Capt. Chris De Stefano of Wall had the strangest fish story of the year on Friday, and it may be hard to beat this one. A friend who's a gillnetter was fishing large mesh for monkfish on the west side of the Mud Hole when something much larger became entangled.It turned out to be a halibut weighing 97 pounds.

The Atlantic halibut has practically disappeared from even its prime territory from northern New England to Canada. They haven't been abundant there since Captains Courageous days, and I've never heard of even a stray off the Jersey coast.

http://www.nj.com/shore/blogs/fishin...in_the_mu.html