VIA – FIELD & STREAM
By Ben Romans
Marco Liebenow, an German angler fishing ocean waters off Norway, has reportedly caught a 513-pound Atlantic halibut—a fish heavy enough to not only best the International Game Fish Association’s (IGFA) current world record for Atlantic halibut by 94 pounds, it could also potentially claim the title for biggest halibut caught on rod and reel—ever.
According to MailOnline.com, Liebenow jokingly said he hooked a submarine when the fish took his bait, but after a 90 minute fight, he and his three friends saw it was indeed a 9-foot long fish—much too large to bring onboard their small boat, so they tied a rope to the tail and towed it shoreside where crane pulled it from the water.
David Bottcher, a representative of the angling company that organized the fishing trip said Liebenow doesn’t speak English, but translated a few thoughts on his behalf.
“It took four men to bring it towards their 19-foot boat and then they could only put a sling around its tail and pull it back to the harbour. Marco was elated afterwards and celebrated with the boat skipper and their housekeeper by having a few beers. Before he left for the trip, he called us first to ask for a few hints about how and where to fish – I guess our advice paid off. It looks like it is a world record for a halibut but we are waiting to have it confirmed.”
Currently, the IGFA maintains two world records for halibut—one for Pacific halibut (459 lbs.) set in 1996, and another for Atlantic halibut (418 lbs.) set in 2004. If approved by the IGFA, Liebenow’s fish could be recognized as the largest halibut every caught by a sport angler.
Liebenow donated the halibut to a local fish dealer.
For the original story go here:
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