BROADBILL SWORDFISH LANDED BY MARK RAYOR
OF THE VISTA SEA SPORT EAST CAPE DIVING SERVICE

April 27, 2005, Mark Rayor, Vista Sea Sport, East Cape, Baja California Sur, Mexico Fishing and Diving:

I caught a swordie today. It hit a live mackerel 42 miles off shore from Buena Vista at 11 a.m. It was just Chuy Cota and me on the boat. What a battle! I'll sleep like a baby tonight.

The fish weighed in at 160 pounds.

Last week we heard reports of a couple of East Cape fishing boats spotting broadbill. With those reports we started fishing on the outside 30 plus miles from our house. This is the most exciting time of the year for me. Having a good opportunity to hook a swordfish gets me pumped. The weather has been windy at East Cape so there have only been a few days we could get out there. Last week we saw one but it sank out as soon as we tried to present the bait and that was the end of that.

Today was a different story. The water was a flat as a table top and at 11 a.m. about 42 miles off shore we spotted this broadbill swordfish. We were trolling marlin lures at the time so I pulled the throttles into neutral so we could get ready. It was just Chuy and me on the boat. We reeled in the lures and I got out the rig we always keep ready for a swordie. It is a Tiagra 50 with 500 yards of 130# spectra, a 100 yards of 100# mono top shot and 280# fluorocarbon leader with a 12/0 stainless hook. We just switched to Fluorocarbon this year and it is the ticket but that is a whole different story.

I nose-hooked a live greenback mackerel and tossed it out. Chuy started to idle the boat forward as I fed out the line. We let it back about 40 yards and started to circle the fish. I climbed up in the bridge to get a better angle on where our bait was. Normally when we start to circle the fish turns away and it is hard to get the bait in front of them. The first one we landed took about 45 minutes before we were successful. Many have spooked and we don't see them again.

This time we were lucky and the swordfish turned toward us as we went by. We kept quite a distance and soon it was between our stern and the bait. Chuy pulled the boat neutral and then reverse for just a moment so we wouldn't continue to slide forward. We could see the swordie swimming toward the bait and then sink. A moment later I could feel the swordfish smack the bait really hard but not take it. A few moments later the line started to slowly wind off the reel and stop. I was thinking, oh no, he dropped it, and then the line started winding off the reel again. I'm thinking how long do we wait? The line is not singing off the reel just winding slowly. Chuy and I discuss it quickly and decide now or never. He throttled up and I start to grind and set. What a great feeling when the rod loaded up and I knew he was hooked solid.

In the beginning of the battle the broadbill swordfish was coming easy. It hardly took any line. It less that 10 minutes the swivel was within 4 feet of the rod tip. Before we could leader it, we saw this magnificent fish wake up, take off, and peel out line. From there it was a stand off. Very similar to a big tuna. It did big circles under the boat. I would get it to color and it would peel line off again. Several times I was pinned to the rail and it took all I had just to lift the rod.

Finally after about 45 minutes the fish was to where Chuy could leader it. Now this was tricky with just 2 of us on the boat. If not for his experience we would have lost it. He needed to leave the helm and come down to the deck. I was on the starboard side so when I said ready he shut off the starboard motor. I didn't understand why until he had the leader and the fish started to swim under the boat. He could feel the swordfish hit the prop with it's bill before muscling out and hitting it with the gaff. The deal is that even when the boat is in neutral the props will spin when the motor is running. The fish weighed in at 160 pounds and I'm a happy guy.

Now have two notches in my belt, not to mention a freezer full of my favorite fish, and can't wait to do it again.