Photo: Ethan Berto wins 2019 Season with 58.6 lb king salmon.
Summer is the best time to fish in Alaska for sport-fishermen and fishing for king salmon the most popular. Mid-June, the new season opened at our resort, and with it, the excitement and anticipation for landing the biggest king salmon of the day to become "King of the Day" (KOD) is high. As one of the largest sport fishing tournaments in Alaska, our King of Kings Salmon Tournament is a highlight of the fishing season.Each day, the angler entered in the Tournament who brings in the largest king salmon not only gets recognition at dinner and on social media plus a Waterfall Resort Alaska cap but is also entered in the season-end drawing for a Ford F-150 truck. Plus, the largest king salmon of the season wins $10,000!
Photo: Andre Burchette wins First-Time Guest with 47.8 lb king.
There are weekly, monthly and overall season awards of return trips, merchandise and money for both king salmon and silver salmon. Here are some of the past, largest-of-the-season winners:
- 2016: Jennifer Porter, 50.6 lbs
- 2017: Bob Dahlstrom, 53.5 lbs
- 2018: Tony Perkins, 48.2 lbs
- 2019: Ethan Berto, 58.2 lbs (pictured above)
- 2020: Jerzy Poprawa, 46.4 lbs
Of course, these winners won King of the Month, too, adding a 3-night return trip to the $10,000 cash prize they received. You can see some of their stories in the links above.
For the fishing guides who helped, when a King is landed that is over 50 pounds, tradition brings out the Crown Royal, and the Guide takes a dip in the cold waters of the harbor. Brrrr.. but maybe that Crown Royal helps keep ‘em warm?
Photo: Youth, Jackson Risher, with his 43.3 lb king salmon.
There are other categories, too, for winning big:
- Youth (under 18)
- First-Time Guest
- King Salmon of Week and Month
- Silver Salmon of Week and Month
For Silver Salmon, each year we give $2500 to the Silver of the Month.
Each winner has their own big-fish stories, this time true and documented.
Can you imagine not entering the tournament only to discover that you actually would have won! It has happened, and although that means no award, you do get bragging rights together with the delicious salmon to take home. All our guests enjoy that!
For our halibut lovers, although we do not award prizes, you certainly get a thrill and recognition for pulling in those 200 to 500 lb giants! Depending on whether you purchase a halibut tag, you catch and release halibut outside of the legal slot.
And then there’s lingcod, not part of the tournament either, but so much fun showing off those toothy smiles – the fish’s not yours.
Left: Thom Tiehen shows off his ling cod catch.
Ready to join the fun? Just sign up when you register as a guest for the King of Kings Salmon Tournament, and watch the leaderboard and social media (Facebook, Instagram @waterfallreortalaska and Twitter @FishingResort) for daily winners.
Let’s Go Fishing!