Hook the Hawg results

During last weekend’s Hook the Hawg, 68 anglers congregated at Elochoman Marina looking to take home a prize. However, with a high tide and the weather creating muddy, cold-water conditions, just one fish was officially weighed in over the three-day competition.

“Fishing conditions certainly were not ideal,” said Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ryan Murillo. “Despite that, we still had a great turnout for this spring event. All of the anglers still seemed in good spirits and happy to be competing.”

According to Murillo, the event’s organizers found themselves “scrambling for a solution” in the event no fish were caught and decided the competition would end by raffling off prizes to all participants. “We’ve never looked to directly make money off this event,” said Murillo. “Instead, (we were) wanting the money to go straight back to those in the derby, so we decided to make it worth it for some lucky people because the fishing just did not pan out.”

Fisherman Kyle Reichart, who had the lone submission of the tournament with a 5lb, 1 oz salmon, took home the grand prize, while other prizes, including fishing equipment, gift cards, and cash prizes, were raffled off to their eventual recipients. The Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce and Elochoman Marina will be hosting the fall series of the Hook The Hawg Salmon Derby in August and will be hoping for much better fishing. For more information about upcoming local events, visit http://www.wahkiakum.us.