Sword-fishing, Then all Hell broke lose

[Keith Poe]

Left out of Long beach California los Angeles county Monday at about 2:00 PM headed for Osborne bank 50 NM out with a cooler full of 2 pound salt brine red dyed squid.

The weather said it was only blowing 12 knots but seemed much more as I was taking them over the windshield on the fly-bridge.

Stopped and tossed on the Grundens then proceed towards Catalina side ways from the wind about mid island.

Worked up the side of the island very close till I got to the west end.

Saw severail guys lobster fishing

The wind had calmed down some as I headed on wards.

Got to the bank and headed towards the SW corner metering across the bank.

A little further towards Nicolas there was a decent break according to Terrafin SST charts but I believe the Swords might be after the Humboldt's
that seem fond of banks where I believe Humboldt's are after the market squid.

Saw some decent marks and set up 4 accurate 80W at just above the bottom and 250' 200' & 150' as it was a full moon and very foggy the entire trip for the most part.

Picked up a Mako that got tail wrapped in two lines. She seem very interested in the boat and Hydro glow lights. Set her free.

One good thing about the full moon Swordfishing is they are usually below 230' because the Humboldt's and other prey are usually at least that deep
as they want to stay out of the moon light. This creates an advantage to stay away from the Makos as they rarely venture below the thermocline.

Then a blue shark gets it's self hooked in the side trying to get the bait, released it. Pretty much it till first light picked up another mako on the 150' bait.
The 12/0 hook was right in the top of it's head. Did not seem deep or bother it at all so I left it in place as the release stick would not remove it.
I thought about slicing it out but figured it would be better off with the hook rather than a slice potentially allowing an infection or causing bleeding.
I ain't no brain surgeon. So if you see a mako with a really interesting hook piercing you will know how it got there.

Sent some baits down 1250' 1350' 1500' on the out riggers with 5 pounds of lead on them and one out the center of the transom.

Drifted all the way across the bank to the explosives dump all day and picked up another Mako on the sink after checking the baits.
She got it right in the side of the face infront of the gills. Released her.


Just before Tuesday night I got set up to start trolling again still in the explosives dump & set the auto pilot towards the west end of Catalina.

Set up 4 accurate 80W at 300' 250' on the auto retrieve down riggers fully extended port & starboard spread out with the out riggers.
The deeper they are the harder it is to keep them apart.

I set the other two at 200' & 150' then tied balloons on the sending them back away from each other and the deeper down out rigger ones.

The balloons have chem. lights in side them so I can see them incase they get picked up.

At 3:00 AM all hell broke loose when I saw a large mako right behind the transom checking things out in a frenzy.

At first I thought it was cool as everything was deep out of site out of harms way WRONG all of a sudden the starboard down rigger went off dumping cable
as fast as you can imagine along with the Accurate 80W with 30 pounds of drag. I am not sure what amount of drag the down rigger is capable of but has held 2, 15 pound weights and the 2 LB of squid LP light & another 2 LB of lead. I'm guessing at least 30 LB of drag along wit the 30 LB the Accurate is set at plus the salt slicer.

The gimbal pin in the rod holder snapped as the down rigger twisted aft when the cable came to it's end digging in the gel coat.
SNAP it broke at the end knot. The ATD 80 W still screaming out rigger bouncing violently as the release clips are set tight because of all the pressure and in the moon light I get a look at this monster silhouette rocketing flipping skyward crashing down.

On the second running out of the water flipping it was free.

I was happy it was gone not my target but had a really big smile on my face from ear to ear as I felt she was saying see what you are missing.

As luck would have it some how I got the salt slicer and all the cable back still attached to the 80W as the angle of the attack did not allow for the release clip to
trip.

Set back up minus a down rigger but could have spooled up some of the spectra as the cable was wasted in knots.


I rounded the west end and rolled in to twin harbors to re fuel at 6:45 AM Wednesday morning.

Waited till 8:00 Am to refuel then ran out 1 mile and set up 2 baitomatics and two of Fred Archers Out laws with squid attached.

Set the Auto pilot for Los Angeles gate at 4 knots for an un eventful crossing as the sun was up and the wind was as well.

Trolled right in side the harbor adding a Rapalla to the mix and raised the down rigger up.

Heard the commercial halibut guys on channel 88 talking threshers.

Trolled all the way to Queens gate saw little life inside till I got to the queen marry inside the 5 knot markers.
The bait was solid with well over 100 birds crashing down.

It was now Wednesday night and I had a lot of cleaning to do and the low tide left the ramp only 1.5' deep.

Swords a big fat zero as I hear the commercials inside are having a really bad year that's why I tried out side.

The 12/0 is deadly if anything gets near it and if that does not work if I ever get near a swordfish all the gear in the water
will snare it like the sharks.

I am learning a lot every trip dialing everything in sorting different things out in different conditions trying everything different ways different ideas getting ready for a showing of swordfish as when the makos Marlin or threshers show I hope to be as ready as I can be to try my best, I think I can I think I can.

Till then I am all ways interested in what will happen next what will show up, big eye thresher thresher mako tuna marlin so much fun so much to learn and enjoy.

Purple twin fin or bust till next time your admirer an Elvis fan the one and only true King"



Life's journey is not about what you acquire but who you become.


310-562-6205

sharktagger@roadrunner.com

[bajakian]

Interesting story Keith, thanks for sharing. Did you get a good look at the monster? How big would you figure and was it a Mako or Sword?

[Cutler]

great story..at least you had some action. no interest in the Mako's? they are damn good!
keep on truckin

[Keith Poe]

I did not get a good enough look at it to tell what size Mako it was but for sure easily over 350 pounds judging by the power.

Makos here are like Swordfish there actually exactly the opposite but it's not un common for me to have a 10-40 Mako night mostly pups.
Just like your swordfish makos here are a nice catch at double marker.

I have caught them at a grand and threshers to a grand here.

After catching close to 4000 it's time to move up in new obsessions.

I equate this as to the same as if you guys tried to make makos a regular catch.

Sport fishermen have been trying to turn this in to a sportfishing swordfishing fishery for over 100 years now.

I have baited over one hundred here, 40 in one year on the surface during the day.
Most in the 250 and up class and up to 500 pounds that I have seen.

All most boated one at 500 pounds that was at the transom but that does not count till it's on the deck.

I have satellite tagged them here while filming for Fox Sports as a producer captain of a harpoon boat.
The owner of that boat has harpooned a 1400 pound swordfish locally.

[ameristrat]

1400 pound sword? I wasn't aware they got that big! I'd love to see that!

[Keith Poe]

Size, Age, and Growth
Swordfish reach a maximum size of 177 in. (455 cm) total length and a maximum weight of 1,400 lbs. (650 kg), although the individuals commercially taken are usually 47 to 75 in. (120-190 cm) long in the Pacific. Females are larger than males of the same age, and nearly all specimens over 300 lbs. (140 kg) are female. Pacific swordfish grow to be the largest, while western Atlantic adults grow to 700 lbs. (320 kg) and Mediterranean adults are rarely over 500 lbs. (230 kg). The IGFA all tackle record is 1182 lb. (536.15 kg). Swordfish reach sexual maturity at 5-6 years of age, with a maximum lifespan of at least 9 years.

[Keith Poe]

Worked on the list today of all the things that all ways come up every trip.

Took a look at the rod holder that the down rigger was in and found the bottom where the gimbal pin was not round any longer rather it was collapsed folded
but the gimbal pin was still there.
Been there since 1970 I used a 6' bar to straighten it out.
Fiber glass sure is strong.
I took a look at the down rigger swivel pin and it was sheered off inside the housing.
Luckily I just bough an extra one at Melton's with 6 more blue green & white LP lights.
Spooled up the down rigger with 300 pound spectra.
Now maybe it will not whistle in the wind or attract grinners.
I got seven new leashes made up at Fisherman's supply and glad I did as I had another newer rod holder fail medium grade.
I put a new West marine rod holder in and grabbed the bottom and ripped the tub right out.
Took it out and look at it and saw several spot welds where they should not be and only a few really pore ones where they should be.
With Beautiful ATD 80 W & AFTCO UB-2 bent butts with monster rollers all the way around a guy might be reduced to tears if one went over.

I have to set the out rigger release clips really tight to handle the heavy weight especially the deep drops on the down rigger through the out riggers.
I could easily see one going up up and away.

To give you an idea of how much pressure is on the rods all the tip
rollers have lost contact with the glue and spun on the new rods.

I never put anything out with out a safety line attached I have seen to many things go wrong especially when
a monster comes to dinner.
Pushed my fair share back out of the boat especially tail walkers.
Nothing worse than letting slack in the line or getting one hanging straight up and down at boat side.
The auto pilot is actually a great safety tool especially for a one man band.

I have been using 400 lb. leaders with single strand wire leader material barrel rolled around the 400 lb. mono to secure the squid mantel to the leader to leave the 12/0
open for a bill strike hook up. This puts the weight of the squid bait on the leader not the hook. This leaves the hook in the tentacles hanging like a cork screw ready for action and easily sink it right through the bill all the way or where ever a lot like thresher fishing tail slaps.

I have done thousands of leaders haywire twist & barrel rolls by hand for years. Given the hard mono leader material & oil from the squid I have to really sink the wire in the mono to keep it from sliding down. If it does not slip it tears in to the mono. I decide to use three swedges. allowing a place to easily tie the wire to.
I sent the mono through the eye of the hook with a tag line about 16" long. The first swedge is right above the eye of the hook to secure the plastic ring in the eye of the hook for extra protection. The other two swedges are an inch apart at the top of the 16" tag line. This gives me a double mono triple swedge and a place to easily and quickly wire a new bait on while trolling. The other way leaves old barrel wire on the leader and digs in to it. Slides down and is even more difficult to do when it's all oily from the squid. Buddy Steve picked up a degreaser pump bottle on board to clean up with from the squid oil.

I am very cautious when rinsing my hands over the side as the side is where makos usually approach the boat.
I never look at my hands and quickly pop them in and out as you never know what can be under the boat day or night.

Honestly I all ways think about the bigger makos when I am leaning over the 2' freeboard as a bigger mako could easily grab you.

Was out off the west end one day with ESPN Larry Dahalberg Steve Yatomie and had a slob seal in the slick screaming for all it was worth dancing with sharks on the water and saw a really big splash about a hundred yards back and that was all we heard after that your guess is as good as ours.
Never did see that show.


Any way getting ready for the next adventure hopefully it will be a rewarding one.