David Jamison of Fairbanks is a speech pathologist who said he was anything but speechless when he started reeling in a 253 pound halibut that catapulted him to the lead in the Valdez Halibut Derby. “We have a video on YouTube of me catching the fish and I was cursing the whole time”. Jamison said. He said the day started slow. They were catching rockfish and just about to move to another spot when the big one hit his line. His reaction when he got the fish in the boat “Thank God it’s Done”. “It took a while to pull up” Jamison said “It was fun. Chris (boat captain) was the only one cheering me on. Everyone else in the boat was telling me it was a skate.
Jamison said he didn’t realize how big the prize was in the Halibut Derby until he got back to Port. He said he purchased the derby ticket because you never know if you’re going to pull in a big one. When asked what he would do with the $15,000 grand prize if he held on through the end of the Halibut Derby September 4th, he said he would probably come back to Valdez to do more fishing. Jamison caught his fish May 29th aboard theNanatuk. He won the weekly 1st place prize for his efforts and will be watching the standings for the next few months.
