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July 1, 1999
Web posted at: 9:09 p.m. EDT (0109 GMT)

UNALASKA, Alaska -- Although Scott Cress caught a halibut weighing 427 pounds, he's not eligible for a chance at $3,500 in prize money for the fishing derby because he failed to buy an entry ticket.

The behemoth was hauled in from the Akutan Pass in Alaska while Cress, of Lewiston, Idaho, was fishing from a boat called the Grand Aleutian.

Had Cress spent $7 on a daily derby ticket, he'd have been in the running for the $1,000 prize for the biggest fish of the month and $2,500 for the biggest fish of the year.

Last year's biggest derby catch weighed in at 349 pounds.

Derby official Mike Golat said he doesn't think a 400-pounder has ever won the derby, although several fish that hefty have been caught by people who didn't have tickets, or as was the case this spring, were caught before the derby started June 1.

The world sport record was set in Unalaska in 1996 by Jack Tragis of Fairbanks who caught a 459-pounder. Tragis also did not have a derby ticket. There is a $100,000 prize available to anyone who breaks that record while holding a derby ticket.

CNN affiliate Unalaska Community Broadcasting contributed to this report.

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