Just about every fisherman has a heartbreaking story of the one that got away. Fresh or salt water, inshore or offshore, we have all hooked and lost a trophy fish that we’ve later been consoled “wasn’t meant to be caught.” It’s just part of the game. However, the ocean is full of surprises, and a surprise is exactly what Nate Janeiseski got during a haddock trip with Captain Mike Cleary last Friday, June 27th.
Cleary is the longtime captain of The Scout, which sails out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. According to Doug Faits, an angler aboard Friday’s trip, this was just a routine groundfish trip to Jeffreys Ledge. However, when Janeiseski hooked what he believed was a piece of sticky bottom structure, Cleary attempted to free the snag for him and quickly realized there was an incredibly large fish on the hook. Eventually, Janeiseski gained some line on it, and a 30-minute battle ensued. “Three separate times,” said Faits, “it made a long run all the way back to bottom, and we were in 220 feet of water.” When Janeiseski finally hoisted the fish high enough to get eyes on it, the crew was stunned to see a massive Atlantic halibut.
“You are not going to believe what this fish ate,” Faits continued. “It was a 2-inch cod fly that was tipped with a 1-inch piece of squid on a high-low rig. We were using 16 ounces of lead, so I think Nate just hit this fish right in the head with his sinker, and that drew a reaction strike.” Once the enormous flatfish had tired itself, three gaff men were needed to lift it over the gunnels of The Scout. On the deck, it measured 73 inches long with an estimated weight of 200 pounds.
For a 200-pound halibut to hit such a small offering, and by some miracle, not straighten the hook of the small teaser, a lot of things had to work in Janeiseski’s favor. By playing it carefully on “light tackle” (by halibut standards), and fighting it to exhaustion, he managed to land the fish of a lifetime. “It was the largest Atlantic halibut Captain Mike has seen in all his years on the water,” said Faits, “and it was delicious.”
The only thing better than a good story about the one that got away, is the tale of the one that didn’t.
Well… if New Hampshire doesn’t have an Atlantic Halibut record…. They do now! Amazing catch!