Reviving Billfish – Tips You Need To Know When Releasing Sailfish, Swordfish And Marlin

Last summer we had an unfortunate incident with a swordfish that we brought on the boat.

It was about 8:30pm and we had been installed for about 45 minutes when we took our first bite, the second balloon at 150′ primed with a dead squid began to scream. My brother Rocky was on the rod and the instant he pushed the drag up to hit, which on our rods is set at 25-30lbs of drag, the fish stopped and Rocky pushed it effortlessly. Less than five minutes later we had a small boat side of Swordfish. We couldn’t see the hook and since this fish was brought to the boat so quickly, we didn’t want this green fish to suffer any trauma.

Rocky handed me the tongs and I cut the leader as close to the swordfish’s mouth as possible. The swordfish moved away and seemed to be fine, then less than a minute later on the other side of the boat we saw the swordfish belly up. We raised the drifting anchor and moved the boat towards the swordfish. Rocky grabbed the bill from her and brought it to the side of the boat. I started an engine and Rocky held the fish’s beak underwater hoping to revive this little swordfish. After a minute or so of trying to revive it, the swordfish became even more coppery, stiff and lifeless. We realized that there was no hope of reviving this fish, so we brought it in the boat. Once he was on the boat, we inspected the fish and the hook we decided to cut was a little bit inside the corner of his mouth and there was no bleeding. Since this fish was brought to the boat within minutes and received no trauma from the fight or from us releasing it, it led us to believe that this fish must have had heart failure.

Incidents like this are rare, especially when fighting time is kept to a minimum. But they do happen and it reminds us that even though we care about conservation and try to practice good catch and release, there is always the chance that a caught fish will not survive after being released.

There are many things that we as anglers can do to try to ensure a healthy release of any billfish we catch. For one thing, whenever we bring a green marlin to the boat that we plan to release, just cut the leader as close to the fish’s mouth as possible and as quickly as possible. Holding any large billfish along the side of the boat is one of the most dangerous things we can do in the sport of fishing. When a buddy leans over the side to hold a billfish on board, especially on a boat with a high freeboard, he can seriously injure himself and the fish. Billfish that fight along the side of the boat often damage their eyes, beaks, and gills slam against the side of the boat. This is why simply cutting the leader as close to the fish’s mouth as possible is much safer for the fish and people on board.

Any attempt to remove a billfish’s hook can cause far more harm than good to the fish. Poor attempts to remove the hook from a fighting fish can cause severe bleeding and bruising on the fish. So unless you have a smaller billfish in the boat and can clearly see that unhooking the fish will be an easy task due to the hook placement, simply cut the leader as close to the fish’s mouth as possible. they have a much better chance of survival.

In case you are trying to unhook a smaller billfish, try to unhook the fish while its head is underwater. Once a billfish’s head is out of the water, it will shake it violently.

When you are about to release a billfish if it is not struggling to escape, is not lit, and is a coppery color, take the fish’s beak by holding the fish’s beak and head under water, then start the boat so the water runs down the gills of the fish. Once the fish begins to kick on its own or begins to struggle, gently release the bill and let it swim free.

Never consider a billfish dead, always try to revive the fish, as it may be exhausted from a long battle or unconscious from lack of water (oxygen) rushing through its gills.

tight lines,