Man wins fishing contest with haul less than an ounce

Man wins fishing contest with haul less than an ounce

OSLO, Norway - This is not a fisherman's tall tale. Norwegian Jan Petter Johansen did indeed win the prizes for both the largest fish and the second largest fish in a contest this weekend. His total catch? About 0.12 ounces, winning over $900 in prize money.

Johansen was among 66 fishermen in the first-ever ice-fishing contest on Vaagvannet, a small lake near the Arctic Norway town of Skjervoey, on Sunday.

When time ran out for the eager anglers, only one of them, Johansen, had any fish at all. And even that was by accident.

"I almost threw the whole catch away," he was quoted as telling the local newspaper Nordlys. "The stickleback (fish) were tangled in some seaweed I pulled up. Luckily, I noticed the big haul."

He won the first prize of $770 for a trophy catch that weighed in at 0.07 ounces. His second place fish was 0.05 ounces, winning $154.