Halibut Fishing in the
Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby

Derby Winners 2005

See 2004 winners HERE
This page was last updated Monday March 17, 2008

And the Winner is . . . . . . Jim Corliss of Corvallis, OR
Jackpot Prize of $48,504

July 16 was quite some time ago, but Jim Corliss has been waiting since then to see if his 310 lb. fish would win the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby, 2005. The good news for Jim is that his fish is indeed the winner of this year’s Derby. Others challenged him over the summer but none of them quite made it. Real close was a 308 lb lunker caught on Aug. 13. Now Jim is the Jackpot winner of $48,504.

Jim was out fishing with Capt. Todd Jackson on the “Liahona” early that morning. They had stopped over a favorite halibut fishing area and lines had just been put in the water when Wham, something hit Jim’s line. Jim thought he was snagged on the bottom, Todd thought he might have a skate on the line, BUT no way, it was a magnificent 310 lb halibut. As captain of the boat, Todd wins the captains prize of $4,410. The Liahona is owned & operated by Central Charters. This fish produced another winner too, Lou Detwiler of Homer sold the winning ticket to Jim and she receives $1,000.

This jackpot prize is one of the largest ever awarded. There are also monthly big fish prizes, a released fish prize, a cash drawing for all participants,3 prizes for kids only and over 100 tagged fish with values of $500-$20,000. Five prize winning tagged fish were caught for a total of $3,500. The drawings for the released fish prize of $10,000 and the $2,000 cash will be done at the Awards Party, October 1.

The annual derby awards party will be Saturday, October 1 from 6-8 pm at the Homer Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center on the Sterling Highway. The public is welcome and so are families. There will be a recap of the derby, dinner by Cosmic Kitchen, prize drawings, prize awards, and a raffle.

2005 Jackpot Winner

	Prize	Angler	Charter/Boat Name	Skipper	Weight
1st Place	$48,504	Jim Corliss, Corvallis, OR	Central Charters	Todd Jackson	310.4 lbs

May (Final)

	Prize	Angler	Charter/Boat Name	Skipper	Weight
1st Place	$1,000	Dale Nelson, Grand Forks, ND	Time Out Charters	Dave Cloud	276.2lbs
2nd Place	$750	Vincent Gibby, Munds Park, AZ	Magic Waters Charters	Peter Karwowski	263.8lbs
3rd Place	$500	Diana Buckholtz, Soldotna	Homer Ocean Charters	Jordon Keintz	262.8lbs
4th Place	$250	Phillip Peterson, Anchorage	Homer Floatplane Lodge	John Phillips	236.8lb
5th Place	$125	Gerald Jeffery, Big Lake, AK	Crystal Sea Charters	Steve Button	210.8lb
20th Place	$200	Jodi Richardson, Anchorage	Homer Floatplane Lodge	John Phillips	115.8lb

June  (Final)

	Prize	Angler	Charter/Boat Name	Skipper	Weight
1st Place	$1,000	William Schultz, Mattawan, MI	Silver Fox Charters	Chad Kiesel	246.4 lb
2nd Place	$750	Glenn Buchhorn, Bartlett, TX	Falcon Charters	Tony Arsenault	228.8lb
3rd Place	$500	Daniel Gajewski, Irma,WI	Spirit Charters	Mike Swan	223.8lb
4th Place	$250	Christopher Peeples, Chico, CA	private boat	Phil Peeples	215lb
5th Place	$125	Oliver Ede, Scappoosa, OR	Spirit Charters	Mike Swan	206.2lb
20th Place	$200	Alan Walters, Surrey, BC Canada	Homer Ocean Charters	Marcel Bourgeois	111.6lb

July (Final)

	Prize	Angler	Charter/Boat Name	Skipper	Weight
1st Place	$1,000	Travis Huntsinger, Bozeman, MT	Alaska Premier Sportfishing	Travis Larson	280.4 lbs
2nd Place	$750	Luis Flecha, Fort Richardson, AK	Inlet Charters	Phil Warren	278.2 lb
3rd Place	$500	John Kaufmann, Lexington Park, MD	Spirit Charters	Mike Swan	274 lb
4th Place	$250	Eugenie Moore, Sunnyvale, CA	Silver Fox Charters	Mike Severin	273.4 lb
5th Place	$125	Kim Stephenson, Grand Rapids, MI	Silver Fox Charters	Gerry Haughey	268.6lb
20th Place	$200	Ivonne Conabuy, Eagle River, AK	North Country Charters	Joe Svymbersky	167 lb

August (Final)

	Prize	Angler	Charter/Boat Name	Skipper	Weight
1st Place	$1,000	Steve Gillis, Sterling, AK	Silver Fox Charters	Marvin Park	308.2 lbs
2nd Place	$750	Mark Tom, Chandler, AZ	Midnight Sun Charters	Brian Nollar	269.2lbs
3rd Place	$500	Charles Dearhamer, Bozeman,Mt	Kachemak King Charters	Dave Greiner	253.8 lbs
4th Place	$250	Daniel Knight, Cypress,TX	Daniel’s Personalized Guide Service	Daniel Donich	249.4 lbs
5th Place	$125	Anthony Higgins, Fairbanks	Central Charters	Todd Jackson	238.4 lbs
20th Place	$200	Melissa Gagnon, Homer	private boat	Tracy Clute	32.4 lbs

 

September (Final)

	Prize	Angler	Charter/Boat Name	Skipper	Weight
1st Place	$1,000	Rylie Millspaugh, Homer	Aurora Sportfishing	Mark Millspaugh	289.8 lbs
2nd Place	$750	Michael Mortensen, Mesa, AZ	Aurora Sportfishing	Mark Millspaugh	257.4 lbs
3rd Place	$500	Eugene Lewis , Grass Valley, CA	Silver Fox Charters	Chad Kiesel	240.6 lbs
4th Place	$250	William Moloney, Middle Island, NY	Silver Fox Charters	Chuck Hanshaw	236.4lb
5th Place	$125	Melissa Markese, Trenton, NJ	Capt. Greg’s Charters	Greg Sutter	218.2 lbs
20th Place	$200	Ray Firman, Soldotna	Tacklebuster Charters	Weldon Chivers	19.6 lb

Tagged Fish Caught:
$1,000 tagged fish caught 5-25-05 by Duane Smith of Soldotna. Fish was sponsored by Bob’s Trophy Charters.

$500 tagged fish caught June 6-17-05 by Robert Wharff, Downisville, CA. Fish was sponsored by Kiana B&B.

 $500 fish caught 7-23-05 by Ron Wierzbicki, Anchorage. Fish was sponsored by A-Ward Charter.

David Swantek of Eielson AFB, Fairbanks brought in a $1,000 tagged fish on Aug. 11. Sponsor was Land’s End Resort.

$500 fish caught 9-14-05.  This fish was caught by David Martin of Falls, PA while fishing with Capt. Mike’s Charters on the “Fat Cat”. 

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Released Fish Update: 
96 entries

Last updated 03/17/2008