Huge, world-record cod taken by German fisherman

103-pound fish caught off Norway donated to Norwegian fishing museum

A German fisherman and his group were just about to give up after a slow and unproductive day of fishing off the Norwegian island of Soroya when a huge, world-record fish changed their plans.
Michael Eisele of Kiel, Germany, hooked into a monster Atlantic cod that had his knees shaking when the fish breached the surface after having battled it for more than 30 minutes.

So big was the fish, two of Eisele’s friends kept ahold of him for fear he’d be pulled overboard. The fisherman also needed help from the two to heave the behemoth fish onto the boat.
The fish was 5 feet long and weighed a whopping 103 pounds, making it the biggest cod ever landed by a recreational angler. If approved by the International Game Fish Association as a world record, the fish would supplant the current world record of 98 pounds, 12 ounces, caught 44 years ago off New Hampshire.
“It was an indescribable feeling,” Eisele told the UK Daily Mail. “It was a fish of a lifetime. I am a little proud to have the record.”
To give an idea how impressive the catch was, consider that the record for the biggest cod caught in British waters is 58 pounds.
The UK Telegraph reported that an owner of two fish-and-chip shops calculated that a fish the size of Eisele’s record fish would provide 200 portions of the iconic British meal.
But the fish won’t be headed to anybody’s plate. Eisele is donating the cod to the Norwegian Fisheries Museum in Bergen where it will be stuffed and mounted for all the world to see.
Photos used by permission of Michael Eisele