Songs to Serenade Swordfish
Bobby Boyle, of RJ Boyle Studio in Lighthouse Point, Florida, is considered the guru of electric-reel daytime fishing for swordfish. Besides being particular about everything, from his tackle to his baits to the 40-turn Bimini twists with eight finishing knots that he ties, Boyle must have Michael Jackson’s music playing on his boat, Dat’s Nasty.
“We used to leave the inlet and head to the swordfish grounds playing ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’’ because we wanted to start something, and that was the Michael Jackson song that started us off,” says Boyle, who has fond memories of skating to Jackson’s music at the local roller rink.
Subsequent trips featured an assortment of the singer’s greatest hits. Boyle, who also loves reggae and country music, says those songs never worked as well as Jackson’s.
“Over the years, there’s never been a musician to produce more swordfish bites than Michael Jackson,” Boyle says. “You always remember the song that produced the bite because you’re so tuned in to the rod. You’re sitting there in a trance looking at a single rod tip, waiting for it to move, and when you get that bite, you remember the song that’s playing.
“It’s a serenading process,” he adds. “You’re trying to catch a big girl, so you have to serenade her. ‘Thriller’ was definitely a good song for a bite. We had a lot of success with ‘Billy Jean.’ Believe it or not, even the very early Jackson 5 songs produced bites, but usually with much smaller fish.”
Boyle says many fishermen are superstitious about food as well. It’s not unusual for his crew to get a swordfish bite as soon as they decide to have lunch.
“Our best bites will come around lunchtime, usually while we’re going for a sandwich and are totally unprepared,” says Boyle, who recommends Publix subs when hunger strikes offshore.
He’s also developed a new tradition/superstition. On a day when swordfishing is slow, the former minor league pitcher turns his fishing hat inside out and wears it backward as a rally cap. So far, it’s worked well.
“A rally cap with five minutes left to go in the day will usually get the bite,” says Boyle, who had gone eight hours without a swordfish bite before he gave the five-minute warning and put on his rally cap. With one minute to go, he got the bite, then successfully did it again the very next day. Rally for the win.