Levasseur's halibut weighed 364 pounds, a whopping 110 pounds more than Mark Sams' previous derby leader, caught July 16.

Among Southcentral derby fish, only the 376-pounder that won the 25-year-old Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby for Minnesota angler Jerry Meinders in 1996 weighed more. The previous Valdez Derby record was a 343-pounder.

Fishing 170 feet deep in the Gulf of Alaska, some 100 miles out of Valdez, Levasseur hooked his fish early in the morning on a jig with herring. There was no mistaking what he had.

"A monster," said Levasseur, a retired state Department of Transportation worker who's lived in Valdez 36 years.

"It took off on a long run, and got tangled up in the rocks," Levasseur said. "But I gave rod a jerky motion and got it loose."

Then came the grueling routine of pulling as hard a possible to gain perhaps an inch or three. This continued more than an hour.

"I'm no spring chicken," said Levasseur, 58. "My arms are just shaking."

He ended up trying a technique he learned tuna fishing in the Pacific. Using the rail as a fulcrum, Levasseur and his four shipmates took turns trying to apply pressure and gain line without collapsing in exhaustion.

"The four of us, we worked our butts off," he said.

According to Valdez derby rules: "Assistance may be provided for halibut."

Finally, a dark shadow approached from the deep that was so big even a veteran Alaska halibut angler like Levasseur was stunned for a moment.

"It just looked huge," he said. "I told my buddy, who's a big strong guy, get a harpoon in it."

The halibut didn't appreciate that.

"The fish went berserk," Levasseur said. "It snapped that 100-pound PowerPro (line) like it was a thread."

The harpoon soon started to pull out, so a second harpoon went in. Finally, a gunshot dispatched the fish, which measured 7 feet, 7 inches long. Four men pulling simultaneously barely got the fish's head onto the deck of the Lisa Michelle. The rest of the body followed.

"I've done a lot of fishing," Levasseur said, "and that was the most exciting moment of any fishing trip I've been on."

Not to mention productive. In addition to Levasseur's monster, halibut weighing 142, 125 and 100 pounds were landed the same day. A triple of three-digit fish is rare enough for a small boat; a quadruple is even more unusual.

Word got out quickly and, by the time the Lisa Michelle was back at port, a small crowd had gathered.

"A lot of people wanted to have their picture taken with it," said Bonnie Woods, manager of the derby's weigh-in station. "I was excited I was the one who go to weigh it."

Her scale, fortunately, went to 500 pounds.

"I asked him, 'What's your guess, George?' and he said 360," Woods reported. "So that's quite a guess."

Now he must wait until the derby ends Sept. 5 to see if his fish proves large enough to earn Levasseur the $20,000 first-place price. Even if he doesn't, he knows what it takes to land such a heavyweight.

"Everything has to work right," he said. "Everything has to go right."

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

Seminar Blueberry festival