Or, Three Texans and a Bostonian in South Florida headed offshore: what could possibly go wrong?

Answer: pretty much *everydamnthing*, but we still had plenty of fun and even managed to kill a few fish. I flew back into Boston last night to get back to work after 4 days of play/travel.

STX stayed on in Islamorada with the other two Texans for a few more days. Come Monday, he and his partner in crime will do the 1600 odd road miles and 24 hour shot back to Texas again, I think. Totally crazy call in my book, that. 48 hours on the road and money spent on fuel, tolls, food, crappy accommodations and more VS. a ~3.5 hour flight and done? A total no brainer for me, but as they say, 'you can tell a Texan, but you can't tell him much!'

Hope you boys are still hooking fish, causing trouble and still up to no good down there, Rog'. We'll be at it again soon enough. Say hey to the boys for me and safe travels, son.

Tarpon ?

Did stubbs make the trip or was he on the road?

Nothing like a road trip. I would rather drive than fly any day. Was fishing good?

AS renegade says..............................


pics or it didn't happen.

But, I know you, they'll be up later.

Thanks for the update.

Last we heard from Rog he was layin' beside the interstate in north Florida and that was days ago...

BTW, where are you flying into that's close to Islamorada?

I've no idea what they've done since I bailed, but the only tarpon interactions I had were me snapping pics of the fish being hand-fed at the cleaning station at the one marina after we came in with fish. Those tarpon, some big--and a few nurse sharks-- sure enjoyed our fish guts and racks.

I have no idea where Stubbs is. Last I heard he was with R50 after a time with A+8s. I could've gotten some great shots if he was along, but Stubbs is on the road. I tend to travel light and I'm pretty sure the TSA folks wouldn't have had much of a sense of humor about Stubbs in my carry-on anyway. Hell, I had words with one TSA guy who said that he wasn't sure I could haul frozen fish in my carry on. He knows the rules now, though. F'in idiot that dude was.

Maybe if I was already retired I'd choose the road trip, but even then I kind of doubt it if my destination was only one area and not a long string of places. I want to spend my away from home time off enjoying, not worrying about long-distance driving and the associated headaches over a more than 3K mile run. Especially on a trip of only 3 nights. Second day after they made it to S. FL they were still gassed after their ride in, and both complaining of being stiff and sore from trying to sleep in the truck. I, on the other hand, was as fresh as a daisy right off the plane... In the time it took them to drive *one way* from TX to FL I could've flown RT Boston/Tokyo. But whatever; different strokes for different folks and all that.

As far as fish, we got into some great specimens and I was pleased to knock 3 more flavors off the life list, but it was slow and our main target eluded us completely. The boys kicked off the fishing with a guided outing for peacock bass before I arrived. The story related to me was dead hilarious, but I wasn't there. STX can tell the tale when he gets back home on Tuesday. Or Wednesday. Or whenever.... Traffic, weather, fatigue, random LE searches, vehicle issues? For this kind of trip? Uh, thanks but no thanks.

Miami. A bit over an hour ride.

P.S. Roger forgot his laptop at home (among a pile of other things ha, ha) so likely won't be posting until he gets back to Corpus. It was funny watching him suffering from terrible bouts of withdrawals as he swore at the tiny 24HCFscreen on his phone.

Quote.......you can tell a Texan, but you can't tell him much!'


He’s not the one living in Boston! 😂 memtb

Done a number of those road trips, used to enjoy it.
Now, it's like you say. Still do it instead of flying, but it hurts.

Used to come up your way to cod fish.
Up at 4, fish all the last day, and drive home .
Sun up till we got home.
Dumb and dangerous.

I've been enjoying his pics on FB. Those peacock bass are really cool looking fish. Even though the swords didn't cooperate, I hope you guys had a good time.

As far as the road trip thing - If time and conditions allow, I'd welcome a long drive with good company. 1,600 miles of re-fueling stops, bad food, and sunrises and sunsets viewed from the road would fit right in amongst some of the crazy stuff my fishing buddy and I have gotten ourselves into. Stuff like fishing Lake Michigan steelhead from shore and having to wade through 30-40 feet of wave tossed, thigh bruising late winter ice chunks when wading out to cast or when fighting a fish has us laughing and shaking our heads when we look back and recount our experiences.

Of course, I’m just a youngster.....so the road trips are a bit easier for me! 😂 This was done during the first 2 weeks of this month!

5050 miles in 9 travel days!
Though technically, more like 8 travel days......as a truck electrical issue kept us at only 100 miles (+/-) for one day. This was towing a 40 ft., 20K 5th wheel! The entire outing was 13 days, with the off-days (rest days)....traveling solo (no camper) while visiting relatives and attending baseball games!

I’m not going into details, but, this was a lot more miles than we were supposed to travel.....and certainly in a shorter time frame. I’ll save the details for a chapter in my book “Life’s Challenges”! 🤪 memtb

FL is the 7th state Roger and I have now hunted/fished or fooled around in together. Our backgrounds couldn't be any more different, but we've proven that has absolutely nothing to do with friendship. We always have a blast together. Always. For 2021 we already have two more trips planned. If he ever gets his act together and gets his 1st passport I'll have his south Texan eyes *really* opened up.

He needs a kick in the seat to get that passport! There's no way I'd let a pp stand in the way of some top notch guided adventure. I think I appreciate adventure even more now than I did as a young man.

100%. And not just guided adventures. A week abroad in, say, Japan with someone who knew what they were doing and he'd never look at the world the same way ever again.

Just got off the phone with him. They spent the day fooling around in Marathon after sleeping in. No fish were injured. *Still* tired after that long ass drive up from TX... But oh, the adventure of the old road trip!

Driving from Islamorada to Marathon and back with weekend traffic sucks in itself. They are gluttons for punishment.

I know, and tried to explain that to the man. More than once. I do realize that he's not alone though and assume majority rules apply. I'm no expert on the area but I've seen that movie, having been down there a few times. Hell, I even honeymooned in the Keys 17 years ago. But try to tell a Texan something and, well, you know how that goes...Poor old Rog'. I asked him earlier how they did with the fish today. He said he cleaned the house while the other two slept in until 11 and then went out into traffic. Never got to fish. Maybe later. Still tired from the ride up from TX, I guess.

'What I Did On My Big Fishing Trip to the Keys: The Complete Guide to the Best Choices in Vacuum Cleaners, Brooms and Pot Scrubbers!

lol I'm having a good time, first hangover in yrs.

Good to hear that Roger!

Getting a good sword captain isn't easy. I used to belong to a fishermen's group on Yahoo Groups called REALFISHERMEN. GREAT place to find and hook up with fishing buds and captains, until Randy, the founder of the group, passed away from cancer about 10-12 years ago. Including Randy, there were some guys in that group who really knew the sword game.


PS- Successful swordfishing, at least in coastal FL waters, is a mostly nocturnal exercise. Water depth is a big consideration and part of that game.

Damn, I drove right by you guys......Had I known,

And flying aint fun these days, but 1600 miles?

Hell no.

That used to be the case (night fishing for swords). Not anymore. Daytime sword fishing is the game these days for most people. Check the guy's page below. He's something of a pioneer of the daytime sword fishery. A member here knows Nick Stanczyk well, as I understand it.

https://www.youtube.com/c/StanzFam/videos

The guy we hired is a professional and very successful sword killer. He's taken more than 40 swords over 250 lbs. over the last year alone and many smaller fish. We just struck out the one day we were able to fish for them. And yes on depth. We were fishing Floyd's Wall deep slow trolling in 1500-1800 feet of water. Roughly 30 NM SE of Islamorada.

South End:
24 27.617
80 25.173

North End
24 40.598
80 13.565

How deep were you running baits/lures fishing over that wall?

Hi Geno. I mention depth in the post above yours but we were running baits from 1500 down to almost 2000 feet.

Have bunch of pics I'd post but sick of fuggin around with PB.

Yes. Daytime is possible.

1. Better Swordfishing north of the Keys
2. Guys/captains doing daytime, because it's easier.

Glad you guys had a good time.

Me and my buddies sword fight all the time.

Never done it while fishing though.

I mistook your meaning then.

I saw this:



and took that as water depth, not trolling depth.


That scheidt takes a big reel just to hold that much line!!

My Mitchell 300 likely wouldn't cut it.

When you fish....................










do you bring the correct size hooks?

Not just possible, sir. Productive (for many, us not included this time around). I'd agree that it's in some ways easier, as you said. Like most things when dealing with a daylight vs night environment, I suppose. Swords as I understand it mostly stay deep, in the twilight/dysphotic zone (200-1000 meters below surface) in daylight. At night they come much closer to the surface. Which explains why commercial long-line sword fishermen locally catch their swords with baits only 30-50 feet down. Also on the plus side, with daytime sword fishing there's no need to play the dodge-the-cargo-ships-in-the-dark game.

But thanks for the sentiment. Even though we got skunked on swords the only day we were able to fish for them, we did have lots of fun, brought some other fish over the rails and enjoyed just fooling around in general. And I *will* have my big swordfish one day, that I do know.

Deep slow trolling is a tricky game and sort of a misnomer. Unlike standard trolling offshore, where you might get on a heading and stay on it for ten miles at a set or slightly varied speed, what these guys do is use the engines to keep moving but in a relatively small and specific area. They bump the boat around in gear covering maybe a half a mile square, keeping the bait just off the bottom around where they know the swordfish like to be. The bottom comes up and falls away as the boat moves around, so you must constantly adjust where you are relative to the bottom, as much as maybe 150 feet. It requires a lot of attention and some very serious gear. The reels we were using were these:

https://www.connleyfishing.com/shop/lindgren-pittman-s1200-commercial-electric-reel/

Each rod and reel combo runs about $8500. So one can see, just in gear alone, a serious swordfisherman with a pair of rod/reel combos and line is approaching 20 large as investment. Boat not included in that price. Which is why so few are set up to fish for them, as well as very few willing to pay the steep price tag to chase them. The average cost of a S FL full day sword charter is almost 3 grand...

Interesting, thanks for that info.

Deep slow trolling in some places is 100'-200' over that depth of water. As opposed to shallow trolling at 35'-0' .

But, I've never had the resources to pursue them swords, that's for sure.

I'm sure you had fun, swordfishless or not. How could you not have fun with Roger along, right?

KG, Everybody gets skunked sometimes. On my last trip to Cabo, I was there hunting marlin. Got skunked on them, but knocked the crap out of tuna, + 1 decent rooster behind Playa Grande resort (where you can cast for them from the beach; Didn't know that until I got there.), and one dorado in Sea of Cortez. Lost several other nice roosters behind PG resort. 3 charters in all.

OK, said eff it and downloaded from PB, then uploaded again to imgur. I hate PB. A few pics from day of arrival..

Chillin' out back next to the canal in the Tiki hut.



Ribeyes and boudain sausage brought from Texas and Lousiana by the lads. Brian must've been fixing himself another drink and got a bit carried away with the char, but I don't mind a little crunch on the outside and the meat was terrific. Before this meat we had a nice appetizer of chowdah. I brought about a gallon of it with an extra half pound of clams dug local to me and cooked, then frozen. The chowdah was frozen the night before and jammed in my carry on. I even brought oyster cracker for the authentic experience. The boys loved it.



Married couple in the Tiki hut rafters. They didn't seem bothered at all by us, and viced versa.



Brian with a good glow out back the rental.



Roger pretending to be awake again.

Headed out from port on the 38' Luhrs Sporty with the skipper in the flybridge. This is NOT the rig I booked to fish off of. Long story here.



About 30 miles out in the haze. Check the numbers on the LP. At least you're not gonna' run aground out there.



Kind of hard to make out, but does anyone recognize what's out there forming in that cloud bank? Hint: you don't ever want to be around if it makes it to the surface...



The lads listening for whale or manatee hits on the hull.



While those two--and the captain-- were passed out I decided to fish. We lost an engine 25 miles out so a one and a half hour ride back in became a 3 hour plus one. After about 30 minutes when everyone was asleep it occurred to me that our limping speed was perfect for the troll. I told the mate to show me where the tackle was and five minutes later I had my first blackfin tuna in hand. A real mini but no legal size limit on them. I was told the state record is like 50 pounds but we didn't even come close. I think Roger caught the largest and was around a 8 pounder, I''d say.



My first mahi ever. Pretty much a peanut as far as dorado go, but I was damned pleased. I told the boys I was hooking fish but for some reason they wanted to keep sleeping. Something about a 1600 mile long 25 hour drive or something...

The captain just this minute texted me pics. They're headed in after a good day. Today they hooked 3 and landed two. Biggest estimated @ 190. Sometimes you get 'em, sometimes they get you. That's fishing!

Sounds like a great time! Love the pics.

Hey, a bad day fishing beats goin to work!! Enjoyed the pics......

Great pics.

I was wondering about what you guys were getting for weather down that way. It's been blowing and raining here on the central gulf coast ever since you guys got to the Keys.

Next you'll tell us you lost your virginity.

I'm used to taking pictures of KG sleeping.

The world is all backwards, upside down and inside out.

LOL

What you and your buddies do is called "crossing swords".



https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=crossing%20swords

Great story and pics, I'm envious. Thanks for sharing.

Jeff, yessir. My buddy Davey is in Naples and he was supposed to join on the sword trip but as a result of crappy wx torpedoing his plans with fam', on the only day or two it cleared up he had to attend to his wife and so had to cancel fishing with us.

Some more pics.

Breakfast before setting out day 2. Blue crab cake benny.



The lads getting some calories on board before getting pickled at sea.



Brian with the catch of the trip.



Headed offshore to drag for anything that might hit us.



STX tight to a decent blackfin; biggest of the run.




C'mon lil' dawggie!

Tight to a nice little skipjack tuna.



Ten minutes later:



Me fixing Roger's frontal shot.



Ballyhoo rigged up for mahi/kingfish/whatever



Wash.

Japanese snacks. Dried/smoked oysters, snails and clams. Potato chips? You can do better!



STX with another wee mahi that jumped on flatlined cedar and feathers.



The Texans awaken.



Frigate. Rime of the Ancient Mariner, anyone?



Skipjack.



The skippa' on the flybridge.

Coupla' fish inna box.



Bonito.



PAN PAN. PAN PAN. PAN PAN.




Wheels in the sky keep on ternin' (80s Journey song, anyone?).




Some wildlife back @ at the barn.

That's great, that ya got ta catch your own bait.

Need some dried squid, if ya want the brews ta go down quickly.

A true friend will haul a requested dish 1600 miles for an amigo. South Texas real deal menudo. Gracias, muchacho! Que deliciosos!




OK then, that's about I have in me to post up for now. Look forward to Roger posting his peacock bass adventures and other shots he probably has when he gets on. They rented a boat today and got into some fish and pretty deep into the bourbon and 'gars. I think they head out tomorrow morning. Safe trip, brother and thanks for the comments, y'all.

KG

Looks like y'all had a wonderful time.That's what it's really all about.

Guilty. I crash out all the time fishing offshore. Contributing factors are usually hangovers, no sleep the previous night and for years, taking Dramamine. I do much better on Scapolamine these days. And laying off the booze a little. The mate on the first day said to us that we were sort of unique guests. Never before had there been three guys who actually knew how to fish and helped to the point where he didn't have anything to do. Rigging baits, clearing lines, setting outriggers, running gaffs, hand-lining fish, etc. He also remarked that we were group of swordchasers who were all dead asleep only 30 minutes into the trip.

Baldhunter, thank you. We had a great time indeed. Rog' is about to drop off the other Texan who joined them for the last three days at Miami Int'l. Greg ought to be home on his couch and well into a 6 hour nap long before the other two hit Alabama...

Safe trip, Roger and Brian.

That looks like a lot of fun.

The fishing part, not the drive.

Would you use the charter again or were you not real impressed overall? You mentioned the boat wasn't what you'd anticipated.

It was, and yes I would, and will. The guy who was running the show really knows his stuff. Problem was that his regular ride is his partner's 35' Cat, the same one he was running down to Islamorada from Ft. Lauderdale the day of our trip. I got a text just as we arrived at the house showing one of two counter-rotating props on one of the boat's 350s GONE. He'd stopped to try to pick up a couple golden tilefish on some numbers and all of a sudden heard a loud whistling noise. Somehow the back prop had sheared off the shaft and went to the bottom. As such, the rig I booked him to run us out on was now going to limp down to the Keys and head for the shop. He said that he'd try to find someone to lend him another boat, as finding parts and last minute mechanic is something of a trick . Problem was that everybody was booked to fish.

He managed to talk to a buddy who had a cancellation and thus, us heading out on the 38' Luhrs. I have never, and I mean never been on a rig of such a size that rode so horribly. We were in seas less than two feet and I swear it seemed like we were in 6'-8's. STX actually got quite seasick out on that tub, something I've never seen in dozens of trips with him, many in fairly rough seas. I was shocked at just now badly that thing rode. Also, the Luhrs is *slow*, and the 30+ miles to the sword grounds in the Cat would've taken an hour. With the Luhrs it took 2.5 hours plus. Then of course we lost an engine on the Luhrs coming BACK. What are the odds? It threw a hose and there was coolant everywhere. We were all like, 'JFC, what's next, we spring a major leak in the fuggin' hull and there are no PFDs aboard?'

The guy and his mate worked their asses off trying to get us tight. This kind of fishing is seriously labor jntensive. You have to watch the rod 100% of the time, and adjust constantly due to changing depth. You have to stay on the numbers and run the boat continuously. It is NOT an exercise in just dropping to bottom, cracking a cold beer and putting your feet up as you bob around. The gear used is highly specialized and the proper baits and presentations are also key. Experience in detecting a bite is also so. Swords do not mash baits like tuna. Bites can be almost imperceptible. They will use their bills to poke at or whack the bait before coming back to eat, and being able to recognize the difference is important. You don't want to be hauling up when you should be dropping down, don'tcha' know.

Anyway, there's more but I've gone on enough. I know how much I bore people here going on endlessly...

LD: I know how it goes dude, but thanks. We struck out with swords and had some crap luck with boats and no bite. The day we were out there were about 20 other boats chasing swords, including the famed Nick Stanz. Of all the guys out there, only a single sword pup was hooked. We still managed a few fish--that were all damned delicious, BTW-- and we had a good time amongst friends. And that's more than half of the point anyway, in my book.

Fugk that's rough. At least you made the best of it.

Work sure gets in the way of a lot of fun......

Boat troubles aside, looks like a great trip! Mahi and BF make for some great eats!

Nothing screams Texas like this food grade bucket!

Lol. I’m sure they wiped it out with a dirty shirt first😀

That is goldang beautiful, Leighton. Well done! You're one ahead of me on the mahi mahi tally, btw...

Beautiful blackfin! Beats my biggest by a mile.

Brian's good people. I've fished with him and Roger off the CC coast for snapper.

Did gophergunner show up?

KG, For me, that's most of it these days, brother. I've killed enough fish.

Fess up k_g,

how much of them little tunas did you eat "au naturel"?

Hey that was quite the adventure. Thanks for letting the rest of us come along. Mb

Hey brother J. Good to hear from you. Not sure if you're funnin' or not, but A., that fish pictured is a replica outside a diner we ate at. B., that's a yellowfin, not a blackfin. C., the world record blackfin is like 47 lbs. and change and a YF the size of that replica would be in the 275-325 lb. range. Just heard from the lads. They're outside P-cola and fighting to stay awake. I strongly suggested they get a room and hit the road in the morning but I'm sure they won't. Just want them to make it home safely.

KG, you want the really big Swords, you'll have to run out past the Grand Banks to the Flemmish Cap. Just make sure your ice maker is working.

Sounds like a great trip. Beautiful pics as always. That Blackfin is something to behold.

Cool post. Great Pics. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks and appreciate the words, Mr. H.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

'Hey brother, how did you cats make out on your sword hunt?' 'The trip was kind of a dumpster fire, but we had fun. Highlight was landing a fuggin' beast of a yellowfin, and dig this-- it was already taxidermied and had damn near a foot of rebar sticking out of its gob! Weird, right?'

Urgent prayers request! Just had a call from ole Catfish Hunter. Sounded pretty thoroughly smashed. Me: "You boys OK, homey?" "Oh yeah we're good. Almost at the Texas border, making pretty good time" ME: "Right on. Listen, I don't want you to fall asleep at the wheel or anything. Promise me you'll pull over if either of you starts nodding off, OK? Who's driving right now?" STX: "Brian is" ME:"OK, cool. Ask Brian if he's good to be driving for me" STX: "OK. Hey Brian, you OK to be still driving L wants to know...Oh, I guess he's asleep actually..." ME: "WHAT!?!" STX: "It's OK, we're pulled over here on the side of the highway" ME: "Wait, WTF? Never mind. I'm praying for you boys or whatever. Call me from county tomorrow. I'm good for bail if you need it" STX: "Appreciate that buddy" ME: "Our father, who art in Heaven, please look out for this pair of wayward Texan madmen..." You can't make this stuff up!

When they took off yesterday I was thinking of offering Roger my guest house on Crystal River so they could layover and break up the trip.
I figured he'd turn me down being it's only 500 miles into their trip home, then I ended up with company all day and and never gotta around to it anyway.

It's a good sign they are taking breaks, they'll be fine.

But they'll be burned out for a couple days after getting home.

Solid, and on behalf of my boy I appreciate that, Jeff. For what it's worth, your empathy and generousity means a lot. You ever feel froggy and want to take a shot at killing a bluefin, I'll get you a spot with us on a trip. Serious offer. Cheers.

Sounds like a great time, better luck next time on the sword's! Iv never been out on the ocean fishing, on my bucket list one day tho!

Looks like a good 'ol time was had by all. Thanks for posting.

What Rooster7 said.

Thanks for the story and pics, looks like a fun trip.

I could see there was something fishy about that pic.

One thing's for sure........................



I'm glad I "retired" from that lifestyle...............................mostly.

I still sleep on the side of the road on long as hunting trips though.

Usually no worry about needing bail.........................thankfully!

Thanks for the update on the fellas.

To me, the first day of a road trip is a bit exhausting, maybe some fidgeting. All of the remaining days are a lot easier after your body gets used to not moving.

I just won't fly, and the road trip holds a lot of charm for me. Sorry we did not get to hook up. Hope to get y'all down again in the future.

made it home about an hour ago, stop at my son's windshield repair business so he could repair a couple of chips in the windshield, going to crash for a while.

Welcome back Roger!

Thanks for the offer, if the timing's right I could take you up on it.