Well July went out with a fizz for swordfish. We were blown out on the 29th for swordfish with Stephanie. We fished for swordfish with Rick and his lady on Sunday night and had a swordfish swim through the lights and caught a good sized shark. Of course all was not lost as we had caught 6 snook , 2 out of 4 tarpon and 3 barracuda before heading offshore.
Monday night we closed out July swordfish trips with no bites of any kind. What a bummer for Scott and Silvia.
We got August off to a good start with Greg Covin bringing two young men out fishing. We were fishing with anglers Kalin, 8, and Mac, 5. He will be 6 next week, he wants you to know. The boys caught 8 snook, 3 jacks and a barracuda before the food, drinks and Gramps ran out.
Wednesday Heather Harkavy and her dad, Jeff joined us in an effort for Heather to set the world record mark for swordfish as a small fry female angler. She only has 2 weeks left before becoming a junior angler at age 11. I set up two outfits with Penn 16S internationals. I figured that the low gear would make it possible for Heather to gain light against a struggling swordfish. To have enough line for a swordfish strong run, I backed the reels with 300 yards of 50 pound Synthetic braid and topped them off with 125 yards of 50 pound Ande monofilament. We added a fighting chair to the boat and were ready to go.
We started fishing at 8:15 and hooked a swordfish at 9:05. The fish came off 5 minutes latter when the swordfish spit out the bait with the hook firmly buried in the skull of the blue runner bait. That fish was never hooked.
At 9:55 another fish ate another live bait on the same rod, again set at 200 feet. Heather calmly back off the drag to get the rod out of the holder, climbed in the chair, pushed the drag up and went to work on this fish. In ten minutes she had her target along side the boat. Heather had warned us all that she wanted the world record and the satisfaction of knowing the fish survived to grow and multiply. Her swordfish was hooked around the bill, so no harm was done there. We secured a Boga Grip scale to each end of the fish by rope loops and determined the weight to be 70 pounds. Took the length and girth measurements, which tabulated out at 77 pounds, revived the fish and set it free. The fish was never dragged into the boat. Slimy fives were rampant all around the boat ( some slimy hugs as well).
A couple more swordfish ate that same rod with the live bait at 200 feet, but Jeff could not keep them on the hook.
By the way, Heather caught her first cobia ever and a barracuda on the way out to catch her swordfish.
Keep an eye on this young angler. She has numerous small fry world records and has loads of plans for the future.
Thursday night Stephanie made her trip that was delayed from Saturday. It paid off well. As her birthday present to herself, she caught 3 swordfish, got tags in two of them, had a couple more swordfish bites and caught a 125 pound night shark. Happy Birthday to a great lady.
Friday night we set out with high hopes of another great night. Keith Kasuk and his wife Sue were ready for swordfish action. Each angler caught dolphin on the way out under a couple birds spotted on the radar. We set up swordfish shop a little after 8. After 2 nights with swordfish bites coming good between 9 and 10 PM, we were ready when our strike came. NOT!!! About 9:15 Keith in the head, Jason the mate with a hand full of pistachio nuts and Sue lost in deep thought and the jug shifted, the bait light raced, the clicker screamed and the action was on. Two great jumps, some frantic action on the rod, a lot of give and take of line and Keith had boated a nice 63 inch 125 pound swordfish. The radio was quiet as were our lines after that one fish. We had one shark bite by 12:30 and headed for the dock.
Swordfish season is here and now through October, so e-mail me at captbouncer@bellsouth.net to plan your trip. Be sure and pick up my DVD "Hydro Glows Basic swordfish tackle and tactics" at a tackle shop near you, or at www.HydroGlow.com .
