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Monster Halibut
Table-for-six sized halibut are three anglers' just deserts
340.6 POUNDS: Monster halibut puts Slope worker in the lead for $40,000 Homer derby prize.
By CRAIG MEDRED
cmedred@adn.com
http://www.adn.com/outdoors/fishing/...-8999562c.html
Published: June 27, 2007
Last Modified: June 27, 2007 at 04:12 AM
Epic tales of big fish and the people who go down to the sea to catch them seemed to be sprouting everywhere in Southcentral Alaska as June rolled toward a close.
First came news of David Hicks of Anchorage hauling up a halibut the size of an NFL linebacker on Saturday to grab the lead in the Seward Halibut Derby. Word of that 251.2-pound catch was just beginning to spread by Monday when Bonnie Woods of Valdez topped it to grab the lead in that community's halibut derby.
Woods caught a 274.5-pounder in Prince William Sound. While big, it was not unusual for her. Valdez Fish Derbies reported the halibut was the "sixth fish weighing in at over 200 pounds" caught by the 18-year Valdez resident.
"I knew it was a big one when I was reeling it in,'' Woods was quoted as saying in a news release. "I was guessing under 250 pounds."
She guessed a little low. The fish put her in contention for the Valdez derby's top prize of $15,000, but she certainly doesn't have a lock on that competition. The winner of Valdez's summer-long derby has in recent years usually topped 300 pounds.
The same can be said for the winner in the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby, but Daniel Prisaznuk, a North Slope oil worker who splits his time between Homer and Wasilla, looked to be in better shape.
Prisaznuk on Monday hauled up a 340.6-pound behemoth.
The biggest fish in the state's richest derby had a lot of people chattering.
"Oh my God, the phone is ringing off the hook,'' Prisaznuk said Tuesday.
With the winner of the Homer derby expected to collect between $40,000 and $45,000 -- the exact amount depends on the number of derby tickets sold -- Prisaznuk is hearing from friends he didn't know he had.
And for an angler who has long fished the Homer derby, this is a dream come true.
"This is a once in a lifetime event,'' Prisaznuk said. "When we got him back to the weigh station, people were stopping, getting out of their motor homes, coming to take pictures. I was causing a traffic jam on the (Homer) Spit.''
Now he drives by derby headquarters, where the names of the derby leaders are posted, and can't quite believe his eyes.
"It's something to see your name up there,'' he said.
Born and reared in Buffalo, N.Y., Prisaznuk was lured to Alaska in large part by the fishing, but he never thought he'd hook into something like this -- not even when it happened.
"I knew it was big,'' said Prisaznuk, whose largest fish before Monday was a 116-pounder. "But I didn't know it was that big. I knew it was over 100 pounds, but I didn't think it was over 200.
"It was a concrete block. I'd do five cranks (on the reel), and she'd spin off two or three. She wanted to go back down.''
For more than an hour, Prisaznuk waged war with this big hen halibut before getting a look at her. About 15 feet behind the boat in the clear waters of Cook Inlet, he saw what looked like a mottled gray dining-room table for six.
"I'd never seen anything like that,'' he said.
The fish would eventually measure an inch over 8 feet in length.
"When we had him at the boat,'' Prisaznuk said, "everyone was whoopin' and hollerin,' and, I said, 'Hey wait, let's get him in the boat first.' ''
Prisaznuk knew the dangers that come with trying to subdue huge halibut.
"You never know how they're going to react,'' he said. Some have been known to surge with such power that lines snap or hooks straighten. Others can pound against a boat, threatening to damage it.
This one, Prisaznuk said, acted like she was just ready to have it over with.
The captain of the boat shot her. The mate lanced her with a harpoon. And she went still.
"I think the harpoon must have hit her spine or something,'' Prisaznuk said. "There was no movement.''
So the crew hog-tied the fish, bringing the tail to the head, and brought her aboard.
"It took four of us to bring (her) over the rail,'' Prisaznuk said.
What followed was a discussion on the weight of the fish. A tide book with a chart for estimating halibut weights based on the length of the fish was consulted. Other skippers were radioed for their opinions. Eventually it was agreed that a fish in the 7 1/2-foot or longer range had to weigh at least 300 pounds. Realizing that, and recognizing that Prisaznuk's fish risked getting lighter by the hour as it dried out, the boat turned around for the hour-long run back to Homer.
Prisaznuk, still not knowing how big his catch was, got his last surprise on the dock.
"We lifted him up on the scale, and we ran out of line,'' the angler said. "The head was still lying on the ground, and the scale said 298.''
The fish was lowered and retied, then hoisted again.
"310, 320, 330,'' Prisaznuk said, "and finally 340-point-6.
"Now I've got play the waiting game for three months. We've got a long summer to go.''
Though Prisaznuk's fish is big enough to have won 14 of the 21 Homer derbies to date, it wouldn't have won last year's when a 341.8-pounder caught by Anchorage's Duane Olson unseated a summer-long leader.
Nor would Prisaznuk's fish have won in 2004 or 2003 or 2002. The new millennium has seen a bounty of halibut over 300 pounds being dragged up the docks in Homer.
All it will take to unseat this one is a 340.7 pounder.
Valdez
1. 274.5 pounds by Bonnie Woods of Valdez aboard the No Excuses on June 25.
2. 266 pounds by Tiffany Williams of Slana aboard the No Excuses on June 20.
3. 165.9 pounds by Pete Mattison of Valdez aboard the No Excuses on June 21.
• DERBY ENDS: Sept. 2
• WEB: www.valdezfishderbies.com
• COST: $10 daily
• 2006 WINNER: 343.6-pounder for $15,000
Seward
1. 251.2 pounds by David Hicks of Anchorage aboard Seward Adventure Charter's SeaVenture.
• DERBY ENDS: June 30
• WEB: www.seward.com
• COST: $10 daily, $25 for three days
• 2006 WINNER: Last held in 2003
Homer
1. 340.6 pounds by Daniel Prisaznuk of Homer with Captain Mike Manns on the Arctic Addiction of Manns Charter Service on June 25.
2. 232 pounds by Jesse Swayne of Lakewood, Colo., with Captain Scott Glosser on the Mako with Capt. Scott's Sportfishing on June 11.
3. 211.2 pounds by Charles Gerhardt of Wasilla with Captain Chad Kiesel on the Fox 1 with Silver Fox Charters on June 4.
• DERBY ENDS: Sept. 30
• WEB: www.homerhalibutderby.com
• COST: $10 daily
• 2006 WINNER: 341.8-pounder for $43,612
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