About 10 years ago something similar to a gold rush was happening along the Southeast Coast of Florida. Rumor had it that commercial fishermen were making money hand-over-fist longlining for the most elusive warrior in the sea, the broadbill swordfish.

My best friend and I, not immune to the idea of big bucks, decided to cash in on the action. By chance, he had an old, wooden “New England” type boat docked behind His house—a hull he had reluctantly taken as payment for a debt which could not he met in cash. His attempts at selling it had proven futile No one else wanted the relic but when the swordfish bonanza started, it dawned on us that the boat had tremendous potential.

We dry-docked the old vessel and capped the bottom in fiberglass, bought a diesel engine and had it installed and bought a longline reel. Next came spare buoys, tuna floats, ice boxes, leader carts, a VHF radio, loran unit, hooks and more. Much more. Finally we became longliners.

The following is a glimpse at longlining.

On our usual fishing trip, we would motor out of Ft. Lauderdale’s Port Everglades

and turn south along the coast to Fowey Light to southeast of Miami from there, we would take a 90 degree heading out to sea towards an area commonly referred to as The Mountains. That’s exactly what they are--high mountains on the ocean floor abort 25 miles from shore between the Florida Continental Shelf and Great Bahama Bank. The northbound Gulf Stream crashes against the sides of these mountains sending megatons of deep-sea, chilled water up towards the surface. Where the warm surface water and the colder water collide, the stage is set for a feeding chain to be established. The small fish feed on plankton and everything else feeds on the bait, including squid, which comprise the major portion of the diet of swordfish.

First, we would lay out our first highflyer, a tall beacon on a large red float that has a strobe light mounted on top of a radar reflector. Attached to the highflyer is 150 feet of dropcord, which in turn is clipped to the mainline with a Japanese-designed longline clip Our mainline was 15 miles long and it drifted 150 feet below the surface, suspended by the dropcords.

After the first highflyer was released, the task of laying out the gear began. Here’s how such a procedure goes:

The boat pulls forward at near idle speed as the longline reel-a big spool the size of a 50-gallon drum-slowly spins, releasing approximately 50 yards of line between leaders. Each leader is about 150 feet long, and is usually of no less than 250-pound-test monofilament line. A 9/0, triple-strength, needle-eye hook is sleeve-crimped to the end of the leader, and each hook is filed needle-sharp because almost 20 percent of all swordfish taken are foul hooked and that requires a super-sharp hook.

The hook is threaded through the solid tail portion of a pound-size squid and brought down and through the middle of the body so that the squid hangs tentacles-down and in line with the leader. When drifting, the bait will stay about 350 feet below the surface.

Thirty-five feet up from the bait, a chemical lightstick is looped to the leader with a rubber band. The purpose of the lightstick is to attract baitfish and squid to the area of the hook. If a swordfish approaches (so the theory goes) everybody scrams except, of course, the squid that’s being used as bait.

Three leaders are clipped to the main-line, then another dropcord is released. A small float, called a bullet, keeps the drop-cord’s end on the surface. After 10 bullets are dispatched, another highflyer is released. The portion between highflyers is referred to as a section, and we would lay out 10 sections in a night--or around 300 baited hooks.

Approximately three hours after laying out the first highflyer, the 15 miles of gear would come to an end and the last highflyer would be released. We would then motor upwind of the line and cut the engine. After taking a shower and fixing supper, it would be time to sleep. One of us would stay up as watchman to monitor the drift of the line and to stay clear of oncoming freighters. After sunset, the dome of lights over Miami Beach could be seen, and this glow would gradually sink to the southwest as the Stream slowly carried us north.

After the change of watch, usually around 3:30 am, the fresh watchman would prepare the stern for the morning haul. He would install the belts on the hydraulic reel, set the leader cart for hooks, check the motor and prepare breakfast.

At dawn, all hands would be on deck. After motoring up to the first highflyer and disconnecting it from the mainline, we would begin the process of stowing the gear. The mainline would be threaded through the boom block, then through a level-wind mechanism and onto the spool. At the pull of a lever, the drum would spin and the gear pickup would begin, reversing everything that was done the night before.