Another monster halibut

The other day we shared a story about a Virginia angler who ate the dislodged eyeball of one halibut, for good luck, then hooked and boated a 279-pound barn-door halibut to take the overall lead in the annual Homer (Alaska) Jackpot Halibut Derby, which runs through Sept. 30 in the coastal hamlet.

Well, on Wednesday a Northern California angler reeled in the whole side of the barn. Jeff Pardi of San Rafael was fishing for lingcod aboard the Ocean Hunter when he hooked and landed, after an hourlong battle, a 348.2-pound halibut, vaulting him into the derby's lead.

Last year, the derby paid more than $40,000 to the winner, whose halibut weighed 358.4 pounds. Just how big to these behemoths get? The all-tackle, world-record Pacific halibut is a 459-pound specimen hauled from the depths of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, in 1996.

—Pete Thomas

Photo of Jeff Pardi courtesy of Homer Chamber of Commerce