Got a call from Freejumper around 1 pm saying that the night was looking great for swording. After making a few calls got a crew together to head to the sword grounds. Unfortunatley one of the crew canceled last minute so it would be just me & Arty a swordfish virgin...... LOL.
Headed out on flat calm seas to the southern 2900 lumps and set up the spread just before sundown. With a nice 4 mph nothern drift we'd be on our spot in no time.
At about 7:30 the 200' jug rod starts ticking. Slow at first and then a couple more pronounced pulls. I get to the rod and come tight on the fish and instruct Arty to take over and keep constant pressure, which he does, while I get the belt and harness on him and the fight begins.
This fish did a number on him running straight at the boat where Art had to pick up about 300 ft in less that a minute. Then he sees the hydroglow and comes up to the top and starts and ariel show with jumps and with the light swinging all over the place (VERY COOL!)
He then proceeds to peel off 400' of line like if nothing was holding him back and the fight continued. Luckily Arty is a skilled angler and he put the heat on him. We had him boatside only 30 minutes into the battle. As I scramble to get the gaffs the fish swims two laps around one of the motors and tangles the leader in the prop . NNNNOOOOO!
I jump on the transom and grab the leader with light pressure I bring him up and we nail him with the gaff. After only 35 mins we boated this guy.
We continued our drift over the area till 9:30 but felt it best to head home early as we had a lot of work ahead of us.
The spoils of victory! First sword caught on the Weedlines!
Question for you sword experts... The fish measure 63" jaw to fork and 36 inches girth. How much did this sucker weigh? We tried to pick it up individually for some photos but he weighed too much.....
What is the formula to get the weight?
Thanks James for the rods and for the call I would have never gone if you hadn;t called.