This fight wouldn’t be as long as the first, but this fish would battle for just over 30 minutes before we tagged and released it to fight another day. Even a 60-pound swordfish will put you and your equipment to the test. When it was over, Sean was running on adrenaline and grinning like a Cheshire cat. Two bites, two fish and they numbered 22 and 23 for the year, 14 of which were tagged and released. What a way to end the year.

Tagged fish may reveal important data for the future.

Panhandle swordfishing is really catching on with charter guides and recreational fisherman along the Gulf Coast. Folks on overnight billfishing trips are starting to realize that just because the sun goes down doesn’t mean that the excitement has to end. And anglers are realizing that these extremely powerful fish are excellent targets to test their skill and add excitement to their forays into the Gulf.

WHERE

Swords are found in the same general areas as other billfish, like the Spur, Elbow and Steps, sites for which GPS numbers are readily available on many charts. “But you want to target them along the sharpest contours, the areas that have the steepest drops to deeper water,” said Williams, “water from 500 to 3,000 feet deep.” Since you won’t be covering a lot of ground on a sword trip—sometimes you might only drift one to one-and-a-half miles in an entire night—you want to pick the sharpest contours you can find.

From Pensacola, you’re talking about a run that could be from 35 to 70 miles or better, depending on where you want to fish. Don’t be too concerned about the time of year for swordfish. “We’ve caught them in every month but February,” the captain explained proudly. “Weather makes it hard to get out during February.”

While Jeremy has been known to make long runs and fish only for swords before returning home, most trips will involve fishing your way to the billfish grounds and back. Whether you choose to bottom fish your way out and troll for wahoo, tuna and marlin on the way in, you certainly want to maximize your fishing time and have an excellent shot at a mixed bag of both meat and trophy fish.

SAFETY

It goes without saying that any boat venturing this far offshore should have basic safety equipment for such a trip. This includes Coast Guard-approved PFDs, EPIRB, satellite phone or single sideband radio and if you’re heading offshore in the winter, survival suits. A sea anchor is very handy, as it will steady your boat in rough weather. You’ll also want to leave a float plan with a responsible party on shore and make sure folks know when to expect you back. Satellite phones have become increasingly popular with offshore fishermen and invaluable as both a safety device and a means to brag about your catch immediately.

GEAR

The same rods and reels that you would use offshore trolling for wahoo, tuna and marlin are perfect for swordfish. “Mostly 30s and 50s will work fine, but if we’re fishing really deep we’ll put out an 80,” stated Williams. “And don’t use a lot of drag with these fish, as they have pretty soft mouths. We pulled the hooks on a few before realizing that 8 to 12 pounds was plenty of drag.

“I like to use bent butt rods, because they allow you to see the weight on the tip of the rod better,” he continued. It’s important to watch the rodtips and angle of the line, because swords don’t often hit and immediately start pulling drag. If you see the angle of the line change, get ready because chances are you’ll see the light soon. “I only use high-visibility line and the most effective is Stren Gold, because we use green lights and some of the other hi-vis lines get lost in the light a bit.” And sometimes the fish will merely bounce the rodtip a couple of times before coming straight up, which causes the line to go slack. For such a strong and ferocious predator, they are stealthy when eating their prey.

A typical spread will consist of three rods, with baits deployed at staggered depths such as 100, 250 and 400 feet. “We use to use balloons to help stagger the baits, but we’ve started just varying the amount of weight on each line and it really works well.” You deploy the shallowest line, with the lightest weight first, then the second heaviest and finally the heaviest, as it will be closest to the boat on drift. To clear them or rotate out fresh baits, simply retrieve them in reverse order, with the deep line first.

If the seas are rough, Williams might just put out two rods or even one like in the opening story, if there is a good possibility that they could tangle. “I’d rather have one clean shot at a sword than two or three that might not make it to the boat,” he said.

For leaders the preferred material is extra-hard mono or fluorocarbon, ranging from 150- to 400-pound test, but the most common leader size is 300. For smaller baits on flatlines or shallower lines, you might use the lighter end of the range, 150 to 200. Williams likes 12- to 15-foot leaders, to give you plenty of room to wire the fish at the boat.