LP Connection to Trolling Set-up

[SM]

OK guys you have more experience than I do with this stuff. I've fished swords with Chummingwithchunk and Hannaman earlier this year. I'm presently doing some night trolling for swords off the SoCal coast. I'm using the skirted/ rigged squid baits that the second ticket on Prime Time in New Zealand described to me. That's a red or petrolero colored hubless skirt over a squid that's been sewed up, head stitched to the mantle, 12/0 7691 stitched into the head, 4" chem lite tied to leader and stitched to outside of the mantle, but under the skirt, 6" chem light rubber banded to leader 5' in front of bait. I'm also doing my own creation which calls for using 17" shell squids, trimming the mantle and sewing it up (some of these Humboldts are up to 24" long from a float off our coast) so that it can be slid up into the shell squid, 4" red chem light stitched on and up in the shell squid, 6" green chem lite rubber banded up on the leader. I'm running these off the downrigger just above the thermocline in the bait marks. I use a #32 rubber wrapped around the main line and tied to the pancake weight via a 5' piece of black 130 lb dacron. Got knocked up this past weekend and the head of the squid was missing. No apparent teeth marks from the prevalent makos.

Anyway, I just picked up a tri-color electralume from Lindgren-Pitman. They come with long line clips. I'm not so sure about connecting the electralume to my leader using the long line clip. I've connected dowrigger release clips to my down rigger using these clips an have lost several. I'm looking for suggestions on how to connect. Should I just eliminate the long line clip and crimp on a short piece of mono with an offshore loop at one end and then place this in the swivel where I connect my leader to my wind on? I'm using 10' leaders of 400# Momoi marlin hard. My windons are 400 lb Momoi by Basil.

[sabiking]

Just use the ring that is on the LP and connect the swivel end of a snap swivel to it. Then clip the snap swivel to the swivel at your wind on / leader connection. Another option is to just put it directly on the snap swivel you are using to connect your leader to your wind on.

[Captain Joe McGivern]

Steve i would do exactly what Sabiking said.Good luck man! LEt me know how u do.I am planning a trip your way in may too see if we cant find a few sunning on the surface.The rigs your using sound great.

[SM]

I was thinking the same. Ditch the long line clip and just thread it onto my terminal wind-on swivel.

Joe, when are you coming out? You face long odds on surface baiting swords out here. You need to bait 50 to hook 10 to land one. Just about all of them are snag fish because they aren't really feeding at the surface. Out here, a sword caught on the surface during the daytime is a once in a lifetime fish.

I am convinced trolling at night will be more effective. I can't wait a lifetime. No one has caught a sword off SoCal trolling at night, that I know of. I know Greg Stotesbury of Aftco (see his wife's report of their daytime fish earlier this year) says he'll be trying. Of course, not a lot of effort has been put in. I've done 4 nights......over the past 3 years! I have a buddy who's done 4 nights. I know of one other that might have trolled at night. It's harder than hell to find a capable person to go with me and I cover all the costs, which are minimal in my diesel center.

[kai akua]

Sighn me up!

I will go as many nights as I can possibly get time for!

[SM]

Robbie, your on. However, 3 hours drive each way just to troll all night is a pretty tough trip. It beats me up and I won't have your drive on either side. I've been blanked on 4 nights. I can only fish weekends or Saturday nights, due to work. Well maybe I could pull Friday and Saturday with a young eager guy pushing me after work on Friday night. I'd offer you a free room, but we're presently under going a remodel and the wife and I are in the only remaining room not under construction. Right now through the month of October is prime time as the Humboldt squid start showing on the inner banks. Reports are that the squid have been showing. Swords can't resist that squid.

[Captain Joe McGivern]

Hey Steve we are planning on coming in April and may.I have herd that in those 2 months the swords are around on Baja.I will give you a shout definetly.I would love to hook up with u then and do some Shark Fishing.Stay in Tounch man!

[SM]

Best times for swords off Cabo/East Cape area. Again, they are not that prevalent as a day time catch and no one, no one is night trolling them. Mazatlan peaks in March for daytime swords.

[Captain Joe McGivern]

Thanks for the tips Steve.

[RiskTaker]

Hi SM:

I went through the same thought process the first few times I started swordfishing on how to attach the longline clip of the electrolume onto the line. Since I thought the long line clip was so convenient to use, I decided to attach a slide-on circle ring to the ring on the snap side of the ball bearing swivel. (I think the same as Sabiking is describing but you stay with the longline clip.) This provided a very convenient mounting point for the electrolume. I also tied my 2 lb. break-away weight to the electrolume connection as well.
This made it a one step process to attach electrolume and weight and it would not interfere with the leader rig that you would attach on the snap.
It is also connected separately from the bait rig which makes it impossible to fall off when you open your snap to reconnect baits. (Just a precaution if you get the idea to slide the Electrolume onto the open snap - you would hate to drop a $40 electrolume into the DEEP for no good reason.)

Of course, the draw back of this convenience is the bulk of the swordfish clip. But if that does not bother you may want to give it try.

Good fishing,

RiskTaker