Broadbill Dreams by Nigel Ah-Cann

When we launched the Born to Battle Photo Competition, we asked anglers across NZ & AU to show us what the fight really looks like: the chaos, the commitment, the raw offshore moments that define life on the water.

Nigel Ah-Cann's submissions embodied exactly that, so we knew his story deserved its own space.

Melbourne Angler. Diver. Swordfish Addict.

My name is Nigel Ah-Cann and I’m just a keen fisherman and diver from Melbourne, Australia. I wasn’t lucky enough to be born into a massive fishing family, but I was lucky that my parents always encouraged me to follow my fishing dreams.

I remember begging them at the ripe old age of 4 to take me down to the local lake almost every afternoon, and every school holidays from about 12 years old, getting Dad to drop me off on a pier on his way to work and pick me up on his way home. Now, fast forward a few decades, the passion and drive are as big as they’ve ever been, but the fish got a whole lot bigger (and the financial investment in gear and boats got bigger too).

One of Nigel's impressive Born to Battle photo competition submissions.

The Fishing Lifestyle

I often get asked by my non-fishing mates what it is about fishing and diving that I love so much. Without being surreptitious, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly one reason, and it’s only truly understood by those who live and breathe it, which is why I believe the fishing community can be such a tight-knit group. If I had to use some words, I would say I love the lifestyle, the trips, and the primal instincts of hunting and gathering. It’s certainly shaped who I am as a person.

Chasing Swordfish

The Pinnacle of Offshore Game Fishing

What can I say about swordfish? They are truly the pinnacle of our sport. They fight so hard, can be pretty elusive, and they taste sensational. For something that barely moves the rod tip when you get a bite, it’s impossible to know whether that fish is going to be 40kg or 400kg, and you only truly get a gauge of what you’re up against when that fish comes flying out of the water.

Built for the Deep

Swords have some unbelievable evolutionary adaptations, from a heated eye socket to help warm its eyes and brain to hunt better in the deep, to the brutal bill that the swordfish is named after, which could easily shatter your ribs. These features truly make it special, and when its closest resemblance in traits is to a thresher shark, you’re in pretty elite territory.

From Childhood Dream to Reality

As a young teenager, I was given a series of “Fishes of Australia” posters by my mum, which lived as a staple in my childhood bedroom, and one of the first fish depicted was the broadbill swordfish. It was one of those mythological creatures that almost felt out of reach to recreational fishers at the time , and most definitely out of reach to a young teenage boy. These posters now sit in my shed as a token reminder of my early dreams, and I always get a kick out of seeing them.

The Rise of Swordfishing in Southern Australia

The swordfish fishery in Southern Australia, and more specifically Victoria, kicked off about a decade ago on the back of success in daytime deep-dropping techniques in New Zealand and Tasmania. I’ll be the first to admit that at the time, no one really knew exactly what they were doing, and looking back, it’s almost nostalgic to think about some of the crazy things we did before techniques and information became more readily available. From running around like lunatics at commercial piers at 2am trying to get squid because we didn’t have any baits, to collecting rocks to use as breakaways to get the bait down 500 metres, we’ve certainly come a long way.

The Trip That Almost Didn’t Happen

Nigel's battle trophy - a 95kg broadbill swordfish.

The sword from the photo depicted was one of those last-minute trips that wasn’t really meant to happen. The weather aligned for a multi-day trip, but I was really struggling to get crew to come out with me. Fortunately, through a bit of persuasion and rearranging some of my own commitments, I confirmed to go with one other mate.

So, as all good trips start, we loaded the boat full of bricks and other assorted gear needed to go swordfishing, and left at 8pm to make the 4.5-hour drive to Eastern Victoria, have a short nap, and then make the 90km journey out to the continental shelf.

The aftermath and mid-battle scenes.

First Drop. First Chaos.

First up, we started working a familiar ledge with no action on the first drift, and then on the second drop we were tight almost immediately. An erratic fight with a good aerial display ensued, and 20 minutes later we secured the fish boatside. A few happy snaps, then into the chiller bag and covered with flake ice.

The One That Got Away

We got set up again and had another drop, which resulted in another bite but wouldn’t go on with it. We reset over a slightly different ledge and straight away, another bite. Teased it, and finally got the fish to commit.

We’re tight again, and it did all the things a sword does, came right up to the surface and then, different to the other fish, went straight back down to 350 metres. Immediately I knew this fish was in a different calibre size class, and I settled in for a long fight. Every time we worked the fish up, it would go back down and sit a few hundred metres deep, just powering along.

I bumped the drag up incrementally and ended up sitting around that 16kg mark for nearly two hours, before eventually pulling hooks on another sizeable run back to the depths.

Ocean to Plate

Gutted, but nevertheless, we decided to call it an early afternoon and cut the trip there, as we still needed to get back in to weigh the fish, get home, and process it while it was still in pristine condition. It ended up weighing 95kg, which is a solid fish but no giant. Who knows how much bigger the fish we lost was, but that’s the type of experience that keeps you coming back for even more.

My Desolve Gear

Ironically enough, I had purchased a Desolve swordfish hoodie and hat just days before the trip, so it must have been the good luck I needed, as I had been on a bit of a bad streak, losing a few fish on prior trips. It’s good gear and I love the design. The quality is right up there, it’s affordable, and it handles being washed a million times without turning to cardboard (unlike other apparel).