This year’s fishing derby is really three derbies in one.

There will be cash prizes for the largest king salmon, coho salmon and halibut caught over the three-month derby — $1,000 to each of the three winners.

And prizes will be awarded in each of four designated weekends for the catch closest to a secret weight. “Winners will be selected using a random number generator,” said the chamber of commerce, which sponsors the town’s annual fishing contest, now in its 71st year.

The derby will open June 7 and close Sept. 7.

The “hidden weight” prizes will be $300 each for the winning king salmon, coho and halibut June 20-21 (Father’s Day weekend), July 5, Aug. 8-9 (Bearfest weekend) and Sept. 6-7 (Labor Day weekend), said Lora Lee Mason, the chamber’s executive director.

The $300 prize in three categories over each of four designated weekends is worth $3,600. Adding that to the $3,000 in total prizes for the largest fish caught in the three categories over the entire derby comes to $6,600 in cash prizes.

There will not be separate categories this year for adults and children, and everyone will compete for the same prizes, Mason said.

The awards banquet is scheduled for Sept. 12.

An addition to prizes this year is the chance to win two round-trip tickets to anywhere Alaska Airlines flies in North America. Everyone who buys a ticket to the derby will be entered in the airline travel raffle.

Derby tickets, at $35 each, will go on sale at several downtown businesses next week.

The chamber figures that a summer-long contest has a better chance of selling more tickets to anglers in town and visitors from out of town. Ticket sales have been in decline, with about 100 entrants last year paying the fee, down from several hundred ticket sales in past years.

Fishing restrictions on king salmon to preserve weak runs have limited the area open for sportfishing, and generally weak returns have contributed to low catch rates in the derby.

Last year’s derby participants turned in just eight king salmon and 12 coho over the monthlong derby, along with seven entries in a shorter halibut derby.