|
|
Tuesday 23rd November 2010
A PENSIONER reeled back the years and defied his age when he landed this world record halibut weighing more than 34 STONE enough for nearly 1,000 fillets.
Super-fit Gunther Hansel, 70, spent more than two hours wrestling with the massive 8ft 2in flatfish after hooking it in an Icelandic fjord with a 30lb line and plastic lure.
Five other men on the fishing boat then helped haul it on board with a rope around its tail.
The monster fish weighed in at a mighty 482lb 13oz a world record that smashed the previous best by 18lb and would have provided 970 fillet portions.
German Gunther, from Magdeburg, near Berlin, sold it for £2,500 at a local fishmarket and split the money with the others on his trip.
He said: "This is the fish I have been fishing for all my life."
Fishing tour operator Herbert Loechel said: "After the bite we had to worry that Gunther would land the fish. It took him 135 minutes.
"But the crew of the boat helped hoist the giant fish with more anglers on board to help it on to the boat.
"Back at port the giant fish was celebrated vigorously."
Atlantic halibut are among the largest bony fish in the world.
They can reach up to 15ft in length and weigh up to 700lb and can live for 50 years.
Their diet is usually other fish like cod, haddock and herring although they are hunted by seals and the Greenland shark.
©Norfolk Fishing Network 2004 - 2024®All Rights Reserved.