Lower Keys charter crew lands 480-pound swordfish after five-hour fight

A captain and crew on a Lower Florida Keys sport-fishing charter landed a 480-pound swordfish measuring roughly 86 inches after a five-hour struggle off the Lower Keys. The catch began as a routine charter outing and culminated in what the crew described as an all-hands effort to bring the fish aboard.

The fight lasted five hours, testing the endurance of the captain and crew on the charter trip that was operating off the Lower Keys. What started as standard sport-fishing turned into a prolonged effort when the swordfish hooked deep, requiring every member of the crew to assist over the five-hour period before the fish was secured.

When finally on deck, the swordfish was weighed at 480 pounds and measured at roughly 86 inches in length. Those two concrete measurements, 480 pounds and about 86 inches, were the defining details logged from the charter trip and mark the catch as an unusually large swordfish landed during recreational fishing off the Lower Florida Keys.

The catch occurred during a charter trip off the Lower Keys on Feb. 20, 2026, and became the principal event of that outing after the five-hour fight. The captain and crew completed the landing during that Feb. 20 charter, turning a routine day on the water into a notable event for those aboard and for sport-fishing activity in the Lower Florida Keys.