Record Shattered With Supersized Pumpkin Swordfish Catch

358-pound pumpkin swordfish snagged by a Delaware fishing boat

A Delaware fishing boat reeled in a record when they snagged a huge swordfish during a recent trip out on the Atlantic Ocean.

Candy's Reel Choice of Lewes, Del. was on an outing over Poor Man's Canyon, about 70 off the coast of Maryland and Virginia, on September 7 when they hooked a large pumpkin swordfish, Delaware fish and wildlife officials said.

Fishing officials say the swordfish gets its name for its pink-orange flesh which comes from a diet of shrimp.

Angler Kurt Lorenz and the boat's crew and passengers spent three hours fighting the swordfish and was eventually able to pull the 7.5-foot fish on board.

Once back in port at the Lewes Harbour Marina, the swordfish tipped the scales at a whopping 358-pounds, according to officials. That breaks a state record.

A fish and wildlife enforcement agent was dispatched to the marina to confirm the record. Officials say while the swordfish wasn't caught off Delaware waters, it's still considered a state record because the boat left and returned to a Delaware port.

Candy's Reel Choice's catch shatters the previous record catch -- a 276-pound swordfish caught by angler Albert Scott back in 1978.

Here's a full view of the 358-pound swordfish.


Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.

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