PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Sea monsters do exist. Just ask Jennifer Cameron.
On April 16, the Stuart, Florida, angler caught the biggest swordfish of her fishing profession, weighing in a large that tipped the scales at 436 pounds.
Cameron fished with husband Capt. Glenn Cameron, who owns Floridian fishing charters docked at Sailfish Marina of Stuart Florida, and mate Nick Cremasco.
Catching an almost quarter-ton brute like a swordfish is a problem in and of itself. Doing so whereas combating a 102-degree temperature is one thing else fully.
“I wasn’t feeling that good that day, a day after I received my second Moderna vaccination” for COVID-19, she told TCPalm | Treasure Coast Newspapers, a part of the USA TODAY Network. “But we needed to catch a fish, so I went along. After we boated it, I could feel my fever, went into the cabin and wrapped up in a blanket and slept on the boat ride all the way back into the marina.”
Why did she have to catch a fish?
The purpose they had been fishing within the first place was as a result of Cameron is likely one of the lead organizers of the Black Gold Jubilee, an annual spring pageant and charity fundraiser celebrated on the Torry Island Campground in Belle Glade, Florida.
One side of the occasion is a barbeque. Cameron wished to catch a fish massive sufficient to feed scores of attendees, so focusing on a swordfish would have achieved that purpose.
Mission completed.
“Sometimes we get criticized for keeping a fish that large and not releasing it. But we literally provided about 300 pounds of fillets to use for the fish fry and to provide to families in the Glades who needed fresh fish,” she stated. “We only kept a few small pieces for our family.”
She additionally was capable of educate folks concerning the distinction between swordfish and marlin, a similar-looking fish whose harvest is strictly restricted in U.S. waters and that is not bought as a meals fish right here.
How she virtually misplaced the swordfish
Catching this sword virtually did not occur, her husband stated. The fish apparently was hooked within the dorsal fin — not within the mouth.
“We were straight out of the St. Lucie Inlet in 1,650 feet of water and using bonito belly as bait,” he stated. “On our first drift, we had a bite but the fish came off pretty quickly. So we pulled up, ran back south (up current) and began our second drift. As soon as Nick put the lines back out, I turned my head and when I looked back at the buoy, it had disappeared.”
That instructed the skilled anglers two issues: The fish was hungry and it was massive.
One frequent technique to catch swordfish employs the usage of a big buoy to maintain the bait deployed effectively away from the boat and at a adequate depth to be a focus for a swordfish. They are identified to inhabit the darkish depths under the place daylight penetrates from the floor — at the least 300 ft down.
To get the bait down that deep, Cameron used a 13-pound lead weight. He stated the buoy did not floor for a very long time. After it did, they usually had been capable of disconnect the lead and retrieve it, the fish got here to the floor and jumped.
“It buried the buoy for 20 minutes, telling me it was a really big fish. When it jumped, I knew it was bigger than 350 pounds,” Glenn stated. His spouse was reeling the fish in utilizing a Lindgren-Pitman electrical reel.
“Once we got the lead off, the fish went back down to 100 fathoms (600 feet), below the Gulf Stream water. After we got the fish back to the boat, it was time for Nick to harpoon the fish. Although he had never done that to a swordfish before, he did an excellent job and stoned it, ending the fight,” Glenn stated.
Then it was as much as the captain and Cremasco to gaff the fish and haul it in by way of the 60-footer’s tuna door.
Billfish slam
It wasn’t Jennifer Cameron’s first swordfish.
She caught two in 2017, however the newest one did get her serious about pursuing the International Game Fish Association’s Conventional Billfish Royal Slam Club, which acknowledges anglers who catch these seven billfish, with two caught in two oceans:
- Swordfish
- Spearfish
- Black marlin
- White marlin
- Striped marlin
- Sailfish within the Atlantic and Pacific
- Blue marlin within the Atlantic and Pacific
Jennifer solely must catch a black marlin and a striped marlin, her husband stated.
Other Martin County residents who’ve are members of the IGFA Royal Billfish Slam membership are Doug Blanchard of Stuart, Julie Crispin of Sewall’s Point, Floirda, and Bob Pelosi of Palm City, Florida.
Big repair
It’s been an eventful yr for the Camerons. In June, the couple skilled fairly a scare after they hit a wave in Beaufort Inlet at Morehead City, North Carolina, whereas fishing within the Big Rock Blue Marlin event. The wave broke off the pulpit on the bow, ripping the highest of the hull open. Fortunately, the boat by no means took on any water.
Yet Glenn needed to spend about six weeks commuting between Stuart and North Carolina to supervise repairs. They had been capable of end repairing the 60-foot Carolina customized sportfish in time to fish extra tournaments within the mid-Atlantic states and competed within the winter run of sailfish tournaments on the Treasure Coast.
They have plans to fish the Custom Boat Shootout and the new invitation-only Walker’s Cay tournament in the Bahamas next month, Jennifer stated.
The fall swordfish chunk can be good, Glenn stated, particularly for giant fish over 300 pounds, typically known as “markers” by industrial swordfishers.
“We catch big swords year-round off Stuart, even if we don’t fish for them all the time,” he stated. “You can catch them here any month of the year.”
Case in level? The similar day Capt. George Gozdz of Flatlined charters in Jensen Beach and host of Unfathomed television show on the Outdoors Channel additionally caught a really nice-sized, 150-pound swordfish off Stuart.
Imagine that, fishing for swordfish in a spot named the “Sailfish Capital of the World.”
Swordfish laws
- Minimum dimension: 47 inches measured from decrease jaw to fork size of tail
- Bag restrict: One per harvester per day, to not exceed most of 4 per vessel (not-for-hire) or 15 per for-hire vessel. Zero day by day bag and possession restrict for captain and crew of for-hire vessels.
- Mandatory reporting: All landed swordfish must be reported to NOAA inside 24 hours at 800-894-5528.
- Required allow: A Highly Migratory Species allow is required in federal waters.
- More information: For full state fishing laws, go to MyFWC.com.
- Florida document: 757.8 pounds, Bill Lussier, Islamorada, March 31, 2019
- Pending Florida document: 767.8 pounds, Timmy Maddock, Pompano Beach, Jan. 25, 2021
- World document: 1,182 pounds, Louis Marron, Iquique, Chile, May 7, 1953
Follow Ed Killer on Twitter @tcpalmekiller.
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source https://infomagzine.com/florida-woman-catches-swordfish-weighing-436-pounds/
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