Petersburg resident, Rich Lowell, has fished in the Petersburg salmon derby for over 15 years and finally checked off one of his goals of winning the derby when he caught a 46.5 pound King Salmon Sunday winning the $7,500 first place prize.

Lowell left the Narrows and Petersburg and headed north into Frederick Sound. He would not state his exact location.

“I was pretty discouraged Friday and Saturday,” Lowell stated. “I wasn't having any luck, or any bites.”

Lowell did catch two halibut during this time weighing 40 and 60 pounds each.

“After the two halibut, I finally caught a King,” Lowell said. “It was just a 15 pounder, and with the one fish bag limit, I released it.”

According to Lowell, he finally switched places with another fisherman in the area.

“Where I moved to the salmon were just jumping out of the water,” Lowell said. “I still didn't get any bites until I shallowed up. I let out very little line and finally got a strike.”

After re-baiting, Lowell hooked his derby winner.

“I didn't think it was a very big fish at first, I really couldn't get a good look at it,” Lowell said. “I had 250 feet of line and it ran on me. It would run and then settle under the boat for awhile at 20 to 25 feet.”

Lowell said the fish did that several times before it was finally caught.

“As I worked the fish from under the boat a fourth time, it rolled on its side and I knew I had it,” Lowell said. “I still thought it was only about a 30 pounder. After getting it in the net, I just closed it up and stood there for a while. I was pretty tired and stressed out and hadn't even brought it out of the water yet.”

He said he lifted it into the boat and plopped the net onto the deck and he knew this fish was in the running so he hurried back to town.

“I ran to town pretty fast, pushing the motor to bring it to the weigh station,” Lowell stated. “I drug it up the dock, put it on the scales and it just kept ticking up to 46 and more. I knew I was in first place for the time being.”

Lowell explained that during that 30 minutes that he fought the fish, he had all manner of disaster running through his mind.

“I thought if I mess this up, I am done,” Lowell stated. “I think I made all of the mistakes on the two halibut I caught previously. They were good practice for me because I had done everything wrong including forgetting my gaff in the truck from the first one. I had made all of these mistakes and when the time came to deal with this fish, I was pretty well prepared.”

He stated that he then had 30 hours of worry to look forward to, waiting to see if someone came in with a bigger fish.

“I didn't fish on Monday, not because I didn't want to but because there was the one fish bag limit and a one fish possession limit, so technically that fish that I caught was still in my possession and the stakes were too high to jeopardize any of that so I decided to sit that day out,” Lowell said. “I listened to derby reports on the radio and when it got down to about three hours that is when I really got nervous.”

He said he knew that if a bigger fish was going to come in, it would probably be within the last two hours. He finally drove down to the derby station about 10 minutes to 5 p.m. and just watched and waited and the minutes ticked away.

“After over 15 years of fishing in this derby, I finally won,” Lowell said. “I have never finished higher than 21st in all that time and I did that twice.”

Lowell's new goal is to catch one that is 50 pounds or more.

2013 Salmon Derby Results

# Weight Name

1 46.5 Rich Lowell

2 41.4 Gerald Whitethorn

3 37.4 Gunnar Payne

4 34.2 Byron Lyons

5 33.4 Jim Carlello

6 33.2 Tom Drennam

7 33.2 Gertrude Reeser

8 32.8 Chris Hausler

9 32.4 Alissa Lund

10 31.6 Cole Snyder

11 31.4 Rodney Littelton

12 31.3 Jessica Creagan

13 31.1 Theresa Vick

14 31 Peggy Mooney

15 31 Theresa Winther

16 30.9 Scott Stafford

17 30.7 Jill Dormer

18 30.2 Brian Oakes

19 30.2 Wes Malcom

20 30 Mary Harrop

21 29.9 Dan Oneil

22 29.9 Jeff Wegener

23 29 Heather Oneil

24 28.7 Paul Anderson

25 28.4 Dan Vick

26 28.4 Don Spigelmyre

27 28.1 Kent Wegener

28 27.5 Mickey Knight

29 27 Beth Hoiosen

30 26.7 Rex Veersteg

31 26.6 James Martinsen

32 26.5 Richard Aho

33 26.5 Garret Bell

34 26.4 Garrett Lewis

35 26.4 Doug Welde

36 26.2 John Johnson

37 25.8 Brian Doyle

38 25.8 Danny Thompson

39 25.6 Addysen Bird

40 25.6 Tanelle Olson

41 25.3 Karen Malcom

42 25.1 Merita Hamna

43 24.7 Kurt Vilvan

44 24.7 Marsha Fernandez

45 24.7 Andy Whitethorn

46 24.5 Jessie Lantiegne

47 24.5 Chase Lister

48 24.4 Rick Williams

49 24.4 Bob Volk

50 24.3 Merlitatlonma

51 24.3 Howard Versteeg

52 24.2 Curt Wolever

53 24.2 George Briggs

54 24.1 Don Thorsteinsen

55 23.8 Matthew Short

56 23.8 Richard Asplund

57 23.7 Larry Peterson

58 23.7 Daron Dykema

59 23.6 Jim Stromdahl

60 23.5 Scott Oneil

61 23.5 Tyler Lantiegne

62 23.3 Kirk Evens

63 23.1 Everett Kissinger

64 23.1 Pat Mooney

65 23.1 Anne Volk

66 22.9 Larry Peterson

67 22.9 Mike Turpen

68 22.9 Jessie Birchell

69 22.8 Ralph Strickland

70 22.8 Dawn Ware

71 22.7 Micah Hill

72 22.6 Casey Knight

73 22.6 Ronald Ware

74 22.6 Hillary Whitethorn

75 22.5 Carol Martinez

76 22.4 Ronald Ware

77 22.4 Caleb Fankhauser

78 22.4 Joseph Slaven

79 22.3 Derek Lopez

80 22 Shelsey Barney

81 21.9 Krista Birchell

82 21.8 Marice Cantrell

83 21.6 Jeff Hochstein

84 21.6 Richard Asplund

85 21.4 Brian Oakes

86 21.4 Cherise, Lister

87 21.4 Betty Rodgers

88 21.1 Bob Lynn

89 21.1 Jim Reed

90 21.1 Alissa Lund

91 21 BoB Padgett

92 20.9 Alex Rodriquez

93 20.9 Robert Newman

94 20.9 Larry Scaduto

95 20.8 Wade Washke

96 20.8 Chris Hausler

97 20.7 Roger Simmons

98 20.6 Kevin Volk

99 20.6 Dustin Crump

100 20.5 Morris Mattson

101 20.4 Jim Stromdahl

102 20.3 Tony Craig

103 20.3 Jim Stromdahl

104 20.2 Marsha Fernandez

105 20.2 Erica Washke

106 20.2 Mary Stromdahl

107 20.2 Gail Herlick-Aho

108 20.1 Jennifer Bryner

109 20 Winter Skeek

110 20 Kenny Duncan

111 20 Eli Lucas

112 19.9 Franc Fernandez

113 19.9 Brian Whitehorn

114 19.8 Derik Gibb

115 19.7 Serena Newman

116 19.7 Mary Stromdahl

117 19.6 Franc Fernandez

118 19.6 Anna Caulum

119 19.6 Franc Fernandez

120 19.5 Lodring Raposas

121 19.2 Blaine Volk

# Weight Name

122 18.9 Sheksey Barney

123 18.9 Wade Washke

124 18.9 Steve McGuire

125 18.8 Sean Larson

126 18.8 Harry Rodgers

127 18.7 Vern Craig

128 18.7 Vic Damiem

129 18.6 Rikki Lewis

130 18.6 Sam Volk

131 18.6 Pat Roberts

132 18.6 Jim Stromdahl

133 18.3 Scott Hursey

134 18.2 Chad Lopez

135 18.1 Derek Gibbs

136 18 Annett Olson

137 18 Larry Durst

138 17.9 Michelle Lopez

139 17.9 Ed Volk

140 17.7 Betty Rodgers

141 17.7 James Schramek

142 17.6 Taylor Curtiss

143 17.6 Suzanne Peterson

144 17.6 Theresa Versteeg

145 17.5 Dennis King

146 17.2 Denali Vilar

147 17.2 Elmer Davis

148 17.1 Jim Gulley

149 17 Alissa Lund

150 16.9 Chance Day

151 16.8 Marie Cantrell

152 16.8 James Vick

153 16.5 Ricki Lewis

154 16.4 Sid Bacom

155 16.3 Eli Lucas

156 16.1 Lucinda Capps

157 16.1 Stone Morgan

158 16.1 Duane Olson

159 16 Scott Hursey

160 15.9 Gregory Ritz

161 15.9 Chad Lopez

162 15.9 John Snyder

163 15.8 Mattias

164 15.8 Thomas Durkin

165 15.7 Brian Doyle

166 15.7 Michelle Lopez

167 15.7 Susanna Hjort

168 15.5 Carla Ratliff

169 15.5 Kurt Vilvan

170 15.4 Zac Williams

171 15.3 Charley Streuli

172 15.2 Dan Oneil

173 15 Courtney Bird

174 14.8 Donald Reyes

175 14.7 Pete Nilsen

176 14.7 Joe Stratman

177 14.6 Jake Barney

178 14.6 Ken Madsen

179 14.2 Derek Lopez

180 14.1 Kim Hochstein

181 14.1 Teresa Swanson

182 13.9 Cynthia Mathisen

183 13.9 Chad Lopez

184 13.9 Joshua Thynes

185 13.8 Alex Guthrie

186 13.8 Paul Lund

187 13.7 Madison Whitethorn

188 13.6 Dietra Wegener

189 13.6 Martin Scott

190 13.6 Robert Newman

191 13.5 Mary Andserson

192 13.3 Thomas Durki

193 13.1 Doug Barney

194 13.1 Jeff Wegener

195 13.1 Larry Durst

196 12.8 Alex Blauchard

197 12.6 Niklas Arvidsson

198 12.5 Curt Birchell

199 12.4 Joe Viechnicki

200 12.4 Martin Susort

201 12.4 Lucinda Capps

202 12.1 Erica Wahkee

203 12.1 Erik Hulebak

204 12 Sam Hoschar

205 12 Chris Hausler

206 12 Harold T. Schoweiler

207 11.9 Dustin Crump

208 11.3 Jake Barney

209 11.2 Kent Wegner

210 11 Vickie Barney

211 10.9 Levi Padgett

212 10.6 James Schramek

213 9.7 Madison Whitethorn

214 9.6 Michael Hill

215 9.5 Martin Susort

216 9.2 Chris Whittelsey

217 8.8 Josh Coghill