Saturday, October 28th, 2000
DOUBLE HEADER BLUE MARLIN (AT THE SAME TIME)
I am from Albany, GA and drove down to the Daybreak Marina that Friday night to fish the Nipple area on Sunday. I have a 26' Albemarle and wanted to get in on the White Marlin bite since we hooked two and landed one the last weekend. The marina forgot to leave the keys where they were supposed to so we were late getting out but left about daybreak. I was with my girlfriend who had never caught a fish over a couple pounds before and I wanted her to catch a white if she could. The Outcast bait and tackle shop said they were catching a few whites and tuna (but no blues) on the Nipple and I had a Roffer's map that looked promising so we headed that way. Water as grayish blue but clear when we arrived at 8:00am. Trolled for about 30 minutes with nothing. Decided to head toward the Spur and that is when it got interesting. Time is now 11:38 and we are in beautiful blue water. Then the flatline rigged short went off and started dumping line at a pretty good clip so I went for the rod and the port outrigger went off. I now have two blue marlin on at the same time with no mate and a girlfriend who has never had any experience catching a fish this size. She grabs the rigger line and fights the fish from the rod holder and I grab the flat line. Took the way off the boat and let the auto pilot take care of the rest. The only trouble is I am about to be spooled on my fish! I figured I couldn't land both so I stuck my rod in the rod holder and attempted to get her's in. Since it was difficult to reel in she was using two hands and managed to hit the lever on the reel and wound up with a beautiful "birds nest" in the Shimano 50. I knew it was over then but the fish eased and she gained some line back so I began fighting my fish again and recovered some line. Then it happened again, birds nest number two and again I knew it was gone. Again, the fish let us get a little line and he began to swim to towards the boat. Well I have marlin jumping all over the stern of the boat and I am a little excited. I grab the rod out of the holder to keep the fish from crossing and now it is my turn. I hit the lever and we now have a birds nest on my rod also. Same thing the fish starts swimming to the boat and I gain enough line back that the short runs don't matter and I am able to continue the fight. By now her's was getting close so I put my rod back in the holder and I managed to wire the fish and release it. I was now able to pay attention to my fish which I felt was bigger. I put my girlfriend at the wheel as captain and attempted to give instructions and she did a great job. Except for one time I told her to put it in gear and she did but it wasn't fast enough for me so I asked her for a little more speed... Whoops... A little to fast..... I am harnessed to the marlin and I am about to go over board as the boat has speeded up rather dramatically. Finally recovered and everything held, I am still on board and still hooked up. After that the fight continued and we manged to boat both fish and take pictures of both. Her fish weighed about 250 lbs. and mine was about 350 to 375 lbs. Got everything back together and hit a 45 lb Wahoo and a 40 lb tuna the rest of the trip. That is one I will never forget and my girlfriend thinks this offshore fishing is pretty easy stuff but I guess if I caught a Blue Marlin on the first trip out I would feel the same way. Great Fishing and Great Club...
Keep Up The Good Work
/s/ED BIRKITT on the WILD BLUE

Thursday, October 19th, 2000
Commenced trolling the Nipple area at 0830....continued trolling south to the 900 line, at which time, decided to run further south to the 200 fathom line. Had caught no billfish the previous five trips and thought the deeper water might change our luck. Seas were dead calm and commenced trolling again at the 840 line about six miles north of Spur. Water remained the same...clear green with a tinge of blue. After trolling to the Spur turned west on the 800 line(300 fathoms)and at 1310 a really "Big Blue" came up behind the boat attacking the green and yellow teaser on the starboard side some 15 feet behind the transom. This was an awesome sight...eyeball to eyeball with a huge Marlin...could clearly see it's extra large dorsal fin and broad shoulders and long bill...."she" stayed on that teaser for some 30 seconds....brought the Ballyhoo on starboard outrigger close aboard the teaser and then the starboard flat in abeam the teaser...not interested in anything but that teaser. Fish finally departed teaser and showed up over at the port outrigger(lure)...would not strike. Just when we thought fish was gone, the wayback was attacked with a vengeance...lime green and yellow Knucklehead...white water everywhere at hookup. Began to dump a 50 wide, but was able to get teasers and other four lines in boat by the time three-quarters of the spool was gone. Commenced backing down normally on both engines....line still coming off at a pretty good clip...increased backdown rate to 2000 rpm both engines...must have been backing down at 8-10 kts. to finally stop line coming off reel. Had never backed down that fast before, but with no wind and calm seas enabled me to keep excellent control of boat while backing down...if there had been any sea state at all water would have washed over the transom. We continued backing down normal speed to high speed for what seemed miles and miles. Wally was finally able to start recovering some line. We backed down slow on one engine for the next hour. Fish had not jumped up to this point....after 1½ hours and fish about 100 yards behind the boat the first and only jump took place--a short greyhound for about 30 yards. The final 35 minutes took place in close proximity to boat...went from one side of boat to the other and then commenced circling, but remaining well below the surface. Got fish to double line about a dozen times and that was as close as "she" wanted to get. Got to the swivel another six or seven times but each time I grabbed the leader fish would not cooperate...did not want to take a wrap or do anything heroic. Wally placed the drag lever just slightly above strike drag to increase the pressure. Finally got fish to surface and appeared to be exhausted. At 1515, after 2 hours and 5 minutes since hookup, successfully billed fish. This was the largest Blue Marlin ever caught aboard Venture...measured 107 inches(LJFL)...estimated as a 500# class fish...massive girth and over 12 feet long. After tagging this magnificent fish and getting several photos, commenced swimming her in an effort to revive...after about 4 minutes swimming in the upright position with both engines ahead color began to reappear and fish started wagging it's tail and biting down on my hand...released fish at this time. Reasonably sure this fish will survive even after fighting to near death.It was now 1530 and we were 56 miles from Pensacola Pass. It was tough not being able to fish again....we headed for home in calm seas and got back to Sherman Cove right after sunset. "Two old men and the sea" in a small boat catching a "Big Blue" made for a really interesting day. This fish will remain an everlasting memory!
/s/STEVE KAISER on the VENTURE (PBGFC)

Friday, October 6th, 2000
Ray, What a trip. We left 5:30 Friday morning. Just Bobby & I. Caught two tuna and were headed back home because of the weather coming at us. We got hooked up to a blue. Had six lines out and Bobby came to the cockpit to run the boat and help get lines in. He would unhook the outrigger and put the rod in the chair holder while I was fighting the fish and I would reel the line in as I was fighting the fish. The storm is getting close. I get the fish to the boat and he tags it. It really got upset and took of again. The seas have gone from 4' to 12'. I'm reeling the fish back in and the seas are building. It was like someone was pouring buckets of salt water on us. Finally get the fish back to the boat and Bobby grabs its bill. What a fight but its not over yet. It is really pissed off. Finally get the hook out and he's off swimming away. We start home and I'm trying to get the cockpit straight enough so we won't lose anything. The water is pouring in and all of a sudden Bobby screams for me to come to the bridge. The curtains have blown out. The seas are about 20' by now and the wind 50 to 60 Kts. What an experience. He puts us on auto pilot and we get up against the lockers and hope for the best. Took us 2 hours to get 28 miles. But here we are to tell about it. Isn't life wonderful. See you soon, Tight Lines, Dixie
/s/DIXIE SNELLGROVE on the KARMA (PBGFC)

Tuesday, September 5th, 2000
We went up to Pensacola for the 1st time and booked a charter. We trolled for hours in 80-200 ft. for sails blues or whites all they way to the Nipple. Nothing but a couple bonitos and kings. Then we started looking for debris or birds for a billfish or dolphin. Still nothing. Finally about 10 miles off Alabama we found some bonito and birds. We trolled for kings in dirty water all the way to the five-mile-buoy. Nothing!! Not even a cobe or two by the buoy. Thats why its called fishing not catching. I hope to come up in a few weeks when the whites are turned on.
/s/ALEX on the Charter Boat BIG DEAL

Saturday, August 12th, 2000
Results of the Intraclub tournament last week. We had 24 boats registered, and were blessed with beautiful weather, but the fishing was mighty slow. There were no billfish tagged and only one meatfish called in to the clubhouse by Monday noon. Bill Ferguson on the Xanadu caught a 73# yellowfin tuna that was the winning fish! Congatulations to Bill and his crew for their efforts. Our next tournament will be scheduled sometime in September. Tight lines and calm seas until then.Gary
/s/GARY MALONE on the GEM DANDY (PBGFC)

Sunday, July 23rd, 2000
Let me start by saying I think your web site is fantastic. My name is Jason Rhodes & I am the president of the Gold Coast Game Fishing Club,I was surfing the net the other day and came across your site, it is excellent to see such wide range of content on your site 10 out of 10 Guys. Our club is in the throws of starting a site, one hopefully as informative as yours.
Well onto the story, sun 23/07/00 it was a bright shiny day, a slight s/se 2-5 knots when its this good you gotta go wide so we did 34 nm to the canyons of Tweed Heads (southern end of Gold Coast). Upon arriving we couldnt help but notice the activity on the surface and in the air, birds, showering bait and thousands of dolphins/pilot whales, this was going to be a great day. Within 3 minutes a 450lbs + black was connected to a Shimano TLD 50 lbs stand up outfit and Bob the owner of the boat,(34 ft Blackwatch).We were still setting up the spread when she hit a Pakula mini sprocket /light yakka. Hooked up 8.45am tagged 11.15am, after such a lengthy fight we swam the fish almost 50 minutes to its recovery.
After taking a memont to reflect this magnificent fishes fight for survival we all concluded that it was at least 450+ lbs. We started to send out the lures once again and it wasnt long before the next hook up, A nice little stipey around the 150lbs mark, hooked at 12.15pm & tagged at 12.30pm this fish was very GREEN let me tell ya! after 35 minutes we finally got our lure back and it swam of into the big blue yonder. With 2 from 2 we tried our luck one more time an to our suprise it happened again, but with a very different outcome this fish was not going to show himself, after peeling an easy 300mt of 80 lbs the reel slowed from 5000rpm to 2000rpm this fish was BIG, 1.55pm hooked up and spooled at 1.56pm the poor tiagra was untouchable for at least 20min, with that result we decided to head home. Just to fill you in our season here for big blacks/blues and stripes seems to start around may till sep, and the sails/small blacks start at around nov to march. So if you plan a trip to this great little spot downunder these dates may be of help to you. I look foward to visiting your site again some time soon
/s/JASON RHODES on the Reel EEZY

Monday, July 10th, 2000
Trolled Nipple to 131 Hole....no action. Ran to 5 miles abeam Elbow.... within 15 minutes hooked up with a jumping White Marlin on black/purple Knucklehead....tagged and photo session at 1105. By 1130 had another White on for a short runoff. Water was clean green so after noontime ran to 200 fathom line where water was a "fire blue". At 1245 got one jump from a nice Blue....also took the wayback Knucklehead....now a green/yellow one. At 1330 a Blue Marlin inhaled big Islander/Ballyhoo on port outrigger....youngest son Tony was in for a real battle....first Blue in a number of years. This was a 77" LJFL 140-150# Blue Marlin that put on an exciting greyhounding show some 300 yds. from boat in dead calm beautiful blue water. Took just short of an hour to tag and bill. Soon after getting lines back out had another Blue come in the wake....hit starboard flat...no hook up...then went for starboard outrigger..no hook up...then went over to Ballyhoo on port rigger and had him hooked up for a 50 yd. run before hook pulled out. So ended up with a multiple Billfish day....had 3 Blues hooked..got 1....had 2 Whites hooked..got 1. That's about as much action as one can ever expect in the Gulf. Went back to Spur area two days later and tagged a White in blue water. Last trip out on 17 July, blue water was gone....dirty green and not a piece of sargassum all the way to the Spur... caught one Wahoo. Well it was great while it lasted and sure glad we took advantage of the blue water while it was in striking distance.
/s/STEVE KAISER on the VENTURE (PBGFC)

Monday, July 3rd, 2000
Left Bayou Chico 2:30 AM headed for the rigs - about 4:00 found a small fuel leak on port engine. Decided to stop short- turned it SE toward the spur. At 6 am climbed into the tower to start looking - 7:15 see large grass patches off port bow - baits out -7:30 Fly line starts screaming (pink & black Polu Kai)Big Dolphin! ~ 40lbs in the box - baits out - 5 min. double both riggers (Ballyhoo) - 15 & 20 lb dolphin in the box! - 8:00 Center Flat pops (Islander/Ballyhoo) another big Dolphin ~ 40 didn't clear the fly - just left it out - Fish pulled the hook on the wire - Went back up to speed and started putting out the baits - Fly line starts screaming (Same pink & Black Polu Kai) - Blue marlin!! - ~30 min tag/photo small ~150-180lb blue - Guys its only 8:30 and we ain't in Costa Rica - This is the Northern Gulf of Mexico!! Baits back out - See big Marlin bustin' up on chicken dolphin on biggest grass patch for the third time! - not a sniff on the troll - catch a small wahoo and several 10lb dolphin. ~ 11:00 we see the same marlin on the same patch knocking chicken dolphin 20 feet in the air. -- Cant stand it - Catch 2 chicken dolphin - cant find my rigging needles so I take the bridle rigs off the hooks and just stick-em in the head and toss em over - less than 10 min - right flat gets nervous- free spool - line starts smokin' off - took the boat up to speed and pushed the lever to strike - the fish peels about 150 yards off the 80 and comes up raging-Big Blue - 400-450lbs- Spits the bait on the second jump - When we reeled it in, the hook had turned into the head of the bait - we got no penetration!! DAMN! Baits back out -1:30 small chicken dolphin eats the center flat - I leave all the baits out and get him skipping in - we didn't even slow down - Half way to the boat fin and bill come up behind him Blue Marlin!! - freespool - he takes it! - feed him the chicken dolphin and set up on him - he pulls about 20 yards off and nothing- bring in the mangled dolphin and he had swollowed the ballyhoo - no hook! 2:00 Bill behind the left rigger(small green & yellow Marlin Magic) - feed a small white and hook-up- 15 min tag/photo release. Baits back out- 3:30 Big Blue crashes the right Flat (Big Green & Yellow Seven Strand pusher) Smokes the 80 for about 40 or 50 yards and the hook pulls. 4:45 see big tuna bustin' way north of the line - pull in and run up there - no sign of em so we decided to keep running north and take it to the house. This is a true story! All of this action took place on the same 1 mile stretch of big grass patches - we found it right at the tip of the canyon and worked it all day - by the end of the day we had drifted 9 or 10 miles NW 'til we were due west of the spur about 10 miles. I haven't fished since – Can't wait! Ill be out there on the 29th looking for a repeat!!
/s/SCOTT CHERONES on the BABY J (PBGFC)

Saturday, July 1st, 2000
Left late around am, ran just east of the nipple in a 26 ft Mako, blue water and lots and lots of scattered grass with larger patches. Dragging softheads when the port rigger pops and a white marlin is hooked up and jumping behind the boat. The White put on quite a show on 30 lb tackle, had him to the boat for pictures in 15 minutes and had a clean release. Fish was in great shape. Found a small line with some current and small dolphins in it. Bridled one small dolphin and slow trolled him down the line hoping for a much larger dolphin or wahoo. We were in 300 ft of water, when the small dolphin began jumping with a blue marlin in hot pursuit. The blue grabbed the dolphin and we gave him a short drop back, was very concerned about gut hooking the blue. We set up on him, he pulled about 50 yards of line and came unhooked. Oh well!! We saw a great bite, caught a white. Lots of smiles on the way home.
/s/BART MITCHELL on the IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, June 27th, 2000
Venture hasn't had a day like this for several years. Had fished the Interclub Tournament last Saturday and got two good shots (opportunity to get hooked-up) at a White Marlin. This was down in the vicinity of the Spur, where the water is light blue, and could hardly wait to get back down there. So on Tuesday 27 June Venture proceeded to the Spur area...didn't get down there to almost noontime....there were some storms that delayed us running direct. Trolled all the way to the 750 line (63 miles from Buoy 12). Caught a nice Cow Dolphin about 1300....water was a beautiful blue and near dead calm....still lots of sargassum weed to clean from hooks. Started trolling back toward Pensacola and around 1400 the wayback reel started screaming....Whitey hooked himself on the Zucchini Knucklehead and started a series of jumps....tagged fish and took a few photos as is the custom on Venture....even went swimming to calm down the adrenalin rush....this was our first White Marlin of the year and it seems like the excitement level never diminishes no matter how many Billfish one has caught. Next action came at 1545....we were in a turn to return to an 8' piece of lumber which had about a dozen baitfish around it...a Blue Marlin grabbed the inboard outrigger Ballyhoo but never got hooked up....moments later he attacked the starboard flatline and we got a good hook up....tagged him after a 30 minute fight....it was a small Blue about 100-125#. Finally commenced trolling toward "homeplate" and at 1650 a very aggressive White Marlin attacked the starboard flatline....same lure that caught the Blue some 30 minutes earlier....a cheap $12.00 lure called the "Nacho". Failed to hook up and fish went over to starboard outrigger(Ballyhoo)....got the Ballyhoo with no hook up....then a few seconds later the wayback is screaming and fish is jumping....assumed it was same fish....tagged him after a 15 minute battle. It was almost 1730 and we were 55 miles from Pensacola so we pulled things in and made a nice run home....that was pretty far out for that late in the day, and it was tough to quit right after catching our third Billfish of the afternoon. There is just no other sport that can quite compare to Fishing for Billfish.
/s/STEVE KAISER on the VENTURE (PBGFC)

Thursday, June 15th, 2000
Thursday 6-15-00 Left from Destin and went to The Spur first to troll softheads and ballyhoo for Blue Marlin. Continued on to The Nipple with no Blues raised. Water was cobalt blue with scattered grass from there to The Edge. Temp of water was 83.3 with mixed in 81 degree water. Went to the high speed trolling setup with Yo-zuris and lead heads around structure...had a triple Wahoo hookup with all three fish landed. Found a telephone pole floating and took one more Wahoo with a nice 30 lbs plus Mahi pulling the hooks on a fine jump. Seas got rough in the afternoon and we had to watch the radar carefully to avoid t-storms. All in all a fine day! Get out there!
/s/BRIAN CAWOOD on the OLE MISS

Sunday, June 11th, 2000
We put the lines in at 7:00 at the Nipple. We trolled southeast in blue-green water with scattered grass. At 10:30 it seemed like the grass was starting to push together. We stayed on the line and it kept getting better by the minute with a color change and tons of flyers. The fishing was slow for a few hours and at 1:30 we finally hooked a fish. The dolphin weighed 33# and was the biggest fish my cousin had ever caught. About 15 minutes later my cousin caught another fish, a 25# wahoo that sky-rocketed the way-back. It was an awesome hit. At 2:30 we started seeing some hard tails and chicken dolphin under the patches and things started to look real good. About 20 minutes later a small blue came up on the long rigger and nailed the black-orange soft head. The line came out of the clip but the fish was not there, and he never showed back up. After reeling in the bait we saw that the line broke just above the hook. That really stunk and we pulled the baits in at 4:00. The crew for the day was:Joe Campus 3, Joe Campus 4, Chris Campus, Judson Day, Justin Martin and Dr Jim "I've got to be home early no matter how hot the bite is" Brown.
/s/JOE CAMPUS on the COMMOTION (PBGFC)

Sunday and Monday, June 4th & 5th, 2000
Saw 4 billfish in two days and we caught 2 Dolphin,1 Wahoo and 1 tuna.The largest Dolphin was caught by George Wise,a club member, and was 40.0lbs.We fished south and east of the Spur. Lots of grass,flyers and large schools of Tunas.Several Billfish taged and jumped off in that area by other boats.
/s/BILL SWICK on the KARMA (PBGFC)

Saturday, June 3 2000
We put the lines in at 5:45 am and at 5:55 we had a small blue on the long rigger. He peeled off about 200 yds before pulling the hooks. We worked the Nipple for about an hour before heading southeast. We made it to a 13350/46950 around 8:00 when we hooked up a white and after a 15 minute fight on 50#, Sonny Granger tagged his first Marlin, a 70# white. We continued to work that general area and at 10:30 we hooked a Blue. The fish came up on the short flat and after missing it, he inhaled the short center rigger. After jumping 8-10 times the fish settled down. Chris fought the fish for about 20 minutes before we got the tag in the fish. The fish was about 250# and was in great shape after the release. We continued to work the same area and at 1:30 we started working a whale shark surrounded by blackfins. We caught a blackfin, a skipjack and a dolphin before the big daddy came up. He came up on the short center and then moved to the short rigger. He swatted it twice before nailing it. We estimated him at 450-500# and could not keep the hooks in him. We continued working the same area and had two more blues in the baits before we pulled in the lines at 5:00. The crew for the day was:Joe Campus, Chris Campus, Sonny Granger, Judson Day and Dr John Wimberly.
/s/JOE CAMPUS on the COMMOTION (PBGFC)

Friday, June 2nd, 2000
On Friday 2 June 2000 Venture commenced fishing on a small weed line just North of the Nipple....after an hour of no action proceeded ESE toward the 400 line. Having had no strikes on previous trip this looked like it was going to be another one of those days. That changed in a hurry at 1125 eight miles east of the 131 Hole in open clean green water. A big Blue Marlin crashed the port outrigger with a vengeance....white water everywhere, but some how failed to get the Ballyhoo....seconds later he charged the same bait again and this time the rod bowed up, but no hookup. Ballyhoo was gone and it appeared as though Mr. Blue was also gone. As Wally was putting out another Ballyhoo the wayback bowed up with no hookup. After about 20 seconds the Wayback twitched a couple more times....then all of a sudden the zucchini Knucklehead was crashed and line came stripping off at a phenomenal rate....500 yds. in the water before the real show began....greyhound after greyhound followed....maybe 25 of them....almost continuous....a half circle-180° around the horizon. If we had not had that 50 Wide this fish would have been history. Finally stopped this magnificent Blue with about 150 yds. left on the spool. Never jumped again and Wally had me slowly backing down for him to start regaining some line....finally got him alongside in just under an hour. After getting the fish alongside, it measured between 95 and100 inches and estimated the weight at around 300 to 325#. This will be one of the Venture's finest memories, as the entire sequence from strike to finish was so spectacular. There is nothing quite like catching an active Blue Marlin on a small boat....and when the angler is approaching his 79th birthday....well that is just something extra special. Never had another hit the rest of the day. These are great times to be alive!
/s/STEVE KAISER on the VENTURE (PBGFC)

Friday, May 26th, 2000
What a trip! I know now that live bait is the way to go. Many years have made trips out trolling with frozen bait and thought I was doing great and catching alot of fish. Not True!!! After installing a bait well on board I was off to catch my bait with #6 Sabiki rigs nad in no time had my well full and saved a ton off money!!! Fishing just outside the pass about 1.5 miles south off red marker bouy I free-lined menhaden off the back of my boat. Immediatley Shark on!!!! Shortly after landing the 3.5 ft merauder I hooked up again for a 20 min battle that nearly spooled me off and had to chase the fish down to gain back my line. This strong dude finally bit through my 120# test mono leader. when I got the remaining length of leader back about 8 feet, 6 ft or so looked like someone had taken a fine grit sandpaper to it I knew it was a large Shark. Not prepared we decided to crank up and go to Harbor walk and get some Shark Rigs. It was late in the and we time to catch some more bait and make it back out and 5 minutes after shutting down the engine Fish On!!! 15 min. fight produced 53# Cobia ( I thought they were Gone for the season) They're still out there!!! We caught many Kings and Chicken Dolphin that really after this are'nt worth Talking about Sea rough but cant wait to get back out!! Tight Lines
/s/KIMBEL WELLS on the REEL LAXATION

Tuesday, April 25th, 2000
Hello, I was bottom fishing on the I-10 Bridge Rubble less than 6 miles off Pensacola beach when my buddy said that he saw a Sailfish do a tail dance off the starboard side the of the boat. After I got done say "yeah right" I grabbed the pole that we had fly lining for Kings and he was hooked up on it. I could not believe it! I have only been fishing for 2 years in the gulf and had never even seen a bill fish of any kind while we have gone out. We had a 19' cape and just upgraded to a 24' cape with twins the week before. We wanted to get into that king of fishing but did not know it would start on our second bottom fishing trip out! I can't wait to try to catch these fish. It ended up that 35 minutes later (using a 750 ss Penn w/ 30lb test on it) we brought him along side the boat. We call a friend of mine that we got the boat from and he gave us the measurements that it had to be. The overall length was 78" but the legal length was 50." It was a blast and I hope to catch many more. I will give you an update later.
/s/MARK PORTER on the PORTERTEAM.COM

Monday, April 17th, 2000 VENEZUELA
Dear Steve, Enclosed are two catch cards from a recent trip to Venezuela. Unfortunately, conditions were poor with dirty water on the beach, and subsequently we did not see nearly as many fish as we usually do down there. The Swordfish catch was highly unusual. The fish was caught on a trolled ballyhoo in a marlin spread! I have never heard of a swordfish caught in this fashion, nor had any of the Venezuelan captains. We had just hooked a Blue and lost the fish on the first series of jumps. We had not even had a chance to clear the other lines when the Sword came up on the left outrigger. The fish mouthed the bait repeatedly, but never pulled the line out of the clip. I eventually hooked the fish by pulling the line out of the clip and coming tight all in one motion. A brutal 6½ hour up and down battle ensued on standup 30# test. I had initially intended to put the fish in the boat, but as time went on decided to release this magnificient fighter. Estimated weight....300#.
Scott Finelli (PBGFC)

Saturday, April 15th, 2000
WENT TO PETRONUS ARRIVED ABOUT 8:30AM -BY 8:45AM WERE CATCHING BLACKFIN ON SPEEDER LURES-BY 9:30AM HAD CAUGHT 2 WAHOO (1-50LB 1-20LB) AND MISSED 2 OR 3 MORE. SEAS WERE 6 FT PLUS AND RAINING. LEFT THERE WENT TO MARLIN RIG- NOTHING- LEFT THERE WENT TO RAMPOWELL- TROLLED IT WITH 2 OTHER BOATS TROLLED FOR 2 HOURS- NOBODY HAD A KNOCKDOWN- LEFT THERE WENT TO BEER CAN- NOTHING- WENT BACK TO RAMPOWELL FOR AFTERNOON BITE- BLACKFIN JUMPING NO HOOK-UPS.- MISS MARY- HOWEVER CAUGHT A 172LB YELLOWFIN WHILE WE HAD GONE TO THE BEER CAN!
GOOD DAY FISHING - GLAD TO BE OUT THERE!
/s/MIKE PATE on the CURRENT AFFAIR

Thursday, March 23rd, 2000
IF YOU ARE WANTING TO CATCH TUNA, THE RAMPOWEL IS ON FIRE. WE FISHED FROM 1AM TO 930AM AND CAUGHT AROUND 60 YELLOWFIN. MOST AROUND 25LBS BUT SOME WERE UP TO 90LBS. THE COBIA FISHING STINKS RIGHT NOW SO GO TUNA FISHING. YOU CAN BET I AM GOING TO BE BACK OUT THERE NEXT WEEK.
/s/Bill Swick on the FISH-N-OFF (PBGFC)