Lori Jarvis of Eagle River and Capt. Lloyd Gailey of Knotilus Charters, also of Eagle River, are all smiles over the $10,000 tag found on a halbut caught by Jarvis while fishing with Gailey Monday morning aboard the Knot Yet. Photo by McKibben Jackinsky, Homer News

It wasn't the first time Lori Jarvis of Eagle River has been fishing for halibut. In fact, spending Labor Day weekend fishing out of Homer wasn't how she wanted to spend Labor Day weekend.

Jarvis had her eyes set on Las Vegas.

Thanks to husband, Roy, Jarvis changed her mind and is going home a little richer after hooking into a $10,000 tagged halibut in the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby.

"This was my mini vacation. We never go anywhere," said Jarvis, a childcare provider at Fort Richardson, adding with a smile, "Now I'll never get to Las Vegas."

The couple was fishing in the Compass Rose area, about 23 miles west of Homer, with Capt. Lloyd Gailey of Knotilus Charters aboard the Knot Yet. Jarvis had already told her husband and Gailey that she didn't want to catch anything too big.

"It's too much work," she said of the effort needed to reel in one of the large flat fish from the ocean's depths to the surface.

Fishing in about 140 feet of water, Jarvis got her wish at 10 a.m. Monday. Derby Coordinator Paula Frisinger estimated the halibut weighed less than 25 pounds. In fact, it was so small that Gailey was ready release it before spotting the wire secured in the halibut's jaw. Looking closely, Gailey read the words "Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby," indicating it was one of the tags members of the Homer Chamber of Commerce put on Kachemak Bay halibut prior to the May 1 start of the derby.

Radioing derby headquarters, Gailey asked Frisinger for the tag amount. However, that is information Frisinger is unable to divulge until she sees the tag herself and verifies it is indeed a derby tag for the current year.

After Gailey and Jarvis delivered the fish to derby headquarters, Frisinger was able to identify the tag as one sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank, valued at $10,000.

"Have you ever eaten a $10,000 fish?" Gailey asked Jarvis. "You want to savor every bite."

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.