Wrangell Sentinel -

Several Alaska towns are vying for the title of ‘Ultimate Fishing Town’ which comes with a $25,000 check for local fishing projects.

The annual competition is sponsored by the World Fishing Network, “a 24/7 television network dedicated to all segments of fishing,” according to its website. WFN, which focuses on sport fishing, originally launched in 2005 and is now seen in more than 20 million North American households via cable, satellite and the Internet.

As of Friday, nine Alaska towns were among the hundreds of hopefuls on the leaderboard — but they have a lot of catching up to...