Quebec Ice Fisherman Catches Titanic 150-pound Halibut
OutdoorHub Reporters 02.23.16
Can you imagine the hole you need to cut for this monster? An ice fisherman in Quebec, Canada caught a large, estimated 150-pound Atlantic halibut after more than two hours of fighting on Saturday. The fish came from Baie des Ha! Ha!, a strangely-named cove off the Saguenay River.
“We are used to catching fish that are a maximum 10 to 12 pounds,” Charles Gagnon-Brassard, the angler who had the honor of catching the fish, told the CBC. “So once it passes 50, 60, 70 pounds, the force is unimaginable.”
Gagnon-Brassard says he brought the fish to the hole no less than five times during the fight, but each time until the last, the massive fish fought its way back down. You can watch a portion of the fight below:
La Baie, Saguenay. Sur la glace de La Baie secteur Grande-Baie, Un poisson record de plus de 150 Lbs à été remis à l`eau avec succès à la suite d`un combat Mémorable sur La Glace de La Baie. Photo à suivre! Félicitation à Charles Gagnon Brassard de La Baie pour son exploit! C`est un record pour cette espèce dans le Fjord Saguenay.
Posted by Accommodation des 21 on Saturday, February 20, 2016
Gagnon-Brassard said he released the halibut after a quick round of photos. The angler says he is more than happy to let the fish go and perhaps one day, be caught by another angler. That day may come sooner than he thought—the news of the giant halibut drew lots of attention to the area and local bait shops say they saw an uptick in business. For now, anglers believe the halibut may be a record for the cove, although halibut catches have not been well-documented in the area.
While Gagnon-Brassard’s fish may be big, it is still a far cry from the world record. That belongs to a 418-pound, 13-ounce halibut caught by Thomas Nielsen in Norway more than a decade ago. An even larger 515-pound halibut was also reportedly caught in Norway in 2013.
