Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Welcome! => East Coast/Gulf of Mexico Charters => Topic started by: bill19803 on September 28, 2020, 02:36:17 PM

Title: east coast swords
Post by: bill19803 on September 28, 2020, 02:36:17 PM
as  long time  members  may  remember  my  quest/ mission  is  to  catch  swordfish  in mid atlantic.  but i  cant afford a private charter  so  its party  boat  canyon  fishing for  me.
went  on miss barnegat  light   saturday  morning  from  barnegat  light, nj  for voyage off  shore.
tried  inshore   a fleet  of  100  boats  in  small  area.  a few  for  us
capt  opted  to  go  2 hours  more offshore

canyon fishing  for  tuna  was  spotty   a  slooow pic.  capt  moved     couple  of  times  still  slow

loaned   out  one  of  my  outfits  to  guy  next  to  me  and  we  worked  the  depths  together trying to  find  zone

finally  i  got  a  hit  but  nada.  5  minutes later  buddy hooks  up  50 in fork length  sword  hit the  deck  45  mins  later

back  at  it   after  his  fish landed  doing the  tandem  depths  still  hunting  but  with a better  idea of depth.

buddy  gets  nibble    bait  gone.

a  couple  minutes  later  i  get  one  tap  and  nada.  but  wait  and wait  finally line  starts  to  move.

set  jobu 9/0  pretty  hard  and all  hell  broke loose

i  fought  fish  for  15  minutes  till  i  was  exhausted,  and  panting for breath.
passed rod  of  to  a  mate  and he  went  at  it  for  an  hour.

accurate atd 50  via  cals  end   bell  was  getting  hot,  mates  arm  was hurting  bad.

but he hung in there  after total  battle  of over  an hour  fish hit  deck

official  measurer for igfa was on boat  and  measure fish  72 in fork length  42 inch  girth   estimated weight  175  or  so

and  so  begins  another  season  of the  quest.  firsh  sword too  26  years to catch  second one took  2 years. 

and i  still  have 4  more  chances  this  year.

have  pics  dont know  how  to post them   help needed
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: El Pescador on September 28, 2020, 02:54:42 PM
Bill,

Send me your photos and I'll post them for you.

Check your PM, I sent my email address.

Wayne
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: alantani on September 28, 2020, 03:30:16 PM
we have swordfish off the coast near san francisco, but no one fishes for them because no one knows how.   :-\
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: El Pescador on September 28, 2020, 03:39:24 PM
Here you go Bill!!!

Looks like a great day fishing.

(https://alantani.com/gallery/33/7588_28_09_20_8_37_24_33444216.jpeg)

(https://alantani.com/gallery/33/7588_28_09_20_8_38_20.jpeg)

Wayne
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: gstours on September 28, 2020, 04:19:52 PM
Thanks,  wow! Nice fish.   ::)
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: bill19803 on September 28, 2020, 04:29:16 PM
alan

swords  are  not that difficult. they  prefer  the  deep.  on  shallow  bank of  a  canyon  works  well. drifting  so  dont  need  as  much weight  as  anchored
but  dont  take  a knife  to  a  gun  fight  or  you  will  be  sorry.  id  say  atd50  or  international  50w is  minimum.  loaded  with  spectra,lots  of spectra.
big hooks  heavy  leader  big  bait jobu 9/0  130-150  flouro 8-10 inch tube  squid
and  enough  weight  for  bait  to  get in the deep
id  say cow  gear  will  work  well  if  set  up  for rail  fishing.
and  patience  patience patience
they  bite  like  5  pounder  not  a tremendous  bite NORMALLY
and  patience  patience is  required .
i  suspect  west coast  fish  are  relatively the  same  as east  coast
again only one  guys  opinion and  im no  expert  just  a  long time  addict  who has  gone down a  different  rabbit  hole  
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: Hardy Boy on September 28, 2020, 05:01:29 PM
Nice fish ! Those swords look so cool.

Cheers:

Todd
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: Gobi King on September 28, 2020, 07:08:50 PM
nice!
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: oc1 on September 28, 2020, 08:04:08 PM
That's one heck of a catch from a head boat.  You're a smart cookie.

Swordfish are spread across the seven seas except for the polar regions and can migrate annually from the northern to southern hemisphere.
-steve
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: bill19803 on September 28, 2020, 08:40:57 PM
to  eastern   members

my  freezers  are  stuffed  with  swordfish.  i  have  3  10-15  lb  chunks  available  to  any one  who  can  pick them  up in  claymont  delaware  before  9pm  tonight

its  possible  the  ice  in cooler  with  l;ast till  tomorrow  no guarantees.

first  come  first  served
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: bill19803 on September 28, 2020, 10:49:11 PM
just  gave  away  last  chunk  so its  all  gone
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: bill19803 on September 29, 2020, 01:51:31 AM
does  anyone  know  how  to prepare  a  swordfish  sword  for  display?  help
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: Vintage Offshore Tackle on September 29, 2020, 03:34:29 AM
Congratulations Bill!  All of the time and money that you invested in preparation and being in the right place at the right time, and putting in your time at the rail paid off!  It couldn't happen to a more deserving guy!

Randy
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: Ron Jones on September 29, 2020, 03:28:03 PM
I'm so glad you had this opportunity! I've been reading about you trying to do this for a long time, way to go my friend!

My grandfather prepared several marlin swords by coating with boiled linseed oil and letting dry in the sun, don't see why it wouldn't work with a sword.

The Man
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: Tiddlerbasher on September 30, 2020, 10:14:03 AM
Coating it with epoxy rod coating :-\
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: Donnyboat on September 30, 2020, 12:02:10 PM
Nice Bill great story, thanks Wayne pictures are worth a thousand words, by the way Alan, they do now. cheers Don.
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: Eddie K on October 01, 2020, 04:08:07 AM
Congratulations on your fish.  Nice catch.
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: bill19803 on October 05, 2020, 08:12:20 PM
and  the  saga  continued  on  saturday  10/3/20
same  boat  same  captain same  locations  same  results.
my  maybe  boat  record  lasted  a  week  and  then was  broken  by  a  foot  was  82 inch fork length fish  hooked  and  gaffed in  5  minutes.
lots  of  yellowfin  to  60  lbs  at  inshore  spot  one  sword  no  tuna in  canyon  no mahi,  one  wahoo  inshore must  have  been  close  to  6  feet.
probably  the  end  of  my  voyages  came  home  slept  16  hours feel  like a  bulldozer  ran  over  me. cant  take  the  beating  any more
but  had  a  great  string  over  the  years to  remember  fondly

$bill
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: Vintage Offshore Tackle on October 05, 2020, 08:38:50 PM
Bill, I have felt the same way on more than one occasion, but I will bet you dollars to donuts that as soon as you forget how much you are hurting right now, you will be right back out there.

Randy
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: Swami805 on October 05, 2020, 09:36:55 PM
Wow, 5 minutes on a sword? Kamakazi!
Can't keep a good man down.  Once the beating you took wears off, you'll be back, maybe a bit wiser and pace yourself a little
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: bill19803 on October 05, 2020, 10:43:16 PM
let  me  be  clear  i  did  NOT catch the  latest  sword  monster  sorry  if  i  gave  that impression  to  anyone

i  tried  but  no  love  had to  settle  for  50-60 lb  yft.
Title: Re: east coast swords
Post by: byfly on December 28, 2020, 09:39:05 PM
I'm the senior Fishing Specialist at West Marine's largest store located in Ft.Lauderdale, Florida.

We sell equipment for Swordfishing. Fish can be a little football size 25 lb up to 400lb and more. It is a fairly normal activity here. Depths are several hundred feet.
The primary set up for this is to use size 50 to 80 electric reel by Hooker that uses a Shimano Tiagra or Penn International reel as the basis. Another local setup is a Lindgren Pitman specically built electric reel. Rigs with Squid, Bonito Strip, Ell, Snake Heads(a freshwater fish), are other baits are utilized. Lights are also part the rigs. The lead weights for this are commonly 3-4 lbs and sometimes more. It's a science for sure and always changing.