Swordfishing

busumark · January 22, 2007, 20:39:56 CET

here we catch swordfish with long lines. but you can catch one trolling if you are very lucky

twoutes · January 22, 2007, 21:06:07 CET

They catch marlin here on long lines too. When do your commercial fishermen there target Swordfish?

busumark · January 22, 2007, 22:30:13 CET

they begin from june for tuna and swordfish and continue till december. but a few fisherman go all year if the weather is good. they are caught all year round but the best time is from september to november

twoutes · January 22, 2007, 22:55:48 CET

That's great!!!! Seem like you know a fair bit about it. Are you a Commercial or sports fisherman?? I'm going to be in Malta in August and was hoping to find some one there to take me out to try and catch one. Also, l would't mind going out with a commercial fisherman for a look.

Alex · January 23, 2007, 10:45:31 CET

Twoutes, can you recommend any charter company to be hired for game fishing in Cairns? Any useful web site? How expensive is it to charter a boat there for a full day game fishing? Thank you. Alex

busumark · January 23, 2007, 21:44:33 CET

we sometimes go with long lines but only 200 hooks, didnt have much luck last year the biggest one was 25kg. twoutes is that a dentex in your picture

twoutes · January 23, 2007, 21:48:53 CET

Hi Alex. I can most defenitly recommend a charter for you in Cairns, as l have been going with one for the last five years, and have always obtained good results and have a great time. I go with Captain Daniel McCarthey on Moana Fishing Charters. you can look him up on www.moanacharters.com. Thay launched a new boat last season worth 1.5 million dollars, and l can say that it's a great boat. I will be happy to give you any information you like on this topic. Check out the photo from our last trip on Moana. Prices are around $1,500 a day for the boat. I recoommend doing a few days with some friends to share costs, and you can sleep ot on the Great Barrier Reef. IT'S GREAT!!!!

busumark · January 23, 2007, 21:54:33 CET

wish we had fish like the cairns

twoutes · January 23, 2007, 22:02:15 CET

We Caught and released 18 Black Marlin on 9 days of Heavy tackle fishing. One of them we estimated at 1200lb. On the photo you will see tha bait in its mouth which is 1 meter long. THat will give you an idea of how big the fish is.

busumark · January 23, 2007, 22:09:05 CET

even for comercial fisherman is rare to caught one like that, what is the fish in your profile photo

twoutes · January 23, 2007, 23:58:32 CET

The fish in my profile photo is what we call a snapper. We catch then in Port Phillip Bay here throughout the year, but the best time is between November to January when they come in from the ocean to breed. Fishermen have been overfishing them in my opinon. Even though we have bag limits and size limits, some people can't help themselves. The average size caught are 3kg throughout the season with the odd fish up to 13kg. I have been ucky enough to catch a couple at 13.5kg. They fight really hard with long runs. That's what makes them fun to catch.

busumark · January 24, 2007, 10:23:36 CET

we have dentex here that looks like your snapper the biggest we caught was 6 kg. but you dont catch a lot you have to be lucky

twoutes · January 24, 2007, 10:43:42 CET

Hi Busumark, l was wondering are you only allowed to use 200 hooks on your long line, or can u use more?
Commercial fishermen here use lonlines that are 15km long with a hook every ten metres. Thats 1,500 hooks. The sad thing is, they are not allowed to catch black marlin, so what some of them do is kill them so they do not take their bait again next time. Last year along the coast of N.S.W the longliners caught so much Striped Marlin that the value per Kg dropped by more than half. So sadley what they did was throw half of it in the rubbish dump, and sold the rest at a better price. I think it's O.K to keep fish without it going to waste. Is there a Game Fishing Club in Malta?

Alex · January 24, 2007, 11:27:19 CET

Twoutes, thank you for your reply and the link to the website. I checked it. Wonderful photos. 1,500 Australian dollars is about 600 British Pounds, which is not that cheap. But it could be worth for that fishing!

To my knowledge, and if I use British Pounds (1 British Pound is ~0.5 Malteese Liri and ~ 2USD and ~2.5 Australian Dollars), in Mauritius game fishing with local fishermen (e.g. not through a hotel) on average costs GBP200 and Mauritius is regarded as one of the best places for game fishing in the World. I found out that fishing tuna, sharks and Marlin, if lucky, in Gibraltar in their pick season (June to October) is GBP500. It seems that during the same months game fishing in Malta costs around GBP300, while in Lanzarotte (Gran Canaries) it is GBP400 and in Azores GBP500-600. In Madeira I found charters for GBP 500. In Cape Verde it is also GBP500, while in Phuket from GBP150 to GBP200 and in Cairns, as you said, it is AUD1,500, which is about GBP600. I am still investigating prices in Ghana, Kenya, Mediterranean Spain, southern Portugal, South Africa and Seyshells. All prices mentioned above are for 8 hours full day individual charters.

It would be great if we could share information about game fishing prices in different parts of the World!

twoutes · January 24, 2007, 11:33:49 CET

Hi Alex. Looks like you've done quite a bit of research there all ready!!! What specias are you chasing and when do you think you will be travelling???