World record Broadbill Swordfish

Nicky, with Dave Woodman and Matt Halliday on board, along with cameraman Andy Farrant, launched from Whangaroa and headed out wide to the swordfish grounds in 600 metres of water off Cape Karikari.

The fish was encountered on the second drop of the day. First, there were several light taps, then a metre or so of line was pulled off the reel, before going completely slack. In response Nicky turned the reel handle a couple of times, the slack turned into solid contact and, appropriately, it was ‘game on’!

The fight proved to be a relatively short affair as far as big sword battles go: with the drag set at 20kg throughout the scrap, Nicky got the fish near the boat in around an hour.

However, it was not until the fish porpoised out of the water that they started to appreciate just what they were dealing with, the sight of a massive two-metre-long sword sending tingles up their spines.

Towards the end of the fight the fish died, making the end game much easier (swordfish are notorious for ‘going nuts’ on the leader).

With the fish eventually traced, gaffed, and tied off, the next trick was to get it into the cockpit. It took all the crew’s efforts to get it part way through the transom door, where it wedged and could not be dragged any further.

To make doubly sure it would stay put, Nicky jumped into the water and secured a rope around the 4.33-metre fish’s tail before beginning the slow haul home.

As they could not make more than eight knots, they decided to run a spread of Red Gill lures – which would have made for an interesting scenario had they hooked up!

While appreciating the size of their catch, nobody considered they had a potential national or world record in the boot – until the Whangaroa Sport Fishing Club’s weighbridge struggled to lift the fish – which was still partway inside the boat with the scales reading 330kg!

Then, when it eventually tipped the scales at 361.0kg, they stood there, gob-smacked – and at that point the question was asked: “What is the women’s NZ 60kg tackle record?”

A quick call was made to Shimano NZ’s Alistair Arkell, and after looking up the records, he asked Nicky if she was sitting down. She was told the fish was not only a New Zealand women’s 60kg and all-tackle record, it also bettered the IGFA’s women’s world 60kg mark.

However, while Nicky was sharing the good news by phone with her dad, the weight of the gigantic fish broke the weighmaster’s rope and it plunged billfirst into the muddy bottom. Luckily it was retrieved with no harm done, but did cause a few anxious moments, especially for the angler.

If ratified, the fish will have beaten the current NZSFC 60kg and all-tackle mark of 277.90kg, held by Sandra Schick, caught in April 2013 off Cape Karikari.

The world 60kg women’s mark is currently 344.28kg, while the heaviest broadbill caught by a woman is 350.17kg, landed on 37kg tackle, so it may be a contender for that crown as well.

Nicky’s swordfish is the second-heaviest caught by any angler in New Zealand; the heaviest honour is currently held by a 404.4kg fish caught by Jim Gigger aboard the John Gregory-skippered Primetime.

Nicky says a little karma might have been involved. The previous day they had shared some squid baits with charter operator Phil Barchet, who went out and secured a 144kg swordfish for angler Graeme ‘Boulder’ McKenzie – a first for both boat and angler.

That night Phil shared the mark where he had caught the fish and it was on that spot that Nicky caught her world-record-claim fish.

Nicky was fishing 100lb Hollow Ace hollow braid backing top-shotted with 37kg nylon monofilament (the heaviest of the two lines counts for IGFA record purposes up until April 1, after which it is the topshot line’s breaking strain that counts), spooled on a Shimano Talica 50 II matched to a custom-built Radz Rods swordfish rod.

A full body-mount of the fish will be made, with Nicky and fiancée Matt debating exactly where it will fit in their Mangawhai home – no easy feat for a fourmetre- long fish.

There’s a lot more to the story of how the capture happened, so make sure you tune in to the new season of Ados Addicted to Fishing at the end of May to find out more.