800lb+ Swordie Caught?

[Mike]

Who can tell us alittle bit about this fish?

Monster fish fought for 14 hours

29.05.2003
By BRIDGET CARTER
In the dark off the coast of Northland, Jerry Garrett sat clinging to a long thin line that disappeared into the sea.

At its end was a monster - a 369kg broadbill swordfish that he believes is a world record on a 37kg line.

It took 14 hours and 20 minutes to land.

The broadbill, dubbed the gladiator because of its size and Latin name (Xiphias gladius), surfaced just before dawn yesterday. Mr Garrett's effort to pull it aboard had been an exhausting and emotional marathon.

He was fishing on the charter boat Major Tom II near Cape Karikari between Whangaroa and Houhora.

Yesterday, tourists and curious locals gathered at the Russell wharf to see the fish weighed.

The Bay of Islands fishing community is certain it is a world record, although it will take several months to confirm. The record stands at 332kg on a 37kg line.

The broadbill struck Mr Garrett's line at 2pm. At first, the 65-year-old thought it was either a very big fish or a badly hooked small fish.

But he sat on the boat all night holding tightly to his line.

"The angler must handle the fish from the time it strikes," he said, if a record was to be claimed.

Mr Garrett's wife Heather gave him some cheese and lemonade to keep his strength up.

When he finally saw the broadbill excitement took over.

"You see what could be the largest ever on that line so there is a rush of energy," he said.

"It was very strong and I landed it about 4.30 in the morning."

Mr Garrett and three others could get only the head of the fish into the boat and had to tow it to shore.

Mr Garrett, who moved to New Zealand from the United States in 1987 for the fishing and lifestyle, said the catch was quite an event in the fishing community. The Russell fisherman has caught 14 broadbill before.

He will give the latest catch to to the Bay of Islands Sword Fish Club.

[adamscott]

The following is a fishing report by Geoff Stone the skipper of Major Tom after he returned to port:

Although marlin have continued in good numbers through to the middle of May, only the odd fish has been caught on the Northland Coast over the last week. Plenty of medium sized albacore have added interest to otherwise quiet days, but for Major Tom II , most of the middle and latter part of May has involved continuation of the experiments we have conducted over the last three years with broadbill fishing.

Over-fishing in most other parts of the world has left New Zealand as one of the few regions where anglers can still catch large "broadies". Murray Hansens 332kg fish, while fishing on Striker a couple of years ago, sent the first buzz around the world, and the fish we caught yesterday, to beat Murrays record, should heighten the awareness of NZ's potential. Jerry Garrett has been an almost constant companion as Heather and I have indulged our passion for broadbill, and we have finally provided him with the fish of most angler's dreams!!

Letting out his 37kg outfit, at 2.30pm on May 27th, Jerry's line went slack well before it reached bottom. He quickly retrieved the slack, felt a little weight, then the line slackened again. As he wound furiously, the thoughts became "hook-up" or "break off". Looking over the transom, I saw the Penn hi vis line racing under the starboard aft quarter. I did my Linford Christie impression to the downstairs station, and gunned the boat forward, then turned hard port, as the line passed the danger of the starboard propeller. Jerry was yelling to keep steaming, having already retrieved the 50M "marker" on to his reel, but I was thinking about having to retrieve over 500m of line on the other outfit before we could settle in to the fight. Finally Jerry came tight on the fish, and thankfully it slowed and sulked, giving us the valuable minutes to winch in Line.

With Line safely recovered, we settled in to an epic battle. We had set the drags at just under 15kg at the button, and Jerry was already there, with the fish sedately trotting along, like a Sunday morning jogger keeping an eye out for a tasty "squid sandwich". It may not have even noticed it was hooked!!! I hate backing up on broadbill, as it takes the pressure off the fish, but this fish was different!! Sometimes we backed up, sometimes we followed with a belly out on our starboard side, but the fish just ambled along, seemingly oblivious to our presence. This was getting to be a bore. Jerry increased the drag, with the lever on top of the button, and the fish finally re-acted, increasing her pace and sounding, taking off a couple of hundred meters of line. We chased her, we led her, we put belly in the line, we generally tried every trick we knew, and a few extra ones we made up on the way. Night fell, freighters passed by. Jerry wound, or sat back pacing himself as the fish pulled line. Heather turned the chair , getting colder and sleepier, and I rolled and smoked fag after fag, scratching my head and wondering what to try next.

After 10 hours( Jerry thought it was only 6), we were able to start leading the fish. Jerry was now past the button, and we later tested the reel to find out he was on 19kg of drag!! Slowly, ever so slowly, retrieving just inches down every second wave, the wind on came up to the rod tip, but the fish was too close under the boat. No chance to take the fish just yet. I eased the boat forward, just in time for the leader to pass the starboard transom corner. Finally, and after 14 hours and 20 minutes, finally, the great fish surfaced behind the boat, just 15meters, within range of the deck-lights, First it rolled one way, showing it's belly, then it rolled the other. Jerry worked the fish closer, I reached for the leader. Heather gently nudged the boat forward maintaining pressure. As I eased the leader in, Jerry wound it on the reel. With the fish within range, Jerry took the full pressure on the rod, and I placed a gaff behind the pectoral. The fish raced off on the gaff line, and thrashed at the increased pressure. We eased it back to the boat, and sank the second gaff. We had her!!!

But now we needed to get her in the boat. Jerry reached for the sword, and was promptly thrown back across the cockpit. He tried again, same result. After much struggling, plenty of shouting and cussing, grazed knuckles, rope burns and sheer bloody-mindedness, we had the sword and part of the head in the boat, but no chance of lifting it in. Heather stands just over 5ft, Jerry's a bit taller but is 65 years old, and I'm a bit younger than him but no Schwarzenegger!! We had a tail rope to make sure she couldn't slip back, a rope from the sword, to the forwrd cockpit cleat, and for a little extra security, a belly rope secured to the cockpit rod rack. At 6 knots we eased our way to Mongonui wharf some 28 miles away, where volunteers were on hand to admire our catch and help us pull it on board . Then it was a steam back to Russell, where the fish weighed in at 369Kg, a new world record!!!

This was Jerry's 15th broadbill, and 3rd for the season with us, and while all broadbill are good broadbill, this was really one to remember. As we cleaned up the boat back on the mooring, Heather was worried that Jerry had left his bag behind. She reminded him up at the Russell Clubhouse, as we celebrated that night. "I just wanted to be ready to leave again as soon as this Southerly goes through' was his response.

So Major Tom hasn't had much time for snapper and kingis in the Bay, but Hamish Faire on Baska Voda tells me he's catching some good snapper and a few Tarakihi out in the deeper water from Kingfish Reef, and on windier days is still getting good results in the shallows around Capstan Rock. Some very good kingies have been taken at the bottom end of the Dog at Cape Brett, with 71M Reef, and Bird Rock also giving good results.

As always drop me an email at swordfish@majortom.co.nz and I'll return the calls once we get back with Jerry's next broadbill!!!

[adamscott]

[kai akua]

sweet story! makes me wana drop everything and go mate in NZ for a while! maybe i will! LOL

:shock: