After more than 40 nights of chasing broadbill swordfish in the pitch black, Narooma fisherman Brett McDonald has had a revelation that these much-sought-after and elusive fish can be targeted during daylight hours.
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A group of Narooma anglers travelled down to Mallacoota, Victoria on Tuesday to target broadbill swordfish and were able to get a fish around 80kg right on lunchtime.
Brett said he was following the lead of legend game fisherman Richard Abela who in recent weeks has cracked the secrets of the broadbill using a similar style used by American big game anglers.
Richard is known for big fish exploits and Brett said he managed to tag an awesome 17 marlin in one day while fishing out of Narooma last year.
Last season, Richard also spent a month targeting broadbill out of Tasmania where there have been some very good captures, getting four fish up to 184kg.
Then together with fellow fishing identity Lee Rayner, he started looking for broadbill in the offshore canyons out of Mallacoota.
Last week, Richard and Lee scored a 135kg broadbill on one day and the next day they scored a 65 and 70kg fish. Richards posted the photos on his Facebook page stating it was the “first filmed Victorian sword”.
So when Brett heard this news on the fishing grapevine, he too just had to get down there on his own boat “The Office”.
Joining him for the trip were Luke Cathor and father and daughter team Jon and Georgia Poyner, who all have spent many nights out with Brett chasing broadbill.
“I’ve had 40 odd night trips for two fish and now in one day trip we scored a fish on the second drop,” he said.
Young Georgia Poyner known for her diving and wildlife photography jumped in and got some fantastic shots while free-diving around the hooked fish. “It was a massive day, but it was awesome fun!” she said.
It was a big day departing Narooma at 2am and then only back home at 10pm. They fished a canyon about 45km from the new Mallacoota ocean boat ramp.
Richard and Lee were also back this week, scoring a 129kg swordfish that was filmed for Lee Rayner’s Fishing Edge television show. “We actually had a double header but lost one and lost a third one after that.”
Using the same night-time rig complete with glow sticks and a whole fresh squid, the daytime technique is to use a heavy brick on a break-away line.
Once the bait was down at 550-metres, a sharp tug breaks off the brick and allows the bait to drift freely at that depth.
Brett said the theory was that the broadbill during the day congregated in the canyons where they were easier to target, whereas at night the fish dispersed rising to the surface as they chased squid and other prey items. “At night we are targeting the fish on the surface using temperature breaks.”
He is sure that the broadbill also congregate in the canyons off the Far South Coast and he was keen for some daytime deep fishing in known locations such as the Tuross, Bunga and Tathra canyons.
“Absolutely they have to be here and no one has tried the daytime drop using these techniques,” he said.