Record-setting halibut caught off SoCal coast

SANTA ROSA ISLAND, SANTA BARBARA

He was out on an overnight boating trip when he reeled in a big one. The sport fishing boat "Mirage" was fishing at Santa Rosa Island on Friday morning when Francisco Rivera started to get a pretty big bite and reeled it in on his own.

When the fish got on the boat, the crew realized it was a California halibut.

Luckily, they didn't cut it up right away because it was too big. The fish was later weighed and turned out to be more than 67 pounds.

The current all tackle record for the California halibut is just under 60 pounds.

Paperwork is being submitted and pending approval, Rivera's catch would break the record for the largest California halibut ever caught.

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