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Dana Point, California— January 25h, 2023 — Halibut Derby Update :
For the last 15 years Dana Wharf Sportfishing has run its annual Halibut Derby. We have seen some amazing fishing over the years. However, over the last two years and again this year we’ve seen a dramatic decline in the number of halibut caught during our drift trips. As a result of this we have decided to cancel the 2023 Halibut Derby.
As such, there were many factors to consider before we made this decision. First and foremost is the shift in the amount of fish in our zone. We just don’t have the amount of halibut here in catchable numbers as we’ve seen in years past. We’ve spent many trips this year and last year where we didn’t catch fish and we see the same patterns are present this year too.
We have many wonderful anglers that have become part of our Halibut Derby family. Without them we couldn’t have seen the success over the years of the derby. We thank you for your diligent participation and we value your contribution and efforts towards the derby. Again, without your support and diehard dedication we could not have had the same success in years past.
Lastly we owe a huge thank you to our Halibut Derby sponsors. Without prizes and giveaways for our participants we wouldn’t have had the tremendous support of our anglers. Every single sponsor stepped up and provided us with the absolute best possible prizes and products to give to our winners. We thank you all, Daiwa , Costa Del Mar, Fishworks Products, BD Outdoors, Hogan’s Bait & Tackle, Wind n Sea Restaurant and Western Outdoor News. Your years of Halibut Derby support has been amazing.
As we roll through different cycles it is our hope we can once again get the Halibut Derby back online. But again until then, we thank all involved for your tremendous support! We hope you will join us for our many other many other trips
Thank you ,
Donna Kalez , Captain and crews
Dana Wharf Sportfishing
2022 – Jonathan Sterling- 27 lbs 10oz
2021 – Frank Sahanas – 24 lbs 10oz
2020 – Cher Owens – 22 lbs
2019 – Brian Dancer – 26.1 lbs
2018 – David Sluder – 36.9 lbs
2017 – David Mendez – 32 lbs
2016 – Jerry Boston – 23.5 lbs
2015 – Norm Bell – 21.14 lbs
2014 – Stephen Green – 40.11 lbs
2013 – Mark Piercy – 37.5 lbs
2012 – Peggy Stein – 43.10 lbs ***still largest fish ever in the derby
2011 – Mike Knudtson – 43.08 lbs
2010 – Paul Pappas – 31.14 lbs
2009 – Jerry Vyhnis – 32.2 lbs
2022 – Jonathan Sterling- 27 lbs 10oz
2021 – Frank Sahanas – 24 lbs 10oz
2020 – Cher Owens – 22 lbs
2019 – Brian Dancer – 26.1 lbs
2018 – David Sluder – 36.9 lbs
2017 – David Mendez – 32 lbs
2016 – Jerry Boston – 23.5 lbs
2015 – Norm Bell – 21.14 lbs
2014 – Stephen Green – 40.11 lbs
2013 – Mark Piercy – 37.5 lbs
2012 – Peggy Stein – 43.10 lbs ***still largest fish ever in the derby
2011 – Mike Knudtson – 43.08 lbs
2010 – Paul Pappas – 31.14 lbs
2009 – Jerry Vyhnis – 32.2 lbs
At the end of the derby, the top 5 anglers who catch the largest halibut (by weight) will receive the top 5 Cash Prizes – 1st place $1500, 2nd place $750 , 3rd Place $500 , 4th Place $250, and 5th Place $100
$500 cash prize will go to the winner of the Dana Wharf Halibut Derby Fish Off on Sunday, April 11, 2021 The Fish Off will be a free trip for the top 25 anglers who catch the top 25 halibut (by weight) during the Halibut Derby.
Each month of the derby the angler who catches the largest halibut that month, will win a $100 Dana Wharf Gift Card and a Daiwa rod/reel combo package, Plus prizes from Hogan’s Bait and Tackle, Fishworks, Costa Sunglasses and Wind and Sea Restaurant . An overall value of $1000!
Every angler entered in the Derby that catches a Halibut 15lbs or larger will win a $65 gift box filled with prizes from BD OUTDOORS. (Gift box will be mailed to the angler.)
Each Drift Day every angler will be entered in a raffle to win a $50 gift card to Dana Wharf to be used towards trips or merchandise (excludes Halibut Derby)
Each Drift Day the JACKPOT winner for the day with the biggest halibut will receive a free HALIBUT DERBY shirt from Dana Wharf
The Dana Wharf Halibut Derby Fish-Off will be a FREE trip for the top 20 anglers who catch the top 20 halibut (by weight) between November 1st, 2021 and March 27, 2022. The trip will be rescheduled if there is poor weather.
This seems to be a pretty popular setup among our anglers. There are quite a few variations of this setup. I prefer the reverse dropper loop setup with a 3 or 4 oz. torpedo sinker. This means short sinker leader with a longer 24 leader to the hook. The stinger hook set up is probably the best. Snell in a regular 1/0 hook about 10• from the end of the leader (this distance really depends on the size of the bait that is being used). Then tie a treble hook on the tag end of the leader to act as the stinger hook. You then hook the 1/0 hook through the nose of the bait and the treble hook down by the anal fin of the bait with 2 of the 3 hooks exposed. A vast majority of the halibut I’ve seen caught have jus the stinger hook in its mouth. Pretty effective.
Drifting is typically the best “method” as you can cover some water. But you can, however, have some success if you have this type of setup and try fishing different areas of the boat and not just fishing in the same spot on the boat.
This picture shows all kinds of crazy stuff like swivels and beads. There are now 3 line connections that can fail. It’s not really necessary. Some people swear by it, I think if you can tie a decent knot on your dropper loop than a swivel is not necessary. If you feel more comfortable with tying the same knot on all the connections to the swivel then go for it. It’s all preference.
~ Brian (Capt. Of the Sum Fun)
2021 HALIBUT DERBY GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Frank Sahanas!
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