426.6 POunder Caught Last Night

Shark Tagger · 09-22-2006, 01:52 PM

Here's the story:

Tale for Poland
Visiting angler got a whale of a swordfish story to tell back home.

Published September 22, 2006

Janusz Wojcik really wanted to catch a swordfish. Nothing big, mind you, just something that he could tell his friends back in Poland about.

He ended up with a whopper of a fish story after catching a whopper of a swordfish.

Wojcik, 65, who was in South Florida visiting his son Eric, caught a 426.6-pound swordfish on 80-pound standup tackle last week fishing with Eric, Ricky Bessing and Ralph Hawkins.

"Eric's father always wanted to catch a swordfish," Hawkins said. "He watches fishing on TV, and he really wanted a billfish."

Hawkins, of Hollywood, Bessing, of Davie, and Eric Wojcik, of Pembroke Pines, fish swordfish tournaments together on Outta Control, a 24-foot Century.

They had taken the elder Wojcik bottom fishing and he caught some yellowtail snapper. They also took him swordfishing, but he only watched as the younger men landed a couple of 75- to 100-pounders.

They went swordfishing again with the intent of getting Mr. Wojcik a fish.

"He wanted like an 80-pound swordfish," Hawkins said. "Something that wouldn't beat him up.

"He never expected to hook a fish that big. I was hurting watching him, believe me."

Wojcik fought the swordfish for almost 31/2 hours using a Shimano Tiagra 80-wide reel spooled with 100-pound line.

The men had started fishing in 1,000-1,400 feet off Hallandale Beach, putting out squid on circle hooks, which is one of their secrets. Hawkins said that since they started using 16/0 Owner circle hooks, they've dramatically increased their catch ratio, landing nine of their past 11 swordfish bites.

"Everyone has a problem pulling hooks with swordfish. I've been a big fan of Owner circle hooks for bottom fishing," said Hawkins, who runs the Sea Legs drift boat of Hollywood three days a week. "So I figured I'd find the biggest Owner circle hook I could for swordfish. I've told people about circle hooks and they laugh at me. We used to use circle hooks for blue marlin fishing. It made a difference."

It didn't take long for the circle hook to do its thing on this trip.

"We got our spread set up and I don't think the baits were out 15 minutes -- the sun was still up -- and the fish hit a deep bait and dumped the 80-wide," said Hawkins, who added that the reel holds almost 500 yards of 100-pound monofilament.

"The fish had it down to where we could almost see the spool. Two hours into the fight, we only had a half a spool back."

After taking off, the swordfish jumped far from the boat, and Hawkins said the fish "looked to be a 150-, 200-pounder. When he went down, he felt like a foul-hooked fish because he was pulling harder than he should have."

It wasn't until the end of the fight that they saw how big the fish was. Hawkins said he first got an inkling of its size when the swordfish neared the boat and he saw that its eye was the size of a grapefruit.

"We were all shocked when the fish came up," he said. "The four of us didn't exactly know how we were going to lift him into the boat."

The fight had taken their boat north of Port Everglades Inlet. A cruise ship came out of the inlet and passed nearby, creating a four-foot swell that the men used to lift the swordfish up to the boat's gunwale. From there, the fish dropped into the boat.

The big swordie, which was weighed on the scale at the Sea Legs dock, had an overall length of 141 inches and measured 99.5 inches from the lower jaw to the fork of the tail with a 59-inch girth. Hawkins, who once caught a 491-pounder off Barbados when he ran a private sportfishing boat, said the 426 was the biggest swordfish he and his friends have gotten off South Florida.

Hawkins said the elder Wojcik, who doesn't speak English, "was ecstatic" after the fish was boated and they all celebrated by drinking a beer. Then Hawkins almost caused a mutiny.

"I said, `Guys, it's still early, we could still put the baits out.' They all looked at me like they wanted to throw me in the water and go home."

Uncle Buck · 09-22-2006, 02:22 PM

Great fish!

I like that last line. "Guys, it's still early..." :lol:

Broadbill · 09-22-2006, 02:35 PM

AWESOME!!!!

Disco Lady · 09-22-2006, 02:38 PM

CHEERS! Capt.

Warrior · 09-22-2006, 03:19 PM

I like the beer part!
Nice Job guys

Special_K_III · 09-22-2006, 03:40 PM

Ralph's using big circles.

The fish was 99.5 inches from the lower jaw!!!

quack quack · 09-22-2006, 03:41 PM

great fish :shock: preety work guys

neptune · 09-22-2006, 03:55 PM

congrats, great story

JupiterSailfish · 09-22-2006, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shark Tagger

The men had started fishing in 1,000-1,400 feet off Hallandale Beach, putting out squid on circle hooks, which is one of their secrets.

:roflmao: I like that part

That is one beastly fish! Great Work!

Relentless33 · 09-22-2006, 04:25 PM

I was handed the article today while passing my Language Arts teacher to another class. She said here, you may like it. At first I thought it was about a 250 class fish but apparently I was wrong. Made a great story!

:thumleft:

swordfish123 · 09-22-2006, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Relentless33

I was handed the article today while passing my Language Arts teacher to another class.

haha even your teachers know your addicted. Great story, big fish!

Relentless33 · 09-22-2006, 05:17 PM

Absofreekenlutely, I made my own section of the board with the pics of fish :roflmao: :bounce:

swordfish123 · 09-22-2006, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Relentless33

Absofreekenlutely, I made my own section of the board with the pics of fish :roflmao: :bounce:

hhaa wow. those were the days. all i did in high school was make friends with my teachers and sleep through class, study the night before and make a's on the tests. now i sit through two hour lectures with people that cant even speak english and dont give two shits about who you are.

enjoy it while you can!

dpdash · 09-22-2006, 09:00 PM

Wow, nice fish. Congrats!

Relentless33 · 09-22-2006, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swordfish123

hhaa wow. those were the days. all i did in high school was make friends with my teachers and sleep through class, study the night before and make a's on the tests. now i sit through two hour lectures with people that cant even speak english and dont give two shits about who you are.

enjoy it while you can!

Trick to the trade bro, get to be friends with them and you are set. Say have a good weekend even on Thursdays. I can't relate to the college time though.

Tuna Devil · 09-22-2006, 10:08 PM

Jr,

Don't be a fool, It has nothing to do with tricks. :???:

CaptainEd · 09-22-2006, 10:55 PM

Good job on that fish Ralphy! Darin told me about it the next day and I didn't belive him. So now you've made the immortale 400lb club... :thumright:

Sword Hunter · 09-22-2006, 11:21 PM

that'a way to put a hurtin on the big silver youngster. Good Job . Cheers!

Relentless33 · 09-22-2006, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuna Devil

Jr,

Don't be a fool, It has nothing to do with tricks. :???:

What I meant when I said that was 'be friendly with them, never make them an enemy, and you will go much farther in class than if you talk behind their backs and hold a grudge against them.'

The BEAST · 09-23-2006, 01:44 AM

Awesome story! I love putting people on fish, too. I am still waiting to for the big'un.

Capt. Jim
The BEAST

09-22-2006, 01:52 PM	#1 (permalink)
Shark Tagger Hooked Up Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Sunny Isles Best Catch: 475lb Mako Occupation: Engineering Posts: 919	426.6 POunder Caught Last Night Here's the story: Tale for Poland Visiting angler got a whale of a swordfish story to tell back home. Published September 22, 2006 Janusz Wojcik really wanted to catch a swordfish. Nothing big, mind you, just something that he could tell his friends back in Poland about. He ended up with a whopper of a fish story after catching a whopper of a swordfish. Wojcik, 65, who was in South Florida visiting his son Eric, caught a 426.6-pound swordfish on 80-pound standup tackle last week fishing with Eric, Ricky Bessing and Ralph Hawkins. "Eric's father always wanted to catch a swordfish," Hawkins said. "He watches fishing on TV, and he really wanted a billfish." Hawkins, of Hollywood, Bessing, of Davie, and Eric Wojcik, of Pembroke Pines, fish swordfish tournaments together on Outta Control, a 24-foot Century. They had taken the elder Wojcik bottom fishing and he caught some yellowtail snapper. They also took him swordfishing, but he only watched as the younger men landed a couple of 75- to 100-pounders. They went swordfishing again with the intent of getting Mr. Wojcik a fish. "He wanted like an 80-pound swordfish," Hawkins said. "Something that wouldn't beat him up. "He never expected to hook a fish that big. I was hurting watching him, believe me." Wojcik fought the swordfish for almost 31/2 hours using a Shimano Tiagra 80-wide reel spooled with 100-pound line. The men had started fishing in 1,000-1,400 feet off Hallandale Beach, putting out squid on circle hooks, which is one of their secrets. Hawkins said that since they started using 16/0 Owner circle hooks, they've dramatically increased their catch ratio, landing nine of their past 11 swordfish bites. "Everyone has a problem pulling hooks with swordfish. I've been a big fan of Owner circle hooks for bottom fishing," said Hawkins, who runs the Sea Legs drift boat of Hollywood three days a week. "So I figured I'd find the biggest Owner circle hook I could for swordfish. I've told people about circle hooks and they laugh at me. We used to use circle hooks for blue marlin fishing. It made a difference." It didn't take long for the circle hook to do its thing on this trip. "We got our spread set up and I don't think the baits were out 15 minutes -- the sun was still up -- and the fish hit a deep bait and dumped the 80-wide," said Hawkins, who added that the reel holds almost 500 yards of 100-pound monofilament. "The fish had it down to where we could almost see the spool. Two hours into the fight, we only had a half a spool back." After taking off, the swordfish jumped far from the boat, and Hawkins said the fish "looked to be a 150-, 200-pounder. When he went down, he felt like a foul-hooked fish because he was pulling harder than he should have." It wasn't until the end of the fight that they saw how big the fish was. Hawkins said he first got an inkling of its size when the swordfish neared the boat and he saw that its eye was the size of a grapefruit. "We were all shocked when the fish came up," he said. "The four of us didn't exactly know how we were going to lift him into the boat." The fight had taken their boat north of Port Everglades Inlet. A cruise ship came out of the inlet and passed nearby, creating a four-foot swell that the men used to lift the swordfish up to the boat's gunwale. From there, the fish dropped into the boat. The big swordie, which was weighed on the scale at the Sea Legs dock, had an overall length of 141 inches and measured 99.5 inches from the lower jaw to the fork of the tail with a 59-inch girth. Hawkins, who once caught a 491-pounder off Barbados when he ran a private sportfishing boat, said the 426 was the biggest swordfish he and his friends have gotten off South Florida. Hawkins said the elder Wojcik, who doesn't speak English, "was ecstatic" after the fish was boated and they all celebrated by drinking a beer. Then Hawkins almost caused a mutiny. "I said, `Guys, it's still early, we could still put the baits out.' They all looked at me like they wanted to throw me in the water and go home."

09-22-2006, 03:41 PM	#7 (permalink)
quack quack Old Salt Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: lake worth Best Catch: 25lb codfish 5 yrs old first hanger Posts: 4,456	great fish :shock: preety work guys __________________ Either we can be a part of the solution or we can be the victims of a decision.

09-22-2006, 11:21 PM	#18 (permalink)
Sword Hunter Hooked Up Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Boca Raton Posts: 173	That'a Boy! that'a way to put a hurtin on the big silver youngster. Good Job . Cheers!

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CaptainEd Hooked Up Join Date: May 2004 Location: Dania beach Occupation: USCG Master Captain Posts: 261	Good job on that fish Ralphy! Darin told me about it the next day and I didn't belive him. So now you've made the immortale 400lb club... :thumright:

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