By Nella Nelson –
The boats roll in and the anglers step up to the docks with fish carrier bags, very large ones. The scale is set up near the marina dock office. The weigh-in begins. Massive, white, meaty creatures are lifted from the bags and hooked to the scale for their numbers to be read. Cheers and applause rise up from the crowd that gathers around to view the results.
Photo by Scott Estes.
For a second year in a row, the Portside Ventura Harbor Halibut Tournament took place at the beginning of June 2025, and what a success it was! Marina manager, Scott Estes, created the competition with a passion for fishing, boating and bonding the community. Scott built upon the tournament style of the late John Farrell who initially ran the Channel Islands Marina competition in which he participated in the past. Winner takes all once the biggest fish is caught.
This year, Danny Garo made the winning catch at 44.43 lbs. aboard Chuck Hosack’s boat. Shawn Harvey placed second at 36.52. Fishing poles were also raffled off as prizes from a draw.
“The fun part of this tournament is that it’s ‘friendly’,” Scott explained. “There is some money to be won, but most anglers know each other, so the bragging rights are a big part of it.” The biggest challenge tends to be weather. In Ventura, in the spring, participants need to be patient and understand the weather ultimately dictates the tournament dates. Anglers spend Thursday-Sunday at various times, even overnight, to keep their fishing focus going.
Additionally, many sea bass were caught during the tournament, some up to 60 lbs. Rockfish were among the catches, as well. At one point, a shark leapt out of the water and ate most of a halibut in mid-air (as pictured).
With 47 anglers on 12 boats participating this year, there was an 11% increase over last year. Scott plans on continuing the halibut tournament annually.
