World record broadbill for Jacobsen

Guy and his game boat Hooking Bull, with veteran skipper John Batterton at the helm and crew James Laurie and Bayley Taylor-Mackie in the cockpit, left their Houhora base at gentleman’s hours, heading for the swordfish grounds off Cape Karikari. With the six- and eight-kilo line-class records already in the bag, Guy was targeting the 15kg record for swordfish, something that had eluded him for several years.

John says over the last seven or so years they had caught at least 50 broadbill on 15kg (‘one day when I get a chance I’m going to go back through the logs and check’), including one remarkable fish of around 300kg which they disqualified because the leader was broken while dealing with it boat-side.

Another was fought by Guy for 32 hours before the hooks pulled while being leadered. It is fair to say they were long overdue for the ‘right’ fish to come along.

“We were aware of the numbers and that it was only a matter of time before we caught what we were after,” John says.

In near-perfect conditions, the fishing started well with a bite on the first bait, but the fish was lost when the hooks pulled early in the fight.

Dropping back down, there was the familiar ‘nod nod’ of the rod that quickly turned into a fast bottom run. Then the fish headed upwards, the line accelerating as the drag was backed right off, but even so the fish’s incredible speed created a large belly in the line that saw angler and fish part company. Back to square one.

Another bait was deployed for another hook-up. But this time the fight was different; after about 75 minutes a small sword of around 60kg surfaced with the leader lassoed around its pectoral fins. Despite having been played sideways, it was in great condition, so was quickly tagged and released.

The next two baits were dealt to by the bottom species that share the same territory as broadbill – gemfish and squid – before they came up tight on another swordie. This one stuck, and after a typical ‘stand and deliver’ fight, they managed a decent wrap on the leader and the first of several gaffs went in.

“That was when the fun started. Our biggest titanium gaff was partially straightened, while the meat hook was also beaten up, with the head straightened and the shaft bent – it was brutal.”

John says there is nothing quite so spectacular as an angry broadbill, and is in no doubt they are the toughest fish by far to deal with on the leader.

“Nothing comes even close – no shark, no marlin – even the big blacks out of Cairns don’t rate in comparison.”

John pays credit to his crew: “Most other people would have lost this fish, and I would have hated to deal with it out of a small trailerboat.”

He says they stuck to their task until the fish was finally on board about an hour later.

Back at the Houhora weigh-station they went through the by-now familiar task of weighing then measuring the record claim, as well as taking all the necessary evidential photos to support it.

The scales told the story – 252.8kg. So with all the IGFA ‘i’s dotted and ‘t’s crossed, their fish should smash the existing 177.8kg mark, caught in 1976.

The next day it was business as usual, with Hookin’ Bull heading back out to the grounds while the crew reloaded with 10kg line. (For the record, Guy was fishing Shimano Tiagra 50W reels fitted to custom-made Ian Miller rods, spooled with Moimoi line.)

It was not long before Guy was once again back in the chair upon coming up tight against a by-now familiar adversary.

“This was a completely different fight, especially on the leader. We had it to the boat in around 45 minutes and kept waiting for it to go ballistic. The gaffs were set and there was almost no reaction. I warned the boys to watch out when we pulled it into the cockpit, as it just had to go nuts – but no, a couple of meek thumps of its bill on the deck and it was done.”

This was a huge contrast to the previous day’s effort, although the fish were not that far apart in size.

Back at Houhora, the broadbill weighed 269.0kg, well past the current mark of 140.61kg set in 1979. This effort saw the angler and crew become the toast of the fishing fraternity, which holds the broadbill swordfish in the highest regard.

John says there has been some discussion as to ‘where to from here’ regarding swordfish.

One thought is to go for the all-tackle record using 60kg tackle, as there are some huge fish in New Zealand’s waters and it’s worth targeting one of them, the other is to respool with 24kg and chase that milestone.

Whatever the call is, watch this space!