Edmonds Coho Derby is a fundraiser hosted by the Puget Sound Anglers, Sno-King Chapter. All funds benefit kids’ fishing events, Salmon for Soldiers, habitat restoration, and increasing hatchery production to support responsible fishing on Puget Sound and beyond. The club’s meetings with fishing seminars are free and open to the public.
The next meeting is 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13, and includes a coho fishing seminar by Doug Saint-Denis, just in time for the Everett Derby. Meetings are held at the Lake Ballinger Center, 23000 Lakeview Drive, Mountlake Terrace on the second Wednesday of each month.
Visit www.psasnoking.com for more information.
If they’d take sea lions off the protective list there’d be a heck of a lot more salmon!
Seals and Sealions eat a large ammont of fish every day of the year and their populations keep increasing. Only the transient Killer Whales eat them and that is not enough. We do not have sharks in our state waters that eat seals and sealions like other areas have. They do not need protection of the federal Marine Mammel Act anymore.