An angler is celebrating today after hauling in a record-breaking catch and landing himself the largest ever halibut ever caught by a Brit.

Paul Stevens, 45, reeled in the monster flat fish – which measures almost 7.5ft long and weighs the same as an American black bear (400lbs) – from the seabed while exploring off the coast of northern Norway.

Any halibut able to grow to that size is likely to be aged between 70 to 90 years old.

Because it was far too heavy to bring aboard, the Norwich-based fisherman braved the chilly water to have his photograph taken alongside his almighty catch. Paul later unhooked the fish and and released it unharmed.

The halibut is believed to be the biggest ever caught by a British angler, although it was still more than 100lbs shy of the world record catch which stands at an astonishing 513lbs.

Paul later revealed it took him three days to fully recover from battling to catch the halibut – which marked the culmination of an emotional journey for the experienced angler.

He explained: ‘It was a bit emotional because I have spent a lot of years trying to catch a fish like that.’

Paul, the manager of Sportquest Holidays which organises guided fishing trips for British anglers to northern Norway, said it took three days for his shoulders to stop aching following the epic catch.

He was enjoying some downtime when he used dead coalfish as bait to catch the huge halibut half a mile from shore at the Lofoten islands off northern Norway.

He said: ‘It dived three times and pulled the boat about half-a-mile. It took me 20 minutes to reel in but that’s because I am an experienced angler.

‘It could easily take others two hours.

‘There is no way you could weigh a fish that size. There is a universal formula of taking the measurements of a big fish to calculate its weight which is what I did.

‘I put it back afterwards. A fish that size is a breeding stock. A fish that size is between 70 to 90 years old as well.

‘It was extremely hard work and it took me three days for my shoulders to recover.

‘It was a bit emotional because I have spent a lot of years trying to catch a fish like that.’

Atlantic halibut – Hippoglossus hippoglossus in Latin – are among the largest bony fish in the world.

Their native habitat is the the northern Atlantic from Greenland to the Barents Sea and as far south as the Bay of Biscay.

They can reach up to 15ft in length and weigh up to 700lbs.

Their diet is usually other fish like cod, haddock and herring although they are hunted by seals and the Greenland shark.

The biggest halibut ever caught was reeled in by German angler Marco Liebenow in 2013, weighing a staggering 513lbs or 37 stones.