$60,000 boat awarded to Hoodsport angler following Northwest Salmon Derby Series finale

Randy Aden, the luckiest angler in Hoodsport, Wash. is walking away with keys to a new 22-foot River Hawk fishing boat valued at nearly $60,000 after his name was randomly drawn from more than 7,000 anglers following the conclusion of the 2011 Northwest Salmon Derby Series at the Everett Coho Salmon Derby last Sunday.

The Derby Series, produced by the Northwest Marine Trade Association (NMTA), partners with existing fishing tournaments to help promote their events to a larger audience and increase participation at each event. The grand prize giveaway is the hook for many fishermen and women. It began in 2004, partnering with six tournaments that year and has grown to include 16 events in 2011. In every year since then, the Derby Series has awarded fishing boat packages in raffle drawings among all of the anglers registered in any of the participating derbies. In its eight-year existence, the Northwest Salmon Derby Series has awarded 10 boat packages.

Aden participated in the Hood Canal Salmon Derby in August.

“This job, of giving away big time fishing boat packages is the ultimate Santa Claus job,” said Tony Floor, NMTA’s Director of Fishing Affairs and lead organizer of the Derby Series. “Randy Aden, and his wife Kathy are perfect winners as they have been fishing the derbies in friends’ boats. The Derby Series, through this grand prize boat package is doing exactly what it was intended to do, getting people excited about going boating and salmon fishing in the Pacific Northwest.”

The giveaway boat is a 22-foot aluminum fishing machine, built by River Hawk in Medford, Ore. It is powered by a 225 horse 4-stroke Suzuki motor resting on a Karavan galvanized tandem axel trailer. It is outfitted with radar, GPS/depth sounder and vhf, courtesy of Lowrance, along with Scotty electric downriggers and a Dual stereo system.

To help draw more anglers to the derbies, each entrant receives one raffle ticket per derby for the grand prize drawing held in Everett.

Three derby events occur later in 2011, beginning with the four-day Einar Nielsen-Becky Barr Fishing Classic in Roche Harbor beginning on September 29. Any anglers participating in the three remaining 2011 Derby Series events will be entered to win the 2012 fishing boat package.

Last year, Gary Curtis of Edmonds was named the winner of the 2010 Derby Series boat prize in front of almost 2,000 anglers in Everett.

The Northwest Salmon Derby Series is presented by Allstate Boat Insurance and Northwest GMC dealers. For more information about the Derby Series, visit www.NorthwestSalmonDerbySeries.com.