How much do you know about shortnose spearfish?

[Jon Schwartz]

Fred, Thanks mucho for the kind words on the article, I'm thrilled you enjoyed it. The thing that really scared the heck out of me was that I figured the article would generate a lot of interest (because of the relative rarity of the fish), and I would drop the ball because, to be honest, I didn't know jack about spearfish. What I learned is that I just had to be the reprorter and let the experts do the talking! So I'm glad and relieved that an expert like yourself found the article of some worth.

That is quite interesting re: the split bills. When the fish hit, I was talking to my friend Jeff Rogers. I wasn't planning to get images of spearfish ( we were on a trip to document some of the bottomfishing that he does) but I happened to have my underwater stuff with me in case he said I could go for a swim. When the thing hit I was in the bridge, and by the time I scampered down, the only person that saw it was the angler, who had no idea what it was. From his description it sounded like it could have been a wahoo, although I haven't heard of wahoo jumping much at all ( Though I have see the old movies where they were flying high into the air, if you've seen those you know what I mean). Jeff knew what it was by the description and the lure it hit. The fun thing was that it was caught on a 30, 20, or maybe even a 16, rather than a 130.

Even funnier was that although I was capturing some of the best blue marlin fishing Kona had experienced in awhile, Charlie and Dave at Marlin weren't interested in a blue marlin/Kona thing. I don't blame them, that subject has probably been beat to death. But when I mentioned I got spear images, they were like, cool! It was then that I asked Jim Rizzuto who I could ride along with to interview for the article and he recommended the fellows I wrote about in the article.

I have also heard that they are delicious. Gene's mate, Chris Choy, comes from a world class line of restaurant owners and chefs, and Chris is no slouch either, according to Gene. Even with that, Gene said that he only ate some spearfish a couple times and didn't like it, but from everyone else I heard it's great. I guess I have a natural hesitation about eating billfish.

I'll post some pics later that show the shotgun technique. That's funny how you described that fellow doing it. On the Sea Genie II, they don't move all that much, just point it at the fish and wait for the reel to go screaming. I was half expecting the person holding the rod to fly off the deck. From what I remember Gene may use less drag compared to some other captains; I'm sure there's some limit that one wouldn't want to go over when hand holding a rig of 130.

Again thanks for the input and I'm glad you enjoyed the article!
Jon Schwartz
Fishing Articles, Photography, and Travel
www.bluewaterjon.com
Blog: http://bluewaterjon.blogspot.com/

[Roddy Hays]

Hi Jon,

Great article with some interesting stuff in there, and I like the pics too. I've caught a bunch of spears around the world, but mostly in the east Atlantic, where I'm sure you know they are common, and get quite large - some can weigh over 100lbs. They're one of my favourite billfish - indeed, the first billfish I ever caught was a spear. And as you say, not only are they great fun to catch on the right tackle, but they really are delicious.

According to some data I had years ago, they're supposed to be the commonest off-shore billfish catch for the longliners too, which helps when you're faced with the prospect of eating them. This is something I have had corroborated from yacht-sailing friends of mine - they have found the same thing. Out in the middle of nowhere, they often find "small" billfish attacking their hand-lined lures. I wonder sometimes if the number of spears in a blue marlin's diet is a reflection of that numeracy, or whether a spear is genetically designed in some way to be eaten more easily by a blue than say, a white marlin or a sailfish.

I suspect that a spear has very catholic tastes, and I personally think they're real flotsam and jetsam specialists - I have caught an awful lot of them in or adjacent to weed-lines and current-lines. They're also quite keen on slightly cooler water than blue marlin in the east Atlantic, often appearing just before the main push of blues, which in some seasons means mixing it up with big-eyes.

One additional thing I'd like to add is that it's is very easy to actually BREAK the bill off a spear, too. I've seen crews do this to two fish and as a result we never take them out of the water all all anymore. I don't know if this is a result of bill structure related to fish size, or the nature of the beast overall. But my advice to anyone thinking of releasing a spear is to leave them in the water.......actually, thinking about it, maybe it's the small "soft' bill that is the genetic key to their common appearance on a blue's menu ?

Can't wait to see the full article. Thanx again.

Roddy

[Jon Schwartz]

Roddy, interesting stuff you bring up. I know a scientist in Kona and I am going to ask him about the brittle bills. He may not be aware of this, as he does a lot of work with larval billfish, but I will check. He did say that when they are very small, their bill is relatively much longer, and they seem to "grow into" their bill as they mature.
Cheers, Jon
http://www.bluewaterjon.com/
Blog: http://bluewaterjon.blogspot.com/