For police sergeant, this catch isn't criminal
Crew lands 620-pound swordfish
By Gabriel Margasak
the stuart news
Posted August 29 2005
Stuart · It was a REALLY big fish.
The swordfish engendered talk of a possible state record at an unofficial 13.3 feet, including a 4.5-foot bill, and about 620 pounds.
For local anglers, the only thing larger than the recent catch off Jupiter was the legend spawned by the outing of three good friends from Stuart.
"You know how you normally catch a fish and it's really big, and the longer you look at it, the smaller it gets? Well this one was totally opposite," an exhausted Brian Bergen said. "Yep, quite a birthday present."
Bergen, a Martin County Sheriff's sergeant, turned 34 the day he caught the fish off Jupiter.
The world-record swordfish, 1,182 pounds, was caught May 7, 1953, off Iquique, Chile, according to the International Game Fish Association. The state record swordfish of 612 pounds, 12 ounces was caught May 7, 1978, off Key Largo.
"It's so valuable to me because of memories," said boat captain Tim Palmer, who said the three friends would each get a molded replica of the prize catch. "I could have sold the fish for a small gain, but this is a lifetime deal. The fish will live forever."
Word of the catch spread far past the Finest Kind marina, where the crew and their huge bounty came ashore.
"I [fish for] swordfish myself. I was out ... and caught one 260 pounds," said molding specialist Rick Tauber, of Gray Taxidermy in Pompano Beach, which will replicate the catch. "I saw this and went, `Wow' ... This is the biggest fish I've seen in Florida waters."
The crew spent much of the day recounting the tale.
They set sail Aug. 21 aboard Palmer's 31-foot Bertram with a new set of battery-operated lights they hoped would lure the nocturnal swordfish from its home 600 to 900 feet in the depths of the sea.
At the helm of the Blue Baron was Palmer, 35, a Rocky Point resident, lifelong angler and commercial fisherman with the specialty of catching swordfish.
Mate Bergen considered himself an avid recreational angler, as did friend Scott Heath, 33, a nurse at Jupiter Medical Center.
They were about 6.5 miles east of The Breakers in Palm Beach when the fish went for the squid bait about 12:45 a.m.
"Generally, I can whip them in 15 minutes, but this fish really gave us a run for our money," Palmer said. "They run across the top, they go deep, they shake their head. They do what I call `windshield-wipering,' when they stick their bill out and shake it back and fourth."
Having fished as long as he can remember, Palmer wasn't too excited and none of the crew had any idea how big this one really was.
"And the battle was on," Bergen said. "It's just you and the fish and the boat."
Palmer piloted the Bertramwhile Bergen and Heath used a handline fishing spool to wrap the line around and haul the fish in.
"You're locked into the corner of the boat," Bergen said, his knees still black and blue. "When the fish feels like it's going to pull you in, you let out the rope a little bit."
The fish would take out 750 feet of rope, and Bergen would reel it back in, gaining a bit each time.
Crew lands 620-pound swordfish
By Gabriel Margasak
the stuart news
Posted August 29 2005
Stuart · It was a REALLY big fish.
The swordfish engendered talk of a possible state record at an unofficial 13.3 feet, including a 4.5-foot bill, and about 620 pounds.
For local anglers, the only thing larger than the recent catch off Jupiter was the legend spawned by the outing of three good friends from Stuart.
"You know how you normally catch a fish and it's really big, and the longer you look at it, the smaller it gets? Well this one was totally opposite," an exhausted Brian Bergen said. "Yep, quite a birthday present."
Bergen, a Martin County Sheriff's sergeant, turned 34 the day he caught the fish off Jupiter.
The world-record swordfish, 1,182 pounds, was caught May 7, 1953, off Iquique, Chile, according to the International Game Fish Association. The state record swordfish of 612 pounds, 12 ounces was caught May 7, 1978, off Key Largo.
"It's so valuable to me because of memories," said boat captain Tim Palmer, who said the three friends would each get a molded replica of the prize catch. "I could have sold the fish for a small gain, but this is a lifetime deal. The fish will live forever."
Word of the catch spread far past the Finest Kind marina, where the crew and their huge bounty came ashore.
"I [fish for] swordfish myself. I was out ... and caught one 260 pounds," said molding specialist Rick Tauber, of Gray Taxidermy in Pompano Beach, which will replicate the catch. "I saw this and went, `Wow' ... This is the biggest fish I've seen in Florida waters."
The crew spent much of the day recounting the tale.
They set sail Aug. 21 aboard Palmer's 31-foot Bertram with a new set of battery-operated lights they hoped would lure the nocturnal swordfish from its home 600 to 900 feet in the depths of the sea.
At the helm of the Blue Baron was Palmer, 35, a Rocky Point resident, lifelong angler and commercial fisherman with the specialty of catching swordfish.
Mate Bergen considered himself an avid recreational angler, as did friend Scott Heath, 33, a nurse at Jupiter Medical Center.
They were about 6.5 miles east of The Breakers in Palm Beach when the fish went for the squid bait about 12:45 a.m.
"Generally, I can whip them in 15 minutes, but this fish really gave us a run for our money," Palmer said. "They run across the top, they go deep, they shake their head. They do what I call `windshield-wipering,' when they stick their bill out and shake it back and fourth."
Having fished as long as he can remember, Palmer wasn't too excited and none of the crew had any idea how big this one really was.
"And the battle was on," Bergen said. "It's just you and the fish and the boat."
Palmer piloted the Bertramwhile Bergen and Heath used a handline fishing spool to wrap the line around and haul the fish in.
"You're locked into the corner of the boat," Bergen said, his knees still black and blue. "When the fish feels like it's going to pull you in, you let out the rope a little bit."
The fish would take out 750 feet of rope, and Bergen would reel it back in, gaining a bit each time.
