With seasonal coho salmon beginning to show in increasing numbers along Juneau area waters, and plenty of feeder kings lurking in the depths, this year's Golden North Salmon Derby participants have much to look forward to. Adding to the flavor of past Salmon Derbies and the friendly camaraderie that is rekindled each year, sport anglers of all ages will once again try their luck at landing the big one.

To be successful in the Salmon Derby, in my opinion, requires a simple yet basic recipe of equal parts luck, skill, local information and a plan. From this recipe, probably the most significant part is developing a strategic plan to fish based on your past fishing experiences (or local information).

For example, if incoming tides fished well for you last week at a given location and you were rewarded with several dinner fish, then odds are good that similar events might unfold for you during the Derby if you fish the area much like you did the week prior. It's not by chance that most of the seasoned Derby entrants - and past winners for that matter - routinely fish select areas year after year.

Local information also helps in determining what depths to concentrate your trolling. Resident feeder kings in the Juneau area tend to roam deep during this time of the summer so it proves to fish downriggers at depths of 100-feet or more to target these potential Derby winning fish. In contrast, freshly arriving silvers will be concentrating their foraging at depths ranging from 60 to 30 feet. Fishing a variety of depths in order to target both Derby winning kings or cohos for daily prizes, or scholarships, will ultimately improve your odds of intercepting either of these potential prize winning fish.

Another important item to include in your angling plan is a full understanding of the Derby boundaries and the locations of the various weigh-in stations.

Remember, landed fish will immediately begin to lose crucial body weight so it's important that you keep your catch fresh-preferably on ice - and "in the round" (uncleaned) and to rush your catch to the nearest weigh station in order to minimize precious weight loss which could make the difference between placing or not.