Swords: Life on the Line

[drjeff]

So far, so good with the 1st episode and my entertainment/interest level! I'm thinking that I'll be adding another Thom Beers produced show to my regular watching rotation (and I'm wondering when i'll be seeing the Thom Beers Channel on my cable box :lol: )

 

[Marc]

I'd like Beers' documentaries if he left out the stupid animations and manufactured drama. What the crap is that? They managed to leave that out, for the most part, from the Deadliest Catch, although the drama and interaction between the DC boats has become a little unbelievable as of the last few seasons, it's still not as bad as the ones Beers narrates himself. Which is my only other complaint, compared to Rowe, Beers' voice is annoying as all hell.

 

[Glenn]

That was actually a good episode. I was amazed as to the size of some of those fish. That last one they hauled in was a monster!

The line they use, while a high test, was pretty darn thin.

 

[drjeff]

The line they use, while a high test, was pretty darn thin.

Kind of wonder what type of forces that line is subject too when you've got 40 miles of it out, with a bunch of multi 100+ lb fish on the individual hooks and then the ever present variables of tides and waves.

I'm also going to be curious to get my Dad's take on the show as growing up he used to recreationally swordfish (harpoon off the bow pulpit) out of the New Bedford area back in the 60's, and I know he was eager to watch the show last night!

 

[wa-loaf]

Just caught it by accident last night. Forgot it was on and spotted it scrolling through.

Pretty interesting, the drama isn't up there like it is for DC, but we'll see. That dude from the south looks like he's heading for trouble.

 

[Glenn]

Jeff, be sure to report back on what your dad has to say. He should have a good take on things.

 

[drjeff]

Jeff, be sure to report back on what your dad has to say. He should have a good take on things.

No problem Glenn, but when my Dad was swordfishing, lets just say that it was a smidge different than the commercial longline operation on the show!

His version was a half dozen or so 20 somethings cruising around Vineyard Sound on a wooden 42 foot Mathews cruiser with a flying bridge and a 15 or so foot bow pulpit attached to it, looking for signs of swordfish and then if lucky enough to find some swords then which ever guy had consumed the least amount of Narragansett beers went out on the pulpit with a harpoon and attempted to harpoon the fish. As my father has told me multiple times (usually over a bowl of clam chowder and some clam cakes) in the end they probably lost more harpoons than boated swordfish over the years

Add a big 'ol bow pulpit to the boat in the pic below and give it a white hull and this is pretty similar to my grandfathers boat that my dad fished off of back in the day

 

[wa-loaf]

That's a sweet boat.

 

[Glenn]

Wooden boats are awesome. I spent a lot of summers on Lake Winnipesaukee back in the day. I remember how many wooden boats there were back in the 1980's. They're a lot of work, but they just look amazing. I always liked the Chris Crafts.

 

[Johnskiismore]

Good review of the show from me too! I agree, the last fish ws huge!

 

[ctenidae]

I watched about 10 minutes of it, then got tired of hearing about how if they don't catch 40 zillion pounds a day, they'll loose eveything. That statement was followed too often by "It's been 6.5 years, with over 10 trillion baited hooks in the water, and they haven't caught anything"

Seems to me simple economics should come into play in the market- if it's so risky, and so expensive, charge more for the fish. If people won't pay that much, then go catch something else. Risk/rewards tradeoffs, people.

 

[ccskier]

The show is ok, if you guys only knew about what really happens. Long liners for large gamefish are refered to rapers of the sea like the japanese whale boats. I have grown up with fisherman, on boats fishing myself, etc... And those longliners have a great amount of by catch (species they are not targeting that usually is dead and dumped back). Did anyone catch the Mako that they gaffed and brought up on deck, what they didn't show is that fish being dumped back over the side or the small sword they gaffed and threw back over. They should have just cut the line and released the fish. They are not supposed to use stainless hooks so that if they had to cut the line the hook could rust out. Linda Greenlaw, although a great captain, should never take out a vessel that has been land locked for a 2400 mile/2 month expedition. Why didn't the camera boat bring them back? I am far from and eo friendly person, but there is also a lot of damage done with long lining. Gaff and release doesn't work.

 

[ccskier]

The show is ok, if you guys only knew about what really happens. Long liners for large gamefish are refered to rapers of the sea like the japanese whale boats. I have grown up with fisherman, on boats fishing myself, etc... And those longliners have a great amount of by catch (species they are not targeting that usually is dead and dumped back). Did anyone catch the Mako that they gaffed and brought up on deck, what they didn't show is that fish being dumped back over the side or the small sword they gaffed and threw back over. They should have just cut the line and released the fish. They are not supposed to use stainless hooks so that if they had to cut the line the hook could rust out. Linda Greenlaw, although a great captain, should never take out a vessel that has been land locked for a 2400 mile/2 month expedition. Why didn't the camera boat bring them back? I am far from and eco friendly person, but there is also a lot of damage done with long lining. Gaff and release doesn't work.

 

[drjeff]

Got my Dad's opinion of it last night, and overall he enjoyed the show. But as he told me, HIS version of swordfishing and that modern commercial operation had about 2 things in common: 1) the ultimate goal which is to get a swordfish on the boat and 2) boats breakdown! :lol:

Other than that, he had some nice memory flashbacks of the initial fly over shots of the boats leaving the hurricane barrier at the entrance to New Bedford harbor and then the Cape Cod Canal shots

 

[RootDKJ]

I finally watched it last night. I was thinking along the same lines as ccskier when they caught the mako. I'll probably watch it again.

 

[wa-loaf]

What kind of shark is good to eat? Is a Mako not something you would want to keep?

 

[ccskier]

Mako is edible, but they would see stuffing it in the ice as wasted space. Also, the days of
$15k tuna are far fetched, the comm'l guys are getting way less that $10/lb now, even last fall when this was filmed. They also wouldn't get the top dollar either having the fish on ice for weeks.

 

[ccskier]

Watched the new episode tonight. That Chomper dude is going to fail. The Eagle Eye II was doig well, sucks about that guy falling, nasty looking wrist. Was good to see them not gaf everything that comes out of the water. Overall agai show is ok kind of boring.

 

[Glenn]

We watched about 20 minutes of it last night...right before the dude fell.

 

[ctenidae]

Saw that it was on, decided to give it another try, but caught the rerun of the first episode, not the new one.

I watched the end of "Pale Rider" instead.