Daytime swords up north?

[whitey]

Thier were a few boats that caught them pretty good durring the day last year in the Norfolk but that is the farthest north I have heard of any success durring the day.

[Big Jay]

I had first hand info of multiples on the overnight this past season from the Hudson to the Wilmington (probably south as well). Thats consistent with the action of Fla.

Probably just a matter of finding the routes the travel up here on the edge. We don't have any satellite tag info like they did off florida. Thats what cracked the fishery open.

[waterman482]

One of the biggest swords i have ever seen came off the flats of the Norfolk in 70 fathoms of water.I would like to be proven wrong but i highly doubt that it will ever work up here the same as it does in Fla! The fish follow the thermocline alot more up north than they do in the south!

[Canyon Runner]

Just to be clear I am talking about the Hudson Canyon area (Block - The Dip - Husdon Canyons) not down off Virginia. I've personally never fished there so I can't comment. And yes, up here we catch plenty of swords at night in the canyons - for example in 2006 we caught over 40 between the two boats we were running - last year we only caught about 12 between the two boats as the bite seemed a little slower.

#1 Gaffman - Exactly - I looking forward to it!!!!

[bigg09]

WE FISH OUT OF VIRGINIA BEACH. WE WERE THE ONES I THAT ARTICLE. THE YEAR BEFOR THAT ARTICLE WE CAUGHT TWO DAYTIME FISHING AND WE HAVE CAUGHT, I BELIEVE, 6 MORE SINCE DURING THE DAY AND HOOKED & HAD BITES ON DOZENS MORE AND HAVE HAD ABOUT A EIGHT TO A DOZEN TO THE SURFACE AND JUMPING. THE DIFFERENCE UP HERE IS THE LACK OF CURRENT AS COMPARED TO FL AND SOUTHERN NC, SO WE ARE STILL EXPERIMENTING WITH WEIGHTS HOOKS AND RIGS TO INCREASE HOOKUP. WE HAVE DONE OK AT NIGHT WITH ONE NIGHT HAVING 5 FISH AND I CAN'T REMEMBER HOW MANY SLASHED BAITS. LARGEST FISH WAS 226#. THEY ARE UP HERE. WE HAVE HAD BITES ALMOST YEAR ROUND, JUST THE LARGEST VOLUME IN THE FALL AND EARLY WINTER.
CASEY

[capt. jakeg]

I know that between the point and the norfolk there have been some daytime swords caught. I dont know about jersey, but I know for a fact that there are daytime swords available here. I have heard about them in summer and in winter but the winter fishery sounds like there is a really good fishery with multiple bites per day. The problem as mentioned is the long run for a guess for those who dont know what we are doing. I overheard the OI fleet talking about learning how to do it the other day while the tuna fishing is slow, so my guess is that it will catch on a bit more once a couple of boats get out there and have visible success.

[bigg09]

BTW, WE HAVE HAD DAYS WITH 8-10+ BITES A DAY AND BITES ON ALMOST EVERY DROP, BUT WE HAVE ALSO HAD DAYS WITH JUST ONE OR TWO HITS. IT IS TRIAL AND ERROR, BUT THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE IN VIRGINIA & NORTH AND SOUTH OF HATTERAS IS THE DISTANCE YOU HAVE TO RUN. IT IS NOT JUST A SIMPLE 20 MILE RUN OR LESS. WE HAVE BETWEEN 65 AND 100 MILES TO FISH OUT OF VA. I THINKS ANYWHERE ALONG THE SHELF OR CANYONS OR STRUCTURE IS A GOOD PLACE, JUST HAVE TO HAVE TO BE IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME. WITH THE MILAGE AND FUEL PRICES, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE EXPERIEMENTING LIKE YOU DO DOWN SOUTH, BUT I AM OPTIMISTICALLY HOPEFULL THAT WE WILL IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS GET THE NEW STATE RECORD OFF VIRGINIA.
CASEY

[bigg09]

CAPT. DAVID PECK WHO FISHES WITH THE GUYS OUT OF BUD & MARY'S, THE ONES WHO STARTED IT IN FLORIDA IS GOING TO BE DOING CHARTERS THIS FALL STARTING IN AUGUST. HE IS ABOARD THE SKILIGAL OUT OF OI. GREAT GUY AND KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING. WE DID SOME EXPERIMENTING WITH HIM THIS PAST FALL TOO UP HERE.
CASEY

[craig mac]

Understand that swordfish stocks are better than the recent past---but its been about 30 years since I spotted a sword on the surface in the daytime--the traditional way of taking them in the 50"s and 60"s---there are lot of guys running off shore--but never come accross them---i know they were rare even back then -but they were there--any ideas?

[capt. jakeg]

craig longliners have decimated the fish since then. Even still when swords are very rarely seen on the surface in the midatlantic nowadays, they are very hard to get a bite from. These fish are often sunning to help digest their food, so they are on a full stomach and when they do bite, it is often more because you have aggravated the fish enough to get him to attack a bait, rather than it being a fish on the surface searching for food. There are fish here now, just not as many as in the 50' and 60's and they require very specialized fishing tactics.