Daytime Swordfish Trip
Capt. Steve Souther
June 16, 2017
Fort Lauderdale - Saltwater Fishing Report
A daytime Swordfish trip is a bit different than the evening and nighttime trips. Other than the obvious ability to see during the day, nighttime trips allow for more rods to be in position to hook and catch Swordfish.
During a daytime Swordfish trip, only one rod is used to fish in depths of over 1500' of water on the bottom and it is electric. With a 10 lbs. weight at minimum and over 2000' feet of line out, no one wants to retrieve it if the bite doesn't come.
But the really nice part about a daytime Swordfish trip is you aren't just limited to catching Swordfish. As we travel the some 15 nautical miles from shore, we are always on the lookout for weed, birds and debris that can hold fish like Dolphin, Tuna, Wahoo and more. High speed lures can also attract Marlin, Sailfish and other species.
Our group today was quite delighted with their daytime trip even though we didn't land a Swordfish. As a matter of fact, we had to pry ourselves away from fishing for Dolphin so we could go try a drop. We found birds working everywhere from 8 to 12 miles from shore. Each time we would get under the birds, Small schoolie Dolphin would attack our baits. Our group was quite versed at this kind of fishing and stood ready with spinning rods and pitch baits.
And after catching 3 or more fish, we start our trek off shore again only to find more birds. The question finally came down to "Are we going Swordfish fishing or not"? LOL
The group was divided on this but we finally agreed to start fishing the bottom. The first drop was a bust but the second drop got us a nice bite. Unfortunately, we pulled the hook with the fish about 700' from the boat. We reset for a third drop after moving ahead of the fish and again had a bite. Actually, more than one bite, the fish was following the bait, whacking it with his bill until he fouled the bait, the end impaled itself on the hook and began spinning. Our prey lost interest.
On our way home we found more birds and caught a few more fish. They weren't all keepers but we ended up with 18 nice ones. We were a little late returning and it was almost hard to stop catching fish.
A daytime Swordfish trip is about catching Swordfish. But the consolation prize can be nice too.
Captain Steve
Target Species:
Sailfish, Shark, Swordfish, Wahoo, Tuna, Dolphin, Marlin and more...
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