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
Bill,
Send me your photos and I'll post them for you.
Check your PM, I sent my email address.
Wayne
we have swordfish off the coast near san francisco, but no one fishes for them because no one knows how. :-\
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
Thanks, wow! Nice fish. ::)
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
Nice fish ! Those swords look so cool.
Cheers:
Todd
nice!
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
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
just gave away last chunk so its all gone
does anyone know how to prepare a swordfish sword for display? help
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
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
Coating it with epoxy rod coating :-\
Nice Bill great story, thanks Wayne pictures are worth a thousand words, by the way Alan, they do now. cheers Don.
Congratulations on your fish. Nice catch.
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
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
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
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.
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.