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Giant halibut headline Valdez’s season-long summer fishing derby
Anglers pursue weekly prizes and a $10,000 grand prize while fishing the deep waters and dramatic fjords surrounding coastal Valdez all summer.
Event details
Valdez turns the deep, glacier-fed waters of Prince William Sound into a season-long leaderboard, with anglers entering by the day or the season in pursuit of weekly prizes and a $10,000 grand prize for the heaviest halibut. The harbor town’s dramatic coastline gives every outing a scenic backdrop rarely found alongside serious offshore fishing.
What sets this derby apart is its patience: rather than a single high-pressure weekend, the competition unfolds from late May through Labor Day, letting traveling families pick a window that suits their schedule, the weather, and how much of the summer they want to spend on the water. A quiet fishing morning can turn into a family adventure with a glacier cruise or kayak outing the same afternoon, since Valdez rarely runs short on ways to fill an afternoon between charters.
Because weather can delay charter departures and boats launch early, plan for several nights rather than a quick overnight. Daily derby tickets begin at $10 per species. Book a charter, lodging, and fish-processing arrangements well before peak summer dates, and treat any single day on the water as one piece of a longer Prince William Sound stay built around waterfalls, glaciers, and the harbor itself.
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