Under a nearly full moon, anglers on board the My Sea Cin celebrated their victory in the Miami Swordfish Tournament, hosted at the Miami Marina on September 12 and 13, 2008. After a slow first night of only two releases, the second evening of fishing had eleven fish released and three brought to weigh-in. The weigh-in fish included a 201-pound sword caught by Beck Daniel, fishing aboard the Deja Blue. Beck’s fish gave him the award for Top Angler and Largest Fish, and propelled the Deja Blue team to second place by a one-point margin over Get Lit.
It was the first swordfish Daniel had boated, and he described the fight as “intense, a lot of fun. Right after the fish got close, it shot out and we had to start all over again.” Daniel was fishing a rigged squid at a depth of 400 feet, on 80-pound test. The fish was tail wrapped at the end of the fight, challenging the angler even more. After the weigh in, when Daniel realized he had won top angler and its $5000 prize, he said he was “happy, especially because my mom supports the team and I’d like to see her get something back.”
My Sea Cin, captained by Randy Towe, had one release and boated two fish. Angler Gary Newgent caught a 152-pound sword, and angler Jeff Callahan landed a 174-pound sword. With 100 points for the release and a point-per-pond for landed fish of legal size, My Sea Cin finished with 426 points. Both of the landed fish were caught on 50 wide reels using live blue runners as bait. Callahan’s fish was caught on a line fished 200 feet deep, and he fought it for an hour and a half. The first-place boat took home $11,000 in prize winnings. Get Lit, Captained by Quinton Dieterle from Miami, FL, finished third with two releases for 200 points.
Conditions for the second night of fishing were good, if not completely smooth. A wind from the E-NE blew between 10-15 knots, with seas of 2-4 feet. Lines in started both nights at 7:30 P.M. and finished at 2:30 A.M. The second night finish was particularly exciting, as four anglers were fighting fish at the 2:30 A.M. hour. Tournament rules allowed anglers to continue fighting a hooked fish after the lines out deadline, with a 5 A.M. release registration deadline and a 9 A.M. weigh-in deadline. However, most boats were in by 3:30 A.M. and an excited, if bleary-eyed, crowd of about 40 watched the late-night weigh in.
The Miami Swordfish Tournament is part of the Florida Swordfish Series, which includes the Islamorada Swordfish Tournament, held the previous month. With 200 points from two releases at the Islamorada Tournament, My Sea Cin added their 426 points for a first place finish in the Florida Swordfish Series, with a $10,000 award. My Sea Cin also won last year’s Florida Swordfish Series. The Miami Swordfish Tournament has been running for six years, and catches are a testament to the improved swordfish stocks in South Florida. Tournament Director Captain Richard Peeples III expressed pleasure that more fish were caught this year than last year, despite fewer boats participating (thirteen boats compared with thirty boats participating in 2007). He also attributed the better catches to good weather, as on the second night of last year’s tournament the weather was “downright nasty.”
Photos and Story by Art Brockway
Thanks to Art for working so hard to get decent night shots
Good Story Art,
Editor
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He ain't heavy....he's my Billfish! sorry couldn't help myself.
They should have thrown this one back!
Thanks to the Anglers and Tournament Directors for helping us with the event coverage.
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