Boy’s catch of the day earns him cash to put towards dinghy
SM BAY — One 12-year-old boy is happy he doesn’t have to talk about the one that got away.
Ryan Lambert said he was casting for 30 minutes about a mile offshore of the Malibu coast, near Duke’s restaurant, when he began an eight-minute grudge match this past weekend with a California Halibut measuring 45 inches long.
In the end, he was holding a 36-pound fish he yanked from the Santa Monica Bay with a 12-pound fishing line.
“At first, I thought my line was snagged, then I thought it must have been a ray,” Lambert said. “My arms were sore, but I just kept reeling.
“Then this huge halibut came flopping out of the water,” he added. “It was bigger than some of the kids who go to my school.”
Lambert, a Mar Vista resident who attends Palms Middle School, was participating in the 31st Annual Halibut Derby on Saturday afternoon in Santa Monica Bay with his father, Keith Lambert, and brother, Thomas Lambert, 7, when he felt the tug on his line.
More than 800 anglers competed for a new Toyota Tundra Truck and more than $65,000 in cash and prizes during the weekend fishing contest.
Lambert’s 36-pound halibut did not meet the 55-pound minimum size to qualify to win the truck, but he did collect $450 in cash and a new rod and reel set, according to Marina del Rey Anglers, who sponsor the derby.
Lambert said he will put his winnings towards the dinghy for which he has been saving. Although young, Lambert is considered a veteran angler and tournament winner, fishing since he was 3 years old and taking home his first trophy by the age of 4.
Lambert said he will have plenty of fish to eat in coming weeks.
“We’re going to make halibut shish kebab and take it to a school event on April 8,” Lambert said.
John Romanak from Los Angeles took first place for the adults, capturing a 32.9-pound halibut, winning a one-week fishing vacation to Punta Colorada in Baja California. announced Lambert was the overall winner of last weekend’s Halibut Derby, although he and Romanak shared top honors.
Other young winners included Carlos Burkett of Hesperia, who caught a 12.9-pound halibut and won $270, and Janae Samano of La Habra, who weighed in a 7.9-pound fish for a $180 cash prize. The Marina del Rey Halibut Derby is the oldest and largest fishing tournament on California’s coast. The Derby is operated by volunteers from the Marina del Rey Anglers fishing club and from the community.
All funds from event entry fees go to supporting the Marina del Rey Anglers’ kids fishing program and its Ocean Resources Enhancement Program, which has reared and released more than 55,000 juvenile white seabass into Santa Monica Bay since its founding in 1994.
Lambert said he asked his father to help him reel in his catch, but his father refused.
“He said, ‘No, this is your fish,’” Lambert recalled. “Looking back, I’m thankful he made me reel it in myself.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 5, 2005. Read the original PDF.