Jack McGuire, a California resident on vacation in Alaska, was sent home with the catch of a lifetime, a 482-pound halibut.
The all-tackle record for Pacific Halibut stands at 459lb 0 oz, caught in Dutch Harbor, Alaska back in 1996. Jack Maguire just caught a much larger fish, but he has missed out on the record due to a technicality.
Out fishing with Alaskan Anglers Inn Fishing Charters on July 8th, Jack McGuire locked in to a 95 inch, 482-pound Pacific Halibut, but when he reeled the leviathan boatside the fish was harpooned before it was brought in to the boat, rendering the catch ineligible. According to Alaska Disptach News:
International Game Fish Association rules ban the use of any tools other than a net or gaffe for landing fish, and the Florida-based IGFA maintains the international record book.
McGuire’s trophy catch is widely considered to be the largest Pacific Halibut caught in over a decade, and will reportedly yield around 225 pounds of fish filets. The fish was caught in Icy Strait, just to the west of the Gulf of Alaska, and his world renowned for producing some of the largest halibut around.
More details of the fisher, the catch, and other monsters caught in the region can be read here on Alaska Dispatch News.
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SOURCES: ABC News, Alaska Dispatch News, and Alaskan Anglers Inn