Catching dolphin is relatively easy, once you find the fish in the Lower Keys. Photo courtesy of Polly Dean.

Good fishing mingled with good eating is an unbeatable combination. Anglers can do both easily throughout the Florida Keys’ scenic chain of islands. From snapper in the upper Keys, swordfish in the middle and dolphin in the lower islands, fishing and eating delights many anglers faced with filling those long, sunny days of summer.

SWORDFISH AT ISLAMORADA
An exciting discovery -- or re-discovery -- awaits the determined angler. A daytime swordfish bite lies about 40 miles offshore of Islamorada, nicknamed the Sportfishing Capital of the World.

Longtime Florida anglers know that in the 1970s, it was common to go looking for swordfish aboard a nighttime charter. When long-lining grew popular in the 1980s, the swordfish stocks became depleted.

Due to their scarcity, it became politically incorrect to eat swordfish, and the charter industry in pursuit of them dried up, too.

Like a jack-in-the-box, we couldn’t keep a good fish down -- luckily!

Richard Stanczyk, owner of Bud N’ Mary’s Marina in Islamorada, has pioneered the re-discovery of the swordfish and recently promoted it as a viable daytime pursuit. He’s recorded 300 broadbill swordfish to date -- all caught during the day.

Florida native Randy Towe agreed on the swordfish’s history.

“Beginning in the late ‘70s, Fort Lauderdale, where I was living, began to experience a big lull in swordfishing due to long-lining.”

In about 2001, a long-lining ban went into effect, and the difference was palpable.

“In the last seven to eight years, there has been a rebound,” said Towe, who now is an Islamorada resident.

“Most people haven’t put in the time to figure out how to successfully do it. But they’re out there.”

Putting the time in is exactly how Stanczyk came to believe the fishery was, in fact, viable. His longtime friend and fishing buddy, Vic Gaspeny, directed his attention to a 2001 International Game Fish Association article written by Dr. Ruben Jaen, a Venezuelan doctor.

Gathering insight from that article, Gaspeny had proceeded to read all the scientific literature on broadbill habits that he could find -- and convinced Stanczyk to apply what he’d learned to the Florida Keys.

“We didn’t invent daytime swordfishing,” Stanczyk said. “We imported it.”

In January 2003, Richard Stanczyk, his brother, charter captain Scott Stanczyk and Gaspeny went fishing approximately 35 miles off Islamorada. It took 20 minutes to drop the bait 1,800 feet down. Within an hour, the group had boated their first daytime swordfish.

That fish confirmed that it could be done and lead to successive daytime swordfishing trips.

On up through 2006, and now joined by Randy Towe, the group used baits ranging from squid to belly strips cut from pelagic fish to land the majestic swords.

They also pioneered a break-away sinker apparatus that gets bait down to 2,000 feet, but which then releases after hookup. In 60 trips in a little over a year -- from May 2006 to September 2007 -- the group was shut out only twice. Experience counts. Since their last shutout on September 1, 2006, the group had a 52-trip streak of catches.

“We’ll never do it again,” laughed Stanczyk.

When hooked up, swordfish frequently jump wildly, showing off their purple hues. Their beauty, assuredly, pulls novice anglers back for more. The recent advent of the super braided lines of 80-pound-test or more, with their capability of almost zero stretch, further enabled the daytime fishery.