520lber caught!

[Ian Burrett]

Hi Elton

Quote:

Teenager Catches 527-Pound Swordfish Off Lake Worth

POSTED: 2:03 pm EDT October 12, 2005

 

PALM BEACH SHORES, Fla. -- A freezer filled with 350 pounds of swordfish steaks -- that's what a New York teenager eventually got out of a three-hour fight Tuesday with a 527-pound swordfish off Lake Worth.

 

John Padden, 17 of Islip, N.Y., was aboard the 39-foot boat The Getaway with his father and some friends when the fish took the bait.

 

He says he fought the fish standing up with the fishing rod harnessed to his body.

 

The fish was too big to fit through the boat's transom door. The boat's crew finally used ropes to haul the 13-foot fish over the stern.

 

Padden's fish is 85 pounds lighter than the state record-setting swordfish caught in Key Largo in 1978. Unquote

 

I must say I am shocked after looking through the Forum this was originally posted on. After a trip to the Keys lasy year, i really thought the Yanks had got their act together. But the Forum contains many pictures of magnificent fish hanging up from back gardens etc. The Shark Forum even has pictures of critically endangered species and not one negative comment

[n4lly]

Oh well, say good buy then.

Realey ****ed off with Suffolk

[Ian Burrett]

[Elton]

n4lly:

Oh well, say good buy then.

Realey ****ed off with Suffolk

Nowhere good as Essex, but I can't say that, as I live here now

 

Chill out, N4lly. It's late and you ain't your usual chirpy self. The world will seem better when we both sober up

[n4lly]

[ 13. October 2005, 01:53 AM: Message edited by: n4lly ]

[Elton]

LOL You moved recently, or taken your code with you?

 

I had to seek counselling before I admitted to living in Suffolk, but once you say it a few times (and catch a few fish off Landguard), it isn't that bad

[Ian Burrett]

This could only happen in the states

 

http://www.swordfishingcentral.com/forums/...opic.php?t=1496

[Vagabond]

Elton:

 

 

1. Mrs. Vagabond (and I hope I'm not insulting her here) is not a Spring chicken, yet she recently managed to bring alongside a 900lb Marlin in less than half an hour.

 

2. I'm all for catch and eat, ...... in a fishery that can quite happily accommodate this, this is just man being top of the food chain.

 

3..if it was a non-target species at the time, that would make a massive difference.

1. Hmmmmmm. Fortunately for you, later today we fly to the Top End of Oz so that Norma can hone her crocodile-wrestling skills.

Young at heart and fighting fit is how I would describe her - take cover when we come back

 

 

2. Out of the 40-odd billfish we have caught, only two were brought in - both in third world countries where a limited retained catch (one per day) is practiced to help sustain the economy and the fishing community. (plenty of fish in the areas concerned, so the policy seems sustainable)

 

In more affluent areas, catch, tag and release is the way forward.

 

There might be a financial motive in retaining a big bill fish in such areas - Japanese restaurant chains will pay huge sums for a whole billfish (they serve them at banquets)

 

Have just checked the wholesale price of swordfish/marlin at Billingsgate. At £3.85 per pound, there would be over 600lb of fillets on a 900 lb fish, and with a premium for a whole fish, that's two or three grands-worth (£2000 to £3000) of marlin we put back this summer.

 

Was the lure of big bucks part of the decision for the swordfish under discussion here?

 

3. You've lost me here - what are you implying?

 

[ 13. October 2005, 08:45 AM: Message edited by: Vagabond ]

[maidstonemike]

Blimy, that was fun!

[Elton]

Vagabond,

 

3. I think (after sleeping off a bit of wine) I was saying that if it had been caught on 'light' tackle and played out to the point of exhaustion, it may have been understandable why the fish died.