Sam LaCosta, Blair Payne, Roger LaCosta and Tracy LaCosta show off the 149-kilogram halibut they caught in the waters of Bay St. George on June 24. (Photo courtesy of Tracy LaCosta)Times may be gloomy for the fishing industry, but a crew from Campbell's Creek, N.L., recently found one very big reason to smile — they landed a 149-kilogram halibut.

Roger LaCosta, his brother Sam, niece Tracy and her boyfriend Blair Payne were out at dawn in the waters of Bay St. George on June 24, the second day of a commercial fishing trip.

After trawling the waters for most of the day, in the afternoon the four encountered particularly strong resistance on one net.

Suspecting they had caught a large fish, they started to reel the net in by hand. When it became clear how massive the ensnared fish was, they let it swim to the bottom of the bay to tire itself out.

After bringing the fish back up to the surface, the four managed to get a rope around its mouth and up through the gill.

It took the combined strength of all four to haul the 149-kilogram fish over the stern of their boat.

Halibut caught in Newfoundland typically weigh about nine kilograms. Sam LaCosta, who has been fishing for 36 years, says it's the biggest fish he's caught.

The four brought the fearsome fish to shore at Little Port Harmon and later sold it.

Surprisingly, they would have made more, pound-for-pound, if it was smaller — bigger fish are of lower quality. They finally ended up selling the halibut for $492.