Miami - Haulover to Fowey Light

Double D Charters 08/02/03 The past week has been all nighttime swordfish trips. With as slow as the swordfishing was, I was a bit worried that the bite wouldn’t turn on. On the other hand, last July was slow also, but the swordfish bite got better after the new moon in August. I was keeping my fingers crossed that this would happen again this year and luckily, thankfully, it did. In the past 4 swordfish trips, we caught 5 swordfish. Not bad, considering in last week’s swordfish tournament (Dark Side of the Moon), there was one swordfish weighed in out of 54 boats. In the summer, the new moon is a good time to fish for swordfish. This past week, the bite got better each night. The first night we were 2 for 2, then 1 for 3, then 1 for 3 again, and last night we went 1 for 5. So in the last 4 trips we hooked 13 swordfish. We caught 5 of them and released almost all of them. What is good news thought is the amount of bites that we had each night. A bite is when you have a bait get hit or get eaten. Sometimes you can’t determine 100% what species hit the bait, so you can’t say for sure that you all of them were swords. Last night we had 9 bites, and looking at the evidence (leaders frayed, bait crushed) all but one of them were swordfish. One of them was a shark, as the bait was cut almost in half. What is impressive though is that in the past three trips, we had a total of 17 bites. That’s a lot of action. Last night the action started right of the bat. As I was setting out the third bait, I looked up and the first bait was getting eaten. The jug came off, and the electralume light was streaking across the surface. The swordfish actually jumped a bit. We never got tight on him, but at least we had action quickly. The rest of the night was basically non-stop action – we were either fighting fish or changing out baits that got hit. Nights like that wear you out, but I’d rather be worn out than bored. As most of you know, I truly love swordfishing. In my opinion, there is not a more impressive fish in the ocean that a swordfish. I am ecstatic that the bite turned back on. I have 4 sword trips next week, so I am hoping it will continue. Although swordfish bite year round, from now until late fall, the swordfish bite is usually pretty good. If you are missing a swordfish as a species, take advantage – call me and lets book a trip. Tight Lines and Good Fishing, Capt. Dean Panos