Sword...
Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2017 6:55 pm
Hi guys,
Not sure where to post this and not sure why I'm posting it even...maybe I just want to bask in a little glory while it lasts! And I guess it's a pretty cool story and worth sharing these things.
After some years in darwin I'm back home in Tassie. I miss the fishing in Darwin but my real passion is chasing big stuff offshore down here.
Our broadbill sword fishery took off a few years ago and since then we've landed several up to 180kg. My old man and brother make up the rest of the crew on our 5.7m trailcraft bowrider - not the most common boat to see out on the shelf.
Last week we had a cracker forecast for a day outwide. Chasing daytime swords isn't a 2 minute job. We catch arrow squid and freeze them nice and straight. The day before the trip I defrosted a few and stitched twin hook rigs into them and added glow skirts. Breakaway bricks were strung up and loaded into the boat...
Half an hour into the first drop and we had a good bite. The bait was about 100m off the bottom but still way down as we fish in 500m. As it raced to the surface the hooks pulled. Next drop...nothing. Another drop...nothing. On the 4th drop for the day we had another bite but it was very subtle. The rod never loaded up and we just had to sit and pray that the hooks stuck. I took some winds and very slowly started to come tight. The fish was obviously racing to the surface and I was just winding in the belly of the line. Then she erupted 200m away! We knew it was pretty big and called it for over 100kg. 20 mins later she jumped again closer to the boat and we called it for 150. When we got it boatside for the first time we didn't call it for anything...just looked at eachother and said "holy &$#@"
2 hours of pain fishing stand up 37 on a 50W and she was ready to leader. Fixed gaffs went in and all hell broke loose. I went hard for the whole 2 hours and never let it dictate terms and settle in down deep. To share the capture with my old man and bro was incredible.
There was no way we were getting it into the boat so the 6knot trip back from the shelf began. We trolled in and caught some albacore as a bonus!
Back at the ramp at Eaglehawk Neck, home of the Tuna Club of Tas, it was time to put it on the scales. Turns out it was bigger than we expected and pulled the scales to 286kg.
After all of that we still had a lot of work to do. The fish deserved respect as we kept it for the meat. Again, not a 2 minute job taking the sides off and portioning plus wrapping individual sword steaks but so worth it. The kids had a feed tonight and loved it.
Cheers for reading as I enjoy checking out reports from you guys up north
Not sure where to post this and not sure why I'm posting it even...maybe I just want to bask in a little glory while it lasts! And I guess it's a pretty cool story and worth sharing these things.
After some years in darwin I'm back home in Tassie. I miss the fishing in Darwin but my real passion is chasing big stuff offshore down here.
Our broadbill sword fishery took off a few years ago and since then we've landed several up to 180kg. My old man and brother make up the rest of the crew on our 5.7m trailcraft bowrider - not the most common boat to see out on the shelf.
Last week we had a cracker forecast for a day outwide. Chasing daytime swords isn't a 2 minute job. We catch arrow squid and freeze them nice and straight. The day before the trip I defrosted a few and stitched twin hook rigs into them and added glow skirts. Breakaway bricks were strung up and loaded into the boat...
Half an hour into the first drop and we had a good bite. The bait was about 100m off the bottom but still way down as we fish in 500m. As it raced to the surface the hooks pulled. Next drop...nothing. Another drop...nothing. On the 4th drop for the day we had another bite but it was very subtle. The rod never loaded up and we just had to sit and pray that the hooks stuck. I took some winds and very slowly started to come tight. The fish was obviously racing to the surface and I was just winding in the belly of the line. Then she erupted 200m away! We knew it was pretty big and called it for over 100kg. 20 mins later she jumped again closer to the boat and we called it for 150. When we got it boatside for the first time we didn't call it for anything...just looked at eachother and said "holy &$#@"
2 hours of pain fishing stand up 37 on a 50W and she was ready to leader. Fixed gaffs went in and all hell broke loose. I went hard for the whole 2 hours and never let it dictate terms and settle in down deep. To share the capture with my old man and bro was incredible.
There was no way we were getting it into the boat so the 6knot trip back from the shelf began. We trolled in and caught some albacore as a bonus!
Back at the ramp at Eaglehawk Neck, home of the Tuna Club of Tas, it was time to put it on the scales. Turns out it was bigger than we expected and pulled the scales to 286kg.
After all of that we still had a lot of work to do. The fish deserved respect as we kept it for the meat. Again, not a 2 minute job taking the sides off and portioning plus wrapping individual sword steaks but so worth it. The kids had a feed tonight and loved it.
Cheers for reading as I enjoy checking out reports from you guys up north
Outstanding Fish Taz . Bragging rights for a year for sure 