Whats a NICE size sword to keep?

[char-sea cap]

Yeah, yeah , I know. Many will say any legal fish is grill worthy .and thats fine.

But Im interested in the guys who dont take the minimum....what do you consider a good size fish to take .......and why??? Thanks.

[COMPLEAT]

You kinda nailed my criteria on the head. I keep the first legal and if I get a second say over 80lbs I'll take it. The small fish at least down here are the bulk of whats caught. They are not breeders yet. The population is really on the good end of things. Even bordering over done.
I keep small cause I can eat it fresh and give away fresh. To me it loses half or more of that great taste once frozen. A waste....
If I take a second its rare and only if I have a list of people to give it to fresh again. I have no desire to run up numbers. If i get a quick one I'll stay for a second. If I get that one, I pack it in and head home mission accomplished.

[jt]

Provided that is legal, and you abide by the rules. Simple as that.

JT

[GetReel]

Provided that is legal, and you abide by the rules. Simple as that.

JT

By that reasoning, keeping a bunch of fish and then throwing them in the trash would be fine since that is "legal" too. Seems like kind of weak reasoning.

Compleat has it right though -- keep medium sized fish, not the big ones that are replenishing the population.

[waterman579]

Yeah, yeah , I know. Many will say any legal fish is grill worthy .and thats fine.

But Im interested in the guys who dont take the minimum....what do you consider a good size fish to take .......and why??? Thanks.

Are you looking at it by length or weight or dressed weight?

[offshoreone]

Same thing as makos and yellowfins.

If you have to measure it, its not big enough

[Captain's John & Diana]

If it is any where close to having to measure a sword or Mako it goes back. I think the size limit on swords and makos should be increased but do not feel what we do has any bearing on others that keep legal fish. It's there right to keep what the law allows but we have a different standard on our boat. I think personally about the smallest sword I have every kept was about 80-90 lbs. Having said this we have lost all the bigger swords through the years over 200 lbs plus after a long fight of a couple of hours or more as the hooks pulled with their soft mouths. I am also interested in any information on both swords and makos that others might post.

[Bob ECT]

Anywhere from 80-200lbs. I don't like frozen fish so I don't need that much.

I have no interest in keeping a 5-600lb fish

[captainbadfinger]

[quote=offshoreone]Same thing as makos and yellowfins.

If you have to measure it, its not big enough[/quote

Ditto on that

[char-sea cap]

I was hopin someone had checked this out already (bein lazy).......but decided to research it myself........this is the first thing I found:

Life History and Habitat

Life history, including information on the habitat, growth, feeding, and reproduction of a species, is important because it affects how a fishery is managed. For example, scientists have determined the approximate size of swordfish at sexual maturity (between the ages of 5 and 9) to be a length of about 47 inches. Setting size limits (i.e., fishermen cannot keep swordfish smaller than 47 inches lower jaw fork length) allows swordfish to reach reproductive maturity and reproduce before they are removed from the population.

Sounded pretty good .....but since it came from NOAA's website (and i know they're way low on Makos maturity length) I decided to look some more.........

Long story short, all the other research I found points to 150 to 170 cm ljfl -roughly 5 to 6ft LJFL

also said that almost all fish over 300 lbs are female...very similiar to Makos.......

Ps. After re-readin the replys looks like Bob ECT's weights are pretty much on the money

[COMPLEAT]

I have not seen any roe or milt in a fish under 51" yet... Again their numbers are good. I take one or two usually and call it done... Then I don't go again for a long while.
Size limits bug me. I wonder if it does more harm than good? Lets take fluke for example. When the limit was 15 inches. I would catch maybe ten to get six keeper. I go home when I reached that. Now I might have to catch 40 or more to get just a couple keepers. Of those Ilet go I would imagine a sunstantial amount won't make it.
I see guys down here take as many as the six limit. I scratch my head. I also see guys running up the numbers on pups. 10 or more sometimes I know full well that many wont make it either...

[waterman579]

Here's an idea take whats legal and set a personal limit on what you think is best or take a vote amongst you fishing party and come up with a size,do you really worry about what others think! just like the old saying opinions are like a$$holes everyone has one.

[Sir Reel]

Some people like to base their information on the best facts available, though, waterman. Legal limits are a guide, but may not reflect what is truly the best practice. There is a difference between law and ethics. Likewise, there is a difference between opinions and facts. You can believe that 2+2=5, but that does not make you correct. And, asserting your opinion, that would be legal, but it still wouldn't make it morally right to try to make someone else believe that.

Anyway, I think he is just looking for an educated way to go about it.

[char-sea cap]

Some people like to base their information on the best facts available, though, waterman. Legal limits are a guide, but may not reflect what is truly the best practice. There is a difference between law and ethics. Likewise, there is a difference between opinions and facts. You can believe that 2+2=5, but that does not make you correct. And, asserting your opinion, that would be legal, but it still wouldn't make it morally right to try to make someone else believe that.

Anyway, I think he is just looking for an educated way to go about it.

You got it brother!!



Water .....basically doing what your saying (figurin out what we want to take) but tryin to base it on biology.........AND the opinions of captains Ive come to respect on this site.

Ps.they are awesome fish. after 1 ...Im already addicted!

[char-sea cap]

If it is any where close to having to measure a sword or Mako it goes back. I think the size limit on swords and makos should be increased but do not feel what we do has any bearing on others that keep legal fish. It's there right to keep what the law allows but we have a different standard on our boat. I think personally about the smallest sword I have every kept was about 80-90 lbs. Having said this we have lost all the bigger swords through the years over 200 lbs plus after a long fight of a couple of hours or more as the hooks pulled with their soft mouths. I am also interested in any information on both swords and makos that others might post.

Good post cap. Congrats on your giant.