Swordfish, as well as being a much revered food fish, are also big game sport fish. This means that they can be hooked on rod and reel but have to be brought in by hand under the pressure of playing out a length of heavy line.
The species is a favourite catch for deep-water anglers because it is so spectacular. It's not unusual for a fish to take 200m of line before it feels safe and stops swimming away: hopefully towards the angler! This is what happened last year, when I hooked into a fish that took several hundred metres of out 170lb breaking strain dacron line used as backing.
Such fish can jump, torpedo through the air and in all directions, sometimes righting themselves, sometimes rolling over on their backs. The sport can be brilliant when it pays off but at other times anglers are left with nothing more to show for the fight than a pile of line in coils around the deck.
This fish put up quite a display because there were several boats around - all of them I suspect were less interested in my catch than their own. The shot above shows the fish at the end of a power run, with his tail flukes flaring and a big plume of spray from his thrashing body.
One thing that particularly impresses me about swordfish is how strong they are. Even after hundreds of metres of line have run through the reel, and they appear to be tiring, they can give one last final and even more impressive power surge.
What really astounded me about this fish was that after he had been gaffed and then lifted into the boat (yes I did finally land him), we found a braided line hanging from his lower jaw. It wasn't until I climbed back into the boat that I even noticed the line, though it must have been hanging there for over half an hour.
The question is: how did the braided line get there? Was it in his mouth when he first took my bait, or had it been in the water and somehow rubbed against him as we fought? It's still a bit of a mystery and I've never seen anything like this before. I believe it's the only time I've seen anything like this.
I know of course that some fish get caught up in monofilament, but that usually happens at the surface when fish are rolling or jumping about. I've also heard tales of sharks cutting their mouths on monofilament while feeding, but nothing like this. I don't think this fish would have been feeding while it was hooked, so how did the braided line get into its ja
Line for Swordfish are important commercially and as a sport catch. They're also one of the most spectacular fish to catch on rod and reel. It's also nice to know, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that they are mindful of their impact upon the ocean environment.
This is an issue about which I've written more than once in this blog. I won't go into it again now but check out my earlier posts for further information.
A final note: this fish was caught in a small Mexican bay. As I've said before, anywhere with a steep shelf is a good place to find these animals.
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