Long Range Swordfish?

[spike]

Ranger Bank, North of Benitos. Some LR boats have caught a few at night their. Thats where Dennis Braid caught his on the Excel at night. I believe the Excel had like a 5 fish night their once.
It can happen, but I would not bank on it, I would not board the boat glow stick in hand and walk to the wheel house and say "Are We Going to Try for Swords?". I lost one at night on the Ranger Bank, & also failed once again in the day time on the Ranger Bank delivering a yacht to the Cape, 0 for two, and have casted on +10. Maybe one day when I am older and better looking.
More often than not LR boats are always putting themselves in postion to give all the anglers onboard not only maximum fishing time but also the best chance to string a nice catch together, and that could mean traveling at night. But if you do get a chance to drift at night and want to try for Swords you may also end up hooking an Escalor, or even an Opah.
Also I have seen swordfish flaging very tight to the North end of Guadalupe, just S. of Pliot Rock at a spot called Gray Bluff, it is really deep their, and we have spoted willie their on several occasions. And for a about a week during Spring time the Cabo yacht fleet end up catching a handfull on the Lower banks, Jamie Bank, Golden Gate, Gordo, ect, but most of those are day time catches.
There is always a chance, even on a cod trip to SCI in late Spring months, you just got to be ready, but it is an easy oppertunity for an angler to try if drifting at night aboard a LR boat, more often than not you already have the gear for it aboard.

[Fred Archer]

Here's a shot of one caught on a swordy rig put out by the Daily Double during a night shark fishing trip. It was fought by all of the anglers and divided up between them. I don't believe that was the only one on that boat and if I recall correctly, there were some others caught and of course lost back when night sharking was happening hereabouts.

They are very unique fish. If you don't fish for them the right way with the right gear, the only ones that you are likely to see are finners up top, some of which are catchable, but only if you do it the right way. As indicated here, not too many long or short rangers actually try night fishing for them, but it is deadly as hell, but of course only if you are around the fish in the first place...but they are a lot more common than most think.

Here's one of a number of great tips that I learned about dealing with squid bites and other swordfish stuff from the greatest swordfisherman I have ever known, Skip Smith of the Madam and The Hooker, courtesy of my book, "The Art of Catching Broadbill Swordfish". When there are a lot of squid harrassing the baits, slide a molded squid, I recommend a nine inch Moldcraft squid in our cases, up the leader. Follow that with an egg sinker that's a bit bigger than the hole in the squid, then your circle hook. Then chop up a squid and stuff the pieces into the hollow body of the molded squid, then pull the sinker into that squid's mouth to trap the real stuff inside. This way the squid scent slowly escapes, attracting the wild squids, which can chew on the heavy, tough body of the molded squid for a long time before they destroy it. Meantime, it's the gathered, excited squid and light stick that attract the swordfish. When he comes into the area lit up by the cyalume stick, the natural squids split and the sword nails the fake and eats it.

The 9 inch squid is best here because the sword won't try to chop it up and just gobbles it down, yielding an excellent hookup ratio. That is far better than a big squid that the swords do try to chop up before they eat it.

It works, no kidding. And if you put the time in during the night shift and do it right, swordfish can be very likely - again, if they are around. Only thing is, you better have a big outfit in the water with the right leader and good connections or Elvis will bust it up on you.

Suerte!

[G-Spot]

I was not on the boat, but my friend was on the AA this last year when they spotted a sword. Tarro grabbed a speared and the boat came up on it and he successfully speared the fish... They all shared the meat each passenger getting some to take home.....

[fishbone24]

i enjoyed the show from that and the meat.

[spike]

Originally Posted by G-Spot

I was not on the boat, but my friend was on the AA this last year when they spotted a sword. Tarro grabbed a speared and the boat came up on it and he successfully speared the fish... They all shared the meat each passenger getting some to take home.....

Somethings are better left unsaid in Mexican waters.

[Ol Pedro]

Capt. Archer , I might try that trick next week on our last trip of the Season . I think that the Westies could have quite a Night Sword fishery if anyone would concentrate on them . We chunk at night out here and get at least one or two runoffs on our Sword rods a night while fishing for Tuna . When we are on a good temp. break the Swords are more numerous . We don't fish our lines more than 300-350' deep . We anchor in 400-600 ' on the edge of the Canyon's . The only Swords that were caught when I was in San Diego were sleepers that were casted to with live Mack's .

[G-Spot]

Originally Posted by spike

Somethings are better left unsaid in Mexican waters.

Why? is it illegal or frowned uopn? I didn't know it was, based upon the conversation.

I was simply answering the guys question about swords and long range.

[Fred Archer]

G-spot, I'm not speaking for Spike, but suspect that what he is alluding to is that it is, or was, highly illegal to harpoon swordfish in Mexican waters. That's a good part of the reason why there were no plank boats down there for many years, in spite of a thriving population of fish.

Old Pedro, Right on the night chunked swords. They are quite common with the noreast canyon chunkers - shockingly so if more Westies were familiar with that. There simply is no night fishing tradition out here other than the long rangers, who were the first on the left coast to adopt this deadly technique and still pursue it to this day. I can vividly recall back when a long range boat did the true night chunking thing and had astonishing success doing so. Mike "The Beak" Hirt was part and parcel to that and I'm sure remembers the details well.

Unfortunately, it remains basically undone up here, where it will work as well as down south, back east, or wherever else it is practiced. The facts are that daytime chunking, effective but nowhere near so as night chunking and which pretty much eliminates the possibility and actual likelyhood of getting swordy bit has only relatively recently been adopted by many of our anglers. It used to be thought that there couldn't possibly be a way that a bloody chunk could even come close to live bait as far as catching tuna and other pelagics is concerned. To their great credit, that is changing with some of the more adventurous and open minded anglers out here.

Finally, one lesson to be learned by anyone who starts west coast chunking that east coast guys learned the hard way is to gear up with the right tackle to have a realistic chance of catching a chunk-eating swordy. One might not like beating up smaller tunas on the bigger guns, but no matter how you slice it, if you work the night shift in waters that contain swords, you'd better abide by it, or be willing to have your ass handed to you when Elvis shows up.

As for the (only occasional) daytime sword caught out here, that is a self fulfilling prophecy somewhere that virtually no one is playing the night game that is so important for catching swordfish...and tons of tuna, too.

[marlyn]

Originally Posted by spike

Somethings are better left unsaid in Mexican waters.

what happens in mexican waters stays in mexican waters...

[Fred Archer]

Cute.

And a positive contribution to a serious and well intentioned discussion.

Here's one along the same lines...

Polly want a cracker?

[kelpbass_kid]

my uncle is part owner of a 35 bertram in Cabo.

Last year they baited a 500lb plus swordfish. They threw the wrong rod (50lb) and hooked the monster. It procceded to fight for over 13 hours.

At 1:00 in the morning (the fish was hooked in the early afternoon), someone who was fishing with my uncle said he had to go in because his wife would be nervous. My uncle had never met the man before the trip (it was a friends friend), but the was very forceful in his requests to go in.

So after 13 hours on a 500lb. swordfish, my uncle went into the cabin, closed the door, and just couldn't watch as one of the deckhands broke the fish off.

My uncles hooked several swordfish locally and lost them all, so this fish was a particular bummer. They had a couple shots at the gaff, but it wouldn't come close enough

BTW, the fish took over an hour to break off with a buttoned drag.

[JJONES660]

if somebody told me I had to break off the fish of a lifetime id probably float him or tell him to swim back