7-Hour Swordfish Battle, One NZ Women's Record — Helen Horrocks
🎣 Get the Net – Tight Lines, Loose Lips! 🎙️Show Notes
Helen Horrocks is a Scottish-born sailor turned game fisherman turned boating coach, now based in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. In this episode she traces her unlikely path into fishing — from scavenging tangled line off riverbanks as a kid, to kayak guiding in Paihia, to buying her own yacht so she could learn to skipper on her own terms. That same yacht became the platform for her game fishing obsession, sparked by a triple marlin strike that hooked her for good.
Helen now holds a ratified New Zealand women's record for broadbill swordfish — a 279.3kg fish landed during the Cater Marine Opua Small Boats Tournament off the Hokianga coast, after a brutal seven-hour stand-up fight that left her legs permanently scarred from the gimbal. She talks candidly about the fight itself, the physical and mental toll of chasing records on light tackle, and a separate, far scarier night targeting a ten-kilo bluefin record that nearly ended in disaster on the run home in the dark. Along the way she shares the gear, mentors and trial-and-error lessons that shaped her as an angler and skipper.
She also talks about "She's Got Game," the coaching business she runs alongside her marketing day job, built to give women hands-on, practical experience skippering and fishing rather than just theory. It's a conversation about obsession, complacency, teamwork, and why she thinks the best way for women to break into boating is simple: stop waiting for an invite and buy the boat yourself.
CHAPTERS 0:00 Meet Helen Horrocks — sailor, fisherman, boating coach, and founder of She's Got Game 9:22 The Watershed Moment — a triple marlin strike, learning from Bruce Martin, and eyeing the bluefin record 20:23 The Bluefin Scare — hooked, lost, and a dangerous ride home in the dark 29:12 The 7-Hour Swordfish Fight — hooked up, the physical toll, and wrestling the fish aboard 39:19 Gear & Advice — rods, reels, swordfish behaviour, and tips for women getting into fishing 48:55 Bluefin, TV & a Business Award — her first bluefin on camera and recognition for She's Got Game 58:38 Wrap Up — thanks and final words
FOLLOW HELEN Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/88fishes/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@88fishes
SHE'S GOT GAME Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shesgotgamenz/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shesgotgame TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shesgotgamenz Website: https://shesgotgame.co.nz/
LINKS & SOCIALS YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@getthenet_nz Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1824558692 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/54DYLnjQkQLjdDz8USJgab
Music: Proctor (Topher Mohr & Alex Elena) | Satellites (Swello) | Momentum (Zplit) | Source — YouTube Audio Library Shot on Sony A7iii + Sennheiser Mics | Edited in Adobe Premiere Pro | Shot, Edited & Produced by Nick Hoyle
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