Anchorage Daily News

The richest Alaska fishing derby in three years has made Jeff Pardi of San Rafael, Calif., a successful and wealthy angler.

Pardi on Wednesday was officially declared winner of the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby for the 348-pound monster he landed July 9 in the Gulf of Alaska with Keith Kalke of Ocean Hunter Charters.

No other angler came close, and Pardi will receive a check of more than $45,000, based on more than 18,100 derby tickets sold since the derby started May 1, according to Paula Frisinger of the Homer Chamber of Commerce.

That in itself was noteworthy. During a summer of lousy weather with gas prices well over $4 a gallon, many wondered if fishing derbies such as Homer's would take a hit.

The opposite happened. Ticket sales were up nearly 3,400 from 2007 and 3,700 from 2006.

While the exact amount of Pardi's prize is still being dertermined, there's no doubt it'll be a nice bump up from the $37,243 Jerry Saunders of Chugiak collected for his 358-pounder last year.

Homer's top prize of all time was the $51,298 that Don Hanks of Sparks, Nev., earned in 2004 for his 353-pounder.

When Pardi's halibut struck on that fateful July day, the Californian was thinking more about pain than money.

"It was an hour and 15 minutes of hell," he said. "I was pretty beat afterward."

And thrilled.

Not only did Pardi reel in a huge fish to earn a boatload of money. He did it on what was supposed to be a lingcod trip, in shirtsleeves, on a gorgeous day with flat seas.

The fish made Pardi the fourth California winner -- only Alaska, which has racked up 11 of the 23 derby winners, has more.

It also put Pardi in fifth place on the all-time derby list. Jerry Meinders of Minnesota holds the record for the biggest derby winner, a 376-pounder caught in 1996.

"In order to catch a fish like that that wins the derby, everything's got to be in play and line up," Pardi said. "There's like 10 different factors, and everything has to be right ."

The first factor is where to fish.

Kalke pinpointed a sandy pinnacle about 50 miles off the Homer shoreline that's known for abundant lingcod and an occasional trophy-size halibut.

"Captains know the backside of pinnacles have at least one hog," Kalke said. "So I tell clients, when you're fishing for lings, buy a derby ticket."

That may have been Kalke's best advice of all, particularly during a year when two anglers without derby tickets landed tagged halibut worth $10,000 (another who purchased a ticket, Mike Schlimgen of Oregon, scored with his tagged fish).

"He was awesome, top-notch," Pardi said of Kalke. "I fished with him last year too, and I definitely hit a gold mine."

Only 45 minutes after Pardi dropped his jig 150 feet to the sea bottom, something massive struck the end of his line.

The halibut stripped yard after yard of Pardi's 100-pound-test line. But the 34-year-old braced himself against the railing and steadily cranked.

"He was glued to the gunwale," said Kalke, a five-year captain who would soon witness the biggest halibut a client of his has ever caught.

When the halibut surfaced, Kalke shot it with a slug, but it still took three gaffs and three anglers to haul the lunker onboard. Laying flat on the deck, everyone thought the fish was dead. Then it started thrashing and all six clients found a safe corner to hide -- all except Pardi.

"Jump on it! Jump on it!" Kalke yelled to Pardi.

He obeyed the captain's orders and gave the halibut a few good whacks.

Once they reached the Homer harbor, they put the big fish on the ground and Pardi couldn't help but jump on the eight-foot halibut again. But this time, he gave it a giant hug.

"I guess you'd say I was laying with the fishes," he said. "Just like 'The Godfather.' "

Given his winnings and the joy that winning the derby has provided, Pardi bought a ticket for a return visit to Alaska for the Oct. 11 Derby Jackpot Jamboree to collect his check in person.

Because of the shaky national economy, Pardi said he's going to invest some of his earnings. But he also paid for his friend Casey Walters' trip to Alaska with him this summer, bought another Alaska fishing trip for next summer and will take a tuna fishing trip in Mexico.

"The economy may be in trouble, but I love duck hunting and fishing," he said. "Whatever you love to do, you gotta do it."

And what became of the 348-pound fish?

"It's in the stomachs of just about everybody I know, and I'm eating it about six times a week," Pardi said.

Daily News reporter Kevin Klott contributed to this report.

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