BATON ROUGE, La. (WVLA) — A fun outing with loved ones turned remarkable for a fisherman from Louisiana with an impressive catch. Lee Grafton, from Thibodaux, reported landing a 350.8-pound broadbill swordfish during a fishing trip in the Gulf on Friday, June 6.
Accompanied by his friends, his son, and his son’s companions, Grafton set out into the Gulf from Grand Isle. He mentioned they were aboard “a 33-foot custom aluminum catamaran by Encore Boat Works in Sorrento” and used a Daiwa MP 3000 electric reel to eventually hook the massive swordfish.
“The bait was a rigged squid on a 200-pound leader with a 300-pound test wind on the leader,” said Grafton.
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Lee Grafton’s son Beau with a swordfish that was caught in the Gulf on Friday, June 6. (Picture courtesy of Lee Grafton) -
Dustin Domingue is sitting next to Jerome Perque with a swordfish that was caught in the Gulf. (Picture courtesy of Lee Grafton) -
Lee Grafton’s wife, Becky, Dustin Domingue, his wife Heather and Gigi are seen with the swordfish that was caught in the Gulf. (Picture courtesy of Lee Grafton) -
Grant Ridgeway is seen with a broadbill swordfish that was caught in the Gulf on Friday, June 6. (Picture courtesy of Lee Grafton) -
Drake Fick is pictured with a fish that was caught in the Gulf on Friday, June 6. (Picture courtesy of Lee Grafton)
Grafton stated that he managed to hook the fish at approximately 9:40 a.m., but it wasn’t until 1:15 p.m. that they successfully reeled it in, with the last 90 minutes requiring manual effort to crank the reel.
He said the hardest part about catching the large fish was keeping it from breaking off. Grafton said the weight was hard to deal with and prevented them from gaining any ground. He explained he had to use a glove and hand line to make any progress.
Grafton said they cleaned the fish and will give some of it away.
The plan is to mount the sword and possibly get a replica made of the entire fish, says Grafton.
Grafton mentioned he has caught bigger fish before, but the broadbill swordfish would have been the top in the state by 40 pounds. He said that the fish can’t be weighed to determine whether it set a state record, because he used an electric reel.
The Louisiana man has a love for fishing and you can see it on his local TV fishing show called “Keep on Castin.”
