Jake correct me if i am wrong, but I think the long liners were well overboard somewhere between the 150 and the 900. so yes pretty far north. I know there have been some of the set that they are targeting for swords mostly inshore along the shelf from inside 50fathoms out depending on fhte drift. this time of year anywhere from the 800-250 can be great both day or night. shoot, last year we fished in october and had a ton of bites in the day. this year is wasn't as hot and heavy in october, but we only got the opportunity to go once. then two weeks ago. this weather is killing the weekend fisherman. we had to take a day in the week.
yeah Casey. Way overboard of the cigar in no mans land. I tried in mid october, but ended up catching the wrong pointy noses- 2 whites , a half dozen or so tuna bites, and a limit of dolphin. Not a single night time bite.
Author, writer, marine artist, charter captain, lure manufacturer, ind. consultant
Tuna Tamer,
Yes, that's one big azzed, scary mako! It was a left coast fish. We actually have good numbers of them out here and some of the sharkers are getting pretty good at catching them. In some of our shark tournaments you'd better get one from 900# to 1,000# plus, or fergedaboudit. Didn't used to be that way, but ever since some of the guys boned up on shark fishing and dedicated themselves to big fish, they've been amazingly consistent about catching the beasties.
It was the same with thresher shark fishing out here. Back in the day they were a very rare catch - rating newspaper reports. Then, after fishermen learned how to go about catching them the flood gates opened and they became the common catch that they are today.
Somewhere around here I have a photo of the head of a huge mako that was well over a grand that a stickboat buddy, Captain Gary Zell, stuck off his boat Avispa. That's the same guy and boat that I showed the picture of in tight along the beach in an earlier post. Sean, the tall young guy in that shoreline shot, was driving that day. When Gary stuck the fish it jumped way, way up above Gary's head and just missed him. He and Sean both swear that it was after him! Gary turned and ran up the plank toward the boat and the fish did the same thing again, and again, just missed him! They finally landed the fish, but only after hours of alternately sticking and shooting it. Gary swore that he would never stick another mako and he hasn't.
Another tip this time that was provided by the Scripts Institute biologists who do a great job of studying both swordfish and sharks is that the swords migrate into shallower water at night, then migrate back out into the really deep stuff in the daytime. Words to the wise.
No matter how good you get at any fishing game, you are going to get skunked sometimes. It is so ironic that California fishermen have big numbers of swordfish very close to shore (a mile or so off of my home port, for example), where they offer very short runs to fish them, but they don't fish for them at night, nor the daytime. Meanwhile, in some areas back on the right coast, where I cut my fishing teeth, fishermen do go after Elvis both day and night, but often have to run way off to do so, facing the long rides out and back that California fishermen wouldn't if they did the night shift and the daytime "basement game". Ironic and something that absolutely amazes me!
I'm going to go look for the head shot of that one Gary stuck.
Got it! Gadzooks! Can you imagine standing out on a long, narrow plank and having this nightmare going airborne and trying to get you??!! This thing was stuck seven miles off of my northern home port of Dana Point.
if anyone is looking to overnight for swords or bigeyes, I would like to buddy up with another boat or tag along on with someone else to learn more about it. live in Raleigh but fish out of Oregon Inlet adn Hatteras inlet.
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