Table 6. — Weights in pounds (kilograms in parentheses) of billfishes caught off South Pass, 1966-71. 



Year 



1966 



1967 



|4(,M 



1969 



1970 



1971 



Blue marlin 















Range 



65.0-565.0 



62.0-565.0 



77.0-465.0 



133.5-686.0 



90.5-535.0 



83.0-492.0 





(29.5-256.8) 



(28.2-256.8) 



(35.0-211.4) 



(60.7-311.8) 



(41.1-243.2) 



(37.7-223.6) 



Average 



219.7 



299.0 



252.0 



273.4 



273.7 



279.4 





(99.9) 



(135.9) 



(114.5) 



(124.3) 



(124.4) 



(127.0) 



White marlin 















Range 



29.0-100.0 



30.0-134.0 



32.0-85.0 



39.0-86.0 



36.0-85.0 



33.0-84.0 





(13.2-45.5) 



(13.6-60.9) 



(14.5-38.6) 



(17.7-39.1) 



(16.4-38.6) 



(15.0-38.2) 



Average 



48.9 



46.5 



50.0 



59.6 



53.3 



61.3 





(22.2) 



(21.1) 



(22.7) 



(27.1) 



(24.2) 



(27.9) 



Sailfish 















Range 



27.0-80.0 



25.0-75.0 



36.0-78.0 



35.0-66.0 



25.0-67.0 



37.0-58.5 





(12.3-36.4) 



(11.4-34.1) 



(16.4-35.5) 



(15.9-30.0) 



(11.4-30.5) 



(16.8-26.6) 



Average 



45.5 



46.4 



40.1 



51.7 



40.3 



43.1 





(20.7) 



(21.1) 



(18.2) 



(23.5) 



(18.3) 



(19.6) 



Tuesday, so that a weekend was not split. Each 

 hour began on the hour and ended 1 min before the 

 next hour. 



The results of our analyses of raises per hour by 

 weekly periods are presented in Figure 3. For the 

 South Pass area, blue marlin were most abundant in 

 late September; white marlin were most abundant 

 in early August; sailfish did not appear to be espe- 

 cially abundant during any week (only 52 sailfish 

 were raised during the entire year). For the north- 

 west Florida area, the highest peak in relative 

 abundance of blue marlin was the week 29 Sept. to 5 

 Oct., but the weekly variations were not as great as 

 for the other two species; for white marlin the pro- 

 nounced period of abundance was in mid-July; sail- 

 fish were especially abundant during the latter half 

 of September. 



Several prominent differences in raises-per-hour 

 by weekly periods are evident between the two 

 areas (Fig. 3). For example, peaks of abundance for 

 white marlin and sailfish in the South Pass area are 

 not as pronounced as in the northwest Florida area. 

 Also, blue marlin are more abundant off South 

 Pass, whereas white marlin and sailfish are more 

 abundant off northwest Florida. 



The results of our analyses of raises-per-hour by 

 time of day are presented in Figure 4. The numbers 

 offish raised and numbers of hours trolled are tabu- 

 lated in Tables 9 and 10. The early morning (0600 h) 

 peak for South Pass and late afternoon (1800 h) 

 peak for northwest Florida should be regarded 

 cautiously, as these are based on small amounts of 

 effort. 



The patterns of abundance by time of day for 

 each species in each area (Fig. 4) show a pre-noon 

 and a post-noon peak, with some showing two pre- 

 noon peaks (blue marlin and white marlin off 

 northwest Florida) and some showing two post- 

 noon peaks (white marlin off northwest Florida, 

 blue marlin and white marlin off South Pass). All 

 show a midday drop in abundance. 



When data for all three species from both areas 

 are combined (Fig. 5), a multimodal distribution is 

 seen, the most prominent peak at 1000 h and smaller 

 peaks at 1400 and 1800 h. 



Table 7. — Weights in pounds (kilograms in parentheses) 

 of billfishes caught off northwest Florida, 1971. 











All Three 



Port 



Pensacola 



Destin 



Panama Cit> 



Ports 



Blue marlin 











Range 



32.0-481.5 



46.0-426.0 



128.0-253.0 



32.0-481.5 





(14.5-218.9) (20.9-193.6) 



(58.2-1 15.0) (14.5-218.9) 



Average 



266.9 



180.7 



189.1 



207.5 





(121.3) 



(82.1) 



(86.0) 



(94.3) 



White marlin 











Range 



40.5-83.5 



31.0-86.0 



42.0-80.0 



31.0-86.0 





(18.4-38.0) 



(14.1-39.1) 



(19.1-36.4) 



(14.1-39.1) 



Average 



56.0 



54.9 



52.9 



54.8 





(25.5) 



(25.0) 



(24.0) 



(24.9) 



Sailfish 











Range 



30.5-43.0 



5.5-67.0 



1 1 .0-50.0 



5.5-67.0 





(13.9-19.5) 



(2.5-30.5) 



(5.0-22.7) 



(2.5-30.5) 



Average 



36.8 



37.9 



38.1 



37.6 





(16.7) 



(17.2) 



(17.3) 



(17.1) 



275 



