Joined
·
1,019 Posts
8/13/07
360-Pound Swordfish Landed After 11 Hour Fight
Jarred Jillson hooks the fish of a lifetime during the dog hours of the day,
in fishery long recognized as a nighttime stronghold.
Jarred Jillson landed his first swordfish early Thursday morning-a
360-pounder-during a birthday fishing trip in the Keys with his family. The
Vero Beach family was fishing south of Marathon Key Wednesday afternoon,
when 6-foot-tall, 14-year-old Jillson hooked up. The sword hit a dead squid
at 2 p.m.
Using 80-pound gear, Jillson fought the fish for over 11 hours in a stand up
harness, never once passing the rod off to someone else when his energy was
spent. Halfway through the fight there was a leader touch, qualifying the
fish as a legal release, but the Jillson family wanted to keep the fish. At
1:20 in the early morning, the fish was finally gaffed.
"I was thinking any minute it would turn its head, and it would be all over
and done," Jillson said. "I would have stayed however long it took."
360-Pound Swordfish Landed After 11 Hour Fight
Jarred Jillson hooks the fish of a lifetime during the dog hours of the day,
in fishery long recognized as a nighttime stronghold.
Jarred Jillson landed his first swordfish early Thursday morning-a
360-pounder-during a birthday fishing trip in the Keys with his family. The
Vero Beach family was fishing south of Marathon Key Wednesday afternoon,
when 6-foot-tall, 14-year-old Jillson hooked up. The sword hit a dead squid
at 2 p.m.
Using 80-pound gear, Jillson fought the fish for over 11 hours in a stand up
harness, never once passing the rod off to someone else when his energy was
spent. Halfway through the fight there was a leader touch, qualifying the
fish as a legal release, but the Jillson family wanted to keep the fish. At
1:20 in the early morning, the fish was finally gaffed.
"I was thinking any minute it would turn its head, and it would be all over
and done," Jillson said. "I would have stayed however long it took."