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Ricardo “Rick” Benitez is no stranger to the world of big-game angling. For nearly half a century the avid angler has traveled the world over in search of billfish, tuna and other bluewater predators. For the past decade, the Spanish island of Mallorca has become a favorite destination of Benitez’s; he is drawn to the area by its calm seas, ease of accessibility, amazing onshore amenities and abundance of Mediterranean spearfish. Fishing annually with his now friend Capt. Vince Riera on Mad Max, a 46-foot Tiara based out of Port Alcudia, the pair had a week booked in late July.
However, their standard trip took an unexpected turn when Massimo Brogna, a passionate angler and marine conservationist from Italy, asked to join the charter to deploy satellite tags on Mediterranean spearfish. Joining Brogna was industry legend Tim Choate and former IGFA president Rob Kramer, who now serves as president of the nonprofit Wild Oceans. Benitez happily obliged, his solo charter now becoming a tagging expedition.
The first day of their expedition was promising as Mad Max departed Port Alcudia. After several hours of trolling, they managed to catch the target species, but it was too small for the satellite tag, a common issue and limiting factor with satellite-tagging Mediterranean spearfish. Though the day ended without a successful deployment, the team remained optimistic as they discussed plans for Day Two over tapas y tinto.
At approximately 9 a.m. on the second day, the team captured a Mediterranean spearfish that was large enough to safely deploy the satellite tag. Riera and Brogna worked together on the tag while Benitez was on the rod. Once leadered, the team quickly affixed the tag to the fish and released it in strong condition. They were thrilled, as this was only the 11th satellite tag deployment on a Mediterranean spearfish.
Hoping for lightning to strike twice, the team reset the spread, and within 30 minutes they were hooked up to the second spearfish of the day. Unfortunately, this one was too small for a satellite tag and was released without any hardware. Not long after, another spearfish came into the spread, but the team missed the bite.
A slight sense of disappointment hung over the cockpit after the missed opportunities to deploy two tags in one day, but that was quickly ousted by something Benitez describes as one of the rarest experiences he has ever witnessed in all his years of fishing. “I had just rigged a lure and put it up in the shotgun rigger,” Benitez recounts. “There was a knockdown, but no hookup. As I grabbed the rod, the fish returned, and I was hooked up immediately.”
The team quickly sprang into action, preparing a second satellite tag for another spearfish. But as Benitez reeled the fish closer to the boat, a flash of color caught his eye. The fish moved to the opposite side of the transom, and it was then that Brogna exclaimed, “It is a swordfish!” The crew was stunned as they brought the juvenile broadbill alongside Mad Max. Unable to deploy the tag on the swordfish due to its diving behavior, the team quickly photographed their rare catch and released it back into the Mediterranean, still awestruck by what had just happened.
Read Next: The History and Evolution of Satellite Tagging.
“I have been wanting to satellite-tag a Mediterranean spearfish for five years, and we finally made it happen on this incredible trip,” said Riera. “And then there was the swordfish! You hear of it happening off Mallorca, and I have had very weird strikes while trolling and was convinced that they were from swordfish, but I could never be sure. So I am over the moon to have caught one on Mad Max, and I’m even happier that it was my good friend Rick who got to land it.”
According to Riera, this is the first he’s heard of a boat releasing a spearfish and a swordfish in the same day off Mallorca. And who knows, maybe the spearfish they tagged will crack the code on whether these fish migrate to the Atlantic. It will be another surprise.
