On August 18, 2016, a 102-pound Atlantic halibut was landed aboard OTW contributor Captain Rich Antonino’s Black Rose fishing out of Plymouth, Massachusetts. According to Capt. Antonino’s facebook post, an angler named “Kay” landed the fish on a light Okuma Azores jigging rod with Cedros reel. Antonino thought she was battling a porbeagle shark right up until the moment he saw the shape of the big halibut next to the boat.
It appears that 2016 will go down as the summer of the Atlantic halibut in Massachusetts Bay waters. More halibut have been landed this year than any local fishermen can recall in decades.
Atlantic halibut, which can grow to 400 pounds (the Massachusetts record is 321 pounds, caught in 1965), were a common catch in the late 1700s and early 1800s, when they were taken on longlines in relatively shallow coastal water on Jeffreys Ledge and Stellwagen Bank. By the mid-1800s, they could only be found in deep water off the Grand Banks of Nova Scotia. They never re-established on the inshore grounds off Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. (source – GMA.org)
Could the reappearance of halibut in recreational fishermen’s catches this summer be the beginning of a rebound in the Atlantic halibut population?
Wow i love Fishing my #1sport would love to catch one of those
Great catch
Wow that’s going to be some huge Belly Fillets ?!!
Captain Rich knows how to get it done !! Awesome catch !
Great catches but I hope more anglers will realize the history of the eastern halibut and release them so they can make a true and viable come back.
Don’t be jealous…so I guess if you caught one you would let it go…ok
Where can I catch some of these fish.My freezer is practically empty.You know the cold weather is around the corner and here nothing wrong with putting a few stakes on the grill with a few Baked Stuffed Potatoes with several chunks of different types of cheese to getstarted
are they wood stakes or fish steaks
My brother in law (Richard Cournoyer) was with his Dad (Norm Cournoyer) when he caught the state record in 1965. We have a picture and it was massive. As I recollect they were in a 16′ boat and it took them hours to bring it in.
It might be related to the reduction in the commercial cod quota.
Perhaps fewer halibut are being vacuumed up by draggers and are making it inshore.
I’ve fished for Halibut in the Gulf of Alaska and don’t know if it a different species or if they just haven’t been fished out there but I caught one years ago that was over #350 and have heard of over 400 pounds up there. It’s like you’ve snagged on something, it comes up for a while and then just stops; you can never give up when dragging one of these things from the bottom.