A group of fishermen spent nearly 3 hours reeling in a massive swordfish weighing 436.2 kg off the coast of Australia.
According to News.com.au, George Lirantzis and three of his friends caught the gigantic swordfish weighing 436.2 kg off the coast of Mallacoota, located in the southern part of the New South Wales-Victoria region.
To catch this enormous fish, the fishermen had to use a 60 kg bait. When the swordfish took the bait, it leaped and thrashed violently near the boat.
“When we saw the fish take the bait, it jumped out of the water and struggled fiercely about 50 meters from the boat,” Lirantzis recounted.
“The closer we pulled it to the boat, the more it jumped up and down, as if someone had dropped a rocket around the boat,” Lirantzis told ABC News.
The swordfish weighs “equivalent to a rocket.”
The team spent 110 minutes bringing the swordfish close to the boat and an additional 60 minutes to get it onboard.
“Despite that, the time spent was still quite short. Normally, catching a swordfish takes much longer; some people struggle with them for nearly a whole day,” Lirantzis shared.
It is known that the largest swordfish ever recorded was caught off the northern coast of Chile in 1953, weighing in at 536.15 kg.
Previously, Lirantzis and his team had also experienced a memorable catch with a 347 kg swordfish.
According to the President of the Ulladulla Recreational Fishing Club, the fish will be frozen at Fishing Co Op and mounted. The record will not be officially recognized due to the group’s use of non-standard fishing equipment.
| Swordfish, also known as Xiphias gladius, is a large predatory fish known for its migratory behavior, characterized by a long, flat bill, in contrast to the round and smooth bill of mackerel species. It is a popular target for anglers, although it can be difficult to catch. Swordfish have a streamlined and elongated body, and as they mature, they lose all their teeth and scales. With their streamlined shape, these fish can swim very fast, reaching speeds of up to 64 km/h. |
