Alaska Dispatch Mike Campbell Jul 25, 2012
Homer Halibut Derby: 300-pounder gives Arizona woman
lead
A
Phoenix woman has landed what appears to be the biggest fish caught in
Southcentral Alaska this summer.
Carol
Allis on Wednesday pulled in a 300-pound halibut aboard the charter boat Daze
Off, captained by Willie Beachy, in 160 feet of water in the Gulf of Alaska. The
fish immediately vaulted into the lead in the biggest-fish category of the Homer
Jackpot Halibut Derby.
“Once
it started stripping off line that fast, I could tell it was a monster fish,”
Beachy said Wednesday afternoon. “This one just started swimming away and
stripping off line. For a while, I wasn’t sure we could turn her.
“Eventually,
she (the halibut) would take a little bit of line, and then Carol would gain
some back. Then she would take some more and Carol would gain some back. That
went on and on.”
It
took Allis about 90 minutes to maneuver the halibut beside the Daze Off, a boat
with Reel Fun Charters. Then Beachy, two deck hands and two anglers aboard the
charter used gaffs to pull the big fish aboard the boat. It was the biggest fish
Allis has ever caught and the biggest Beachy has helped bring in during his 10
years of fishing in Homer. Click for a great article by Mike Campbell, with more
details and amount of prize money being awarded.