Derby News - Week 2, 2009

Fairbanks Angler Catches 275.6 Pound Halibut Sunday

VALDEZ – Marvin Ray Williams was all business as he answered questions from the media and waited on the dock for weigh-in clerk Bonnie Woods to count down the seconds it takes to deem the weight of a halibut in the Valdez Halibut Derby official. When Woods announced a weight of 275.6 pounds, Williams began to smile. And the smile remained as the docks filled with people. In fact, one tourist coming down to the docks to see what the commotion was all about said she immediately knew who caught the big fish by the smile on his face.

Shortly after bringing the fish in, word spread there was another large halibut coming to Port Valdez. Williams smiled as John Pare of Valdez wheeled his fish past Williams as it was clearly not as big as the one he had just weighed. Pare’s fish was not big enough to make William’s fame short-lived, but it was 203.2 pounds, big enough to put him in 2nd place in the overall standings. Mike McDaneld of Wasilla is currently in 3rd place overall with the 201.9 pound halibut caught he caught aboard the Dawn Treader June 6th.

As Williams waited on the dock, he reeled off the list of fish that had won the Valdez derby weighing less than the mammoth halibut he had just caught aboard the Otter Dodger. Williams is employed by the Department of Defense and had driven a bunch of military members from Fort Wainwright to Valdez to fish for halibut. And while many of the military fishing Sunday were not familiar with the Valdez Fish Derbies, Williams watches it very closely. “I watch it every year”, Williams said. “I know about the $15,000 first place prize and I know that this fish could win it”.

Captain of the Otter Dodger Dennis Petre was tired but happy upon returning to the port and when asked what the secret to catching a big fish was he said, “It’s just a matter of luck. We were catching rock fish by the bucket loads, then this happened to be in there with the rock fish. We actually had another one on and didn’t get it in. It’s the right place at the right time, a little bit of luck and always buy a derby ticket”. Williams echoed Petre’s sentiments about buying a derby ticket and said he was glad he had one the minute he hooked into the big one.

“I knew it was a good one as soon as I hooked it”, Williams said. “When I finally got it in the boat, I think the other people on the boat were more excited than I was”. Williams said the fish went immediately into the fish hold, but he had to admit he peeked in there twice on the way back. When asked whether he would sit at home and check the valdezfishderbies.com website for updates, he remarked, “No, I’m going fishing”.

A 275.6 pound halibut stands a great chance of winning the weekly prize and a decent chance of winning the overall derby, but Williams will have to go fishing and catch another big one sometime between June 11th through 21st to win all the prizes in the halibut derby this year. The Halibut Hullabaloo tournament is set for that time and the angler catching the largest halibut will take home two round-trip tickets anywhere Alaska Airlines flies. When asked whether he thought he could catch another big one, Williams calmly responded “Of course”, then smiled.

McDaneld is the weekly 1st place winner and Neil Shallock of Crandon, Wisconsin captured the 2nd place weekly prize with the 156.1 pound halibut he caught June 5th. The Valdez Halibut Derby week starts Sunday and ends Saturday night, so both Williams and Pare will have to wait until Saturday, June 13th to see if their fish holds on to win a weekly prize and until September 6th to see if they win the big money. Read more derby news