A GAME angler in Tasmania has captured a broadbill swordfish while fishing off the coast. The swordfish is believed to be the first caught by an angler in the state.
Fisho was informed that the angler, Jason Kenneth Smith, was reportedly fishing for blue eye (trevalla) over the continental shelf out of Pirates Bay, Tasman Peninsula when the swordfish came up under the boat. Those on board thought it was a mako and put out a bait on a 24kg game outfit and hooked and eventually boated the broadbill. Back on land it tipped the scales to 225kgs.
As Smith wasn’t a financial member of a Game Fishing Association of Australia (GFAA) his capture was ineligible for an Australian record claim.