The chamber of commerce has an idea to boost participation in the community’s annual fishing derby. Rather than limiting the derby to a few weekends in June or July, this year’s contest to catch king and coho salmon and halibut will run for three months.

The sportfishing derby is scheduled to start on June 7 and close Sept. 7.

It will be the town’s 71st annual derby.

A summer-long contest has a better chance of selling more tickets to anglers in town and visitors from out of town, Lora Lee Mason, the chamber’s executive director, said on Friday, May 1.

Ticket sales have been in decline, with about 100 entrants last year paying the $35 fee, down from several hundred ticket sales in past years.

Fishing restrictions on king salmon to preserve weak runs, particularly up the Stikine River, have limited the area open for sportfishing. And those 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, along with seven entries in the halibut derby.

Ticket holders weighed in 27 kings in 2024 and just 15 in 2023.

The chamber added the coho and halibut derbies last year, in an effort to generate more interest.

The chamber board met last week and decided to try out the longer derby to draw more people to go after a prize-winning fish, Mason said.

Prizes will be awarded over the three months, with special competitions on some weekends, rather than just awarding a single set of prize winners for the largest fish at the end. “No more single-biggest-fish-only format,” the chamber said in its publicity for the derby.

“Prizes will be disbursed across the full derby season.”

The chamber is still working on its list of prizes — cash and merchandise, in different age groups — for this year’s derby.

Mason said she expects the entry tickets will remain the same as last year, at $35. One ticket will be good for all three months, covering salmon and halibut.