San Diego anglers Luc Ofield and Dave White have been close fishing pals for nearly three decades. They’ve learned to rely on each other when chasing even the biggest and meanest saltwater fish. On Oct. 20, the two friends headed offshore to chase giant Pacific swordfish, arguably the orneriest of all billfish.
“We left about 10 a.m. and ran out in good weather to the 9-mile bank in 1,200 feet of water,” Ofield tells Outdoor Life. “We set up four deep swordfish baits using whole squid baits on double 11/0 circle hooks, with colored strobe lights on the leaders. Then we started drifting with baits down about 1,000 feet.”
Nothing happened for several 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 130-pound stand-up fishing tackle, which included a bent-butt rod and a Shimano Tiagra 50W reel. He’s used this type of gear all his life and is more comfortable with it than other techniques (like sitting in a fighting chair).
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“The fish took a bait about 1,000-feet down, and I knew right away it was a big one,” says Ofield, the owner of Angler’s Choice tackle shop in San Diego. “I thought it was only a 300 or 400-pounder.”
But three hours into a dogged, deep-water fight, Ofield realized the swordfish was different than others he’d hooked. The fish stayed around 200 feet, where Ofield thinks there was a thermocline the fish preferred. It would circle their boat, and then as soon as Ofield would bring it to the surface, the fish would dive deep and circle again. White, meanwhile, stayed at the helm the whole time.
“Without Dave’s great skills running his boat and maneuvering it to keep the fish from tangling in the boat, we never had a chance to land the sword,” says Ofield.
The billfish never jumped during the battle. But three hours into the fight it finally came near the surface.
“It was down about 20 feet in clear water and swam by us slowly – just checking us out,” Ofield says. “The stare from a big swordfish is unsettling, with that big eye and long and powerful bill. They’re impressive.”
Ofield compares the swordfish’s stare to how famed writer Robert Ruark described cape buffalo:
He looked at me as if I owed him money. I never saw such malevolence in the eyes of any animal or human being, before or since.
The giant swordfish then went back to diving and circling the boat. It did this dozens of times over the next two hours. Finally, roughly five hours into the ordeal, the fish (like the anglers) began to tire. Around 7 p.m., Ofield decided he’d put maximum pressure on the fish and bring it close to the boat, and with his reel’s drag maxed out at 49 pounds, White got the boat in position to gaff the fish.
Unfortunately, Ofield had forgotten his oversize gaff — the same one they use for big tuna and marlin. All they had were a pair of smaller flying gaffs with ¼-inch ropes.
“I thought we had about a 50-50 chance of getting the fish, but miraculously everything worked out. Dave left the boat controls and put a flying gaff into the lower part of the fish and turned the sword over — that disorients them.”
At that point, Ofield set his rod down so he could hit the fish with another flying gaff. Their plan was to then haul the swordfish onto the boat’s stern swim platform. But the fish was so huge, they could only fit its head in the boat.
“We tied the fish off to boat cleats with ropes and put a tail rope on it. But it was still very much alive,” Ofield said. “I knew we had to kill it fast or we might lose it. I decided to stab it in the heart with a knife. That did the trick, and it bled out very fast and died.”
By then it was fully dark. After all the commotion loading the swordfish, there was lots of blood in the water, and Ofield was worried about sharks coming to claim their prize. Fortunately, no sharks appeared, just a lone seal that came up 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 put the fish on a certified scale at a local marlin club, which registered 663.8 pounds. That weight crushes the current California swordfish record, a 520-pounder caught off San Diego last year. Ofield plans to submit all the required paperwork to the state this week.
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Ofield says he was so tired after his five-hour battle with the swordfish that he was nauseous during the ride back to San Diego. All his body muscles ached for days afterwards.
“But when I look at the photos of that swordfish, and all my aches and pains go away,” he says. “I’ve caught lots of marlin, tuna, and swordfish, but this one is the top catch of my life. Nothing can beat this.”