500 lb swordfish caught of palm beach pb county

[Mike]

Here's the article

Huge swordfish caught off PB County
By WILLIE HOWARD

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, August 19, 2005

PALM BEACH SHORES — Bill Ford had just started swordfishing and decided to head out Thursday night for his second swordfish trip Thursday after returning early from a vacation.


Ford and four friends, fishing aboard his 32-foot boat Irish Wake, started getting hits immediately after dropping over the lines baited with squid in 1,500 feet of water north of Boca Raton Inlet. The Irish Wake crew lost the first two fish.


The third fish hit a squid 450 feet below the boat. Ford decided to fish a bait deep because of the full moon.


The fight that ensued lasted 12 hours. They hooked the fish around 10:30 p.m. and took turns fighting it. When they got the fish to the boat around 10:30 a.m. Friday morning, they had drifted north in the Gulf Stream to the waters off Stuart.


The swordfish was 12 feet long. They decided to pull it through the transom door, tail first, but it got stuck. So they ran the Irish Wake back to Singer Island with the fish sticking out the transom door and got lots of stares from other boaters as they cleared Lake Worth Inlet.


"People were just freaking out," Ford said.


On the scales at Sailfish Marina, the swordfish weighed 508-pounds — about 105 pounds shy of the state record swordfish caught off Key Largo in 1978, but more than double the weight of the winning fish in a recent swordfish tournament.


Ford attributed the catch to beginners luck — and the lack of a banana on his boat. Bananas are considered bad luck on boats. The last time he found a banana on his boat, Ford caught nothing and lost some fishing tackle.


As he prepared for this trip, Ford found the banana a friend had jokingly put on his boat. Ford found the offending fruit and hurled it overboard before leaving the docks.

[LegalLimit]

Thats Awsome!!!!!!!

[Beerman]

I wont believe it till I see pics, why didnt the reporter have a camera on him??? I think it may be an over estimate, but if its not, thats one hell of a catch!!!

[RiskTaker]

What does 500 lb. swordfish have anything to do with a lit'l Banana less than 1/3 lb? Where did this superstition come from anyway ?

Me thinks, you may need a bunch of bananas on board to replenish that Potassium balance, so's you don't cramp up and lose that jumbo size fish before you give up too soon.

P.S. - Great job Mr. Ford and the crew of Irish wake for that long or epic battle with the Gladius Peschee. So much for Gilligan's Island theme.... a 3 hour tour... make it 12 and not an Island in sight...

You're going to need more space in your freezer.

[J.P Freeman]

12 hours, wow. wonder what kind of tackle he was using? that is a heck of a long time to be fighting a fish.

[Mike]

Any pictures ever come out on this fish?

[Beerman]

Originally Posted by Mike

Any pictures ever come out on this fish?

I talked to someone that was looking at Timmy's fish and they said someone has some, but they have not surfaced!!

[Beerman]

Theres a pic on the FS forum, not a good one, but they say more are coming!!

[Mike]

ahh thanks beerman.. Looks to be about 300 from here.. what were the measurements

[hannaman]

Looks like about 75+ inches length and 50 inch or more girth.

[Shark Tagger]

ya looks to be a nice one.. post the new pics when they come available.

[Irish Wake]

Hey guys, Irish Wake here, I was not aware that our fish was posted on your site. As the article states I’m new to the sport (of swords not fishing) and this was only my second time fishing for them. I will be the first to say that it was beginners luck and I will take it!

The fish was 105” lower jaw to the fork with a 64” girth, just over 12’ long and the scale said 508lbs. We caught it on a used 50W International w/ 50lb braid I bought from Fisherman’s Center a couple years back. Never thought I would catch anything this big. We pulled into sailfish marina b/c they have a scale, and quite frankly had no idea how to get the thing out of the boat. I just forwarded a few pictures to Mike, though I was way too tired to take any really good ones, maybe next time.

[RiskTaker]

Hey Irish Wake:

I guess they may also call you Capt. Bill Ford. Good job on getting that fish into the boat man, even if it was beginners luck. I bet you could have still caught that fish even with a bunch of bananas on your boat.

Welcome to the SFC forum.... Look at that you're an instant celebrity.

Great job on icing that fish down too... nothing worse than showing off a magnificent fish all the while letting it fester in the heat of day. ICE is nice.

Hey if they had a robust enough scale at Lighthouse Point Marina would you have preferred to go there instead?

I'm not sure if I caught which port you are out of. You're already showing up the regular swordfishing anglers. RT

[Mike]

Got the call from Bill and he sent me the pictures. 105 inch fork length.. I think he said 64 inch girth, but don't hold me to that. 503lbs

Caught on an older International 50 wide.

He also told me the Sailfish Marina now has a digital scale for the big boys to weigh fish.



Take a good look at this one .. insane






More pix are here:

http://www.swordfishingcentral...-2005

[Shark Tagger]

Thanks for sending in the pictures.. I had my doubts about this fish, but it is everything you said it was.. unreal

Did the fish come up dead and was it really a 12 hour fight?

[PanamaJack]

Hi RiskTaker
The aversion to taking bananas on boats originated, I think, in Hawaii. The skippers and crew particularly seem to take it VERY seriously.

As well, and this is a Maori (New Zealand) trait, they don't like you pointing at fish. They believe you should always 'point' with the finger 'crooked' effectively pointing back to the boat where they want the fish to be.

[RiskTaker]

Hey PanamaJack:

That was a great story about the origins of banana aversion but somehow I missed the punch line about the reason why.

I could only venture to guess without a good story ... Perhaps they were fearful of Brown Recluse Spiders (highly toxic) which commonly would be found in bunches of bananas or perhaps the African Barking Spiders that would emerge in great numbers after sailors would start consuming bananas.

I don't believe in that superstition stuff..... Now I wonder why I cannot seem to catch a swordfish over 200 lbs? Well, it's not because of bananas on board!

[PanamaJack]

Hi RiskTaker
I similarly can but wish. But, I suspect I start from a slightly lower point on the scale than you - NADA!

The closest I got and I can remember the evening quite vividly even though it goes back to the mid 80s was off Sao Jorge, in the Azores. With tales of big fish a group of the IGFA trustees had move their boat - Double Header - to Faial. We'd arrive in early October, which was perceived to be right at the end of the Marlin season, only to discover that the local boat we'd intended to use was out of commission. And very generously Don Merten Snr, the crew's - Don Jnr and Denis' - dad allowed us to fish on that 43' Rybovitch for the cost of the fuel. An offer we couldn't, you'll understand, refuse!

Anyway that particular day I'd released two Blues on the Condor Bank and we'd then run the 40 miles to Sao Jorge. Deploying three baits I'd first of all had an abortive bite from a Broadbill (?) - I could feel it slashing the bait. Then my friend had a 'baby' - a 46 pounder. But I believe that was the first ever from the Azores taken on rod and line. Then my rod, and we were fishing a mackerel deadbait, just bent over.

Everyone was convinced it was a good sized Broadbill and out came the big, back-banded flying gaffs. And I was cautionned about putting too much pressure on it. After a short while up came the swivel, and Denis took the leader only to look down on a Blue Shark around 140. You can imagine everyone was just a tad disappointed!

I guess my only other Broadbill bites, all abortive, have come whilst night time drifting off Ascension Island in the South Atlantic.

Still I live in hope. And the next best thing is reading about these phenomenal captures.

Seriously it's gratifying to see the Florida Straights fishery bouncing back from what was such a low point.
Kindest regards
Dave

[koko]

The banana=bad luck legend is based in fact. Bananas generate a great deal of ethylene gas which makes fruit ripen. When ships were powered by the wind this was a bad thing. This would make the other produce on a ship rot before the next port. If you have some almost ripe fruit at home stick it in a paper sack with a banana, turbocharged ripening!

[koko]

Oh, one more thing.


BIG BIG FISH!!!!!!!!