Well, and so it begins. This is what we have waited for and they have finally starting to bite overnight pretty good. Although smaller fish than we are used to, the fish are responding very well to jigs and a blast on lighter tackle. Most fish have been in the 20 to 30 lb range with some pushing in the 40’s. It is great to see them bite on the full moon which is typically slower, while the sword bite is good on the full. Somebody say sword?

We are just getting back from the Lindy with awesome results. We anchored on the NE corner of the Lindy after trolling with no results. We marked numerous amounts of bait there and decided to sit there for the night. About an hour into it we started to mark the yellows pretty good going 3 for 5. While fighting two other fish we hooked into what we thought was a nicer size yellow. Fifteen minutes in we knew we were in for a fight to a nice sword. Unfortunately we hooked him on a sardine 60 feet down on 80 lb leader with a Penn 16 VSX reel. We knew we were in for a battle. We decided to get off the hook as we had minimal line left on the reel. After several jumps, four miles and four hours we finally had our shot at her. We quickly sunk 3 gaffs in her and all high-fives from there. We estimated this fish between the 225 and 250 lb range as this was one of the fattest fish I have ever seen, holding its weight all the way to the tail.

Shortly after setting back up, I decided to head to bed ….yeah right , 5 minutes into my movie…chaos in the cockpit once again as we hook into another sword. We battled this one for about an hour before sinking the gaff in this 80 lb fish. This one bit the sword bait, whole mackerel down 150 feet. Now it was 2:30 am and we continued on at this point catching one more yellow and some dolphin to add to the mix. This was one memorable night for me that I will never forget. To get a sword that size on light leader is extremely lucky and requires great effort on the crew. Thanks to my mates Johnny and Joe as they did a great job, as well as the anglers. Tight lines!

I would also like to thank Stu on the Pez Machine as while we were backing down on the fish I called him on the radio to let him know our status. We became closer than I like to get while chunking but he was very understanding and had no problem whatsoever. Class act Stu and thanks again!

Captain Joe Trainor


Listen to Captain Joe's Audio Report for this trip!