Swordfish Fishing Fort Lauderdale Florida |
You better believe it! South Florida has a big game Fishery right off the coastline. All you have to do is get past the shelf and your in Swordfish grounds. There is only one catch, you have to go at night and be prepared for anything to happen. Mako Sharks are in this neck of the woods and have been caught by quite a few boats past the 700 pound range, also the Swordfish here have been caught approaching the 700 pound mark. Besides these large obstacles be prepared to weather a storm because they can approach in less than a moments notice. I remember fishing the “ A Child is Missing Swordfish Tournament” last year and all was quite as we were fishing comfortably waiting for the bite. We watched a storm at least 20 miles south of us but paid it no regard as it looked to have been moving straight east from its southern location. Then all heck broke loose like someone turned on a switch as the winds picked up to 40+ knots with heavy rain and lightning. We had no time to reel in our gear but we did and it was too late. We were in the middle of it and had to be punished for the next 45 minutes as the wind and rain beat down on us as I tried to make it back to shore at 3-5 knots progressively. The only thing I regret is not having my radar working. If I had it working we could of seen it coming our way and got out of Dodge a little earlier. So a few things are necessary to have on your vessel when planning a trip to the Swordfish grounds for the evening. Having radar is important as I have learned the hard way. Always do a bilge check to make sure things are in working order. There have already been some horror stories of boats taking on water out there in the middle of the night. If your fortunate, you might get some help from a nearby fisherman or else you might have to wait for the coast guard or Sea Tow. Make sure your navigation lights are working. This is most important when you move to reset your spread. You have to rely on other boats navigation lights to avoid a collision. So it works both ways. There is nothing better than enjoying a successful Swordfishing excursion. I enjoy it particularly because I get to break out the good gear. On my boat we fish 80 wide Shimano Tiagra reels with a few 50 wide Tiagras as well. There will always be the debate on which way to spool it up. My preference is to go straight mono all the way to my swivel. I like to have no connections out there when I’m on a good fish. You might prefer to have a braid backing to get more yards on a 50 wide reel. I spool up with 80 pound mono on my 50’s and 100 pound on all my 80 wides. I remember last year some time in September when we set up on our second drift looking for the Swords. I had set our first bait in the water and must have put it right on his head because within 1 minute of the line being set the Electralume came racing for the surface. I got tight on him and wasn’t impressed yet by his reaction. He actually swam right to the boat and I was able to grab the leader. The fish never knew I was on the leader as he just kept swimming and tore it out of my hands. I remember the fish taking a few dives almost straight down. His surges lasted for what seemed forever as the spool would just empty down to the bottom. The rod was doubled over hard with all that line straight up and down. It was the most inscure moment you could have knowing that he could just keep going and pop the knot or the line could snap. I sure was glad that we had straight mono throughout the entire spool because if their were any braid to mono connections out there we would have been praying the entire time. Once you get past your line preference you have to think about leader material, length and strength. When you measure your length think of how its going to go down when your fish comes boat side. It’s would be easy if you went with short 8-10 foot leaders but you will get less bites. Swordfish have a big set of eyes, the size of baseballs on the big fish. So I prefer to use long leaders past 25 feet, keeping your swivel well away from the bait. I also attach my Electralume lights here. If your using light sticks they can be attached with rubber bands and you can go closer to the bait. Be cautious if you go with long leaders because wiring these fish can get dangerous. Be prepared to dump the leader if your fish surges at the boat. Never take wraps because if you have to let go, these fish can surge at lightning speed. If there is anything caught in the way including your hand or fingers, they will get dragged overboard. One time I was wiring a small fish that was all lit up at the boat. I had to dump the leader and a loop caught my finger. As the fish took off, the loop from the leader synched down on my finger and took all the skin off my knuckle. I thought I lost the tip of my finger it hurt so bad. When leadering a fish make sure the angler points the rod tip away from you. As you progress on leadering the fish, dump the line to your side outside of the boat. That way if you have to let go of the leader, it can run away smoothly without any snags. If the angler has his rod tip above your head there is a chance for a loop to get caught around your head. My leaders are around the 250- 300 pound range. Swordfish act in many ways coming at the boat. Many times they come swinging their bill from left to right in big sweeping motions. This can be intimidating to the leader man but you must keep leading him boat side and in 1 motion gaff him and pull him in. If your going to release your fish it’s best to cut the leader right at the boat. If you try to take the hook out be careful of the swinging bill. A heavy duty pair of gloves will make you feel more confident in securing his bill. Be prepared if your fish makes a jump at the boat. They have and will jump into the boat. It’s not a good idea for everyone on the boat to be crowded around the angler and leader man during this time. They need room to move away if the fish comes up and in the boat, especially with a fish that has a long sharp bill. Choose a good hook in the 9/0 to 12/0 range. Some guys are experimenting with large circle hooks and having success. I like to offset my Mustad J-hooks and crimp them to the leader. When I crimp my hook to the leader I always leave a tag end of about 2 inches long for rigging purposes. When I rig my squid I insert the hook through the top of the mantle and pull everything through including that long tag end. Now my squid can hang there as if on a coat hanger. You can then measure where the hook lays and insert it back into the squid. This rig takes all of 15 seconds and swims very natural. If your squids don’t look to fresh you can add some red food coloring to a bucket with a bit of salt water in it. You can set this up on your way out so that when your ready to fish your baits will have soaked in that deep red color. Live bait is also a great option. I like to use any of the Runner species, Rainbows, Blues etc. In the winter time the Tinker Mackeral are abundant and work well. All my live baits are bridled to their hooks. When setting out my spread I start with my first bait around 100 feet deep. I attach a 1-2 pound lead with a # 32 rubber band from 50-70 feet away from the bait. I first tie my rubber band to the line, then a 12 inch piece of thin wire is already attached to the lead. I take the wire and make 8-10 twists around the rubber band, securing it well. This lead will break away from the rubber band as your fish surges. As I’m at my 100 foot mark I attach my float, (balloons or milk jugs) with a light stick attached to them for a visual when there away from the boat. I attach my float the same way with a rubber band and wire. The same goes for the rest of the spread accept I will go deeper as I get closer to the boat. You want to keep your floats spread out and away from each other spacing them 70-100 feet away from each other. Most times a fish will take the bait and surface with it, the reason for the distance between floats. The last rod I fish is done right under the boat with no float. Straight down anywhere from 50-300 feet below the boat. I’m constantly re-positioning that rod. As you wait for the strike your drag settings should be carefully monitored. Some guys like to keep the drags loose with the clickers on and others keep their drags tight at all times. Either way you need to preset your drags anywhere from 12-25 pounds at strike. Setting your drag takes practice. I like to fish a heavy drag but that came after years of experience. It’s just like King fishing, you will land more fish with a tighter drag from the run-off. Every night presents a different challenge with the weather. Your best success will be from drifting a perfect north course. The Gulf stream in which you are fishing in moves at 1.5 to over 5 knots at times and will always be moving north. With a good east wind you should be getting pushed inside, but sometimes the current will be moving northeast pushing you outside, even on an east wind. So monitor your GPS to see which way your drifting. A sea anchor comes in very handy and can help with your success. The anchor will stop your wind drift only, keeping you in the zone and current much longer.
You never know what your going to get into out there. You might hear of a lot of small fish being caught but that doesn’t mean to show up under-gunned. Just about everyone I know has had a shot at a very big fish. It can and will happen to you so be prepared. See you on the rip, Captain Cary Hanna New Lattitude Sportfishing Charters Ft. Lauderdale, 954-907-0967 Captain Cary Hanna http://www.newlattitude.com/ 954-907-0967 |