CLAIM TO FAME:

Between RJ Boyle’s platform and thousands of hours of trial and error, I became passionate about swordfishing like none other. I find myself analyzing all my catch data on a weekly basis to try and better understand how the fish act in our area and any edge we can get to increase our catch ratio. I have been swordfishing for about nine years now, and it consumes my mind. All my colleagues laugh at my pivot tables and Excel charts with minor, major, barometric pressure, temperature, bite time, and numerous other factors incorporated into the chart. But it’s things like that that teach you. This year, 92% of all of my fish over 200 pounds were caught within 30 minutes of a major, and we learned smaller fish have more sporadic bite times. Some clients who hire me for instructional days ask me to slow down as I talk about how to react to different bite scenarios the entire day. I find there are so many things to teach new sword fishermen about the basics, and even when I get together with another professional sword fisherman, we pick up tricks and tips from each other to use on our owns trips. I think what truly separates me from many captains is that I made my passion my job, but i’m not forced to do it. I have other businesses that support me financially; that way, I do not get burned out. If the boat is loaded and someone cancels, you better believe i’m still going. Instead of an eight- or ten- hour charter, it’s until the sun is setting.