(CLAIR) – Derek O’Keefe of Simi Valley caught an impressive 20-pound halibut off the coast of San Miguel Island, the westernmost of California’s Channel Islands.
The Log News reports, O’Keefe was fishing aboard the New Hustler out of Oxnard with Captain Chris Volaski when he landed the massive fish, using squid as bait.
According to Hook’s Sportfishing, “Anglers in Southern California were thrilled to get out on the water recently after weeks of high winds made conditions too rough for fishing.
Pacific halibut can grow to enormous sizes, weighing up to 500 pounds and measuring nearly 9 feet in length. The International Game Fish Assn. reports that the all-tackle world record for a Pacific halibut is 459 pounds, caught by Jack Tragis off Dutch Harbor, Alaska, in 1996. Needless to say, O’Keefe’s 20-pounder is still quite a catch!
