Fishing for Swordfish with Key West Guide Rob Nevius' Deadly New Squid Rig
Dave Lear -- Illustrations by Steve Sanford
Landing a swordfish is never easy, but when the fish is all that stands between you and a Billfish Royal Slam things get decidedly tougher.
SLAMMER SWORD: The author went to Key West for his shot at the final piece of his Royal Slam. We were drifting over The Wall, some 18 miles off of Key West, when the rapid clicking sound of mono zipping off a reel broke the silence of the night. One hundred and twenty feet below us, a swordfish had taken a squid bait and raced into the abyss. With a bit of trepidation, I grabbed the rod and held on tight. Not only was this my first swordfish, it was the final piece in an angling challenge that began more than a decade and a half earlier. If I could land this sword, I would have my Billfish Royal Slam, a feat that requires landing all nine species of billfish. But first I would have to get the fish to the boat, and I knew enough about my adversary to know that wouldn't be an easy battle.
