"You bet it was worth the trip," he said.

Hanks caught his 352.6-pound winning halibut aboard Falcon Charters on June 29. Since that day, he has been watching the derby closely from home.

"I knew exactly when they updated the Web site," he said.

The monster flatfish was the second 300-plus pounder Hanks has caught in Alaska.

Five years ago he caught one in Sitka.

"It was a fluke deal," he said.

"I was on a bear hunt and had one day left, so I went out and caught a 300-pounder," he said. "It was a lot of fun, but there was no derby."

Hanks regularly travels to Alaska and has already booked his trip for next year.

Derby coordinator Linda Winters said 2004 was a record year for the Jackpot.

With tickets priced at $10 each, the chamber grossed $186,540. After handing out the jackpot and several other prizes, the derby raised more than $70,000 for the chamber, she said.

The chamber sold more tickets this year than in any of the other 19 years of the derby.

"The weather really helped this year," she said. "And the fires up north seemed to drive people down."

Tim Brewis, who is from the United Kingdom, won $10,000 for the released fish prize. Four prize-winning tagged fish were caught throughout the year for a total of $2,500.

Capt. Tony Arsenault won the captain's prize of $4,664 for bringing Hanks out to the fish.

Donna Graham sold the winning ticket to Hanks and earned $1,000.

Hanks said he'll probably buy another derby ticket when he comes up next year.

"I've bought one every time," he said. "It's foolish not to."

Ben Stuart can be reached at ben.stuart@homernews.com.