Dolphin, Sails and Swordfish.

[hannaman]

The past week or so of fishing has increased with other fish besides the normal Kingfish bite. Dolphin have been coming uo close to feed off the reef as they head south for the winter. These fish stick pretty close to the warm Gulfstream waters as their path. We found them in a 150 feet of water and also as we were heading offshore about 5 miles or so on a 4 x 4 piece of timber. They are the most colorful and acrobatic fish out there. The Sailfish are being caught alot more regular. The past week they could be found in waters of 200 feet. With the easterly winds we see these fish closer to the reefs.



We finally made it out to the Swordfish grounds since the Dark Side of the Moon Tournament. We had to call it an early night on that night as winds were increasing on us from 25 - 30 + knots from the northeast without a fish. So the past Saturday night was much better and we scored a pretty nice Swordfish going 65 inches tip of lower jaw to the fork of tail. I had a Tiagra 50 wide as my tip rod straight under the boat around a 100 feet deep with a squid tied on it. Without any clue, this fish picked up the squid and swam staight up to the surface. The only reason I picked up the rod was I saw the line all slack which should not of been the case with a 1 pound weight on the end of the line. So as I started cranking Kenny notices the light that was attached also to the line darting back and forth on the surface on the other side of the boat. We had to trim up the motors so that we could walk the rod to that side of the boat and get a better hookset. At first he did not know he was hooked just swimming in 1 place. Then he must of felt the hook and made a quick hard run and jumped clear out of the water. What a sight to see that Bill in the moonlight. Then he took a dive and kept going. I knew we had a good fish at that point. About 45 minutes later we had him boatside with plenty of energy still left in him. He took a run to go under the boat so I took a jab at him with the gaff and got a bad shot with the gaff behind his mid section. I was still able to hold him at the boat. My friend Jeremy put the gloves on and goes down to grab the fish by his bill when I saw the fish cock back and take a swing with his bill right at Jeremy's head. Stunning him for just a moment he got a good hold on the bill and we swung the beast over the gunnel. He was flipping his tail so hard he almost jumped out of the boat. So we stepped on his bill and sat on his tail until he quieted down. It was a good night, we heard maybe 10 other boats hooking up that night also. We should continue to see bigger fish as the winter months approach. Lets get em.

Captain Cary Hanna
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