Kaikoura Swordfish

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    Posted: 21 Mar 2019 at 11:06am
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Just wondering if we have any members or know of anyone who's given the swordfish a decent chase out of Kaikoura?

I can't find a lot of info on the interweb, so perhaps it's not a productive fishery for them. I did see a report of a rather large model(422kg) come in on a commercial boat back in 2016 so figure the good keen rec guys must have given it a shot? What do we all know.

Cheers
keen fisho
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Alan L Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Mar 2019 at 6:57pm
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They can't be far away;

Broadbill on the beach

Broadbill on the beach

Just how incredibly bizarre, yet pulsatingly exciting, can a quiet fish from a south coast Wellington beach on a hot sunny afternoon become? 

For one Wellington Surfcasting member the chain of events that unfolded can best by the angler himself.

“I had just caught a small spotty shark when I noticed a commotion near the water’s edge about 300 metres down the beach. Amongst the huge swirl of water the colour blue was prominent and my first thoughts were of a large blue shark stirring up the bait fish.

I continued fishing and about five minutes later was completely gob smacked when a very fast and large bow wave came racing straight towards me, veering off just yards from the shore and giving me a near perfect view of a good sized billfish displaying those incredible “lit-up” blue colours of a fish hunting food. By this stage I was in a fit of excitement that only went up another gear when the billfish repeated his mad shoreward dash a few minutes later.

And this for me was the sad part, for the split-second timing of the billfish’s run, coinciding with a good dumping wave, deposited the fish right on the beach and I could only watch in awe as the fish struggled to get back over the lip into the relatively shallow water.

It was a forlorn hope even though I thought I could help try and turn its head into the sea, but it just was impossible to move the fish, which I now recognised as a broadbill and guessed its weight at around 180 kilos. I could also see that the fish had snapped one of its pectoral fins as it crashed onto the beach and this helped me make my mind up to humanely put the fish out of its dying struggles.

As fate would have it a mate of mine came along the beach in his quad so we were able to tail rope the fish and drag it above the high tide mark. And why it doesn’t seem right for a fish of this calibre and size to end its life in this unfortunate way, I can tell you that we were able to take all the meat from the fish which filled two 100 litre chilly
bins and feed many families.”

As an aside, I am told the swordfish’s stomach contained numerous hoki, a species occurring in the adjacent deep canyons and reefs of Cook Strait. The conjecture is, why would this particular fish stray so far from its usual haunts and what food was it hunting so close to the shore?

 

18 March 2019

 

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Fishb8 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Mar 2019 at 8:19am
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WOW!!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote KikBac Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Mar 2019 at 9:42am
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10 or so years ago Pete Lamb organized a couple of overnight trips to Kaikoura canyon looking for broadbill. I think they hooked & lost one from memory.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Rock Stomper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2019 at 1:32pm
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That's crazy, what a sight!
Shame it had to be killed
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote widerange Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2019 at 3:30pm
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Did you want to give it a hug?
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Titahi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2019 at 5:23pm
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New prosthetic pectoral fin, IV fluids, maybe some pain relief and it might have been good to go....
"I love standing by the ocean and just knowing what its for"
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Catchelot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2019 at 7:44pm
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Brilliant!ClapClap
"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Cousteau
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