NO WAY! Part 2

For those of you, who did not have an opportunity to read the first half of this story in the previous edition of the South Florida Sport Fishing Magazine, let me quickly bring you up to speed.

During a very exciting recent swordfish outing with a couple of close friends we hooked a monster, at least what we thought was a monster. Capt. Joey T., our designated ‘rod man’ for the trip and an avid big game angler with close to twenty years of experience had decided to take a short vacation down from the snow ridden Northeast to join us.

After a few failed attempts due to weather and work conflicts we were extremely excited that this life long friend was finally able to head down to our area and experience the great sword fishing, we never imagined he was about to encounter the fish of his life! Now, only 12 hours after stepping off a Boeing 727 in Ft.

Lauderdale, he was strapped to a 50TW while doing the best he could to subdue an incredibly powerful monstrous fish of the deep.

We were into our 6th hour of the fight and the GPS indicated our location to be approx. 20 miles north of the initial bite. It was amazing that we were still hooked up as none of us have ever fought or even seen a fish with this level of power and stamina. We were straining our tackle to the limits. Every time we thought we were gaining, the enormous fish would head straight down and effortlessly peel another hundred yards of line off the reel. What concerned us the most about the long drawn out battle, was knowing it was only a matter of time before something would give, we just hoped it wouldn’t be our tackle.

Throughout the entire episode we couldn’t help but wonder how gigantic the broadbill on the end of our line really was. On a number of previous trips we’ve boated fish beautiful fish in the 200 to 300 pound range and never had to fight one for more then 90 minutes. This swordfish was either really, really big or really determined. We guessed the fish was both and estimated it would tip the scales substantially higher than any we have ever seen before. I quickly brought up a story of a 598 pound swordfish mount I once saw, it was so tremendous, it looked like an elephant on the wall. As the unrelenting battle continued, we did all we could in an attempt to gain back as much line as possible. The stubborn fish just would not budge. Unsuccessfully, we tried to raise the fish from the deep with the power of the boat. We approached the fish from every possible angle, we tried various drag settings, we applied pressure from different angles with the rod, we tried it all and to no avail. After a long drawn out exhausting 6 hour struggle, we were now at a complete standstill.

With less than 100 yards of line to go, our only focus was to figure out how to successfully end this conflict. On one end we had a 250 lb. very experienced big game angler applying maximum pressure, and on the other what we thought was probably a gigantic swordfish somewhere in the range of 400 to 500 pounds. God that was an exciting trip! Luckily as the minutes ticked away we managed to inch the fish closer and closer. I think now is when we all realized that in what might be a short period of time, we were going to be face to face with a 15’ long freight train with big black eyes the size of softballs and a bill that would give true meaning to the word sword. The option of the still unidentified contender being a shark was ruled out as we agreed there was no way the leader would have held up this long in a set of toothy jaws. To say we were a little wound up about the current situation we were in, was to say the least as our adrenaline levels soared while we closed the gap one foot at a time.

As luck would now have it, just as soon as we were on our way to victory, the unimaginable happened. In the time it takes to flick a switch, the mighty fish was gone, well at least we thought he was gone. The taught 50 lb. monofilament went completely slack as if someone sliced through it with a hot knife. Joey collapsed on the deck in exhaustion. He had exerted every ounce of energy for more than six hours and to have it all end like this was nothing less than tragic. The expressions on our faces went from overwhelmingly joyful to deathly somber in a fraction of a second. Our dreams of boating a gargantuan broadbill swordfish, one that we already nick-named Godzilla, were shattered in an instant. The conversations we had of this epic battle being published in newspapers and magazines quickly dissipated. I mean who would write about the one that got away? Frozen in time, we were speechless. Not one of us moved a muscle for what seemed like eternity.

Our spirits were absolutely devastated.

I am sure you can imagine what it must have felt like to lose a fish that big, 6 hours later and twenty miles away from where it was hooked.

For an angler’s ego, it’s a crushing blow.

Suddenly, and to our astonishment we were all brought to attention by a powerful jolt. It felt as if something substantial actually crashed into the hull. Instinctively we all leaned over the gunnel to see what drifted into the boat. An old floating palm tree, a Cuban raft, I mean come on it had to be something. What filled our eyes next was the amazing site of a surprisingly small fifty to sixty pound swordfish laying motionless on the surface. Like a raging bull, the fish literally charged the boat. We guessed that due to the collision, it then simply died.

Again to our shock and where an even bigger mystery starts, lodged directly in the corner of the small fish’s mouth was our hook and leader. We know for certain it was our rig as we use green chafing tube to protect the mono from abrasion in the eye of the hook.

Now, can any of you please explain to me how an estimated sixty pound swordfish can fight so hard for so long? A Penn 50TW on a custom rod, six hours later and twenty miles away! We were and still are absolutely dumb founded. Was this really our mystery fish? Could any fish that’s only sixty pounds have that much energy and such a will to survive? Also, what drove the fish to charge the boat? Was it retaliation or suicide? The small sword barely met the minimum requirements but due to its unfortunate demise, we decided to keep it. Until this day we are still trying to fit all the pieces together.

There are many unanswered questions.

Possibly you have an idea as to what occurred on that night, because I sure would like to hear about it, or maybe this whole story is #%@&*%#@! You decide.

Mike@SouthFloridaSportFishing.com