The Associated Press
Last Updated 6:00 pm PST Friday, February 25, 2005
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Unlike many fishermen, Harald Skoge didn't have to
exaggerate the size of his latest catch. The 321-pound halibut was too
big for his nearly 29-foot boat.

Skoge, who fishes as a hobby, was trying his luck off western Norway
with a simple hook and line on Wednesday when he thought something had
gone wrong.

"At first, I thought the hook had gotten stuck at the bottom," the
retiree was quoted as saying in Friday's edition of his local newspaper,
Sunnmoersposten.

Slowly, he was able to roll in the line, and realized something very,
very big was on the end. When the giant halibut broke the surface, he
realized it was too big to haul into his boat.

"I had to tow it to land," he told the newspaper.

After three hours of towing the fish, he was able to deliver it to a
local fish processing plant, which weighed and bought the catch.

According to Skoge, the fish's head alone weighed 42 pounds, more than
many anglers can claim for their whole catch.