Connie Ballow of Valdez is the first place winner for the first week of the legendary Valdez Silver Derby, which began Saturday.

Ballow said she caught the 16.8-pound Coho trolling about 35 feet deep in an area just past the narrows. As a bonus, everyone on the boat limited out on the catch after about eight hours of fishing.

Anglers are still catching pink salmon by the bucket-loads at Allison Point. Ballow said she ran into some pink salmon out in Prince William Sound as well. She said they picked up a few pinks as they trolled, but threw them back in search of a derby winning silver.

While 16.8 pounds is a good size fish, Ballow said she thinks it will take a larger fish to win the $15,000 first place prize in the overall derby.

“This year they are going to be big to win the derby”, Ballow remarked. “I bet it’s going to weigh 22 pounds.”

Roderick Mitchell of North Pole brought in the second largest silver on the leader board with a nice 14.86-pound fish caught aboard the Faithful, Sunday. Leigh Coates of Valdez who was fishing with Ballow, is currently in third place overall with the 14.26-pound silver.

While pink salmon returning to the hatchery are drawing droves of tourists and bears to Dayville Road, anglers in search of silvers have been most successful going out to the narrows and beyond to catch their limit.

The Valdez Halibut Derby runs through Sunday, Sept. 5. Mark Sams of Valdez is still leading with his 254-pound halibut caught July 16.

David Nelson of Willow Springs, Miss., took last week’s first place prize with a 159.8-pound halibut caught aboard the Halibut Grove, July 21.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports that halibut angling has been productive in bays that support pink and chum salmon runs. Officials say anglers have reported catching larger fish at depths as shallow as 100 feet. ADF&G suggests lingcod can be caught on a variety of large jigs fished on top of rocky pinnacles and outcroppings. Areas around Montague and Hinchinbrook Entrance continue to be the go-to locations for lingcod.

The Valdez Silver Salmon Derby also runs through Sunday, Sept. 5, and with the fishing already productive, there should be plenty of fish for the Women’s Silver Salmon Derby Saturday, Aug. 14, said Joe Prax, derby chairman.