The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) reported early this week that the long-standing Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) record may have been broken after holding up for an amazing 44 years.
German angler Micahel Eisele was fishing with friends in 90-foot depths 10 miles off the Norwegian island of Soroya back on April 28 when the big fish struck on what had otherwise been an uneventful trip. He fought the whopper using 40-pound test gear after it inhaled a custom-made soft plastic impaled on a heavy jighead. According to Eisele, who was barely able to hold the fish aloft unaided for photos, and who needed the assistance of two buddies to lift the fish into the boat, two big blips had showed up on the fish-finder just prior to the bite.
The 44-year-old angler, who said his knees were shaking when the 103.6-pound, 5-foot long baccala hit the deck, needed 36 minutes to bring the beastly slob to the surface. Should this cod be officially approved as the new all tackle world record, it will surpass the current 98-pound, 12-ounce trophy taken by Alphonse Bielevich off Isle of Shoals, NH, in 1969. It will also likely claim the 50-pound line class record, currently held by Federick Shay, Jr., with an impressive 85-pound monster hauled from the depths of Montauk, NY, in February, 1984.
