The new state record swordfish from California was so big it wouldn’t fit in the boat

San Diego fishermen Luc Ofield and Dave White have been good fishing friends for almost three decades. They have learned to rely on each other in pursuit of even the biggest and baddest saltwater fish. On October 20, the two friends headed offshore to pursue the giant Pacific swordfish, perhaps the most orderly of all sailfish.

“We left around 10 a.m. and ran in good weather to the 9-mile bank in 1,000 feet of water,” Ofield said. Outdoor living. “We set up four deep swordfish baits with whole squid baits on double 11/0 circle hooks, with colored strobe lights on the leaders. Then we started drifting bait down about 1,000 feet.”

Nothing happened for hours. But at 2:20 p.m. they hooked their first and only swordfish, and it was a whopper.

Ofield was on the rod and he fought it using a 130-pound set of fishing tackle, including a bent-tip rod and a Shimano Tiagra 50W reel. He has used this type of equipment all his life and is more comfortable with it than other techniques (such as sitting in a fighting chair).

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“The fish took the bait at about 1,000 feet, and I knew right away it was a big bait,” said Ofield, the owner of San Diego tackle shop Angler’s Choice. “I thought it was just a 300 or 400 pounder.”

But three hours into a dogged battle in deep water, Ofield realized the swordfish was different from the others he had hooked. The fish stayed about 200 feet, where Ofield thinks there was a thermocline the fish favored. It circled their boat, and as soon as Ofield brought it to the surface, the fish dived deep and circled again. White, meanwhile, remained at the helm throughout.

“Without Dave’s amazing skills in steering his boat and maneuvering to keep the fish from getting tangled in the boat, we would never have had the chance to land the centreboard,” says Ofield.

The sailfish never jumped during the fight. But after three hours of fighting, it finally came to the surface.

“He was about twenty feet deep in clear water and slowly swam past us – just watching us,” Ofield said. “The look of a large swordfish is disturbing, with that large eye and its long, powerful beak. They are impressive.”

Ofield compares the swordfish’s look to how the famous writer Robert Ruark described Cape buffalo:

He looked at me as if I owed him money. I have never seen such malice in the eyes of any animal or human being, before or since.

The giant swordfish then went back to diving and circling the boat. This happened dozens of times over the next two hours. Finally, about five hours into the ordeal, the fish (as did the fishermen) began to tire. Around 7 p.m., Ofield decided he would apply maximum pressure to the fish and bring it close to the boat, and with his reel’s maximum drag set at 49 pounds, White got the boat into position to tackle the fish.

Unfortunately, Ofield had forgotten his oversized gaff – the same one they use for big tuna and marlin. All they had were a few smaller flying gaffs with ¼ inch ropes.

“I thought we had a 50-50 chance of getting the fish, but miraculously everything worked out. Dave left the controls of the boat, stuck a flying gaff into the bottom part of the fish and turned the centerboard around – which disorients them.

At that point, Ofield put down his rod so he could hit the fish with another flying gaff. Their plan was to then drag the swordfish to the aft swim platform of the boat. But the fish was so big that it could only stick its head into the boat.

“We tied the fish to boat cleats with ropes and attached a tail rope to it. But it was still very much alive,” Ofield said. “I knew we had to kill it quickly or we might lose it.” I decided to stab it in the heart with a knife. That was enough and it bled out very quickly and died.”

By then it was completely dark. After all the commotion of loading the swordfish, there was a lot of blood in the water, and Ofield worried that sharks would come to claim their prize. Luckily no sharks appeared, just a lone seal that surfaced to inspect their catch.

With the giant swordfish tied to the boat, they had to run at minimum speed, so it took at least two hours to get back to the marina. Once there, they placed the fish on a certified scale with a local marlin club, which registered 663.8 pounds. That weight shatters the current California swordfish record, a 520-pounder caught off the coast of San Diego last year. Ofield plans to file all the necessary paperwork with the state this week.

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Ofield says he was so tired after his five-hour battle with the swordfish that he felt nauseous on the drive back to San Diego. All his body muscles ached for days afterwards.

“But when I look at the pictures of that swordfish, all my aches and pains disappear,” he says. “I’ve caught a lot of marlin, tuna and swordfish, but this is the best catch of my life. Nothing can beat this.”