Labeled by author Jim Bob Tinsley as a "Swashbuckler of the Open Seas," the sailfish is considered by many to be the most glamorous and precious booty in the bluewater treasure chest.
Scores of hearts have skipped more than a beat or two when encountering sails basking or feeding on the surface. When hooked, this fish often explodes in a series of sky-groping leaps. It'll greyhound, tailwalk, twist, tug, turn, bend, curl, roll, spin, arch, and sound in a frenzied quest to disengage.
Although sailfish have come under intense scrutiny since the 1920s and '30s by the angling and scientific communities, many questions about its migratory patterns, growth rates, feeding habits, and spawning rituals remain unanswered.
Even today, veteran fishermen are often divided on opinions regarding the manner in which the fish will strike a bait, what enticements are best, one technique as opposed to another, and the requirements for optimum tackle.
For example, it's been assumed for decades that pelagic Atlantic and Pacific sailfish were distinct subspecies of the family Istiophoridae, because the Pacific variety "grows larger." Based upon current taxonomy, some scientists are now suggesting that the Atlantic and Pacific genre are not only one in the same, but that Atlantic residents can reach much larger sizes than previously thought. Other scientists dispute this theory.
A quick scan of the current International Game Fish Association (IGFA) record book confirms that Pacific sailfish do seem to grow quite a bit larger than the Atlantic variety. Various studies made by biologists indicate that East Coast sailfish will average in weight between 30 and 50 pounds, with a 100-pounder being rare. On the West Coast, a longer and heavier Pacific sail weighing 100 pounds won't draw a second look. Like most other species in fishdom, the female grows larger than the male.
The all-tackle mark for the Pacific sail is an impressive 221 pounds, while the Atlantic standard-bearer is 128 pounds. A comparison of line-class records from 2- to 80-pound test discloses the same discrepancy.
Pursuing sails for sport, recreation, or commercial purposes is a rather recent development. It's thought that commercial hook and liners brought some into Key West in 1884. A gentleman by the name of "Mr. Armes" was described in Where, When, and How to Catch Fish on the East Coast of Florida (written by Gregg in 1902), as having caught a sailfish off the Hotel Royal Palm in 1898 or 1899.
Offshore pioneer Capt. Charlie Thompson is thought to have been the first charterboat skipper to regularly fish for the gamester, and he was known to have put a party onto sailfish in March 1901 off Soldier Key. In another early memorandum, Thompson is said to have guided John Martin to a catch off Miami in 1904.
Charles Frederick Holder, a top angler of his day, took his first sailfish in the early 1900s off Loggerhead Key, while James P. Hall of New Jersey and Miami Beach caught one of the first on rod and reel in 1906, while trolling in the Gulf Stream off Palm Beach.
The drop-back technique was thought to have been developed by Capt. Bill Hatch in 1915. Hatch also contrived the first strip bait to be used, while Capt. Jimmy "Cotton Thread" Jordan's "brightly colored rubber ball" is said to be the first teaser used to bring sailfish close in to the boat.
Tinsley said the first sailfish tournament ever held took place at the Long Key Fishing Club in 1925, where Capt. Hatch brought in 113 fish during the five-week event, while the remainder of the field, consisting of 13 boats, combined for 106.
Baits used at the turn of the century included grunts, porgies, spots, and other small fishes weighing up to one-half pound. Hatch's bonito and dolphin strip baits of the 1920s are still used today, but have been expanded to include the bellies of barracuda, whip ray, and mackerel. Whole baits now being used include mullet, goggle-eyes, ballyhoo, blue runners, flying fish, sardines, squid, and pilchards.
Basic sailfish colors are blue, purple, and silver with variations in shade and density. A series of from 15 to 20 crossbands or vertical stripes decorate the body of most specimens and colors will change with the mood of the fish, along with prevalent food, light, and water conditions.
When a sailfish is fighting or excited, it is said to be "lit up." Its color appears much deeper than usual and its light blue tail-edge coloration, pectoral and dorsal fins often glow like neon, but disappear immediately after the fish is boated.
The most striking feature of the sailfish is its large, fanlike anterior dorsal fin that begins at the nape of its neck, occupies more than half of its back, and is nearly twice its body depth. The membrane is thin, similar to parchment, and is reinforced with long, flexible rays about an inch apart that radiate from the backbone. This sail can be raised or folded away in the manner of an Oriental fan.
When hooked, there's no telling what a sailfish may do. It has an amazing assortment of tricks and maneuvers, and anglers are well advised to keep slack out of their line, their rod tip up, and the reel's drag system set at less than one-half of the line's breaking strength.
Joe Contillo, who works with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in its billfish program, is one of many who feel the Atlantic and Pacific sail are separate and distinct species.
"The same condition holds true for blue marlin," he pointed out.
"Pacific blues average out quite a bit larger than the Atlantic variety."
G.L. Voss said sailfish distribution is extended during long, hot summers with prevailing southerly winds. He also points out that the densest concentrations in western Atlantic stocks are found closer to land masses, perhaps due to the influence of the Gulf Stream.
Throughout its various ranges, a large segment of sailfish populations are thought to be year-round residents. However, pronounced seasonal variations in abundance and distribution have been documented. In other words, some fish migrate while others stay at home.
A Wise and Davis study in 1973 showed that Brazilian longliners caught sailfish all year long, but that catches were larger and over a broader area from October through March than from April through September. In the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, the greatest abundance occurs from April through September, while Florida's southeast coast sees a dramatic increase during the winter months. Voss states that sailfish distributions along the east coast of Florida appear to be affected by wind and temperature.
"In the summer," he said, "there is a diffusion of sailfish to the northward correlated with a northward extension of warm water. These same fish are driven southward to congregate in schools off the Florida coast with the beginning of cold weather and northerly winds."
If every egg spawned by female sailfish survived to reach maturity, it's doubtful there would be any room left in the sea for other species.
A scientist in 1971 (Merrett) found 19.5-million eggs in a single East African sailfish, while Voss--in 1953--determined that western Atlantic specimens spewed between 2.3 and 4.7-million eggs.
Young billfishes are all quite similar to their early development, thus making identification between the marlins and sailfishes difficult during its adolescent phase. However, as sailfish rapidly grow into juveniles, they begin displaying prominent pterotic and preopercular spines, a beaklike snout, and a very dark pigmentation. At lengths greater than 10 mm, the large dorsal fin begins to take shape, as does its long bill.
In its adolescent and juvenile phases, a sailfish diet will consist mainly of fish larvae and copepods. As it grows, meals become more varied and sophisticated, graduating into shrimp, crustaceans, squid, and a potpourri of diminutive fishes.
Except for humans, the sailfish has few natural enemies. Scattered reports of attacks by dolphins, sharks, and killer whales upon free-swimming sailfishes are probably the exception rather than the rule, scientists agree.
Some sailfish are known to migrate for long distances. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Cooperative Gamefish Tagging Program once recorded a fish tagged off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, was recovered in waters off Surinam, on the northern coast of South America, more than 1,000 miles away.
"In order to assess the well-being of an entire population of fish, it's often necessary to separate catch or landing statistics by age, so each year-class can be followed through the fishery as they get older," said Prince and Lee.
"In this way, assessment models can be used to determine the health or general status of each component of the population and management recommendations can be adjusted accordingly."
One of the approaches used by NOAA scientists to determine age and growth rates of fish is analogous, in principle, to the methods used in estimating the age of trees. The number of concentric rings in the trunks of trees are generally representative of the yearly growth (i.e., one ring is equal to one calendar year of life). The spacing between these rings is proportional in size to the rate of growth for that particular year; the larger the spacing, the faster the rate of growth and, in temperate regions, faster growth usually occurs in summer and slowest growth in winter.
"In much the same manner," says Prince and Lee, "the age and growth rate of fishes are estimated by counting concentric rings or growth bands which form in their skeletal tissues, such as spines, fin rays, vertebrae, scales, or inner ear bones called otoliths.
"One problem in using this approach," they said, "is that the time span between the formation of those rings in skeletal structures needs to be determined. This is referred to as validating the accuracy of age determination methods, and it is a critical part of our aging study."
There was a time when biologists thought the life span of sailfish was three or four years. They've now sharply revised this figure upward based upon a tagging and recapture program that has enlisted the help of tournament sponsors and commercial fishermen.
One sailfish tagged and released in 1973 off Islamorada was taken nearly 11 years later off Boynton Beach. It was estimated to have weighed 40 pounds at the time of release, and did weigh 54 pounds when caught again in 1984. How old was this fish in 1973 when caught the first time? Good question. So far, no transatlantic or transequatorial movements for sailfish have been documented.
Perhaps, one day soon, providing we still have a billfishery left to study, scientists will be able to accurately determine the age of these fish. One thing that can be concluded from various figures accumulated by biologists in recent years is that the number of sailfish being caught by recreational anglers is steadily declining.
As far back as the early 1960s scientists confirmed that heavy commercial longlining can devastate a billfish, not to mention such bottom feeders as grouper, snapper, amberjack, and such. One study, off Central America, showed a hook-rate of 10.6 sailfish per 100 hooks in 1964. The following year it dropped to 9.5, while in 1966 it dipped to 5.8 fish per 100 hooks.
Another survey, made off Kenya between 1958 and 1968, showed that even though the catch and the catch-per-unit effort (CUE) remained relatively stable, there was a sharp decline in the mean weight of fish caught.
The Japanese longlining fishing effort for sailfish probably peaked in the Atlantic in the mid-60s when more than 97-million hooks were fished, resulting in a catch of at least 118,000 billfish, including sails. The catch per 10,000 hooks rose from 39.0 in 1959 to a high of 189.0 in 1967.
But, while the Japanese longline effort in our waters is down, domestic operations are up and, unfortunately, the end is not yet in view as shortsighted federal rule makers twiddle their thumbs while ignoring the obvious fact that our saltwater fishery is being sacrificed on the alter of greed.
An even meaner threat to the billfishery...and everything else that swims...is the relatively new, efficient, and deadly drift net that kills indiscriminately. An abomination that is proliferating at an alarming rate, drift nets could prove to be fatal for all finny inhabitants of offshore waters worldwide, say knowledgeable fisheries biologists.
Home | Library | Fishing | Saltwater Fishing