Homer’s Halibut Fun Is Back With Tournament, Festival This Month

The following appears in the June issue of Alaska Sporting Journal:

BY CHRIS COCOLES

Bad luck and bad timing both delayed the debut of Homer’s new-look halibut tournament. But all this month the Kenai Peninsula community will finally host the event and showcase some expected great fishing.

A fixture around Homer for 34 years, the summerlong Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby ended its run in 2019.

“Protecting the (halibut) resources and dwindling interest led to that decision,” says Brad Anderson, executive director of the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center.

Still, the smashing success of the annual Homer Winter King Salmon Tournament (Alaska Sporting Journal, March 2023) was reason enough to try and host another fishing-related event in Homer. But then Covid hit in 2020, which prompted Homer to cancel all of its fishing events, including the Homer Winter King Tournament.

“In 2021, we tried to launch a two-day halibut tournament, but we could not generate enough interest for it, especially because the tourism season took off very quickly in 2021 due to all the cancellations the year before, and locals were just too busy,” Anderson says.

“As Homer is the ‘Halibut Fishing Capital of the World,’ we wanted to try a different approach, so this year we will have a month-long derby,” he adds.

Indeed, what’s now known as the first annual Homer Halibut Derby, coinciding with the Homer Halibut Festival, will run all the way through the month of June, concluding with a grand prize awarded June 30 to the ticket-buying angler who catches the largest halibut.

But as Anderson explains, the fishing is just part of the festivities.

“We certainly hope that the month of June can become a key time to celebrate the importance of halibut to our community. There will actually be three different events happening in June as part of our Homer Halibut Festival,” he says. “The derby will run from June 1-30 and we will have a Summer Solstice Festival on June 21, with live music, deckhand skills competition, food trucks and more.”

BIG FISH, BIG PRIZES

First things first. Anglers wanting to participate need to purchase a $25 daily derby ticket at homerhalibuttournament.com. To be eligible to fish on each specific day, entries must be registered by 8 a.m. The daily weigh-in is at Homer’s Buttwackers Fillet Company, which is located at the top of Ramp 1 behind the Salty Dawg Saloon.

Besides the daily prizes, the lucky angler who brings back one of those famed barn door flatfish will be in line for the big payout. The number of entries will determine the total awarded.

“We also have a prize for a released fish category. If someone catches a halibut measuring 48 inches or more and wants to release it, they can document the catch and release with a time-stamped photo and (have it) witnessed by the boat captain,” Anderson says. “At the end of the month, we will select one of those entries for a $2,000 prize.”

HIGH HOPES FOR GOOD FISHING

Alaska’s halibut season opened on March 10 with the following regulations for charter boat fishing in Southcentral Alaska:

“There is a daily bag limit of two halibut, but one fish must be no greater than 28 inches. All Wednesdays are closed to halibut retention,” NOAA Fisheries Alaska announced in a press release. “Nine Tuesdays (June 20, June 27, July 4, July 11, July 18, July 25, August 1, August 8, August 15) are closed to halibut retention. Charter halibut permits and charter halibut vessels are only authorized to retain halibut on one trip per day.”

And as summer approaches, Anderson is hopeful the month will bring some big bottomfish into the boats.

“Halibut fishing seemed to be improving slightly last year and we hope that continues into this season,” he says. “June is an ideal time to fish for halibut, as there are more openings on fishing charters and the returning migrating fish will be in larger numbers by that time.”

And while more fish will be welcomed, after the Covid cancellations and the ensuing years of events being postponed as things got back to normal, the Homer community hopes this revised halibut celebration can have a positive effect like the winter king salmon event. June isn’t traditionally as busy as the Homer area will be later in the summer, but if the weather is good and the halibut are biting, it could be a great month of fishing and fun.

“We really hope that we can welcome more people to Homer during June, as our peak summer months of July and August have almost all our fishing charters and lodging members at capacity,” Anderson says. “We hope these new events around the Homer Halibut Festival will also be a fun way for our local Alaska residents to have a great time in Homer.” ASJ

Editor’s note: For more on the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center, go to homeralaska.org.