Ole Taug took home the biggest fish with his 13.6-pound coho and the $1,450 first-place prize during this year’s Haines Sportsman’s Association Annual Coho Derby.

This year’s derby, a fundraiser for the Sportsman’s Association scholarship fund, was matched with a strong coho run in the Chilkoot River drawing myriad sport anglers to the lake throughout October.

“We don’t do a formal assessment of run strength in the Chilkoot River, but just from angler reports it seems like it’s been good fishing there for more than a month,” said Rich Chapell, Alaska Department of Fish and Game sport fish biologist. “The best fishing on the Chilkoot side is usually the first week of October. It’s been pretty incredible that it’s been sustained through the month of October.”

Sportsman Association president Russell Byerly said 121 tickets were sold and attributes the good derby participation to the strong Chilkoot run.

“We saw a really good spirit of sportsmanship and camaraderie. We’re really happy,” Byerlie said. “The quality of the run has a lot to do with the success of the derby.”

Steve Anderson took second overall with a 13.25-pound fish and Robert Jennings took third with a 13.05-pound coho.

Joslyn Williams won first place with a 9-pound coho in the 5-10 year-old youth division, Courage Kelly took second. Alex Weerasinghe took first with a 10-pound fish in the aged 11-15 youth division and Elias Kelly took second. Steve Anderson won first place in the fly rod division with a 12.3-pound salmon. Beth Fenhaus took second and Dana Perreard took third.

This year was Fenhaus’ first time learning to fly fish. She said good fishing motivated her to practice what is typically a difficult skill to learn.

“I hadn’t sport fished in the valley until this year,” Fenhaus said. “I just like struggling at things for a while, I guess. It was a fun learning curve. I started off training with pink salmon before I was able to step it up with the coho. It’s a fun fight.”

Besides winning second place, she caught enough coho to fill her freezer for the winter, Fenhaus said.

Fish and Game staff survey five streams in the Chilkat River drainage. Chapell said total coho escapement in the Chilkat River drainage is estimated to be about 55,000 fish. The escapement goal range is between 30,000 to 70,000.

“We’re a little bit below average, but still a good, healthy escapement,” he said. “The Chilkat side peaks the second or third week of October. The water’s been kind of cloudy. Maybe the fishing has not been as good over there.”

The results are currently unofficial and subject to change.

*This story has been updated to correct the weight of Taug's first-place coho.