650# Swordfish

[bigfish4me]

Wow...some day ill get my bid...some day

[Fighting Irish45]

650lb Swordfish Picture

Whats up with all the wires in the Sword's gill plate and head region?? Form the angle that fish looks to be over a 1000

[HOLWACHAGOT]

That thing is Huge! Great story to go with a great fish.
Holwachagot

[rarhomes]

Whats up with all the wires in the Sword's gill plate and head region?? Form the angle that fish looks to be over a 1000

Harpoon darts.

[Tunaman40]

Thats gonna be a lot of steaks

[merry marlin]

Very Nice Fish!
Commercial or not for a beauty like that they should have tried to weigh it whole or at least the two pieces....
MM

[ReelSmith]

WOW!!! That thing looks huge! What a magnificent beast!!!

[Uncle Buck]

Very Nice Fish!
Commercial or not for a beauty like that they should have tried to weigh it whole or at least the two pieces....
MM

They did not have a scale with that capacity. They got the core weight (without head fins or guts) of 468lbs by cutting the core in half and weighing separately. The ICCAT formula for determining the round weight (whole weight) of a swordfish based on the core weight is "core x 1.33" with an error of +/- 5%. So the estimated round weight was actually closer to 622. But judging by the thickness, it could have easily been close to, or over 650lb. We'll never know for sure, but I'd say that's a safe estimate for the books.

As far as the photo goes... it *looks* way bigger due to the odd camera angle. Ken is actually standing about 5ft behind the fish. Look at the other photos in that link I posted (on the forklift) for a more true impression of size. Either way, it's a monster!

On the commercial topic... Yes, the owner of that boat (Cliff) does have the proper permits to legally sell swordfish, which is what they did with that one. BUT... their methods of catching it were the same as us recreational anglers use. So the commercial aspect had no bearing on the actual accomplishment.

In other news... 3 days later, a 605lb swordfish was caught and weighed (whole) by a different crew in that same area. They had access to a 1000lb scale to get a true weight. The big mommas are certainly out there!