2024 Homer Winter King Tournament Set For March 23

The following is courtesy of the Homer Chamber of Commerce’s Homer Winter King Salmon Tournament:

THE 30^TH ANNUAL HOMER WINTER KING SALMON TOURNAMENT DATE IS MARCH 23, 2024

HOMER, September 19, 2023 – The Homer Chamber of Commerce and the Winter King Salmon Tournament Committee are very pleased to announce that the 30^th Annual Homer Winter King Salmon Tournament will be held on Saturday, March 23, 2024.  “We are excited that the tournament is returning to its original schedule of the 2^nd to the last Saturday in March,” said Brad Anderson, Homer Chamber of Commerce Executive Director.  

“We surveyed our tournament anglers from the previous tournaments, and the overwhelming response was to keep it in March, its original month for the first 26 years”. Anderson said it was moved to April in 2021 due to COVID concerns and again for 2022 based on that record-breaking success.  However, last year it was moved back to March to keep with the original tradition and to avoid conflicts with fishing restrictions that take place starting April 1st.  “March is just the best overall fit for this tournament” according to Anderson.

For the 2024 Tournament, the Chamber announced that it will have new procedures in place for making weather delay decisions. “Safety is a top priority for our anglers,” said Anderson. “We also know that many anglers travel to Homer for this tournament, and we want to make the best-informed decisions earlier in the tournament week to help make this a safe and fun event for everyone.”

The Homer Winter King Salmon Tournament has now become the largest fishing tournament on the West Coast. Homer’s large harbor and the beautiful ocean waters of Kachemak Bay make this the ideal setting to fish for these prized fish and have the chance to win thousands of dollars in prize money.

The 2023 tournament handed out over $132,000 in cash prizes plus over $31,000 more in merchandise prizes and drawings.  The 2023 champion was Gail Bilyeu with a fish weighing 26.12 pounds earning him $62,036 in total cash prizes including the team’s side tournament winnings.

Follow all the tournament news on the event website HomerWinterKing.com or the Homer Chamber’s website at HomerAlaska.org.