Swordfiishing off Upper Keys?

[fishensticker]

I know the majority of you that participate in this forum fish Miami and Northward or South of Islamorada, I was wondering, has anyone swordfished off the Upper Keys between these areas with any success?

[Sword Hunter]

check out islandmarada's tourney results

[fishensticker]

The Islamorada Swordfishing tournament results posted on this forum don't really mention any of the areas that the fish were caught. From what I heard, it sounds liks most everyone in the tournament fishedpretty far south (of Islamorada). I have yet to hear anything about any swordfishing off Key Largo, Plantation Key or directly off of Islamorada...which would be a lot closer for me to run from Tavernier Creek. I may just have to invest the time and see what happens

[The BEAST]

I heard the 324# fish caught Sat nite was caught off Careysfort near Ocean Reef. I fish off Elliot Key all the time.

Capt. Jim
The BEAST

[ausum]

The most productive area is south of the west humps.Got 1 there last fri. night. the next best spot is floyds wall and drift from the south # to the north # and then reset your drift..I live off of snake creek and its much closer. That 324 lb was cought off key largo but from what I understand,the largest group of fish is south..AuSUM2

[fishensticker]

Thanks Ausum. The West Humps and Marathon Hump, I'm assuming are the same?

I fished the Trench for the first time last Saturday (I was not in the tournament) but saw quite a few boats that were in the area so I knew I was in a generally popular area. Only problem was that we, like most others I heard on the radio, got sharked in that area. It was the first time I swordfished there , and when we pulled up at 3:30 am to come home, it was almost a 40 mi run back to Tavernier creek...makes for a rough Sunday morning. I think we're going to give it a shot a little closer to home this saturday.

What channel do you monitor?

[ausum]

The humps are the same. Im running a 50 ft express and came back at 15 knots as at night I dont run any faster.because at night.its possible to do damage ..By the time they raised the bridge, we also got home at 5,30 and it took 1 hr. tobutcher the fish.. It was 63 in, Took a shower and slept for 1 hour. The crew came back at 12 and we put everything away and washed and shammied the boat down. What type of boat are you running and also what type of tackle? It took me 2 days to recover with no sleep,..Talk to you soon..AuSUM2

[fishensticker]

At least you had a fish to show for your sleep deprivation last week. Did you fish the tournament? We fished on saturday evening and caught some nice blackfins at sunset, but no broadbill.

I'm running a 39' Topaz Royale express, usuing Tiagra 50w's backed w/130 spectra. I'm headed down tomorrow night. I'm shooting to go out Saturday (I go out of Tavernier Oceanside). Are you fishing this weekend? If so, what channel do you monitor? My boat is the Pisces.

[Liquid Swords]

Hey Fishensticker, welcome to the forum!

I also leave from Tavernier Creek. My buddies do not want to go swordfishing at night on saturday. :???: They want to go in the morning for variety fishing and lobstering.

If we have a good day tomorrow, I could probably convince them to give the swordfishing a chance that same night. [-o<

What VHF channel do you monitor??? Let me know so I can give you an update if I convince them to go.

In my opinion, and I'm an a-hole, I don't think it is worth it to go that far from Tavernier Creek. I think we have some decent sword grounds in our area.

Hope to hear from you,
Liquid Swords :salut:

[ausum]

Fishensticker--- Wont be fishing this weekend but probably will go out 1 night during the week. I normally am on channel 79 which is the charter boat channel here...Nice boat you have there and tackle is perfect.. I run 80 wides with power pro backing as these are the same that I use for marlin in the Bahamas. Hey Liquid swords---Have you done anything close to home here, such at floyds wall---Or where do you think there are other areas that will produce swords----Its a long ride south of the marathon humps and I burn a lot of diesel fuel and it is a longer ride back.Fishensticker, do you ever go and fish cay sal bank.Let me know-------AuSUM2

[fishensticker]

Liquid-- I have a 3 and a 1/2 hr drive from Naples to get to Tavernier--headed down tomorrow night and if its early enough after fighting traffic, I may head out to the Islamorada hump tomorrow night, but I think the weather's going to be a little nicer Saturday night for drifting. I'll plan to monitor 79 tomorrow if we head out. What's the name on your boat?

Ausum--I have been to Cay Sal twice (both times mid summer 2 yrs ago) Great deep dropping, but you really need a lot of extra rigs I went because I heard the yellowfin bite was on--no yellowfins--I think I was a little too late in the summer (I hear april/May is the time). The upwellings and current were incredible--caught a small 'hoo and multiple incredible dolphin on the way home, but all in all a lot of fuel for not soooo incredible fishing :???:

[Liquid Swords]

The only place I have ever fished for swords in the keys has been at floyd's wall. One night they are there, and another night they may not be there. They are highly migratory. I burn enough fuel to get to floyd's, so there is no way I'm going further south.

My boat name is the same as my screen name: Liquid Swords

What I have done in the past is run to teatable channel and zoom out to floyds. I do this because at the end of the night I have a straight shot to Tavernier Creek.

I'll be at MM93 tomorrow night. I'm hoping to get a chance to go out Saturday night. I'll let you guys know by tomorrow. :salut:

[ausum]

Liquid swords---what have you cought at floyeds wall? I was out there once and a storm came and we came in.I live here full time and maybee the 3 of us should get together for a drink....Let us know. Name of my boat is AuAUM2 and I live in venetion shores. AuSUM2

[CompleteAngler]

Flloyds wall was productive last week in the Islamorada Tourney. We didnt have a great ratio but hooked into a swordy that jumped right in the begining and we pulled the hook after 5 hours. The best tip that they gave me to fish in the keys is : If you are catching alot of sharks, move deeper. I prefished on thursday and went 5 for 6 on sharks. During the tourney i fished deeper and had the shots.

[fishensticker]

CompleteAngler--thanks for the tip about moving deeper. The shark we caught last Saturday was in almost 2400 feet, though. On the radio, everybody was catching them in our area.

What to you hear about the effect of having a chum bag in the water while swording?

[CHRIS]

Hey Nelson good to see you on the forum
Chris

[ausum]

Last weekend everyone was catching a lot of sharks, the depth didn,t make any difference....Normally, when you go deeper, you get away from the sharks...The name of my boat is AuSUM2, made a spelling mistake before----AuSUM

[Liquid Swords]

I've caught swords at floyd's wall, so I know they are there. If the sharks are biting hard then I will usually move deeper. One thing that I don't do is use the fish oil based chum. I believe that that is one of the reasons why so many people get shark bites. Instead I will either use the swordfish chum available through Baitmasters, or sandball some rolled oats. The swordfish chum does not have any fish oil in it, so it is harder to attract sharks in the process. The only thing you need for the swordfish chum is a chum net with large holes.

Looks like I won't have a crew for tonight. Last time I took them out they were all puking uker: I called them today and I guess they recalled the night they had last time we were out, and they didn't want to go through that again. Oh well.