Swordfish off Kayak
 

Finally a legitimate legal sized Swordfish catch off a kayak! There have been several "want to be" attempts at this in Florida.

One angler spent thousands on fishing charter trips out of Louisiana and the Florida Keys to eventually produce video fighting a swordfish off his kayak. The sword was hooked and landed on the boat. Once dispatched, additional video of the sword alongside his kayak was documented for the illusion of having made the catch off the kayak.

Another angler brought his kayak 20 miles off Pensacola by power boat, to produce a photo of a throwback undersized baby swordfish held while on his kayak.

There have been baby swordfish photographed off kayaks in the Mediterranean sea.

Tyler O'Neil was participating in the Extreme Kayak Fishing Summer Slam I fishing tournament when he made the catch off his Hobie Outback kayak while using 30lb braid on a slow pitch jigging outfit targeting Blackfin tuna.

The Swordfish hit his 300gm jig :jig: in 280ft of water less than 2 miles offshore from Pompano Beach. Initially when the fish jumped he thought he had a sailfish, but as the fish got closer to the kayak, he realized what he had! The fish was tail wrapped, and otherwise would have taken much longer to land.

Tyler radioed the help boat, but they were slow to respond, thinking the angler probably had a Sailfish. The photo included here, was taken by Tyler's GoPro. Pumped with adrenaline, and unsure of the legal requirements, (an HMS permit is required in Federal waters, but is not in State) the fish was released.

The legal size for a Swordfish is 47 inch lower jaw fork length. Based on the photos, this fish was a keeper! Congratulations to Tyler for accomplishing a Swordfish catch without any outside assistance! :reeling:

That's dope! I've considered trying it over la jolla canyon. They probably slip in and out of there occasionally at night is my theory, but it would be a lot of lost sleep and I just don't have the motivation.

Followup video of the Swordfish Catch!
 

With all the squid spawning in that area, they are most likely there. Someone just needs to put in some time targeting them.

While its a cool catch and a feat to land any fish over 50lbs on a kayak its still a juvenile and sub 100lbs.

As far as I know its the only rigid kayak caught sword that didn?t require a mothership or tow out. Looks like he didn?t have a motor either.

I've nailed 3 fish over 50 on the kayak and I gotta say, I think that's about as big as I want to go. After fighting a 100lb tarpon on a 12wt, I don't ever want to do that again haha.

It was during the Extreme Kayak Fishing Tournament -- no motorized kayaks are allowed. He was about 2 miles off the beach. I have seen your catches on FB. You have set a high bar of accomplishments with your mini inflatable motorized fishing vessel -- Kudos!

3 over 50 on the kayak! Can you share some pics or a web link that documents the accomplishment? 100# tarpon on 12 wt sounds like a long drawn-out ordeal. I prefer to use 65-100# line when targeting bigger fish. It makes it go faster and keeps one alert as a wrong move can flip the kayak.

55# WSB
50-60# thresher
I don't know where the photo of the 50# rooster is but a bunch of the guys were there at Makoville when I decided to take Bob's solo skiff for a quick run between windstorms but it rang in at a smidge over 50 at the beach when I brought it back for Bob's neighbor at his request.
The big tarpon was on a panga in MX. I should specify 12wt fly rod not 12# line. That would be near impossible. I think I had 40 pound leader with an 80 bit tippet. Took 57 minutes to land and my back was on fire. Decided to jump in for the release instead of trying to boat it for a photo and risk hurting it further. I did ask the guide if there were a lot of bulls in the area and he said they were rare around there so...

Cool photos! Inspirational! Thanks! :reel:

Not so sure about the claims, but cool recap of the event