Photo provided Mike Schlimgen of Molalla, Ore. displays the eight pound flatfish that won him $10,000.

"We have pictures of the other guys up on our wall. It's sort of a wall of shame," said Tina Day, director of the Homer Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the derby. The two unlucky fishermen, Steve Merson of Wisconsin and Justin Hansen of Snohomish, Wash., received a T-shirt and a hat.

Schlimgen, of Molalla, Ore., came into the derby office on the Spit last Thursday as soon as he came in from catching "the big one" near Seldovia Bay, but he wasn't done fishing. After checking in and posing for a photo, he and his brother-in-law Captain Ted Scroggin, of Soldotna, were headed to Whittier to try their luck on Prince William Sound. Sclimgen's check will probably take a few days top get to him, said Day, as it is processed by the chamber's insurance company.

"We're going into our 17th year and no one has ever caught a $10,000 fish," said Day, who noted that having three of them caught in one season is especially lucky.

In April, volunteer crews on local charter boats tagged 140 Kachemak Bay halibut. The chamber paid for their gas and the crews were free to tag fish of any size, as long as they were located in the bay. Six of those tags are worth $10,000 while the rest carry smaller prizes. Only one other ticket-holding angler has even brought in a tagged fish, said Day, and that one was worth $1,000.

If you're wondering whether to head out on Kachemak Bay in search of a $10,000 fish, consider this: there are still three of them left. Just be sure to first stop by the derby office on your way out and pick up a ticket, or you could end up on the wall of shame.