Close call decides 64th annual Seward Silver Salmon Derby

The weight of about four pennies made Eagle River’s Michelle Murray $10,000 richer Sunday.

Murray won the 64th annual Seward Silver Salmon Derby with a silver that was a sliver heavier than the cohos that finished in second place and third place.

She prevailed with a 15.99-pound fish that gave her an edge of 9.07 grams over the second-place fish and 13.60 grams over the third-place fish.

For perspective, a penny weighs 2.5 grams. So the weight of less than four pennies separated Murray from second-place Angela Garner of Wichita, Kansas, and the weight of less than six pennies separated her from third-place Ron Goodwin of Wasilla.

Garner’s fish weighed 15.97 pounds and Goodwin’s weighed 15.96.

A total of 2,092 silver salmon were entered in the nine-day derby. They weighed a total of 17,186 pounds, an average of 8.2 pounds per fish.

Murray, who caught her championship coho Tuesday at the head of Resurrection Bay, took home $10,000 for the victory.

Garner, who hooked her big fish Sunday at Tonsina Creek, pocketed $5,000, and Goodwin, who hooked his Monday at Pilot Rock, collected $2,500.

None of the derby’s big-money tagged fish were caught, but if anyone catches one between now and Sept. 30, it’s worth $100 if turned in to the Seward Visitors Center.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misspelled Murray’s last name.