Andre Pachon and his wife Judy are lucky fishermen. They seem to defy the odds whenever they go fishing. Andre is on a quest to catch all of the billfish of the world. A couple years ago he booked us for three days to get an atlantic sail. The very first fish of the trip was a ninety pound white marlin ( the first one I had seen in a couple years) he went on to get plenty of sails. When he called to say he wanted to get a sword I knew the odds were not in our favor. He only had one day to go, there had not been many swords around, and I myself had not been swordfishing in over a month. Nevertheless we headed offshore to try our luck. Wes took his friend Robbie along to help if we hooked something big, a decision that would make the day for us. The conditions were good, but after three drops we had not had any bites. Finally on the fourth drop the rod began to bounce. A few seconds later, the rod bent over and Andre was hooked up to his sword! The fish fought hard on the bottom and then swam strait to the surface. I knew it was a big fish. After twenty minutes Andre had the leader and I could see that it was a big, big sword. I watched from the tower as the swordfish would go down, then come back up, time and time again. Andre put as much pressure as possible on the fish and Robbie got a good shot with the harpoon. The fish bolted off and the harpoon line flew out of the basket! Wes did great unwrapping the harpoon rope from Andre's line over and over. After twenty more minutes the fish was close again. From the tower I could see the big sword, with his head pointed strait down and the giant tail coming up, slowly kicking back and forth. Wes reached out as far as he could, but I feared that if he gaffed the fish in the tail that he would get pulled over. Finally, Wes was able to get a good shot with the gaff. Robbie got a second gaff in and I raced down from the tower to place a third! When we pulled the fish in the boat we realized the size. With the tail barely in the transom door, the bill was inside the salon! We ran home and celebrated the whole way! The fish ended up weighing five hundred and six pounds, the biggest ever on the L&H!! Another billfish for Andre, and in grand style.
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