The Coho King: Returning champ claims fourth first-place win at Whidbey derby

Published 2:38 pm Tuesday, September 16, 2014

David Bagley was thrilled he had the winning silver salmon at the Sebo’s Whidbey Island Coho Derby.

More than the $500 cash and trophy he walked out of the Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club with on Saturday, the Greenbank man was relieved to not be booed out of the building.

An experienced fishing derby contestant and champion, Bagley has won four of the past six Whidbey coho competitions.

“The last three times I won I got booed out of here,” he said after showing The Record his prize fish in the parking lot.

He was, however, heckled by a few jealous friends and fellow anglers. But Bagley gave as good as he got, jokingly asking his second mate Arthur Ruteck to hold his fish for a while because it was “too heavy.”

Bagley was joined by at least 100 other anglers for the latest installment of the long-running and oft-changed Whidbey Island coho derby. Money brought in from derby ticket and raffle sales goes to scholarships for South Whidbey High School graduates from Sons of the American Legion Post 141 and the Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club.

“This is a great success,” said John Lutch, an officer with the club and the Sons of the American Legion who helped organize the derby.

The first-prize fish, an 11.13-pound coho — un-gutted — was caught off Lagoon Point early in the morning. Bagley said he trolled cut-plug herring with a 2-ounce weight just off the back of the boat, and the fish gave him a 15-minute fight.

“Weight and bait, they used to call it,” Bagley said. “Fifty years ago they did this when they didn’t have trolling.”

Within two hours, he and the other anglers on his boat, Ruteck and Jason Stratemeyer, had hit their two-salmon limit and headed back for the weigh-in. Bagley’s winning coho was the fourth fish weighed. 

Lloyd Carter landed the second-place salmon, 9.3 pounds, to raucous applause. The elderly gentleman joked that he has competed in the Whidbey coho derbies for decades and finally had a prize-winning fish.

“I waited 75 years for this,” he said.

Frank Parra, owner of the derby’s title sponsor Sebo’s Do-It Center in Bayview, joked that Carter caught a fish “bigger than himself.”

Other prize winners were: Alan Starr, 8.94 pounds; Kevin Ohm, 8.94 pounds (determined by the later weigh-in time); and Nai Saephan, 8.75 pounds.

Early in the morning, Possession Sound between Mukilteo and Edmonds was peppered with fishing boats as far as the eye could see from the ferry. The west side of Whidbey Island was more sparse, but pockets were packed with hopeful anglers. Bush Point and Lagoon Point were busy in the morning but water traffic tapered by mid-afternoon.

The Everett Public Ramp catch report by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife showed 378 coho caught by 464 anglers on Sept. 13; 86 anglers landing 91 coho at the Edmonds Marina; and 38 coho caught by 73 anglers at the Cornet Bay Public Ramp in Oak Harbor.

Despite complaints from anglers that the salmon were not in the area in droves yet — for a litany of reasons from water temperature to rainfall — 104 salmon were weighed in for the derby.

“Everybody says they’re late,” Bagley said through a wide grin. “I disagree.”

An estimated 300 people competed in the Whidbey fishing fight. Participation saw an uptick from the past few years, adding money to the scholarship funds for South Whidbey High School graduates.

During the prize announcements and raffle call, the club’s hall was packed with every seat and every table occupied, leaving dozens to stand.

“It was a really good year,” Lutch said.