Take Downs

[captkev1]

I just got back from the canyons on sat night had a great time. Midnightish the sword bite came on. I had five take downs and only two hookups, two of the fish busted out of the water before i knew i had them on. What am i doing wrong and what can i do to increase the hooked fish part of it?

[whitemarlin16]

when you have a sword rod down you wanta watch the rod tip or tips if you have more then one rod. alot of guys up north only put out 1 or 2 rods mean while they are chunking for tunas all night . most times swords are going to eat the bait down deep and come right up to the top of the water . when ever you see slack in the line KEEP REELING intal you come tight if hes jumping and your reeling just slack hes going to shake that hook loose. they also get faul hooked alot . they are sloopy eaters ! Many of my swords i have cought in the Last year have been foul hooked in the tail, dorsal, stomach , i even had one tangled in the line before the baloon he was free jumping in our spread and got raped up. best thing i can say is just gotta watch that tention in the line and the rod tips and your baloon or jug. good luck to ya you will get one soon there makeing a big comeback.....

[Andaman Andy]

Would a big Circle hook work in this situation my thinking is that if Swordy swallowed the bait as the line came tight it would hook himself.

[shoefish]

Kev-
Glad to hear that you guys did well out there. Hopefully you got some good pictures! I don't know this from experience (haven't been able to hook one yet ), but I have read that circle hooks can help. In addition to the way that Andy said, their mouths are soft and they throw a lot of hooks, so circles can sometimes keep them hooked.
Give me a call later, I want to hear the story!
Shoe

[rarhomes]

My option. Swordfish are swordfish and sometimes they may be hard to hook. We fished a couple weeks ago and went 4 for 4. I use a Owners "Jabu" 9/0 or 10/0 depending on squid size . Livies maybe 8/0 or 9/0 bridled. I believe circles don't work that great or ever body would be using them. Sometime a sword is coming at you or not moving at all. Most times you don't even know which way the fish is moving until you come tight. I would stick to j hooks.


LOL

Capt. Rick

[captkev1]

Hey guys thanks for the info, cant wait till next season to give it another shot.

[neilinov]

Capkev
We just started swording this year and have had a good run at it. I am by no means an expert, but on all of our live baits we have been using circle hooks and have about a 90% hookup rate. Almost zero drag and let the livey do the work. On our big squid baits we have been using 9/0 jobu and have about a 50% hookup rate. Again keep the drag to almost a minimum. The main thing on the jobu I have noticed is to see the bite. It is almost like when a white marlin swats a bait and knocks it out of the rigger clip. You might not see him, but he is there and has gone after it. Keep an eye on the rod that is deep at all times. If the pole moves and the line quickly strips drop it into free spool. If the line strips and the pole doesn't move then it is probably just the movement of the boat. Every time we have had the combo of line strip and pole bounce we have had a swordy hot on the bait. Give him a good 5 sec drop and then set the steel.
Again I ain't an expert, probably just lucky, but we released 5 on Tuesday.

[captkev1]

So is a much smaller bait better to use then a larger one?

[pitch bait]

I like a small bait with a big circle hook. Im using like a 12" squid and a 12 to 16/0 circle hook. The bigger the hook the more meat you get in the corner when it comes tight. I like to put a light in my baloon to help me watch the bait. I also like to keep my light 50 feet above the bait. Alot of the time you get a chance at them green very early inthe fight befor they go deep. Keep the harpoon handy. We always say if you have to measure them they aint big enough.

[captkev1]

What size leader and how long do you guys make them? Also some people say to put the light stick close to the bait and some say to put it like 50 to 75 feet away. What do you guys think ?