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Virginia Sword Report
I had already requested some time off with Michael Jr. out of school on spring break and had been looking for a weather window. A small but very doable window came together at the last minute so put together a leave late and stay late plan to thread the weather window needle.
Crewed up with Don (Jerk That Jig), co-worker Ken, Jay, and son Michael Jr. Everyone was good with doing a partial overnighter and running home in the dark. Left the docks around 7:30 am and stopped by Little Creek Cove Marina to top off with their cheap $1.88 gas. Made the long run SE finding the warm water around the 900 line at 50 fathoms. Winds were settling out as predicted so the ride out was not too bad. Put the spread out around 12:30 pm and worked our way south zig-zagging from 40 fathom to 150 fathoms with temps ranging from 60 in the swallower water to 66 in the deeper water.
Trolled all the way from the 900 line to the 770 line without a bump. No signs of BFT. No marks to indicate we drove over the top of them. Had the jig master Don ready in case we did. No radio chatter. Not a single boat spotted out fishing. We did spot a huge pod of feeding dolphin and had hopes there would be tuna feeding with them but no joy. I called out on all the known channels trying to see if anyone found them. As the afternoon progressed, I actually went through almost every channel but either nobody wanted to say anything or we really were out there alone.
At 7:30 pm with only 30 minutes of light left, Don wanted to jig something up so we dropped along the ledge that looked like it might hold goldens but only very soft mud. A few nibbles, probably dogs.
At 8:00 pm the sun is setting to the west just as the full moon is rising from the east. I move to an area that looked like interesting structure on my fish n chips chart (777 line, 220 fathoms). Put the sword spread out. Swordlight deployed. As soon as the sun sets, we see squid darting around which is a good sign. Ken tries to catch some with a squid jig but they are not interested. One deep rod at 200 feet, one at 150, and one at 100. I've dropped my idea of using jumbo squid and went with the size typically found in our waters, 8-10 inches. Rigged the squid using this techique. It's kind of a pain to rig but it holds the mantle in place preventing the sword from slipping it off the hook and stealing your bait.
Sport Fishing - Rigging Squid that Swords Can’t Resist
On my boat, we draw numbers out of a hat to determine who cranks, who gaffs, who films, who drives the boat, etc. I think it's a fair way to do it when you might only catch one fish (like we did). Ken, my friend from work, drew number 1. We had been fishing for only 1 hour when this sword hit. My son was spot on and yelled out that he saw the light and fish rise to the surface. Sure enough, fish on. As soon as the fish realized he was hooked, he sounded and took a bunch of line with him. We got Ken in the harness and ready to do battle.
Fight lasted an hour and we didn't want to put too much heat on the fish since I know hooks are often pulled due to their soft mouths. Everybody did everything right. Michael Jr. was at the helm responding to directions to maneuver the boat ensuring the fish stayed on the starboard side of the boat. Everyone keeping an eye on the line making sure things were OK. Jay put on the thick leather gloves with the task of grabbing the bill as soon as it came out of the water and keep it up (so he can't sound again). Don and I on the double gaff. Here is a very short video of just the business end. Apologize for the language.
YouTube - sword 9 Apr 09
Got the fish in the boat at 10:00 pm after the hour long fight. Here are several pics of the happy crew.
Get the fish packed in my virgin Smith tuna bag. Very disappointed as the zipper busts first time using it. Had to try to secure it the best we could using dock lines.
Would have been great to stay the night but I knew our weather window was going to close so we decide to head back since I'm now 98 miles from my inlet. Seas were flat as could be so the ride home was nice and the full moon lit up the path ahead. Some inshore chop but still not too bad.
Came back the next morning to weigh the fish. Shocked in disbelief that the scale only read 88 lbs. What's the deal....maybe it should read 188 and your 1 is broken. So either we suck at estimating weight or the scale is AFU. Debate for a moment about driving the fish to another marina but lugging that fish around is no easy task and it needed to get steaked up and on ice soon so decide to go clean it instead driving the fish somewhere else. As we are shocked at no citation for Ken, we totally forget to get the measurements before cutting him up. Here is some shots at the weigh station. First lift it tears his mough open so you can see the torn mouth.
Steaked him up like cutting lumber.
I am keeping the bill to remember the trip. Maybe I'll send it off to one of those artsy-fartsy places to get it decorated up.
Certainly a trip to remember. I've been trying for swords for 2 years now and trying all sorts of different techniques and methods. I've only boated undersized swords in the past and the bigger ones always won so it was gratifying to finally bring one home for the grill. Thanks Don, Jay, and Ken for crewing up in the middle of the week with me. I wonder how we might have done if we stayed the whole night in that area.
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THEN YOU HAVE TO BE TOUGH!!! 
