Discover The Largest Swordfish Ever Caught in Louisiana

Aside from a shark, the swordfish is one of the biggest fish you can catch. Swordfishing is a thrilling sport not for the faint of heart. You can sit in boredom for long stretches of time, before facing several minutes of pure adrenaline as you work to reel in this extremely powerful and feisty fish!

If you’ve ever spent a day off Louisiana’s coast hoping to catch a bite, you may be wondering who broke the record for the biggest catch. Discover the largest swordfish ever caught in Louisiana, including the behemoth captured in the Gulf of Mexico.

Swordfish Overview

Swordfish, or broadbills, are large predatory fish. They have smooth, elongated bodies with long, pointed bills. These fish are similar to marlin but belong to different families due to their physiological makeup. It is not uncommon for this species to reach 10 feet long and weigh hundreds of pounds. The average swordfish weight is 50 to 200 pounds.

The swordfish typically swallows its prey whole but will use its bill as a weapon when capturing larger animals. It is unknown if they use it to defend themselves against predators. And while it’s rare, people have been seriously injured or killed by the swordfish’s spear-like nose. Though, these incidences were purely accidental.

Their hydrodynamic bodies propel them through the water like a torpedo, reaching incredible speeds for a fish. The swordfish can swim over 60 miles per hour, making it one of the fastest sea animals on Earth. However, their average speed hovers between 20 and 40 miles per hour, which is still incredibly fast for a fish.

The swordfish does not go down easily. This species is incredibly powerful and will fight to the end. Don’t be surprised if you spend two hours or more watching it yank your line from the surface to the bottom and around the boat several times.

Are There Swordfish in Louisiana?

The Mississippi River Delta and the surrounding waters of the Gulf of Mexico provide some of the best fishing in the world. There is rich diversity in these waters, and they draw people from all over the world to catch everything from bass to marlin. While swordfish can be somewhat of a rare catch, anglers do encounter them if they go looking. It takes the right bait (fresh squid) and a lot of patience. And when it hooks, it also takes a lot of elbow grease.

The Largest Swordfish Ever Caught in Louisiana

In July of 1980, Thomas Dantin broke the record for the largest swordfish ever caught in Louisiana. The fish weighed an even 310 pounds and was caught in the Mississippi Canyon. The Mississippi Canyon is south of Louisiana in the Mississippi Submarine Valley in the North-Central Gulf of Mexico. 

In 2019, a few men from Baton Rouge caught an enormous swordfish weighing 328.4 pounds out of the Venice Marina. This fish technically breaks the previous record by 18 pounds. However, the catch was ineligible for recognition due to the way it was caught. They used an electric reel to harvest the fish, making it disqualified from the state’s record books.

The second-largest swordfish catch on record for Louisiana was 295 pounds. Brent Keith captured this fish in Venice in 2018. I think it’s fair to say that Venice, Louisiana is the spot to be.

What is the Largest Swordfish Caught in the Gulf of Mexico?

The largest swordfish ever caught in the Gulf of Mexico was a whopping 448 pounds. The crew of the Sea Reaper III broke this record in September of 2006 while fishing 70 miles from the Alabama coast. It took them over three hours to reel in this behemoth.

What is the Biggest Swordfish Catch Ever?

The biggest swordfish ever caught was 1,182 pounds! A man and his wife caught this enormous fish in 1953 off the coast of Chile.

Where is the Gulf of Mexico Located on a Map?

The Gulf of Mexico, located mainly within the North American continent, is both an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean.

Here is the Gulf of Mexico on a map:

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/bbevren