2008 Update
Swordfish in Isla Mujeres
Swordfish is in Isla Mujeres, Cancun, Mexico until mid-May. We are getting 16 to 20 bites a day! Fishing is still good down here and should pick up around the full moon in March. White marlin show up in the spread in April still providing double digit days. Days are available so contact us to book your trips!
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Swordfish Like New
The improvements and upgrades to Swordfish are many and quickly noticable to the eye. We have installed a new, larger, hardtop with new aluminum and new curtains. The helm is sporting a new instrument panel. We have removed the old sliding glass windows from the house and installed permanent windows to alleviate the leaks. The new glacial blue hull and white topside set this boat off as a true Carolina Sportfisherman.
The Swordfish was stripped down to bare wood in some places and reglassed to show smooth lines and to ready her for the new Awlgrip paint. The helm was reworked to allow for a new instrument panel and an actuator for lifting the panel. New lights and radio box were incorporated into the new hardtop.
Bobby Croswait of Croswait Yachts undertook the challenge of turning Swordfish into a new boat. A special thanks to Bobby Croswait and sons, Aaron and Jordan Croswait. Steve, Piney, Wanchese Dock & Haul, The Recovery Shop, and everyone else who helped to renew Swordfish to a new boat.
Read more about the Swordfish here.
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2007 Update
Swordfish and Crew Noted in East/West Banquet
The East/West Banquet held on November 13, 2007 hosted by the Oregon Inlet and Pirates Cove fleet announced the top boats and captain's of the year for both fleets. Swordfish had a spectacular year having caught/released 100 billfish, including the first grander in over 16 years as well as a 580 lb blue marlin. Swordfish placed in the top 5 in several tournaments in a field of over 100 boats. Mate Austin Robins won the "Mates Pool" having caught the largest blue marlin for the year. Out of more than 30 captains, Captain Justin Ringer was voted Captain of the Year for the Oregon Inlet fishing fleet. We had another very respectable year; consistency says it all.
Swordfish Hits 100!
On October 9th, Swordfish released a double header of sails to reach our goal of 100 billfish for the season!
To date (9/30/07), Swordfish has caught 16 Blue Marlin, 17 Sails, 1 Spearfish and 60 White Marlin. The fishing is still strong with a good showing of billfish. Book now and help us top 100 billfish for the season. |
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Team Swordfish Takes Top Boat Overall and Second Day Top Boat Daily Prize in the 15th Annual Allison Tournament
Team Swordfish anglers, Brant Wise, Chuck Gregory, Joe Perez, Bill Bussard and Kevin "Cornbread"/"Breadman" Carver released a total of 8 fish for 560 points. Desperado took 2nd, and Ramasea took 3rd.
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The Grander!!!
(left and below) Billy Landes of Gloucester, VA lands a 1,077 pound blue marlin on August 30th aboard the Swordfish! It was it was caught on a Mold Craft Chugger and was Billy's first time in the chair! Check out the press release and photos!
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On labor day, Swordfish released 6 white marlin and 1 blue marlin. Dewey-Weber Wise released his first Blue Marlin, a 200 pounder. He fought
the fish on a Tiagra 16, 20# stand-up gear. He released the fish after only a
15 minute fight. The pictures show Dewey-Weber being "creeked" for releasing his first blue. This is a long standing tradition amongst the crews inducting first timers into the "marlin club". At 11 years old, D.W. is one of the youngest.
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Swordfish Takes 4th Place in the 4th Annual Dewalt/Boat Builders Challenge
On the last day of the tournament, Swordfish braved 25 knot winds and 10' seas to hook-up to a 450 lb. blue marlin, bumping Swordfish up to 4th place.
Swordfish Takes Daily in 4th Annual Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament
Team Swordfish came from behindon Day 3 of the VBBT releasing 7 white marlin and taking
Top Boat for the day releasing a total of 9 fish including 1 spearfish. Top Boat, Hunter, released 12 billfish, and SCA Pink released 8 billfish. The VBBT had a record of 73 boats.
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June 27 - On their first offshore adventure, our party released 5 sailfish and 1 blue marlin.
June 22 - As a graduaton present and his first time offshore fishing, one of our recent guests released 2 blue marlin and 2 sailfish. The next day he returned to release a white marlin for his Grand Slam!
Spring 2007 - We had an exceptional time in Mexico. We fished over 53 days and averaged 20-25 bites a day. Our first day out, we had over 60 bites! We will be returning in 2008, so call now if you care to join us down there.
We are back at Oregon Inlet where fishing has been no less exciting. The gaffer dolphin are THICK! We've had catches of our limits, and most fish are 10-20lbs. Yellowfin tuna are still showing up in catches, with most days seeing our limit, as well as a few big-eyes mixed in.
The water is warm the fish are thick, so why haven't you booked your trip? Remember the old sayin', "A bad day of fishing always beats a good day at work." That goes for you bosses as well. |
2006 Update
August, 2006 - The MARLIN BITE IS EXCEPTIONAL!!! There have been several Grand Slams over the past three weeks. The Swordfish has had multiple blue marlin and white marlin bites daily. The fleet is releasing 50+ fish a day.
May, 2006 - The Swordfish's Capt. Justin Ringer placed 3rd, on time, in the Masters Invitational Tournament in Cancun, Mexico releasing 32 sailfish in the 4 day event. Top boat was the Viking 57, releasing 37 sails. Swordfish made and excellent showing participating in the event for the first time.
The Swordfish is back running out of Oregon Inlet catching nice sized Tuna and Wahoo. The Tuna have been in the 40 lb class and up to 90 lbs. Swordfish released its first White Marlin on June 9th and broke off a nice size Blue Marlin.
Winter, 2006 - The Swordfish is staying in Mexico into May to fish the Masters Tournament. April and May offer opportunites for white marlin and sailfish with the occassional blue marlin. We have released over 600 sailfish so far while fishing out of Isla Mujeres.
The Swordfish will be returning to Oregon Inlet in late May for some cleaning up prior to running out to the Gulf Stream looking for tuna, dolphin. We are hoping that this year will bring back the exceptional marlin fishing that we experienced last year. We estimated that we released over 120 white marlin last season. |
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2005 Update
From August 20 through 21, the Swordfish released over 30 white marlin in the two day period. "We had almost thirty bites each day." The fleet released 175 white marlin on Sunday alone. During the Pirates Cove Billfish Tournament, 123 boats fished from Tuesday through Friday releasing over 533 billfish. It is estimated that almost 1,000 billfish have been released in the past 7 days.
We've had some great catches of dolphin mixed in with billfish. On Friday, July 15, we released three sailfish and two white marlin, with wahoo and several gaffer dolphin weighing in as much as 35 lbs. |
With the season just beginning, the billfishing has been excellent with the fleet releasing up to 50 or more billfish a day. There have been several "Grand Slams," blue marlin, white marlin and a sailfish or spearfish. The Swordfish is averaging two bills a day when we go "Marlin" fishing. And to date we have released a half dozen sails, a half dozen blue marlin almost two dozen whites. If you want to catch a billfish, this is the year to do it!
We are still catching yellowfin tuna, a few bigeyes and limits of dolphin and king mackerel with the occassional wahoo. September is booking up fast, so reserve your spot now! |
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Team Swordfish Takes 2nd in the 16th Annual Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Billfish Tournament
Team Swordfish: Summer, Tracey, Desiree, Patty, Stephanie and Maria. Visit www.pcbgt.com for more details about the tournament.
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| Tuna fishing has been good with catches of citation Bigeye and Yellowfin coming to the docks. We also brought home a 35lb. dolphin. There are still dates available in August, so book now to save your date! |
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Team Swordfish won the Hatteras Village Offshore Tournament held during the first weekend in May raking in first fish, most points and biggest billfish. Due to hurricane force winds in excess of 79 mph and 20ft. plus seas, day two and three were not fishable. We fished in 10ft. seas on Thursday, only two billfish were seen; our blue marlin weighing approx. 300 lbs and a white marlin caught on the Frequent Flyer who placed second. Both fish were released. Visit the Hatteras Village Offshore Open for more information. |
Team Swordfish Wins the 15th Annual Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Billfish Tournament
Team Swordfish was top boat with two blue marlins and one white marlin released in healthy condition. Maria Wise released a 300 lb. blue marlin. This was her first marlin. As well, Desiree Matlack released a blue marlin and Tracey Tucker released a white marlin. The team won out in a field of 86 other professionals. Visit www.pcbgt.com for more details about the tournament. |
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2004 Update
November tuna fishing has been great on the days that the boats can get out. We have been catching our limits and getting back to the dock by 1:00 p.m.
We have had some impressive catches so far this season. The tuna fishing aboard the Swordfish continues to be good with some trips returning to the docks with as much as 770 lbs. of fish (we didn't even catch our limit - we ran out of room). We've brought in several citation-sized tuna with two 80 pounders and a 70 pounder in one day. We also caught a 129 lb. bigeye tuna. |
The boat has released two blues, two spearfish and 18 white marlins (and counting).
The Swordfish has released two spearfish (I've only heard of one other caught this year), 18 white marlins (and counting), sailfish and two blue marlins. She has raised six more blues, but unfortunately, they either jumped the hook or broke-off. |
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Cobia fishing has been unbelievable! In a recent trip aboard the Free Agent, we caught one on 10# test after an hour long battle. We also caught a 96 lb. with 18# test. We ended up catching 37 cobia that day on the Free Agent - a new boat record and probably the most in recent history. We came home with a 40lb., 67 lb., 73lb., 80lb. and a 96lb. What a day! |
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