Halibut Fishing for Big Bucks is No Fish Tale

It might sound like a tall fish tale, but Duane Olsen of Anchorage, Alaska, can attest that getting paid for a day of sport fishing from a boat based out of Homer, Alaska, isn't a fable from the sea. Instead, it's a real fish story chock full of money.

Like $43,612 to be exact.

That's how much he netted in the summer of 2006 as the overall winner of the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby with a 341.8 pound monster halibut that most certainly put a big dent in the filling of the freezer category.

Summer 2007 marks the 22nd annual Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby. It started May 1 and ends Sept. 30 for participants aboard boats based out of the Homer Small Boat Harbor on the world famous Homer Spit.

The derby offers more than $180,00 in prizes and yet another opportunity for some lucky, or should we say, determined, angler to take top honors come this fall when the fun is done and the boats anchor up.

At about the half way point in this year's derby, the lead has changed twice with a 358.4 pound halibut brought up by Jerry Saunders hailing from Chugiak, Alaska, currently in the lead. Saunders was fishing aboard a private boat named "The Slow Going" with Capt. Ken Petska when he snagged the current leader.

But leaders can change.

It just depends on the luck of what one hooks into and whether or an angler can stay the course necessary to haul a monster halibut up from the deep.

The process can take hours. Burly men are often forced to take turns cranking the reel. They don't call that special seat on the back of the boat the fighting chair for nothing!

Olsen and Capt. Tony Arsenault, the man at the helm on the "Falcon" last summer when Olsen hooked into his winner in 400 feet of water spent more than 40 minutes fighting the big fish until it was landed.

But, those who land the big halibut say it is well worth the effort.