He’s baaaack. Caleb Gray is among the best of the relatively youthful anglers who have dominated the Sitka Salmon Derby in recent years. If his 34-pound king stays at the top of the leader board next weekend, he’ll take the $20,000 cash prize. (SSA photo)
Update, June 2, 2025
Caleb Gray is standing on the weigh-in barge in Sitka’s Crescent Harbor Sunday afternoon (6-1-25) as the seconds count down toward the end of the 70th Sitka Salmon Derby.
There’s always a chance someone might come charging in right at the wire with a bigger fish, but no other boats are in sight.
Caleb sounds the horn, bringing the derby to an end, and sealing his victory. It’s deja vu all over again, as he performed this same task two years ago as a seven-year old.
Horn toots twice…
Gray will take home $20,000 prize money if the result stands, and it likely will: his 34-pound king was over two pounds larger than his nearest competitor. Todd Nevers will take second place with a 31.8 pound king. Jeremiah Johnson will take third with a 30.8 pound king.
All results are unofficial until the awards ceremony on June 12 in Harrigan Centennial Hall.
With a one-fish bag limit, this was not the largest derby, but participants did surprisingly well despite gale-force winds that blew through on both weekends. 155 people fished in the event, turning in 312 kings weighing an average of 15 pounds. Collectively, that makes about 4,700 pounds of fish.
Only 12 competitors turned in a fish each of the five days of the derby. That kept total poundage averages below a more typical event, with a larger bag limit and better conditions. In addition to his third-place win, Jeremiah Johnson will claim the total poundage prize with 101.5 pounds. Riley Bernhardt – who won total poundage in 2019 as an eleven-year old – is in second place with 96.7, and Keri Gray will take third with 95.7 pounds.
Keri Gray is the mother of two-time champion Caleb Gray. Their boat, by the way, is the appropriately-named “Relentless.”
Original Report
9-year old Caleb Gray rocketed to first place on Memorial Day afternoon, turning in a king that bent the scales at 34 pounds – over two pounds ahead of his closest competitor.
If “Caleb Gray” sounds familiar, that’s because he was a major factor in both of the last two Sitka Salmon Derbies. In 2024, as an 8-year old, Gray was in third place after the first weekend, but was eclipsed on the second weekend, and eventually had to settle for $500 as the overall poundage winner. In 2023, when Gray first broke into the leader board as a 7-year old, he won the derby – and $10,000 – with a 32-and-a-half pound fish. And he also was the poundage champ that year, with 209 total pounds caught.
If his 34-pounder holds onto first place through the final two days of fishing next weekend, Gray will take the grand prize of $20,000 in cash.
As usual, there are plenty of other prizes – for daily hidden weights, and overall poundage – that kept competitors interested over the first weekend, despite the less-than-ideal weather.
Coming in behind Gray on the leaderboard after the first weekend are Todd Nevers, with a 31.8-pound fish. Jeremiah Johnson is in third with a 30.8 pounder.
Johnson leads the derby in overall poundage with 61.9 pounds. Jackson McGraw is second, with 58.6 pounds, and Keri Gray is third with 54.7 pounds.
This year’s Sitka Sportsman’s Association Salmon Derby is dedicated to the memory of Buzz Brown, a lifelong Sitkan and Vietnam veteran who passed away earlier this month.
Note: This story was updated on 5-29-25 to reflect Caleb Gray’s correct age — he is 9. When he first won the derby in 2023 he was 7, and he was 8 last year as the total poundage winner.
