Welcome back to another Ketchikan Fishing Minute. Today we will look back on the first week of June, and the second weekend of the Ketchikan CHARR King Salmon Derby.

For all the great weather we had on the derby’s opening weekend, we got exactly the opposite for week two. Temperatures barely cracked fifty degrees, we had nearly an inch of rain each day, and sustained winds between fifteen and twenty miles an hour. The blustery weather kept many locals off the water last weekend, including me, as I only got out for a few hours on Saturday morning. Once again, we brought a number of shakers up to our Clover Pass Resort yellow boat, but nothing of any size.

While the first weekend of the derby saw about 330 fish brought in over three days, we saw only about half that on the second weekend. One of those fish is now on top of the ladder however, as Chase Hanis brought in a 43.7 lb king on Sunday and eight other fish moved into the top thirty over the weekend as well. With a number of bigger fish showing up on the ladder, it appears as if the bulk of the run is making its way into our waters, and hopefully we will see a few more big fish brought in over the derby’s final two days this weekend.

The forecast looks great, with little rain expected on Saturday and Sunday and temperatures in the 60’s. I will be on the water looking for the big fish, and hopefully we’ll have some better footage next week on another Ketchikan Fishing Minute – brought to you by Alaska Sportfishing Expeditions!