28-29 December 2006
I headed back early from Christmas in Florida to accept an invitation to accompany a great crew, Darren, Tommy, Bill, Becky and Bill, aboard the Matador skippered by Jake Hiles. We headed out of Rudee Inlet at 1pm on the 28th to the deep; to swordfish country. We arrived an hour before sunset around the 200 line, and put out 4 lines adorned with glow sticks, ballons, and 12-inch squids to depths down to 300 feet. After a few hours with no action, we decided to change positions. We ran south to the 950 on the 100 line with 59 degree water, and set out the same lines. Within minutes, we had our first sword on. Although he was supposed to be a small one, he turned out to be “legal”, and in the boat he came. He weighed over 60-pounds, but fought like a bulldog. The crew was very excited, and assumed it was going to be a repeat story of the stellar nights experienced by other recent sword trips. Because the boat sacrificed the first sword, I was granted my “release citation” sword with the next fish, which was a small pup…perfect. Unfortunately, that was the last bite of the night. The next morning, we trolled for tuna with no luck, then settled for several dozen respectable tilefish, and a hand full of fat sea bass. Darren earned his final surprise citation of the year with a nice 5-pound seabass. We pulled back at Rudee at about 6:30pm on the 29th of December. What a trip.
