Even non-fishermen got excited with the remarkable catch from last weekend’s inaugural Resurrection Derby.  The fifty participating boats, with up to four anglers each, brought in an unbelievable total of 121 contenders to the scales, far surpassing all expectations, and the best catch that’s been seen in years.  According to official scale monitor Brenda Wagner, of Friday Harbor Seafood, fish were flopping all over the docks!  Popeye, the blind seal who’s been living outside the Friday Harbor Seafood dock for years, was practically going ballistic doing “the seal dance” as Brenda calls it, jiggling her flippers back and forth.  Passersby couldn’t help but stop and join in the excitement.

Sponsored by the San Juan Chapter of the Puget Sound Anglers, the attractive $10,000 first-place prize and low entry free of $400 brought in anglers from quite a distance.  Derby Chairman Kevin Klein (no, not that Kevin Klein) said this was not a rich man’s derby, it was a tournament for hard core anglers.  On Thursday some “serious fishing boats showed up, filled with good fishermen.”

The shotgun start – actually it was a cannon shot off from the yacht club – was a big hit.  I asked one of the Tucker House Inn guests “What’s with that start?  Do you get to the fish quicker?”  His response: “It’s a guy thing!  It’s what we do!” Klein said, “Yeah, we’re like a bunch of six-year-old boys, with all the boats roaring off.”  It’s all about fun.

But it also raises the awareness of selective fishing while promoting good sportsmanship and resource stewardship.  After being weighed, the fish were inspected by a Department of Fish & Wildlife representative to make sure they were hatchery fish; all wild fish – those with an intact adipose fin – had to be released in the water, they couldn’t even be brought aboard the boats.  In addition, all net proceeds from the derby, which was staffed by volunteers, goes directly toward salmon enhancement projects.  The anglers liked the fact that the fish were cleaned, gilled, gutted, the whole shebang, making it easy for them to take home their prize catch.

Speaking of which, the largest fish, at 19.29 pounds, captured the first place prize; second place came in at 17.90 pounds, and third was a close 17.34 pounds. That’s a lot of good eatin’!  There were also quite a few products donated by business, which were handed out at the awards ceremony by one of our local fishing characters, Ken Serbian, who is known around town as “The Cod Father,” except in December when he’s called  “Salmon Claus.”

For those who wish they were there, Klein says Fox Sports NW was there filming and will air the result January.