Swordfish

[Ironman]

Swords in FLORIDA..I have been wondering about the best place & time of year to try.. Any of you guys have any advise?
Here in So. Cal its a crap shoot.. mostly incidental & no concentration we cant plan on too much more than runnin over one on the way back from something else.....
Hey if I had a bucket list 'that would be on it!
Wayne

[Charlie J]

wayne
my daughter used to go out with a guy that mated on a boat out of boca raton fl, he did very well with the swords at night

[In Memory of Vicroy]

They catch a lot of 'em off the mouth of the Miss. River at night. Dead squid, fished at 3 depths in 200-300 fathoms. My son, who is a charter skipper, can take you. Capt. Brent Roy, 225 268 8420. It almost a lock, not unusual to get 3 or 4 shots a night. Not many people fool with them down here.

UV

[bob lico]

wow vic thats some damm good odds -----three or four a night! i would think there would be a fleet out there with that amount of swords. a valuable species that that causes" people " to do stupid things!

[In Memory of Vicroy]

Its strange that swordfishing never really caught on down here. I did it a little in the 70s. There are a couple of charter boats out of Venice, La. that will do it, mostly in the dead of summer when its almost too hot to fish during the daytime. My son was fishing with our friends on their 122' Mary P last summer and they caught 2 and broke off 3 or 4 one night. The boat has wi-fi and he was sending me real time pix all night. The grounds are only about 15 miles out of the mouth of South Pass so its an easy trip.

UV

[In Memory Walter K]

I liked it the way it was back in the 50's and 60's off Montauk. You'd go offshore trolling for Tuna, but would always have a big sewed up squid on ice connected to a big 80-130 rod and reel. A sunning Swordfish on top would create chaos as all lines were bought in, the squid thrown overboard and the Captain working the boat so as to have a dancing squid trolled in front of the fish. The reel would be in free spool on click and the mate would be holding the line between his fingers. If the fish responded to the squid, at the first whack, the line would be released and dropped back. Ten seconds or so later the reel would be thrown in gear and the boat would be gunned in forward. If it was a hook-up, whoopee! If not, you'd bring in the squid and hang around the area. 7 out of 10, the fish would pop up again, and you'd try all over again. I went over one fish 8 times and was in an argument with my mate as to whether it was a Sword or a Marlin. Out of frustration (and a bet), I finally bought the boat alongside the beast and we looked at it eye to eye. It was a big Sword (I won the bet), and when I got back ran out and bought a harpoon, darts, line, basket and ball. From that day on, I never saw another sunning Swordfish again!

[Bruce]

They go all year long but the best time is summer when its warm and the seas are calmer.

Overnight trips are the norm. Swords have been real good down here for the last 3 or so years.

[Ironman]

Thanks guys.. maybe theres a swordy vacation in my future..
Wayne