'Big Mama' earns Wasilla angler first in derby

When Scott Michaelson fought the king in the waters of Willow Creek for 15 minutes, working to reel it up to the boat, he and his fishing partner knew it was a good-sized salmon.

"We said, 'Gee, that thing is pretty big,'" Michaelson said. " We thought it was like 48 pounds."

It was a keeper and so, while it was still early in the morning on June 19, Michaelson decided to hang on to the king but let his friend, Kevin Harding, keep fishing. It wasn't until noon or so that they headed to Deshka Landing to weigh in the fish. It was then that they learned just how big the fish was -- 57.3 pounds, a "big mama" as Michaelson would call it, and hefty enough to take the lead in the Mat-Su King Salmon Derby.

"We knew it was a big king, but I wasn't sure it would hold up," Michaelson said. Past winners of the derby had been closer to 50 pounds, but last year an angler reeled in a 63-pounder out of Sheep Creek, but didn't have a derby ticket. Michaelson knew there could be a bigger fish out there.

As the weeks passed, Michaelson watched the numbers on the fish entered into the derby and when the competition ended July 7, he was declared the winner.

Now he's eyeing his prizes, which he swears he is splitting with his fishing partner per an earlier agreement. The first-place winner gets to choose three of the main prizes in addition to a $1,000 gift certificate from Cabela's. Michaelson informed the derby organizers that he wants the truck camper shell, the snowmachine trailer and the $1,000 cash. Not bad for a $20 derby ticket.

"It came out pretty good," the University of Alaska Anchorage business major said.

Michaelson grew up fishing in the Valley and, while he had never entered a fishing derby of any sort before now, he said he didn't hesitate to buy the ticket this summer because he knew he would be doing a lot of fishing. The 21-year-old had just purchased his first boat, a 16-foot flatbottom riverboat with a jet motor.

While he admits he was spending a lot of time on the water, going out every weekend of king season, and that he's glad he spent the $20 on the derby ticket, he says it was far from a sure thing.

"A lot of luck," Michaelson said. "I've fished up there my whole life and never caught anything that big."

The day before the winning catch, Michaelson had caught a number of kings and let them all go in hopes of catching something bigger. When he did finally hook into the 57-pounder, he was using an 8-to-12-pound-test G. Loomis bait caster equipped with a pink Corky and a bit of yarn.

With king season behind him, Michaelson has no intention of slowing down. He's already gearing up for the coho run and is even thinking of entering the Seward Silver Salmon Derby, in hopes that his current streak of luck stays with him. But win or lose, he doesn't seem like the kind of angler to burn out easily.

"You've got to love fishing -- it never lets you down," he said.

While the fish have all been weighed and the winners announced, the derby isn't over for the organizers at the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce. Executive Director Ed Brittingham said this week that they are still in the process of determining how many tickets were sold.

"I know it was very successful, but I just can't quantify that yet," he said.

The derby has become an annual fishing tradition in the Valley during the past several years and has attracted both local and national sponsors. More information about derby prizes, winners and sponsors is available by visiting the chamber's Web site at www.wasillachamber.org/kingderby.

Mat-Su King Salmon Derby top-10 winners:

Adult division

(2) Prohar Martusheff, 52.3 pounds. (3) Roy Munholland, 51.1. (4) David Clark, 50.8. (5)Tom Cole, 50.4. (6)William Schultz, 50.0. (7) Jim Teremi, 48.7. (8) Craig Seime Jr., 48.5. (9) Vamori Kaufman, 48.5. (10) Jason McDonald, 47.4.

Youth division

(1) Kirby Hubbs, 54.1 pounds. (2) Kyle Conner, 46.6. (3) Harley Huffman, 45.3. (4) Joseph Current, 45.1. (5) Jennifer Imhof, 42.1. (6) Amanda Chudnofsky, 40.2. (7) C A Luin, 39.6. (8) Kyle Conner, 39.3. (9) Paul McKeown 39.2. (10) John Scherer, 37.7.