Whopping 513-pound Halibut Caught off Norway, Potential World Record
OutdoorHub Reporters 08.19.13
A German angler might have a place in the record books after a fishing trip to Norway landed him an Atlantic halibut of mammoth proportions. The angler, Marco Liebenow, fought the fish for nearly 90 minutes from his small boat near Kjollefjord, Norway. According to The Daily Mail, the German angler joked to friends that he must have hooked a submarine.
At 513 pounds, the massive halibut is no joke. It may in fact displace the previous rod-and-reel record of 419 pounds held for Atlantic halibut. In order for the fish to be considered for a record, however, it must be weighed and documented on land. It took four men to attach a sling around the fish’s tail and tow it back to shore. There, the anglers employed a crane to haul the halibut out of the water. The meat was then distributed between the anglers and the majority was donated to charity.
The fishing trip was organized by Angelreisen Hamburg, who Liebenow consulted with on how and where to fish for halibut. The angler has since submitted an application to the International Game Fish Association and is awaiting a response. In May, another German angler fishing in Norwegian waters also made a potential world record catch. Michael Eisele’s staggering 103-pound cod outweighed the previous record by only five pounds, and it has already earned a spot for display at a local museum.
