Novice angler catches monster halibut worth £25,000

“Hansel took more than two hours to reel in the 2.5m (8ft 2in) monster of the deep off Bolungarvik, in Iceland’s Western Fjords, where it took five men to eventually haul the 970-portion fish on board. ‘This is the fish I have been fishing for all my life,’ said the 70-year-old German. He used a 30lb line and a plastic lure to snare the halibut. Once he got it alongside their boat, a rope was tied around its tail so it could be hoisted on to the deck.

Herbert Loechel, managing director of the fishing tour operator, said: ‘After the bite, we had to worry that Gunther would land the fish. It took him 135 minutes. ‘But the boat’s crew helped hoist the giant fish, with more anglers on board to help, on to the boat. ‘Back at port, the giant fish was celebrated vigorously.’ The mighty fish has broken all records – beating the previous best by 8.2kg (18lb). The earlier record was held by anglers Bosse Carlsson and Hans-Olov Nilsson, weighing 210kg (464lb), caught off Norway in July 2009.

Atlantic halibut are native to the northern Atlantic ocean, from Greenland to the Barents Sea and as far south as the Bay of Biscay. They can reach up to 5m (15ft) in length, weigh up to 320kg (700lb) and can live for 50 years. Commercial fishing of the Atlantic variety has largely collapsed since overfishing led to it being registered as endangered in 1996.

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