# Sawfish on Fly



## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

That's pretty damn cool. Surprised it didn't cut you off immediately.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

We’ve caught our share of small saws on flies... In every case they’re hooked in the saw since that’s what they attack with. They first attack with their bills then come back and pick up with their mouths which are identical to a stingray’s mouth (and in the same location...). 
Once you hook one in the saw it’s thrashing around promptly wraps the leader around it so the fish can’t get free -without your assistance...​


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

This fly was in the saw mouth. Not tangled at all


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## FlyBy (Jul 12, 2013)

That's too cool!


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## Guest (Jan 8, 2019)

Awesome, congrats!


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## fishnpreacher (Jul 28, 2018)

That is just too cool!


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## stussing (Oct 29, 2018)

I have hooked two and only landed one. Can't imagine trying that on fly. Congratulations.


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## Tx_Whipray (Sep 4, 2015)

awesome catch!


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

Never even seen one let alone catch one, and then catch it on fly is amazing.

Inquiring minds want to know: Did you send it off with a Jimmy Houston kiss?


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## Pbertell (Apr 22, 2015)

Really cool!!


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Very nice!


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## KurtActual (Sep 25, 2017)

This would be epic to see: @1:39


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## krash (Jan 9, 2007)

That's quite a catch... I think I remember a recent post, maybe Lemay, about this being the time of year when they show up in Mingo... 

How the heck do you handle one of those things to safely unhook and release ?


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

KurtActual said:


> This would be epic to see: @1:39


Was that a sawfish?


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## KurtActual (Sep 25, 2017)

I thought so?


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

K3anderson said:


>


What part of the Glades were you in? 

Don't worry, you can post all the fish pics you want.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

For the little ones... get them alongside then carefully grab the tip end of the bill (correct term, the rostrum...) with thumb and forefinger right in the middle so you're not touching those very sharp teeth - while leaving the fish in the water. That will allow you to at least try to unwind the leader that will be wrapped up on the bill.... I do the exact same thing with really big ones (my biggest at the boat... about 14 feet long, counting the bill or rostrum....they do get much bigger). If they stay calm, get as much leader as possible off of the bill -then clip off the remaining portion as close to the mouth as possible (if you used bait...), if you used a lure you should be able to remove it with a de-hooker... since with a lure or a fly it's very very difficult to hook one in the mouth...

Now for the fun part - the bigger ones not only don't stay calm for very long at all - but their thrashing around is dangerous since they're also swinging a big stick with nasty sharp teeth up and down each side -as hard as a grown man can swing a bat.... I always have my anglers stand in the center of the skiff when I'm trying to release a big one since they'll swing that bill across the gunnels at times... My key to letting loose is simply the moment it's hard to hold onto the tip of the bill - and when I let go I get my hand away from the fish - right then... I have had the tips of their teeth puncture the gloves I wear as well - but not with any great effect...

Other places in Florida the sawfish is a very rare sight - but they're making a comeback... The cause? the net ban has removed inshore nets and they're what caused the saws to almost disappear world wide... Any sawfish that swims into a net gets caught and just can't get free (destroying the net in the process... ).

There are lots and lots of sawfish in the 'Glades if you know where to look - because the Park has been net free for 70 years (since it was established in 1948) so they've flourished.... Find one in shallow water (a ten footer can come up into less than two feet of water because of how their bodies are shaped...) and you quickly see that they're colored just like a mud ray - the only thing different is the pinkish colored fins (they look like moving triangles as they swim along...). The saw has two dorsal fins - and a tail that's shaped just like the fins (the top part of it...). Our first sighting is usually three triangles moving slowly across the bottom (if each triangle is five feet from the next one... you're looking at a really big one... ). Just like stingrays, saws will lay on the bottom in the mud at times then explode into motion as you get too close... We usually find them while poling up into shallow mud flats looking for reds and snook in winter... they like warm corners just like every other fish in the interior when water temps are down...

Just nothing like the 'Glades...


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## RunningOnEmpty (Jun 20, 2015)

I've had those things cut through steel leader. I don't know how you pulled that off?


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## KurtActual (Sep 25, 2017)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Was that a sawfish?


Talk about timing!
He just posted about this:


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

KurtActual said:


> Talk about timing!
> He just posted about this:


That thing is long!


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## SomaliPirate (Feb 5, 2016)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> That thing is long!


I hear that a lot.


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## flyclimber (May 22, 2016)

SomaliPirate said:


> I hear that a lot.


Nice try.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

SomaliPirate said:


> I hear that a lot.


You took the bait...


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

lemaymiami said:


> For the little ones... get them alongside then carefully grab the tip end of the bill (correct term, the rostrum...) with thumb and forefinger right in the middle so you're not touching those very sharp teeth - while leaving the fish in the water.


Will they headshake at all when you have the tip of the saw like that or do they chill like a snook or a upside down shark?


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## Surffshr (Dec 28, 2017)

SomaliPirate said:


> I hear that a lot.


Possibly why you need a 24 passenger skiff?


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## SomaliPirate (Feb 5, 2016)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> You took the bait...


Sadly, I've heard that before too.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

That’s a once in a lifetime catch. Hope you got lots of pictures


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

My buddy and I caught a number of them in the Glades. Big baits of course, but never on fly. It's like trying to catch a nurse shark on fly. They only go for smell. But maybe it felt the fly and sliced the water thinking it could stun the bait and that is how you snagged it on the bill. Or you just snagged it on the bill. In either case, you caught the fish.

I've never heard of a sawfish being caught on fly and you may have an IGFA record, if it weren't for catching it on the saw bill, since to qualify, IGFA says you have to catch it in the mouth to be a legal catch, according to them. That's why many huge rays snagged on fly never made it in the books.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Backwater said:


> My buddy and I caught a number of them in the Glades. Big baits of course, but never on fly. It's like trying to catch a nurse shark on fly. They only go for smell. But maybe it felt the fly and sliced the water thinking it could stun the bait and that is how you snagged it on the bill. Or you just snagged it on the bill. In either case, you caught the fish.
> 
> I've never heard of a sawfish being caught on fly and you may have an IGFA record, if it weren't for catching it on the saw bill, since to qualify, IGFA says you have to catch it in the mouth to be a legal catch, according to them. That's why many huge rays snagged on fly never made it in the books.


He said he hooked it in the mouth, he may have had an IGFA record.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> He said he hooked it in the mouth, he may have had an IGFA record.


Oh, it looked like a green fly on the bill. Maybe that was some moss. But the leader is about the right length to be on the saw bill. So....

I didn't read the whole thread, nor Capt Bob's comments (there was similar comments)

Nevertheless, IGFA would have needed documented proof and the process followed to the letter, in order for it to be considered a record. Believe me when I say those fish do not want to be landed, especially from a boat without it being a new episode of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre!


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

KurtActual said:


> Talk about timing!
> He just posted about this:


Yeah that's a giant!


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## nautilott (Oct 29, 2017)

As much as I've wanted to fish ENP, I really don't want to catch a saw...I'd like the meat on my bones to stay on my bones. That bill looks way nasty! Congrats on the catch.


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

The fly was hooked in the saw's mouth. In order to release it, I had to hold the fish against the side of the soloskiff and pull the line down and quickly cut it. The saw stayed up while the line stayed down near flat across the skiff. I didn't know the Bob method, so I cut as close as I could keeping my hand in the danger zone is little time as possible.


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## Bill Payne (May 22, 2018)

I had one of these scare the pants off me while wading in chokoloskee 30 years ago. I spooked him and that snout looked like it missed my shin by about an inch. I’m sure it was probably more like two feet, but that was close enough for me. I cannot imagine handling one next to the boat. My hat is off to all of you that have done that. And congrats on getting one on a fly!


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

First I've never caught a Saw Fish. I saw a program about them one time, it may have been Flip. They used a rag around the bill that seemed to keep them safe. 
Now is a Saw Fish a shark or a Ray? Nevermind I'll look it up


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## nautilott (Oct 29, 2017)

It's in the family of 'Rays'. Just saw it on one of those Nature shows.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Ok it's a ray. Not to be confused with the Sawshark


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

ENP sawfish swimming in a creek as far back as the skiff could go without a machete.
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0i52rCrqTxaXL


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## nautilott (Oct 29, 2017)

^^^Took 3 views before I saw the saw...crazy camo.


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## kjnengr (Jan 16, 2018)

SomaliPirate said:


> I hear that a lot.



Funny, I've never heard that before.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

We call them sawfish-the Japanese call them saw sharks but they’re the same critter...

Every sawfish has a shark’s body -but is flattened like a ray and they have the mouth of a ray with no teeth....

All of their teeth are on each side of the bill (correctly named their rostrum).

I’ve seen perfectly formed babies (less than 18” overall)...
and one or two that were clearly well over 20 feet long.

We quit fishing for them once they were listed on the Endangered Species list. We do catch and very carefully release one occasionally but only when a big one picks up a bait meant for a snook, grouper, tarpon, or other fish....

There are lots of saws in the ‘glades... if you know where to look. With the net ban in place for almost 25 years now they’re making a comeback in other parts of the state.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Saw sharks are a completely different species than Sawfish


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