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# Local man reels in record catch
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/local-man-reels-in-record-catch/
- Published: 2002-04-29T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:15:35.000Z
- Author: Andrew Fixmer
- Tags: Business, Pier, #archive-import

A Santa Monica man won a pick-up truck for reeling in one of the largest halibut ever caught in the Santa Monica Bay.

Mannie Mendelson, who is part-owner of the Santa Monica Pier Bait and Tackle, was given the ceremonial keys to his new Ford F-10 truck Friday outside his tackle shop at the end of the Santa Monica Pier.

Mendelson won the vehicle for catching a 44.7-pound, 47 inch-long Halibut — one of the largest ever recorded out of Santa Monica Bay.

He caught the fish earlier this month as a contestant in the annual Marina del Rey Halibut Derby. He also took $900 in prize money and received a five-day trip to Mexico that includes a fishing excursion.

“That’s going to be a fun trip,” Mendelson said. “We get to take a boat way out in the ocean. You can catch some good stuff down there.”

During the derby, Mendelson and his friend Mark Hruby were fishing off The fishing had been pretty slow, and the pair was quickly running out of bait when Mendelson directed the boat to a familiar spot about a half-mile from of the Marina del Rey breakwater.

Using a large sardine attached to 20-pound fishing line, Mendelson cast one last time before the pair was going to head back.

Suddenly, at about 11:30 a.m. the line snapped. Judging by the tension on the line and from the resistance in the reel, Mendelson knew right away he had a good-sized fish on his hands.

The fish backed down quickly — Mendelson pulled it in the boat in about 10 minutes. Hruby clubbed it and helped his friend pull it aboard.

“Instead of hooking it in the mouth, I had hooked it on the stomach,” Mendelson said. “Then it came up to float toward the end (of reeling it in).”

Knowing they had a record catch on their hands, the pair quickly headed to the weighing station back on shore.

“You should have seen it.” Mendelson said. “It was as thick as a coke can.”

Mendelson said the fish is currently in a deep freeze and will stay that way until he can take it to a taxidermist. He plans to hang the mounted fish on his wall.

In the past four years, Burch Ford of La Habra has promised anglers competing in the annual Marina del Rey Halibut Derby that anyone pulling in a fish more than 43 pounds would win a brand new truck.

This year was the first time the feat had been accomplished. The Ford dealership plans to be back next year with the same offer, but this time the weight requirement might be a bit higher.

“No one did it until me,” said Mendelson, grinning ear to ear Friday. “It’s been sitting there for four years, and every year we kept telling ourselves next year the truck would be ours.”

> “No one did it until me.” — — MANNIE MENDELSON

Mendelson gave the truck to his mother, who is going to trade it in for a Ford Excursion. The real vehicle won’t be ready for a few more weeks. But on Friday, Mendelson was at least ceremonially given his grand prize.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/042902-02_01.jpg)

resident Mannie Mendelson stands proudly with a 44- pound halibut he caught in the bay, the largest on record. (Photo: Photo courtesy Santa Monica)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 29, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/042902.pdf?ref=smdp.com)