On Sunday, a fisherman from San Diego caught a huge swordfish that broke a record set in California.
After more than four hours of trying to bring the fish in with a stand-up rod and reel, Anglers Choice Tackle Store owner Luc Ofield finally caught it only 30 minutes before midnight.
The swordfish weighed an incredible 666.2 pounds, more than 100 pounds more than the state record established by another team from the San Diego area just last year, according to The Marlin Club in Shelter Island, which measured the catch.
“666.2 lbs weighed at the Marlin Club last night and it looks like this will take the new California State Record Swordfish!” the weigh station stated on Instagram. “Luc and Anglers Choice have been an amazing friend and supporter of the Marlin Club for many years and we are honored to weigh his record breaking fish.”
View this post on Instagram
About a week has passed since fisherman just missed establishing a record on Monday, October 14, when they captured a 492-pound swordfish off the coast of San Diego.
It took around three hours to secure the fish aboard the fishermen’ boat after it was weighed by Dana Landing in Mission Bay and had to be hauled out of the water by several pairs of hands.
During the conclusion of swordfish season, which normally lasts from late spring to early October when the water is at its hottest, both discoveries were made.
The two most popular spots in Southern California for locating the species, along with San Clemente Island in Orange County, are the nine-mile bank off the coast of San Diego and the vicinity of the Coronado Islands, according to San Diego Tuna Fishing.
The broadbill indigenous to the waters off the West Coast is the North Pacific swordfish. The North Atlantic swordfish, which is most prevalent in New England, is its counterpart.
Both swordfish species are regarded as some of the largest and swiftest predators in the ocean, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries. They can reach a height of 14 feet and swim up to 50 miles per hour.
Read Also: A Century-Long Journey: Shakespeare Book Returned to N.J. Library 100 Years Later
The majority of swordfish captured by fishing teams weigh between 50 and 200 pounds, but some can weigh as much as 1,200 pounds, according to NOAA.
In 1953, Lou Marron and the crew of the Flying Heart III captured a 1,182-pound broadbill, the largest swordfish ever captured on rod and reel. The catch continues to be the game fish species’ global record, according to the International Game Fish Association.
Despite being one of the more sought-after prey for fishermen, NOAA considers both species of swordfish to be overfished.
