'One big fella': P.E.I. family catches 'huge' halibut off North Rustico

A P.E.I. family caught one heck of a halibut off North Rusticoon Wednesday.

Halibut fisherman Merrill Montgomery said it was "one big fella" and easily the biggest he's ever caught.

"We've caught a lot of halibut over the years, but normally they're anywheres from 20 to 50 pounds, we caught a few around a 100 or a little bit bigger but nothing like this one," he said.

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Montgomery was out fishing with his wife, Erika, his sonMaxx, his brother and several others when they felt the tug on their trawl.

Except what was on the other end was much bigger than they ever expected.

'It gets the blood pumping'

"When you start hauling the trawl in by hand they pretty much come up to the surface pretty easy it's not a big fight," he said. "We just thought he was pretty big and then realized how big he was."

Montgomery said they used the boom they had on the boat for hauling lobster gear to bring the halibut up and over the washboard.

The family brought the"big fella" back to North Rustico around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, where they were greeted by over a dozen people ready to snap photos and run their hands over the big fish.

"Everybody's pretty excited," Montgomery added. "It gets the blood pumping. It was pretty poor fishing today but we were lucky to get one."

The halibut ended up weighing around240 pounds (180 dressed), Montgomery said, andwhen strung upis even taller than him atsix-foot-three.

Maxxcalled the halibut "pretty huge" and said the trip out with his family was one to remember.

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