[Bassh0le007]

Lets talk Swordfish!

I have searched this forum and read all the posts regarding Swordfishing in the NE Canyons but still have a few unanswered questions.

What do you keep your drags set at 18,20,22lbs? Do you keep them just barely engaged like sharking or do you leave them closer to strike?

What is the desired amount of weight (lead), I realize this has alot to do with current but then again how do we know what the current is doing 200 or 300 feet down do we just assume its doing the same as our tuna baits set at 30, 60, 80, etc...?

There also seems to be alot of mixed feelings on leader size and length some use 10ft while other use 20' also some use 100-130lb floro and others just some 250-400lb leader material?

Then there is bait large squid or small squid? Live or Fresh dead? Sew the head or just put a hook through the mantle?

Personally I use a 15' leader of 250lb momoi clip a Lindgren-Pitman Electralume light on the snap then put 10-20oz of lead on a rubber band a foot or 2 above the snap. We have tried large trolling squid 24"+ and smaller 12-18" squid that are sewed so they will not slide down the line and bunch up and the heads sewed. Have also tried smaller 8" live, fresh dead etc.. and have only got one pup sword about 3 years ago.

I think most of the problem may be that for the most part we are stationary and maybe not deep enough at 600ft?

Would we have a better shot drifting the Deep?
Should we be fishing in or just under the Thermocline?
Should we be dying the squid?
Should we use floats or lights inside the squid?

Any suggestion, comments, etc.. would be greatly appreciated...

 

[Hunt n' Fish]

On one overnight trip I was lucky enough to get invited on a few years back with a couple of friends, we had 7 swords to about 120-lbs or so (we estimated) anchored in the 100 Square. The baits were down between 250-350. Live baits were best. We caught on a live flying fish we netted, small mahi, and some other fish we netted swimming around the boat as well as squid. Didn't seem to be any magic to it, but I also realize with 7 swords to the boat in a night, we were probably in a good concentration of them. And as I recall, we just ran the line through egg sinkers like tuna bait, and were probably fishing 16-oz or better. I also think we had the drags set pretty tight, because I remember the rods slowly bending over as the fish all took the baits and came up to the surface with them and unless you were watching, you didn't know they were there.

Chris

 

[DORADOsteve]

You can find the answers to all of you questions on swordfishingcentral.com

Good group of guys willing to share knowledge

This post edited by DORADOsteve 08:21 PM 08/13/2008

 

[06405]

i set the drags low like sharking then put it up to strike and swing home. My rigs are all 150pound mono(momoi smoke blue) 20 feet long with a small ball bearing swivel that passes through the guides with ease. Strobe light with a 1 pound weight zip tied to bottom of light. I place the light depending on moon phases how far/close to the bait. Medium size squid 8-12inches some times sewn, or hook threw top of mantle. I like to place the sword baits 120 - 220 feet down.

people say to fight swords with very little drag sometimes 9 pounds of drag because of the soft mouths. I prefer to have the drags on the tight side around 18 pounds at strike. I would rather pull the hook with in the first 10 minutes of the fight in stead of pulling it during a 3 hour fight with 9 pounds of drag.

 

[CARDINALS]

answers to all your swordfish questions, my fingers are sore from typing

DRAG: i keep drag loose like sharking but some captains keep them at strike both methods work before hookup, if your drag is loose till sword takes bait a bit then put to strike with 12 lbs of drag. The lower jaw on the Swordfish is very soft and if a hook gets lodged in that section it will pull when under enough pressure, hate to see you lose big sword from too tight of drag. If the hook gets lodged in the upper section you can use more drag, but you never know where he's hooked so stay light on the drag, although i understand some of the comments here from anglers who want to have higher drag so they don't end up hooked up for hours, but since you are bit new to swords may as well bet that fish in the boat.

Sinkers: I use 16 oz egg sinkers sometimes lighter or heavier depending on drift, tide, etc...., keep a supply of 12-32 oz weights, everyone uses some kind of lights 10 to 40 feet above bait,

Leaders: wind-on leaders are best. The extra length of heavy mono will safeguard your line when it chafes on the bottom of your boat or goes around the props. I use a bimini knot 40 turns to the windon. Then a 300 lb. ball-bearing swivel or better to the end of the wind-on using a crimp make sure you match the crimp to line strength I use 300 pound leaders then connect 8-10 feet of the same strength leader to the other end of the ball-bearing swivel.

Bait, squid, hooks: live squid is great, if not use what you have as long as bait is in good shape, 10/0 Mustad hooks are what i use.

squid rig: medium to large squid is best,insert the hook about ¾ of an inch down from the top of the mantle, you will need to re-insert the hook back through the squid making sure the squid hangs straight when all is finished, take your bridling needle and floss and sow the squids head and tentacle section to the mantle piece. This section is delicate on the squid and might even pull off. Making sure everything looks normal to the fish is important, the needle and thread will make the squid stay intact on the strike.

your other questions:

The first line i set from the boat and also the deepest, 250-350 feet deep, put a float, lighted jug, or balloon 200 feet out, 2nd rod, This rod will go 2-250 feet down, Space the balloons or wahtever you are using about 100 feet apart. Your next rod will go down 150-200 feet. If you use just 1 or 2 rigs then make adjustments to the above.

you have to fish where the fish are, personally 'ive done better in the deep, thermocline i use more for the other fish which is generally higher than the swordie's depth anyway, can have some impact, but i'm consistent with the depths i use on baits as i've said above, i don't dye my squid, i like natural baits so your last question, i would not put any lights or floats inside the squid.

 

[DORADOsteve]

CARDINALS wrote:
The first line i set from the boat and also the deepest, 250-350 feet deep, put a float, lighted jug, or balloon 200 feet out, 2nd rod, This rod will go 2-250 feet down, Space the balloons or wahtever you are using about 100 feet apart. Your next rod will go down 150-200 feet. If you use just 1 or 2 rigs then make adjustments to the above.



MOST of the experienced swordie guys do the exact OPPOSITE of this, however, its all personal preference.

-Furthest bait out, shallowest.
- Deepest, closest.

 

[CARDINALS]

yep personal preference

yes i understand, just you have someone fiarly new who posted this topic up above fishing for swordies, he puts out the closest one the deepest with too light of sinker its going to catch the other rods that are further out possibly especailly if they have heavier sinkers etc.....or on a hookup can also be problematic, i've done it both ways, course i usually up here in the northeast have maintly tuna rigs and just one or 2 swords out at a time anyway depends on size of boat and type, etc.......how its outfitted.

i should of added if you dont know how to rig squid rigs you can buy them prerigged leader and all delivered to your door on ice under the plastic packaged rig, online from many reputable sites including those on noreast.com

This post edited by CARDINALS 08:12 AM 08/14/2008

 

[MakoMike]

Adam Larosa has a good article on swordfishing. I think he has it on his Canyon Runner website. One question for all you guys offering advice, how many swordies have you caught?

I ask becuase some of the advice is excatly opposite everything I've read about it. But I'm no expert only ever caught two of them on my boat.

 

[iEatClams]

Good point MM...

I've only caught one and it was on a flat line rigged with a small mackeral (4-5 inches in length), tiny hook, no weight, and 40 lb fluoro set out just beyond the reach of the lights on the boat that night... After a 45 min to 1 hr fight he was on the deck... So I guess there really is no "right way"...

This post edited by iEatClams 09:22 AM 08/14/2008

 

[cantowm]

MakoMike wrote:
Adam Larosa has a good article on swordfishing. I think he has it on his Canyon Runner website. One question for all you guys offering advice, how many swordies have you caught?

I ask becuase some of the advice is excatly opposite everything I've read about it. But I'm no expert only ever caught two of them on my boat.

I average one sword every overnight trip to the edge....and there is no magic formula. I will say that my favorite bait is a large squid (12 to 14 inch tube). I have caught them on rigged large squid with light stick sewn inside and on sardines drifted back with the chunks (for tuna) as well as butterfish baits. I have caught more swords on the tuna baits than on the sword rigs. So to say that one tactic is better than the other, I can't comment. I do find drifting off on the deep side is better. I have a source for hand selected canyon caught squid, so my sword rig tactic for this year is a 9/0 circle hook through the mantle and drifted deep, one bait above and one bait below the thermocline if the drift allows for it. I keep the reels just engaged enough to hold the weight.

I am no fishing professional, so every trip is a learning experience for me.

 

[Bassh0le007]

MakoMike wrote:

I ask becuase some of the advice is excatly opposite everything I've read about it.
It seems like this is always the case with sword fishing everyone has there own technique and everything is contradicting from one angler to the next. I have come to the conclusion that its just not like tuna fishing where everyone seems to agree on the basics and to be honest I think 80-90% of the swordfish caught here are hooked on baits rigged for tuna while the ?sword? rod goes untouched.

Thanks for all the replies, seems like sometimes ?luck? has something to do with it.

One other thing we do is after dressing the tuna put the heads, guts, etc. in a garbage bag instead of dumping it over the side because from what I?ve read these ?garbage trucks? will eat just about everything and I'd rather a sword take my bait instead of the tuna guts I just dumped over the side, it will also help to keep the sharks away.

 

[tunafever]

http://www.canyonrunner.com/articles/Gladiators.pdf

 

[DORADOsteve]

DORADOsteve wrote:
-Furthest bait out, shallowest.
- Deepest, closest.

Here's what it looks like courtesy of Uncle Buck Graphics:

 

[gmann]

Personal drag experience ...I've had the privilage of fishing with two of floridas finest at sword fishing Corey from Reaper Sportfishing out of Fort Lauderdale and Dean Panos of Miami. Both are known as being on top of their game and both fish very different in terms of drags. I have been very successful fishing with both going a combined 8-9 on 3 trips with them this season. Corey fishes extremely light because of the reasons given like the soft mouth while Dean believes in putting the wood to them early more like 20#'s because if your going to break him off you might as well do it early than later and if you have a slob it will take forever to fight them at 12-15#'s

The most impressive thing is with both captains the most hits were on the tip rods. They work them no stop and several times I was able to watch the sword come into the lights un coordinated and eat the bait boat side before diving into the depths. Just plain awesome to watch

Me personally from an angling standpoint preferred fighting the swords with higher drag, I was able to boat a lot of fish that way in relatively short time instead of the long battles that take for ever. My son with heavy drag never dropped a fish on one trip and went 3-3 with 20+ pond of drag on a 80w this year biggest being close to 200

 

[Bassh0le007]

That Canyon Runner article was a great read Thanks! I definitely find it interesting to learn that Swordfish here in the Northeast have alot stronger mouths then those caught down south (Would have never thought that).

Also I think like most people running to the edge we don?t go and strictly target swordfish the number one goal is tuna and while a sword would be awesome our intentions are to put tuna in the boat. I think most would agree alot of time, Fuel, bait, etc. go into these trips to just specifically target swords, similar to targeting Bigeyes most boats wont spend the day in the deep with nothing going on hoping for that EYE when there?s plenty of nice yellows to be had shallow.("Except for this year")

I guess in a perfect world if you load the boat with tuna early then set out your 4 sword rods and drift the deep that would be great but for now I think we'll just stick to putting out a sword rod or 2 and maybe get lucky.

Hopefully the night bite will light up soon and we can read some sword stories...

 

[TunaBully]

I have caught and seen quite a few swords over the last twenty years, all of which came on our tuna baits. Last year we had two in one night on peanut bunker fished 20 yards from the stern on a flat line. Other times it's been butterfish and we've had them on mackeral, squid and sardines on both deep baits and shallow baits. The only time I have ever caught a sword on rig intended to catch them was in florida fishing with some of the local experts. My suggestion is to concentrate on the tuna and the swords will come. The one thing I have noticed makes a big difference in catching canyon swords is using either a swordlight or a hydroglow. We have hooked or seen a sword almost every night we've used one.

 

[Bassh0le007]

TunaBully wrote:
I have caught and seen quite a few swords over the last twenty years, all of which came on our tuna baits. Last year we had two in one night on peanut bunker fished 20 yards from the stern on a flat line. Other times it's been butterfish and we've had them on mackeral, squid and sardines on both deep baits and shallow baits. The only time I have ever caught a sword on rig intended to catch them was in florida fishing with some of the local experts. My suggestion is to concentrate on the tuna and the swords will come. The one thing I have noticed makes a big difference in catching canyon swords is using either a swordlight or a hydroglow. We have hooked or seen a sword almost every night we've used one.

We always put out a hydroglow "green" on every trip and have yet to see one using it. I Always bring the Nutz on every trip but to be honest hardly ever use them for hook baits I'd say 90% of our tuna come on live squid.

Bully are you guys usually on the hook when catching these swords?

 

[tunafever]

Nobody talks about it but this is the best way to ensure a properly kept swordfish. This is the way I've been taught but many people don't bother taking such steps. I can't see why not.

http://www.spc.int/coastfish/News/Fish_News/96/Swordfish.htm

 

[Squidhead]

Swordfish

TunaBully wrote:
I have caught and seen quite a few swords over the last twenty years, all of which came on our tuna baits. Last year we had two in one night on peanut bunker fished 20 yards from the stern on a flat line. Other times it's been butterfish and we've had them on mackeral, squid and sardines on both deep baits and shallow baits. The only time I have ever caught a sword on rig intended to catch them was in florida fishing with some of the local experts. My suggestion is to concentrate on the tuna and the swords will come. The one thing I have noticed makes a big difference in catching canyon swords is using either a swordlight or a hydroglow. We have hooked or seen a sword almost every night we've used one.

 

[bretabaker]

gmann wrote:
Personal drag experience ...I've had the privilage of fishing with two of floridas finest at sword fishing Corey from Reaper Sportfishing out of Fort Lauderdale and Dean Panos of Miami. Both are known as being on top of their game and both fish very different in terms of drags. I have been very successful fishing with both going a combined 8-9 on 3 trips with them this season. Corey fishes extremely light because of the reasons given like the soft mouth while Dean believes in putting the wood to them early more like 20#'s because if your going to break him off you might as well do it early than later and if you have a slob it will take forever to fight them at 12-15#'s





by no means am i a swordfish expert having only caught one, but i agree with glenn on the drag issue. i will not fish for big fish with 12-15#s of drag. if i'm using 80lb test, the drag will at least be 20#s, preferrably 24. i have no interest fighting a fish for 3 hours unless it is an absolute monster.


This post edited by bretabaker 06:32 PM 08/16/2008