The broadbill is the deepest-living of the billfish: it spends the day hundreds of meters down and rises at night to hunt squid. It swims off Los Cabos, but sportfishers here catch one only rarely.
Blackish brown on the back, fading to lighter brown or silvery sides, with a very long, flat, broad sword. It has no pelvic fins, and adults have no scales or teeth. The tall, curved first dorsal fin can’t be folded down, and the tail base has one large keel on each side.
The swordfish lives in tropical and temperate oceans worldwide; in the eastern Pacific it ranges from southern California into the Gulf of California and south to Peru. It spends the day in deep, cool water and moves up into shallower, warmer water at night.
Off the Pacific coast of Baja, its diet is mostly squid, above all jumbo squid. NOAA puts its maximum size at about 14 feet and 1,200 pounds, its lifespan at about 9 years and maturity at 5 to 6 years. Adults lose all their scales and teeth.
In 1982 Francis Carey described a tissue attached to one of the swordfish’s eye muscles, packed with mitochondria and fed by a heat exchanger, that warms the brain and eyes and protects them from cooling during its daily dives.
Source ↗The heater keeps the eyes and brain 10 to 15 °C above the water. Depending on depth, that makes its vision more than ten times better at tracking fast motion than an eye at water temperature.
Source ↗In 2016 researchers found an oil-producing gland at the base of the sword, connected to tiny pores on the head. They suggest the oil, together with tiny skin denticles, reduces drag as it swims.
Source ↗Satellite tags on 31 swordfish showed an average maximum depth of 450 m during the day versus 78 m at night. Now and then they rise to bask at the surface in daylight, for a few minutes to nearly three hours.
Source ↗Of 175 stomachs from swordfish caught off Baja’s Pacific coast, squid, mainly jumbo squid, made up 60% of prey by number and 82% by weight, probably eaten near the surface at night.
Source ↗On June 11, 1972, James Perry caught a 106 lb 8 oz (48.3 kg) swordfish off Cabo San Lucas. It still stands as the IGFA men’s 6 lb (3 kg) line-class record.
Source ↗Because swordfish spend the day deep and come up at night, sportfishers use two methods. The traditional one is drifting baits in the upper layer at night. The newer daytime “deep-drop” method, studied off Southern California, sends a squid bait with a light and a 2–4 kg weight down to about 200–365 m on heavy tackle and electric reels.
In Los Cabos it’s a rare catch. A 1998 review of Mexico’s billfish management noted that swordfish are very seldom caught by sportfishers in the area. Local reports point to February through July as the best window. It’s a bonus fish, not one to plan a trip around.
Excellent eating: firm, moist and slightly sweet, with a moderately high oil content. The FDA lists swordfish among its “choices to avoid” for highest mercury levels, advice aimed at people who are or may become pregnant or breastfeeding and children ages 1 to 11.
| Reserved for sport fishing (LGPAS art. 68) | Within 50 nautical miles of the coast, like marlin, sailfish, roosterfish, dorado and sábalo |
|---|---|
| Daily limit (NOM-017-PESC-1994) | 1 billfish (picudo) per angler per day, counting as 5 of the 10-fish total |
| Filleting | Billfish can’t be filleted on board |
| Selling | Fish kept under a sport-fishing permit can’t be sold |
| IUCN Red List | Near Threatened (2022) |
| IGFA all-tackle record | 1,182 lb (536.15 kg), Iquique, Chile, 1953 |
In Cabo we follow a local rule of one billfish per boat per day, and Top Anglers encourages releasing every billfish.
Marlins and sailfish have a round, spear-like bill, pelvic fins, scales and two keels on each side of the tail base. The swordfish’s sword is flat and much broader, it has no pelvic fins, adults have no scales, there’s a single keel on each side, and its tall, curved dorsal fin can’t be folded down.
How to tell Cabo’s billfish apart ›
Yes, but rarely. Sportfishers in Los Cabos catch very few; local reports point to February through July as the best months.
It counts as a billfish: 1 per angler per day, which takes up 5 of the 10-fish total. It can’t be filleted on board or sold. In Cabo the local rule is 1 billfish per boat per day, and we encourage release.
No. The swordfish is the only species in its family, Xiphiidae. Marlins and sailfish belong to a different family, with round bills, pelvic fins, scales and two keels per side at the tail.
Top illustration: Top Anglers. Photos: iNaturalist contributors, credited on each photo.
Sportfishers with the range to reach the offshore banks. From $799 with license included.
