On Sunday morning, Markussen and his friend Terje Ellingsen went out with the boat from Kaldfjord in Tromsø municipality. The two fishing buddies have some fishing spots on the outer side of Kvaløya where they have had good fishing luck in the past. Exactly where it is, they do not want to reveal. They hadn’t been out long before they got a bite. It was first Ellingsen who said that he felt a halibut nibbling against the rod. – Two seconds later it slammed into my pole. Then she was on. Plain and simple, says Markussen. Tromsøværingen is originally from Harstad. Three quarter-hour battle The battle to catch the big fish was not as easy. They did not take the time, but estimate that it was a three-quarter-hour battle before they had won over the halibut. – This halibut was different from everything else I’ve had on the rod. It moved differently, and felt large and heavy. When it came to the surface we saw that it was huge, says Markussen. The angler’s previous record was 20 kilos. Now the record is for a halibut that weighed around 90 kilos. For Markussen, it was a big dream that came true. – It is a big dream. Now that it has happened, it feels unreal. It feels very, very good, he says The large female halibut Halibut has a unique ability to adapt. It can move from five to a thousand meters deep. No other species has this range. The halibut queen lays enormous quantities of roe, spawning up to 7 million eggs on or near the bottom. The eggs rise upwards and hatch after approximately 18 days. When the female halibut is allowed to live well and for a long time, it lays the groundwork for it to become a “monster”. It is uncertain how big a female halibut can get, but individuals weighing 350 kilograms and 3.6 meters have been caught. The female halibut has the potential to grow much larger than the male halibut, which cannot weigh more than 50 kilos. The largest female halibut can live up to 60 years. Halibut over 100 kilograms are protected, and it is therefore not allowed to kill them. Fishermen therefore use the catch-and-release method. The oldest halibut contain environmental toxins, and can therefore be dangerous to eat. Source: Norwegian Institute of Marine Research Too big for the measuring equipment When they had finally won over the halibut, the question arose as to what they were going to do with it. Six years ago, the Directorate of Fisheries introduced a requirement to throw all halibut over two meters back into the sea – regardless of whether it was alive or dead. The background was that they want to prevent large halibut from becoming human food, since heavy metals and toxins can be found in it. The friends did not have the best measuring equipment with them. But they were pretty sure that this halibut was so big that it had to go back to sea. In addition, there was hardly any room to get it in the boat. So the halibut was sunk. But before that happened, Markussen jumped into the water and measured the halibut with the ruler they had brought with them. Øystein Berglund Markussen jumped into the water to measure the halibut. Photo: Terje Ellingsen – We have seen that others do it, but most often people are prepared and have wetsuits with them. We didn’t have that. So it was a fresh bath. Quite rightly, the halibut was longer than the thumb stick at one and a half metres. They estimate that it was between 185 and 190 centimeters. Markussen says that they have subsequently found out that such a long halibut is estimated to be around 90 kilos. Thus, they regret a little that they did not get to catch the halibut. – It would have been nice to be able to record it and properly document how big it was. The kids really wanted to see it. At the same time, it would not be suitable as a food fish, he says. Birthday present for life Markussen has no doubts. On your next fishing trip, solid and good equipment must be included. But the experience, there is nothing left for it. Not only that his dream as an angler came true. It happened on his 43rd birthday. – That it should happen is special and incredibly fun. The stay is coming to an end. Lars wants to catch halibut on a fly, Bård realizes that he doesn’t deserve to get one. Is the key to success to give up?
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Øystein got large halibut on his 43rd birthday – news Troms and Finnmark
