 Re: swordfish off vb
COPIED OFF ANOTHER SITE
Wow action-smiley-033.gif !!!! action-smiley-033.gif What a night fishing4.gif
We left out of Lynhaven Inlet around noon and headed for the deep blue. Perfect day. The seas were calm and it was clear as a bell. We were counting on it to remain that way. We found some warm water and picked up a couple of 35 lb yellowfin tuna(my first tuna) and a small black fin in about an hour. Saw some really awesome whales frolicking around on the surface. These appeared to be humpback whales and they were big. They would come completely out of the water and turn, revealing their white bellies and flippers. Made one heck of a splash.
We hurried on so we could get set up by dark to see if we could find what we had set out for in the first place. On the first drift, Jacob (son) hooked up and landed a small pup about 5 ft in length. This was the first sword any of us had ever seen in the flesh. What an awesome looking fish.
During this same drift, Randy (husband) hooked up what appeared to be a sizable fish, but it pulled loose. On the second drift, Casey Jones (adopted fishing son) pulled the hook on another decent fish and was saying a few choice words. He really wanted to catch that one. Still a good drift and Randy hooked and boated another pup that was smaller than the one Jacob got earlier. The third drift put one in the boat to keep. Casey hooked up on one that took him an hour to get to the boat. The fish weighed 64 lbs and was 53 inches from the lower jaw to the fork of his tail. We estimated that it was about 84 inches from tip of sword to fork of tail. What a fish. They can really hunker down and keep you at bay for a long time. The sword on these fish is really interesting. Very sharp on the edges and can cut without any problem . Jacob got a sizeable rip in his pants just from brushing up against it.
We had one drift with no hook ups. Then on the next drift, I (marina girl)(after almost knocking Jacob for a loop) got the rod and landed a very small pup. But I was happy that I had finally got my turn. After that things went kinda blurry. Around 2:00 am, Jacob hooked up with something unbelievable. We were fishing with Shimano 50's, which we thought were plenty. Not so sure of that now. Did I tell you that the weather was still absolutely gorgeous. No waves, clear skies, no boat traffic. The fight began. The critter took it and ran off a couple hundred feet of line. Then began the tug of war. We had preset the drags but could not gain on him no matter what. Slowly Jacob started inching the drag forward but it did not help. What Jacob would gain the fish would take back. We had marked the lines at 160 feet and that tag went back and forward all nite. Frustrated, about 6:00am, I said "just cut the line. This is bigger than we are". Poor Jacob was exhausted. His hands were blistered and he was coming out clothes. Hot!! Casey kept trying to doctor his hands, rinsing the blood off and putting bandaids on. My goodness. I did not think we would ever get it to the boat.
About 6:00 am, Jacob floored the drag. Pushed it as tight as it would go. At this point it was get the fish up or break him off. The fish continued to take back Jacobs gain. The runs were getting shorter. At 7:00am we saw it!!!!! and then it surfaced behind the boat at about 7:15am. We all just stood there and stared. Speechless!! I said "now that you got , what are you going to do with it". Jacob finally pulled it up beside the boat. Randy got the flying gaff in its head and Casey put a tail gaff on it. I held the tail gaff while Casey put another gaff in it. Then came getting it in the darn boat. We were all so tired that it was comical. Fortunately, Jacob and Randy had prerigged the boat with a come along and strap. We were able to get him over the side of the boat and into the cockpit. Even now writing this we sigh. We had to run into Rudee to use the hoist to get the fish up to weigh it. They were very nice and helpful. What did it weigh? A whopping 226 lbs and was 112 inches from tip of sword to fork. This was a trip that Randy had been waiting and preparing for for months. He and Jacob and Casey had preplaned and preplanned and preplanned. All they needed was the window of opportunity. What an experience. These are truly magnificent fish and extremely powerfull. ONE TRIP WE WILL NEVER F
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