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Southeast Florida Swordfishing "Purple Fever"
Once you have your tackle ready to go, let us describe a typical
drift out in South Florida's Gulf Stream. We are basing this
drift using 4 lines. Some of your center console fisherman may
be able to fish 5 or even 6 rods, but we believe 4 rods is sufficient
and will cover the fathoms needed to catch that broadbill you
have dreamed of. Swordfishing off the southeast coast of Florida
has really taken a turn for the better. We are experiencing a
fish size of 75-100lb on average. Although we are deemed to be
the breeding grounds and anglers routinely catch "Pups",
we have our share of three-hundred pound plus fish move through.
November thru January is usually some of our best months, as
the water temperature is cooler. But with all good comes some
bad. The seas are usually much rougher this time of year. In
the summer time, we don't see as much action, but we still get
our share. This is a year-round fishery and will be around for
a long time as long as we don't abuse it. We ask that you please
report you fish! Please report your catches and releases. We
know you are not required to report a release, but by reporting
that we are routinely catching the numbers, lessens the chances
of commercial fisherman entering our waters. We cannot stress
enough how important it is to report our catch.
We also want to practice safety especially while night fishing.
We suggest that each angler on your boat carries a glowstick
and whistle in his/her pocket. This way if they were to accidentally
fall over, you would have a means of finding them. Another strong
point is no sleeping! Cargo ships constantly are running through
the swordfish grounds and if you are sleeping and they are on
autopilot, trouble could be approaching. We have had some close
calls to where we actually had to pick up and move to avoid a
collision course with some freighters. Bottom line, if you want
to sleep stay home.
Now lets fish!
Locating The Swordfish Grounds:
As you may know swordfishing takes place at night, as they
are primarily nocturnal feeders. Leaving the dock in the late
evening hours and coming back to the dock after midnight is the
standard, depending on the time of the sunset. Calm seas have
much to do with the decision of when to go out. Swordfish can
be caught when it is rough or calm, but we must think safety
first. The combination of a gps and good fishfinder is essential
when finding good solid structure to start your drift. Off the
South Florida coast, our sword grounds are generally between
longitude 79-51W and 79-49W. This is roughly 15-18 miles off
our coastline. A fishfinder that goes to at least 1500 feet is
very beneficial; as you will see the canyons and structures that
hold the bait, hence attract swordfish. *Tip - If you want to
find the fish, set your fish finder range to just 100ft and you
will find bait such as Tinker Mackeral or Sardines. Where there
is bait, there is Sword! Swordfish are known to roam these deep
depths around ridges and valleys. With the two combined units
you are already ahead of the game. Radar is also an important
piece of equipment, but not absolutely necessary. Once you are
satisfied with your location, you want to spend the next 5-20
minutes figuring out your drift. The drift is a very important
aspect. If you have heard that the bite is strong along the 79-50W
line, you want to make sure you are drifting on this line. A
top-notch sea anchor can work to keep you in this zone. Deploy
your sea anchor off the boats center cleat for the best drift.
But maybe, the bite is fluctuating from the west 48 lines to
the 51 lines. In this case you would want to drift over and over
these grounds. Turn on your vhf or check out our reports to see
where the most action is for the night you are going out. With
the proper drift you can stay in the zone all night and have
baits soaking for the majority of the night. Don't be in a rush
to put the baits out. Take your time and factor the wind and
current and decide, "Am I going to push in shallow or out
deep". Which side of the boats are the lines going to be
on? How much wait should I be using to get my baits to the desired
depth? How fast will my drift be? All these factors are worth
considering before you turn off the engines and decide where
you are going to ride out a drift.
Tackling Broadbills:Although a live bait seems ideal when
setting out to catch any gamefish, don't rule out your dead baits!
Bobby Boyle of RJ Boyle Studios came out with a shirt that says,
"Live Bait Sux". Bobby definitely has a point when
it comes to swordfish. As a beginner in swordfishing, we suggest
sticking to just one live bait and the rest dead baits such as
squid. You ensure a much better hookset when using a dead-bait,
and your strikes will definitely not suffer from not using live-bait!
Your sole livebait can be fished just under the boat around 85
feet down. It will blend in with the other baits that have congregated
around your boat.
Lets discuss rigging your rods. We use mostly 50 wides, but
have a few 80's that are ready for that big wintertime swordfish.
A 50w is plenty sufficient for swordfish. With the invention
of hollow-core braid, guys can load their 30's with the over
700 yards and be able to fish their light tackle rods for broadbills.
When spooling the reels we suggest marking the last 400 feet
of your line. Mark the line using waxline half stitches. This
will enable you to easily drop your baits to the desired depth
without having to count every time you setup. A counter can be
used to count off the desired feet. If you can leave a loop in
the waxline marker on your line, this would be ideal. Later on
we will teach you how to tie the balloon or jug to that loop
in the waxline. It is very important to make sure the waxline
does not slip! Your first knot that will be used on your mainline
is the popular bimini twist (about 5 ft). The knot acts as a
shock absorber and is very beneficial to the rig. Take your bimini
twist right to the ball bearing snap swivel and tie an offshore
knot. Have this combination on all four of your rods.
Lets discuss your rigs. We first start out by measuring 15
feet of 200lb - 400lb mono leader. On the top end we crimp a
loop using a nylon thimble so that we can attach it to our ball
bearing snap swivel with ease. On the other end, crimp a 8/0
- 11/0 hook. Make sure the hook is very sharp, if not sharpen
it. You should be able to press it against your finger nail and
make a nice dent. On the hook you want to place a bridle that
is used to bridle your live bait. It is a loop that is about
6 inches in diameter made out of rigging floss. Attach that bridle
to the hook and you are set. Attach your live bait rig to your
rods ball bearing swivel. At the swivel top circle you want to
also attach 1 electralume and a flasher at your discretion. This
helps to make your bait visible to the swords.
Lets rig your other 3 rods for a dead bait. A swordfish favorite
is the squid. There are a number of ways to rig a dead squid,
but the best method is to have the hook exposed half way down
the mantle. We find this much more effective that placing the
hook down by the eyes of the squid. . Once you have all four
rods ready to be deployed, get out your jugs and weights, along
with copper/telephone wire. Have the gaff ready to be deployed
as some days you may drop the baits right into swordfish territory.
We don't know how many times we seem to drop a bait right on
a swordfish. Tip* If you like to take your time in setting up,
that's fine. Go ahead and put out a flatline while getting your
other rods ready. This way if you have a curious sword come to
the boat, you atleast have a bait in the water. We have seen
them come into the light on numerous occasions. If you don't
have a bait in the water, most likely they will just leave.
Setting up your first Drift
Drifting for swordfish is very very effective. Providing that
you have your baits staggered, your chances of catching a South
Florida Sword are very good! Now that you have 4 rods that are
ready to be deployed, lets get some lines in the water. Once
you find your desired area to fish, shut off all engines. Here
you will analyze your drift. You can deploy a sea anchor if you
think you are going to need it. Once you are satisfied with the
direction and speed of your drift, get the first line out. As
a general rule of thumb, get your longest lines out first, meaning
jug/balloon baits. Check out our forums and communicate with
fellow swordfish anglers regarding everything mentioned here.
You may even find out what depth the fish were biting out the
night before. But a general rule of thumb is on a New Moon, you
fish the baits shallower. And on a full bright moon, you fish
them deeper. Tip* Be sure to have a bait at 100 feet and 300
feet. These 2 depths are critical. Once you get a bite on one,
you can adjust your other rods accordingly.
With the first rod, attach the live bait rig, along with your
electralume and flasher. Then take about 12 inches of telephone
wire or a #64 rubber band and attach a 32-ounce weight to the
swivels top circle. Wrap the telephone wire about 6 times and
pull to ensure it breaks away. Put it back on and let your bait
down to desired depth. For this exercise, we will go 300 feet
on the first line. Once the 300-foot marker on the line comes
up, attach your jug or balloon to the loop you left in the waxline
using telephone wire. You can attach the balloon or jug using
telephone wire or a small rubber band. Again, test to make sure
it breaks away when pressure is applied by fish. Let the float
out about 50-80 yards from the boat. Don't forget to put a glowstick
into your jug for visibility.
Do the same to the second rod, but this time go to 200ft and
let it out on the jug/balloon about 30 yards. It is very important
to test different depths by the 100's. Don't forget to attach
a lightstick to the jug/balloon for visibility. Once you have
the 2 lines out on the jugs, lets move to your tip rods. The
tip rods are called tip rods because that is exactly what they
are. You will see the tip of the rod bounce heavily when a fish
is slashing the bait. These rods are being fished right at the
boat at varying depths. Apply the same rigs as mentioned above
and set these rods at 150 feet and 100 feet. These will be your
most active rods, as they are in the direct light of the boat.
Now that you have 4 lines in the water, lets get your 4ft
light out and put it on the opposite side of the boat, to avoid
direct light into your eyes. Turn off all boat lights and sit
back and listen to your rods. Check all lines as needed. If you
don't have any action within 30 minutes to an hour, start by
checking your tip rods. If the baits have been slashed than bring
in your balloon/jug rods and re-bait. The 4ft green light can
be a very important piece of the puzzle when swordfishing. We
have had bait by the dozens including bar jacks, flying fish,
and dolphin come to the light. With the bait we have seen swordfish
follow right behind them. When swordfishing you want to have
your best game turned on. Without the light at the boat you might
as well stay home. We deem this light very effective. Think about
when you see a boats navigation lights about 10 miles away. Imagine
a swordfish. Their eyes are enormous and we bet can see much
better than we think. This could be the difference between a
fun-filled night and a very frustrating night. Check out the
forums for more information on the secrets and tips. Fish On?
Now What?
Once you hear the drag being taken out or you see a fish surfacing,
you want to jump on that rod fast. Each rod should have a different
color light that distinguishes it from your other rods. The enables
you to determine which rod the fish is on. You should of had
your drag set at practically nothing, just enough to keep the
bait from taking off line. Get on the rod and start cranking
until you get tight on the fish. Once tight, start increasing
the drag until you hit about 8-16 pounds of drag. Too much drag
may cause the hook to rip from the soft mouths of these fish.
The hook will automatically set and you are in for a fight of
a lifetime. Have a buddy put the belt on you, so you can stand
up and fight the fish properly. Do not arch forward or your back
will begin to hurt very quickly. Do not rush the fish. These
fish get in excess of 400lbs and have been known to keep anglers
on the wind for over 8 hours! Once the fish is at the boat, it
is ideal to have one guy handline the leader and another guy
with the gaff. We also suggest using wind-on leaders. This will
help avoid the dangers of hand-lining a big fish. A swordfish
has to be at least 47 inches to keep. So before hitting it with
the gaff, you want to decide if you are keeping the fish or not.
We recommend not keeping a fish under 60 inches. This will help
the bounce back of the swordfish industry. If you do decide to
keep the fish, you want to gaff the fish right in the gill plate
to avoid ruining the meat. Always wear tough leather gloves,
as the bill is very sharp. *Tip - Keep your hands together when
leadering the fish. This will help avoid the dangers of hand
lining the fish.Tight Lines,Swordfishing Central
Michael Grimm
http://www.swordfishingcentral.com
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