Only one of the last eight Homer Jackpot Halibut Derbies has ended with the winning flatfish registering less than 340 pounds, the longest stretch of consistently huge fish since the derby began in 1986.

And none of those eight were bigger than Thomas Youngblood's 355-pound winner last year that earned the Homer angler $40,440.

The summer-long pursuit starts again Saturday when the 25th Homer derby kicks off in Kachemak Bay, launching a string of Southcentral fishing derbies that will continue through September.

Anglers are ready -- 212 days have passed since the last Homer Halibut Derby boat tied up on Sept. 30, the tournament's final day last year.

"I'm very, very hopeful this year," said Paula Frisinger, derby coordinator for the Homer Chamber of Commerce. "Last year was a little down, and a lot of it had to do with our economy. It certainly wasn't because of our weather, which was gorgeous most of the summer."

Youngblood, 73, yanked in his monster flatfish June 26 and was not challenged the rest of the summer, becoming the fourth hometown angler to win the derby.

"It's great when you get a local -- a man who loves fishing in the first place and works in a place that's all about fishing," Frisinger said.

Amen, said Ron Hurley, a friend of Youngblood's and the skipper of Sweet-T with In-2-Fishin Charters, which landed the monster fish.

"It was almost like we were rock stars here in town," Hurley said. "Everybody thought it was the greatest thing. Everybody in town knew about it. I've got a lot of customers from out of state, and I kept hearing from them."

For the six people on board, Youngblood's bounty provided a filet bonanza, too -- 175 pounds apiece.

"I gave most of it away," Youngblood said. "But I've still got the cheeks. They weighed about 5 pounds each."

And even as the meat disappears, the memories linger.

"It was the absolute highlight of my career," said Hurley, while also acknowledging, "It was a fluke."

That's because the Sweet-T began the day going after king salmon before deciding the try halibut at a place where Hurley had seldom seen big ones. No more.

"It's easily the biggest halibut I've seen in my life," said Hurley, who fished for them commercially before opening his charter business.

Fishing in 80 feet of water near Point Adam, Youngblood and Hurley were angling during the sweet spot of the halibut season. Of the 24 winners since the Homer derby began in 1986, 17 have been landed between June 10 and July 28. Six were caught in August, one in May. A winner has never been landed in September.

For the last eight years, the winner-take-all prize at the end of the derby has exceeded $40,000 -- though Youngblood's check for $40,440 was 21 percent lower than Don Hanks derby-record $51,298 in 2004.

But there are other ways of earning cash beyond catching the summer's biggest fish.

Dozens of tagged fish are the bay and beyond, including six with $10,000 tags. There are monthly winners and winners among women and children. Catch a halibut with both eyes on left side and you might win $300.

But anglers looking to play the odds couldn't do better than $1,000 monthly prize (and a year-end prize of $5,000 at the end of the derby) for halibut weighing more than 60 pounds that are released.

Last May, Dave Nollar of Homer topped just four other anglers to win the released-halibut prize. Fellow Homer angler Teresa Hurley had even better odds in September, when she bested one other angler to earn the prize.

In fishing, especially derby fishing, timing is everything. Nobody knows that better than Ron Broste of Homer, who was among the anglers catching halibut to be tagged last week.

Broste pulled up a 20-pounder that already seemed to be adorned. Sure enough, the flatfish had an expired $10,000 tag from the 2009 derby.

"I tagged him into my frying pan is what I did," Broste said.

Reach reporter Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.