Just getting back online here after a long stretch of good weather here in Florida. I am running the Blue Runner, a private 60' Ritchie Howell out of Stuart. We took advantage of the great weather window and got out for three overnight trips recently .. here is a summary with pics
Friday / Sat:
Went 6 for 11 on wahoo to 50lbs and added some blackfin and bottom fish to the mix. Got set up at night after spending some time looking around and went 3 for 5 on swords to 170 lbs
Sun / Mon:
Wahoo fishing was a little slower today, going 1 for 4 then switching to bottom fishing and releasing a bunch of grouper, snapper, AJ's .. caught a couple of triggers before setting up for the night. Tried a different area early in the night and only had one blackfin and a shark to show for it , so moved back to area we had fished a few nights earlier ... hooked up a monster and fought it for 7 hrs before losing it boatside
Mon/ Tues:
late start , so we go right to swordfishing and hook up within minutes if getting set out. We are 8 for 9 by 3 am before calling it quits and heading in early
We have met some really knowledgeable folks down here and have used many of the same techniques we use at home and added a few new ones to our program ... I believe Adam may have posted about new breakout sessions this year with RJ Boyle and Tim Pickett from LP adding their expertise on daytime swording ... it is a technique I believe we can use when swords are in our home canyons
We have met some really knowledgeable folks down here and have used many of the same techniques we use at home and added a few new ones to our program ... I believe Adam may have posted about new breakout sessions this year with RJ Boyle and Tim Pickett from LP adding their expertise on daytime swording ... it is a technique I believe we can use when swords are in our home canyons
Stephen .. the one we lost after 7 hrs was 500-700 lbs ... they always are bigger once you get them on deck ... after catching giants up to 850 lbs, I can honestly say a big sword can hold its own against anything in the ocean .. the night off VB was incredible as well , this night was on the same pace, but we landed more and quit early ...
Mark,
I'm in Islamorada now and met Richard Stanczyk the other day.
He and a few others pioneered the day time deep drop for swords.
He owns Bud and Mary's here and you might want to contact him.
I spent about 2 hours picking his brain and he really knows his stuff.
No doubt the Stanczyks have the daytime dialed in ... we have been fishing at night so we are using the same techniques we use up north. We started using a different hook down here and so far I am very impressed with the hookup ratio .. we have come tight on 12 out of 15 bites and have been able to put some serious heat on the fish without pulling hooks ...
We have been fishing the anywhere from 1200 to 1800 feet of water and baits have been from 100ft to 400 ft. The 7 hr fish was the toughest fish I have ever fought .. period . At times we had over 50lbs of drag on it and could not make much progress ... unfortunately we had our daytime spool on the reel which is 80# braid and it wore from the long fight and very high pressure. Hopefully we'll find another one just like it
Guys - having RJ and LP at the Seminar is going to make for a great breakout session. These guys know how to do the daytime swording as well as anyone and I know Me, Mark and all our crew will be attending their breakout session.
I can't guarantee that they'll be in Long Island though so if you really want to learn about daytime swording please try to attend the AC Seminar.
Mark, it looks like a #2short curved, and I think I'm seeing Winthrop guides, and I'll guess again at a Calstar XXH? It's the night shot, not easy to tell.
The stand up rods are the Calstars with Winthrop guides .. you should know , you built them They have performed flawlessly and are my favorite standup combos. I actually had the chance to fight a few of these fish and whipped a nice 170 lb sword in about 15 minutes on one of these rods matched to a Penn 50VSW ... the LP1200 is matched to our Canyon Runner Giant tuna rods, which are Calstar RT80 blanks with Finor Guides .. they have the flexibility to be very forgiving when the fish shakes his head but have the backbone to handle heavy drag on large fish.
What kind of hook are you using Mark.....short shank offset LP hook?....owner?
Congrats again on some beautiful fish. I can relate to the one you lost....we had one on that we hooked up at around 2AM and fought her until an hour after sunrise, but she too earned her freedom just inches out of poon range..easily over 600#.
Mark, you are achieving legendary status in the fishing world. You are making your mentors proud I am certain. No ego. Just gettin it done wherever you go. Keep it up brother.
Thanks guys .. definately some trips for the memory banks ... we got out once more this week (report to follow) and are looking a decent window this weekend .... I am very fortunate to be working with Joe on his rig .. the program is very relaxed and we fish hard every time we have weather ..
Mark
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