A California fisherman reeled in the catch of a lifetime when he caught a 482-pound halibut while fishing his friends off the coast of Alaska.
McGuire, of Santa Ana, was on a boat with three friends near Glacier Bay in early July when a massive fish caught onto the end of his line, the Orange County Register reported. But the fish would not give up without a fight, hooking McGuire into a grueling tug-of-war that lasted for 40 minutes.
"The moment I set the hook I hollered, 'I got a big one,' " McGuire, 76, told the newspaper. "We get in the back of the boat and we get in this battle."
It took three crew members to haul the quarter-ton, 95-inch fish out of the waters of Glacier Bay, where fish are apparently prone to growing enormous sizes.
"Last year, we caught 57 fish over 200 pounds so it's pretty common to see bigger fish here," the 26-year-old captain, Rye Phillips, told the newspaper. "But not common to see a giant one like that."
The world record for biggest halibut ever caught weighed 459-pounds and was caught off Alaska in 1996, according to the International Game Fish Association. But McGuire's catch did not break the record because it was shot before it was harpooned and lifted onboard, which is against IGFA standards.
Yet the veteran fisherman said he wasn't planning on setting a world record anyway. He's caught plenty of prized-fish, including a 513-pound marlin off Baja California in Mexico.
"To be honest, I had made up my mind that it was going to be my last trip to Alaska anyways, so I can go out with flair," McGuire joked. "What do I do now, go out and catch one bigger?"
