Swordfishing

     Swordfish are prime targets for many fishermen worldwide. Sword fishing is a little bit more complicated than some other types of fishing but can still be done by anyone. Sword fishing is primarily done during the nighttime. They usually stay between 500 and 2000 feet, but do occasionally come close to the surface. You need to be about 15 to 25 miles offshore as well. Swordfish can get hundreds of pounds in weight so you will need heavy deep see rods and reels along with heavy pound test.  On top of heavy pound test you will also need about 200 feet of mono leter. If you take a trip to your local marina or bait store they will have swordfish rigs already hooked up and ready to buy. This will save you the trouble and time of making them yourself. Swordfish’s favorite food is squid so that is the suggested bait to use. Two things that are necessary for sword fishing are a luminescent lights (can also be found at local marina or bait store) and balloons or water jugs. Since you are fishing at night, the light is needed to make the bait more visible.

     The balloons or water jugs are used as bobbers. This way you can easily see if a swordfish has hit the bait or not. You can put up to 4 lines out at once, but you have to make sure they are all at different depths to avoid tangles and to cover more area of where the swordfish or swordfishes may be. After all four lines are in the water, you sit and wait with the boat engine off. Make sure to keep the drag on the bail really loose, so that the line is basically about to fall off the reel. Once you get a hit you want to jump on the rod as fast as possible. Tighten the drag and reel. If you have a new, sharp hook it will set itself as the line tightens. Make sure you bring a fighting belt with you because it can take hours to reel in some swordfish. Good luck and have fun!