Swordfishing - HalfHitch.com

www.halfhitch.com • www.legendarymarine.com • 07-01-2014
Swordfishing
By Tim Broom
Imagine it’s a warm summer night, seas running a soft 1 to 2,
wind light and variable, stars fill the night sky, you have a cold
beer in hand and burgers on the grill. Everyone is sitting around
telling war stories of the one that got away. Lines are set, extra
baits are rigged, the Hydroglow’s light spills under the boat
turning the crystal blue water an erie green. You can see the 4
buoys marking the lines in the distance. In the quiet still of the
night the drag starts screaming. Sword on the Line!!
If you’re anything like me and have
made several journeys in a attempt
to catch a swordfish, hopefully you
have figured it out and have not
faced the disappointment I’ve had.
Have you ever gone and not gotten
bites and watched other boats
get them? Have you ever gotten 3 or 4 bites in a night only to pull the hook on
all of them? Have you ever gotten all 3 or 4 of your rods tangled into a complete
cluster? I’ve beaten them off at the gaff, broken the line getting the buoy off the
main line, forgotten the glow sticks. Well if there is a way to lose a fish, not get a
bite, or break him off, I’ve been there and done that!! I’m hopefully going to keep
you from doing that again.
When and Where to Find Swordfish
We get most near the Spur at the tip of the DeSoto
Canyon. The DeSoto Canyon is a erosional valley that
cuts through the continental shelf along the northern gulf
coast. An up-welling of deep water occurs here bringing
up nutrients and phytoplankton to the surface, attracting
small bait fish and squid, that in turn attract larger
baitfish, that in turn attracts large predators like the
swordfish. We not only fish the Spur, but fish the Steps
and all along the Canyon wall where these upwellings
occur.
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Swordfish are primarily
considered nocturnal
Swordfish areas to start:
feeders. In recent years we
Spur East End 2928.526 / 8651.730
have found they do feed in
Spur West End 2927.527 / 8658.370
the day time, but instead
Spur South End 2917.815 / 8659.717
around and swim to the
of feeding near the surface
Canyon Wall East End 2919.028 / 8727.111
surface and back to the
less than 300ft deep where
Canyon Wall West End 2914.118 / 8745.217
bottom with no ill effects.
they migrate to at night,
they are feeding at depths
In the old days most people
in excess of 200ft deep. Swords
would target sword fish with
can be caught year-round,
80lb class tackle. Anglers soon
but we find the best and most
found that this was overkill and
consistent action between April
switched to 50lb class tackle as
and November.
most swordfish range 50lb to
200lb. Now with upgrades in the
Don’t get hung up on these GPS
drag capability of modern reels,
numbers being the only place
and the invention of braided
to fish; they are just a staring
line, we can fish even smaller
point. You will need to arrive at
reels like the Shimano Tiagra
the swordfish grounds and spend
TI30WLRSA (which stands for
some time figuring out the drift as
30 wide, two speed and Long
there is no way to anchor. Having
Range Drag). You’ll still find
a good sea anchor to slow your
people that say you need the
drift is a must-have item. The
80lb class rods and reels but
idea is to figure out just how the
they are are old school and still
current and wind are effecting
fishing monofilament line. A
you drift and making sure to start
80lb class reel holds 700yds
at the correct place to maximize drift time over a
of 100lb monofilament, a
given area you have chosen to fish.
50lb reel holds 650yds of
60lb monofilament line, 30lb
Swordfish Gear
Reels hold 500yds of 80lb
If you don’t have the right
braid with a 150yd top shot
gear, you don’t have a chance.
of 60 monofilament and still
Swordfish can be extremely
leave room for a wind-on
powerful when they want to be.
leader making them perfect
I have caught a 250lb swordfish
combination reel that has
that almost did not fight and
power and capacity of line.
basically took the bait, swam to
the surface and let us easily reel
him to the boat, gaff him and
get into the fish box and never
broke a sweat. I have also got the
125lb swordfish that screamed
the line off the
reel ran towards
the bottom,
circled the boat, ran to the top,
back to the bottom and put us in
a 2-hour battle. Swordfish are one
of the few species that can swim
at depths of 2000 ft then turn right
Many rods will do the job but
none better then Shimano’s
new Terez Carbon-fiber butt rods. These rods come
with a bent butt instead of the tradional straight butt
rods most people fish. The bent
butt give the angler much more
power over the fish with much less
effort. The only bad thing about
bent but rods is the added weight
as the butt is all solid aluminum.
The new Terez Carbon-fiber rods
reduce the weight by about 40%,
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making them the ideal
weapon.
is near the boat.
We make our actual leaders 10ft using either a 3-way
swivel or American 3-way swivel at the top of the
leader and a Eagleclaw L2004ELF 10/0 circle hook.
There are still some anglers that choose to use a
J-hook (illegal for tournaments) but I much prefer the
circle hook as you just get more hookups and you
typacally hook the fish in the corner of the mouth
which is the hardest part of the fishes body. It is also
better for releasing undersized fish unharmed. When
releasing fish, try and not take them out of the water
also for a better survival rate. When rigging smaller
bait I use just one hook but when rigging larger baits
I normally use double hook rigs.
These advancements
in technology make
the whole process
much easier and
enjoyable to tackle
such aggressive predators like the swordfish.
Combining these with the proper fighting harness
and belt like those made by Braid Fishing Products
will give you all the tools you need to capture these
creatures of the deep.
Rigs and Leaders
We rig out rods with a windon leader 20ft long. What
is a wind-on leader?? By
IGFA rules you are allowed
a total leader and double
line length of 40ft on tackle
over 20lb. We tie a double
line using an Australian
Braid to form a double line
at the end of our main line
that is 6ft, and this give us a
loop at the end of the line to
attach the wind-on leader.
The wind-on leader comes
with a loop of braided line
attached to the leader to
make the attachment to
the main line. IGFA allows
a total leader length of 30ft.
So, using a 6ft double line,
a 20ft wind-on leader 150lb
to 300lb and just a short
10ft leader on the actual
rigs keeps us under the
IFGA maximum and gives a
slight margin of error in our
rig making.
Rigs will consist of a 10ft leader 125lb to 300lb,
3-way swivel at the top, a light stick or LP LED light
attached between the swivel and bait and a 16oz to
28oz lead attached to the swivel with a #32 rubber
band. The LP LED is more expensive but last much
longer than the light stick. We use the rubber band
to attach the lead so it breaks off during the fight
and does not give the fish leverage to use the lead to
throw the hook.
Baits
Squid are the primary
food for swordfish and
they are by far the first
choice or bait
but not the only
choice. Other
good baits
are northern
mackerel and
bonita strips.
When rigging squid make sure to sew the head
to the body as it comes off very easy and looks
unnatural. Also rigging squid, mackerel and strip
baits it is important to sow or pin the bait to the
leader so it does not bunch up around the hook.
When using mackerel if you cut off the tail and rig the
mackerel
backwards
it will not
spin as
bad when
deploying
the bait
creating
If you just make you leaders
the allowed maximum of
30ft, the swivel of the leader would get to the tip of
the rod and the fish would be still 30ft from the boat,
then you would have to hand line him that last 30ft.
Using a wind-on leader, we can reel most of the
leader onto the reel and have much more control of
the fish and never have to hand line the fish when he
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less tangles.
a little prep work it becomes much easier and you
will have less fouled lines and rigs. First mark which
rod will be your longest line, medium line, and short
line. Your longest line will be the bait closest to the
surface and the short line will be the closest to the
boat.
Buoys, Balloons,
Lights
You will be fishing
at night so you
will want to keep
track of your baits.
Buoys serve two
purposes, one is
to float your bait
keeping it at the
desired depth
and the other is
a marker. You will
want to use either
a long line clip or rubber band
to attach the buoy to your line.
Both the rubber band and
the longline clip are easy to
attach and un-attach during
a battle with the fish. I always
use custom buoys which are
easy and inexpensive to make.
Attaching a light stick to the
buoy makes it easy to see at
night so you know where your
lines are and if you are using
a breakaway rubber band rig
easy to kind you buoy after the
catch. If using a balloon, first insert the light stick
into the balloon.
Now you need to mark the line itself. You will need
a black marker for this step. On the long rod pull off
50ft and put a 1ft long mark, then pull off another
300 ft and put a second 1ft mark. When setting the
line you will place the buoy at the first mark and then
let out line to the second mark. On the middle rod
put the first mark at 150ft and the second mark at
450ft. On the short rod put the first mark at 300ft and
the second mark at 400ft.
Set the long rod
first, then the
middle rod and
then the short
rod. Your fishing
set up should
look something
like this. Now
we are fishing,
and hopefully
catching.
Rigging Supplies
Leader material, rigging needles, crimpers, windon leaders, 3-way swivels, ball bearing snaps and
swivels, sleeves, rigging springs, beads, thimbles,
light sticks, cutters,
LP lights, rubber
bands and sitting
floss, leads, hooks.
If you do not have
built in underwater
lights the next best
thing is to deploy
a Hydroglow light
under the boat to
attract both baitfish
and swordfish. It
will greatly improve
your chances of
getting bites and
catching more fish.
Gaffs, Harpoons
and Fighting
Harness
Having the right
gaff will sure help
when you get the
fish to the boat. I
see most people
with a gaff that
is too short. In a
60ft sport fishing
boat you need enough gaff to reach the water and
3ft out away from the boat. In a 20ft center console
Deploying Lines
There are a few
things you need
to do at the dock before you leave. Getting your
lines spaced right in the dark is difficult but with
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you need enough gaff so you can reach 2ft past the
motors in case you need to help the angler clear the
line from the motors if he makes a last minute dash.
As for hook size, at least 5 inches.
Having a harpoon is a very nice addition to your
arsenal. There are times when I did not have a
harpoon that we lost fish right at the boat that we
would have otherwise caught.
Having the right gloves like the
Aftco wiring gloves to
handle the leaders when wiring a
fish next to the boat and handling
the fish once he is in the boat will
save you. I cant tell you how many
times I’ve cut my hands when not
wearing the proper gloves.
Fighting harnesses are really nice
and sure save your back if you
have a smaller boat and do not have a fighting chair.
With a good shoulder or kidney harness, the right
rod belt, and a pair of drop straps, even if you get
tired you can just sit back and relax and let go of
the rod and all is well. Braid Fishing and Aftco both
make very nice models.
850-837-3121
halfhitch.com
You have put in your time, done you homework,
you’re sitting on the back deck, beer in hand,
and then the line comes tight and the drag starts
screaming!! All of a sudden the buoy breaks loose
and the swordfish is running deep. Line is still spilling
off the reel as the moon illuminates the night sky.
Sword on the line!!!!!
850-337-8300
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