NH Boy, 13, Reels In Fish That Outweighs Him

A New Hampshire teenager on a deep-sea fishing trip this week hauled in a 177-pound Atlantic halibut, a fish so big that it weighed more than he does and could be a world record. Jackson Denio, a 13-year-old from Hampton, New Hampshire, was fishing about 100 miles off the New England coast on Cashes Ledge on Monday morning when he caught the fish, the AP reports. "I think I screamed, honestly," said Denio, who weighs around 120 pounds and is 5-foot-9-inches. "I don't know exactly what happened, but I was very excited."

Denio had set out on Sunday with about 30 others on an overnight charter trip with Al Gauron's Deep Sea Fishing and Whale Watching. After everyone had caught plenty of pollock and other fish, Denio told the crew he wanted to catch a shark. They told him to fish at the bottom. Minutes after he dropped his hook with pollock on it, Denio got a hit and knew he had something big. Denio fought the fish for about 30 minutes, bringing it near the boat only to have it dive back down. He was eventually able to get the fish to the surface, guided by the crew and cheered on by fellow passengers who uttered plenty of oohs and ahhs spiced with profanity as the size of the fish became clear.

"I'm standing there watching him. Then all of a sudden the fish took off it, bit it and started pounding away," says Jim Walsh, the captain of the vessel that Denio was on. "I looked at him and I said, were you on the bottom? And he goes, yes. And I said, you don't have a shark." Walsh says he was most impressed with Denio's composure. "He did not let go once. He never let anybody else touch the rod. And he worked him, worked him. Then eventually, the fish starts to tire out."

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Before the fish was carved up, Denio officially got it weighed and took photos and video of the fish, and he has provided other information about his fishing gear that will go into an application for a world record with the International Game Fish Association. The family plans to file an application under the junior record for Atlantic halibut and one under line class that includes all fish.