Back-up reels/rods for Swordfish using 30 lb. class.

[Darkside]

Its kinda funny that you make such statments LightTackleGoogan. You don't know anything about me and what i've done fishing. Remember your still just a little boy and i've been fishing these waters for the last 30 years. And yes i've caught more than just a 100lber on thirty, but back to the point at hand. Would you rather have 4 50's our 2 50's and 2 30's on the boat fishing for that big one. Are you SESC member Final Point and did you goto the last meeting with Ronny Schatman? If so think about what he said and think how long he has been a sport fisherman in these waters compared to LTG and his opinion. Another thing you should think about is how many people have you heard about being dumped with 50's or 80's. If you want to catch one on 30lb try to catch one with bait and switch method using hookless squid on the tip so you can tease him up into the light and bait him on the thirty.

[Darkside]

Another thing to think about unless you plan on killing every fish is the prolonged fight you might have with lighter tackle. Bigger tackle isn't always a bad thing when you want to release fish you can catch them quick and release them quick.

[FinalPoint]

Very good points Darkside. No I am not a member yet, I will be though. By the way, how many swords have you caught LTRN (not saying that I have caught a lot), but you say you only go on about 6 sword trips a year.

[kai akua]

just to jump in here real quick. i think the light tackle/tired fish thing is a little wrong. most fish on 30, 20, 16, 8, 4 # dont even really know they are hooked till on the wire. i am not saying this is true all the time, but from my experince, these fish are green as can be on the wire. esp (almost always) when hooked down on 20# and below. i would be more concerned about breaking off a big fish and leting it die by getting tangled up in a few hundred yards of mono. also if you are really concerned about the fish's health you would not keep on drifting and dragging it along while hooked up. so before we diss light tackle for killing fish, maybe we should start backing down on the fish, insetad of using it as a sea anchor.

we faught a sword on 8# for almost 4 hours. that was a damn green fish when he was close to the boat. he was not tired at all, and he was a mere 60lbs.

the good thing about heavier tackle is when you do get a foul hooked fish or tail wraped fish, you can bring it up way quicker to the boat and have a better chance of realisng it, rather than killing it. a fish foul hooked or wrapped up on light tackle is a nightmare. we once spent a few hours planing up a dead tail-wrapped 350lb marlin on a 30. the line was packed on to the reel so tight that is busted the tiagra 30W spool and blew off the side plate. the rivts and screws went flying, hitting the other mate standing next to the angler (we have it on video and can see parts of the reel skipping on the water behind the boat). long story short if we had a 50 instead of a 30 that fish would have been up a lot faster and maybe would have lived. we ate some damn good smoked marlin in the next few days though.

just my $.02 hope it makes a point that one size tackle dosent fit all situations.

sorry for the bad spelling thats what a island edumacation gets you!

Alohas!

Robbie Brown

[CAPTINMITCH]

Swordfish? On TLD 25s?? Can't be done!!!!!

[FinalPoint]

It can be done, I just don't think it's the way to go. You will lose fish that way. Yes, if you put braided line on a TLD 25 you will be able to catch a keeper fish (assuming you are using around 20 or more lbs of drag). You will lose fish as well. I know that this is supposed to be sporty, but fighting a sword over 100 lbs on a 50 is sport. I don't know about you, but I don't go out swordfishing to come home empty-handed (which happens a lot and sucks). We go through a lot of prep and spend a lot of money to get out there, so I'd like a reward to come home with me, and yes, I want to have a good time doing it.

[CAPTINMITCH]

Originally Posted by FinalPoint

It can be done, I just don't think it's the way to go. You will lose fish that way. Yes, if you put braided line on a TLD 25 you will be able to catch a keeper fish (assuming you are using around 20 or more lbs of drag). You will lose fish as well. I know that this is supposed to be sporty, but fighting a sword over 100 lbs on a 50 is sport. I don't know about you, but I don't go out swordfishing to come home empty-handed (which happens a lot and sucks). We go through a lot of prep and spend a lot of money to get out there, so I'd like a reward to come home with me, and yes, I want to have a good time doing it.

I've been assured by many experts that there is no way you can catch a sword using TLD25s. :lol:

[Mike]

TLD 25 is a smooth reel!

We got a 300lb sword on a Penn Senator 9/0 with 50lb test. That was a serious challenge! 4.5 hour laters we got the fish in the boat.

But let me tell you that reel was on fire... I would of rather been on a tld25 with braid anyday!

And with the star drag it was tough to tell how much drag I had on the fish.. We measured it when we got home and it was at 18lb. But we cranked it up a tad at the end of the fight.

[RiskTaker]

Hey Pat:

How is it going? November is just around the corner: time for the bigger fish of the season to start being more regular in our littler double-dig. lattitudes.

This topic thread is quite entertaining with all the controversy. But even with all the back and forth, it is serving its purpose well to provide good feedback from highly seasoned anglers with slightly different points of view. Hey Jimmy, we need a swordfish and Jollymon tale!

The only caution though, with this back and forth, is to be careful about posting any personally directed statements that is not in good fun or is offensive. You may never know how things turn out. Picking on one may be from the hand that feeds another, etc. and so forth.

But Darkside made his point quite adequately stated: "would you rather have 4 - 50s or some lesser combination for swordfish or other potential reel de-spoolers. "Pero, Claro que si", I prefer all my rods to be 50s and in perfect working order for these fish.

Hey, but I would not mind being humbled at least once in my life by a swordfish smoking a 30 as long as I can get the other 4 out 5 into the boat.

Hey Robbie. Cool website. This stuff here won't put you to sleep. But if I get sleepy I now know where I can pick-up some 100% Kona coffee, no-fillers. www.maukafire.com . No matter what they say about you, it appears that you have been learned well and with a fair amount of edumecation in spite of the location.

Fish on!, who's on first?

Risk Taker

[kai akua]

yeah its tottaly not possiable to catch a sword on a tld, esp one with 8lb on it

if you dont try you wont know! its one thing to put food on the table and another to have a good time, i think we all need to find that happy meadian where we catch fish sportly and have somthing to show for it. just remeber that thier are people using light tackle and proving that it can be done.

[FinalPoint]

Good job, and well said.

[CAPTINMITCH]

Nice looking bait you got there. Did you bridle him or just pin a hook in his back?

[kai akua]

bait? wtf? hope thats a joke. dont get me wrong it sure aint no slob. its a mere rat. but it is a rat at a 7:1 ratio. that would be the equivalanet 0f a 375 on a 50lb rig. its ancomplishment no matter what way you look at it. i dont even catch my bait fish on 8lb, more like 12 or 20, i am sure you use heavier tackle catching your BAIT also.

but if i missunderstood you, it was on a medium squid, on the tip rod.

[RiskTaker]

Hey Robbie:

No, I think that was Capt. Mitch making a funny! I was busting out laughing at that one. Hopefully, no big offense at your expense.

But it was hilarious! Imagine that, prangster fishermen and only a week or so before Halloween. It will probably get worse before it gets better.

DSOM II is coming too.

Hey, good job on the swordfish though, with 8 lb. line. Is that you in the picture, holding the rod?

RiskTaker

[kai akua]

no i am a mate! i am the young kid on the left, with the cutnail visor.

if its all in good humor, i am cool with it. text can be hard to decifer than spoken words...

be carefull with that coffee, it will kick your ass! i am the webmaster for that site, it my wifes familys plantation! good stuff!

Alohas!

Robbie Brown.

[CAPTINMITCH]

Just busting your chops. Since you don’t know me, I’ll explain. A couple of years ago I got involved in another forum. Reason I signed up was there were a couple of guys asking for advice on swording. Since I've been swording down here since the 70s I started following the thread. There were a couple of Neandrathals were trying to discourage anyone new from trying out the fishery. When it came to gear, they were telling the newbies you had to use bent butt 80s, Moimoi diamond topshotted on to Spectra and so on.

Finally I’d had enough and tallied one guys shopping list. It came out to over $10,000 bucks. With my ususal bull-in-a-china-shop diplomacy, I said, “Bullchit, all you need to do is put a bait in front of a hungry fish.” Little did I realize what a controversy that would soon become. I had people sending me threatening emails and instant messages. One guy even told me he would sink me if he saw me on the water. All that did was to encourage me to help more people (and pickup some fresh ammo). To date, I’ve put just over 100 people on their first swords, done free seminars at Boater’s World and the Sail Club and answered every question I could - other than specific GPS #s - on a couple of different forums.

I pretty much was one of the first guys using 25s for swords. My position – which hasn’t changed – is if you can afford 50s and 80s by all means use them. If you can’t swing for the big gear, 30s and 25s will suffice provided you have good angling technique and a decent wheel man. Will you get spooled on 25s? Maybe. Will you get spooled on 50s and 80s? Maybe. Cap’t Greg wound up pinned to the covering board when a big sword dumped a 50 wide. It happened so fast they never had a chance to start the boat.

Anyway, that’s the story. Now repeat after me – “You CANNOT catch swords on TLD 25s."
:lol:

[kai akua]

LOL! its all good! :lol:

[CAPTINMITCH]

Originally Posted by CAPTINMITCH

Swordfish? On TLD 25s?? Can't be done!!!!!

BTW - that's why there was the winking icon. As in Monty Python's "Nod, nod, wink, wink, eh, eh!"

[Litetackleredneck]

Darkside, i agree 4 50's you stand a better chance. My prefence is actually 2 50's 2 30's and a 15 lb rod.
To be compleatly honest... most swords out here on 50 isnt sport. For a nice fish 300+ its pleanty good.

[RiskTaker]

Hey CaptinMitch:

Hey that was great background on your personal experiences. But I did not understand why all the agitation though. Was it just something you said or did some of those Neanderthal's, as you mentioned, want the swordfishing biz to appear like rocket science and hence the need to have top-shelf equipment, or just wanted more of the swordfish-pie for themselves?

You mentioned doing seminars at the Sail Club. Which sail club are you referring too? Do you have any swordfish tales of sailor-men winching slobs on-deck? Now wouldn't that be a sight for a site!

Now repeat after me – “You CANNOT catch swords on TLD 25s and especially not on a ketch or a sloop."

Now, bring out your dead ...

Cheers,

RiskTaker