Halibut Fishing in the
Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby

Derby Winners 2004

Final!  2004 Jackpot Winner takes home $51,298

2004 Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby Results

1. Don Hanks, Sparks, NV                     352.6lbs

2. Richard Brown, Waynesville, MO        334.4 lbs

3. Wayne Estabrook, Springfield, OR      318.4 lbs.

4. Betsy Sharp, Fairbanks, AK               317.0 lbs

5. Lee Pedersen, Homer, AK                  292.0 lbs

Tagged fish ($500 to $10,000) caught  ( see below)

It’s been a long wait but Don Hanks of Sparks, Nevada has been patient and persistent. On June 29 Don caught the jackpot winning fish which weighed 352.6 lbs. Others challenged him over the summer but none of them quite made it . Now he is the Jackpot winner of over $51,298 . Don  returned to Homer for the October 8 Awards Party to claim his prize and celebrate with the supporters of the Homer derby.

On June 29  Don was fishing on the “Falcon” with Captain Tony Arsenault. Tony told everyone, “10 more minutes of fishing and we need to leave”. Don still had one to catch for his limit. Then his line went tight. He thought he’d snagged the bottom but then it started moving. “At first I thought it was a skate, but Tony said it wasn’t acting like a skate”. Don just kept reeling and pretty soon it surfaced and they knew they had a very big halibut. As captain of the boat, Tony wins the captain’s prize which will be around $4,664. Another lucky winner on June 29 was Donna Graham of Homer who sold the winning ticket to Don. She receives $1,000.

The jackpot prize reached a record amount this year - $51,298  due to an increase in ticket sales over the summer of 2004. The jackpot is based on the number of tickets sold and has gradually been growing over the past years. In 2004 over 18,500 tickets were sold. There are also monthly big fish prizes, a released fish prize, a cash drawing for all participants, and over 100 tagged fish with values of $500-$10,000. Four prize winning tagged fish were caught for a total of $2500.

The released fish prize of $10,000 went to Tim Brewis of Yorkshire, England. The $2,000 cash drawing went to Marcia Endo Kewadin, Michigan. The ticket vendor winner for the round trip tickets to Hawaii was Capt. Mike's Charters.

The annual derby awards party was Friday, October 8 from 6-8 pm at the Homer Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center on the Sterling Highway.  There was a recap of the derby, dinner by Don Jose’s, prize drawings, prize awards, and a raffle.
 

2004 Jackpot Leader

	Prize	Angler	Charter/Boat Name	Skipper	Weight
1st Place	$51,100	Don Hanks  Sparks, Nevada	Falcon Charters	Tony Arsenault	352.6 lbs

May (Final)

	Prize	Angler	Charter/Boat Name	Skipper	Weight
1st Place	$1,000	Orman Marquarot  Homer, AK	Capt. Scott’s Sportfishing	Scott Glosser	203.6lbs
2nd Place	$750	Aprelle McCarty, Homer	Halibut Hunters Charters	Tom Bunnell	202lbs
2nd Place Tie		Mark Clark Sutton, AK	Capt. Mike’s Charters	Mike Huff	202lbs
4th Place	$250	Eric Paulin  Bridgeport, IL	Silver Fox Charters	Chad Kiesel	170.2lbs
5th Place	$125	Mary Lou Jones  Deckerville, MI	Homer Ocean Charters	Glain Cook	167.2lbs

June (Final)

	Prize	Angler	Charter/Boat Name	Skipper	Weight
1st Place	$1,000	Robert Richter, Huntington Beach, CA	Homer Ocean Charters	Dave Hillstrand	283.4lbs
2nd Place	$750	Richard Back, Wasilla, AK	Inlet Charters	Phil Warren	259lbs
3rd Place	$500	Alex Rehmar, New Albany, OH	Bob’s Trophy Charters	Jordan Keinz	257lbs
4th Place	$250	Jeff Klein, Brainerd, MN	Central Charters	Todd Jackson	250lbs
5th Place	$125	LeRoy Miller, Fruitland, ID	North Country Charters	Joe Svymbersky	240.6 lbs

July ( Final)

	Prize	Angler	Charter/Boat Name	Skipper	Weight
1st Place	$1,000	Richard Brown, Waynesville, MO	Homer Ocean Charters	Marcel Bourgeois	334.4lbs
2nd Place	$750	Lee Pedersen, Homer	Norm’s Saltwater Adventures	Norm Anderson	292lbs
3rd Place	$500	Tyson Clark, Missoula, MT	Aurora Sportfishing	Mark Millspaugh	288.4lbs
4th Place	$250	Carri Ann Pratt, Anchorage	Alaska Big Game Adventures	Ron Mitchell	269.4lbs
5th Place	$125	Donna Hall, Homer, AK	Custom Small Party Charters	Dan Cole	248lbs

August (Final)

	Prize	Angler	Charter/Boat Name	Skipper	Weight
1st Place	$1,000	Wayne Estabrook, Springfield,OR	Halibut Hunter Charters	Tom Bunnell	318.4 lb
2nd Place	$750	Betsy Sharp, Fairbanks, AK	Time Out Charters	Dave Cloud	317lbs
3rd Place	$500	David Croft, San Diego, CA	Obsession Sportfishing	Larry Croft	280.2 lbs
4th Place	$250	William Collins, Rhodesdale, MD	Kachemak King Sportfishing	Dave Greiner	264.6 lbs
5th Place	$125	Tom Seals, Sparta, IL	Alaska Adventure Fishing Charters	Doug Judge	254.6lbs

 

September (Final)

	Prize	Angler	Charter/Boat Name	Skipper	Weight
1st Place	$1,000	Jon Prazen, Fritz Creek, AK	Magic Waters Charters	Peter Karwowski	222.8 lbs
2nd Place	$750	Michael Knox, Beaumont, TX	Captain  Scott Sportfishing	Scott Glosser	178 lbs
3rd Place	$500	Travis Webb, Willow, AK	Crystal Sea Charters	Steve Button	170 lbs
4th Place	$250	Walter Ossanna, Bondurant, WY	Captain  Scott Sportfishing	Scott Glosser	142.6 lbs
5th Place	$125	Brian Hauschild, Winchester, VA	Captain  Scott Sportfishing	Scott Glosser	138.4 lbs

Tagged Fish Caught:
1 . $500 fish caught by Tom Pickworth of Wasilla, AK on 8-20-04 fishing on a private boat.
2. $500 fish caught by John Lusk, Olympia, WA on 8-27-04 fishing on the “Pacific Sun”, Capt. Joe Svymbersky, North Country Charters.
3. $1,000 fish caught by Dee Anderson of Anchorage on 9-5-04 fishing on a private boat.
4.  $500 fish caught by Thomas Rushing of Oklahoma on 9-7-04 fishing with Bob’s Trophy Charters

Released Fish Update: 
76  Entries
 Prize of $10,000 went to Tim Brewis of Yorkshire, England

Last updated 03/17/2008