Spain: Swordfish off Mallorca

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Mallorca is far more than just beach and party. Hikers, nature lovers and mountain bikers know this. But fishermen such as young Mark Bogdan know it as well. At the age of 15, he caught something that seasoned big game anglers often dream of for many years, a swordfish. Mallorca is far more than just beach and party. Hikers, nature lovers and mountain bikers know this. But fishermen such as young Mark Bogdan know it as well. At the age of 15, he caught something that seasoned big game anglers often dream of for many years, a swordfish. Here is his report:

It was August 28, 2011. I was out with my father on the north coast for some tuna fishing. He had asked me to set out a rig with several Mackerel flies on the spinning rod down to a depth of 120 m to catch bait fish. That worked until once when we were reeling in the fish something hit the rod and the reel started to whistle. A heavy fish was on the line. This was followed by a long fight and a lot of wondering about what was out there. Finally, after an hour, a shadow appeared under the boat and grew ever bigger – like my father's eyes. „For God's sake, it's a swordfish,“ he said.

The swordfish had seen us as well and dove back down, unfortunately wrapping the Dyneema line around the fishfinder (hydrophone) and the boat propeller on the way. I let the reel out to take tension off the line, and my father undertook an acrobatic action with a pole to unwrap the line from the hydrophone and the propeller. The swordfish was back at the bottom in the meantime, had recovered there and it took a lot of work to slowly reel him up again. The fight lasted nearly two and a half hours in the blistering heat, with just a gimbal belt and stand-up fishing.

The swordfish, which had wrapped itself in the mackerel system, was also pretty tired by the time we got him on the boat. This was fortunate, because we would not have been able to pull him the last few meters onto the boat by hand using only the thin Dyneema line with less than 20 kg test on the Stella fishing reel.

The 2.70-meter swordfish weighed nearly 75 kg, and his 90+ cm sword now hangs in Mark's room.

A wonderful, unusual adventure for Mark. But it is actually not an unusual catch on the north coast. Skipper Toni with his boat „Squitx“ caught numerous swordfish that summer and knows exactly where he has to set out during the day.

Toni anchors his 10.4 m Rodman at a buoy on a steep slope at a depth of 120 m. There, the shelf levels off before it drops into the abyss. This attracts broadbills searching for mackerel during the day. And that is exactly what Toni gives them, rigged alive. If a swordfish bites, he detaches the boat and the dance begins. With some success, as Toni's photos show.

Even large bluefin tuna have been regularly caught north of the island.

The season usually starts around the 20th of July with August/September as the best time.

Contact:
Toni Riera Femenias
toniriera21(ad) hotmail.com
www.fishinginmallorca.com