4-15-06 report

[Randy]

Randy:Are all your fish hooked in the mouth?


Yes , all in the mouth. Except One , the first one i ever got lasooed the tail believe it or not. looked like John Wayne threw a rope on that heiffer ! :lol: But all others in the mouth Far as i can remember. The big ones over 150 # these last couple months were stuck good + deep . The small ones are hooked "OK" but not like the bigguns. Rarely do we get skunked and a few times if they're small 50-55" ers we'll bring in 2 . We have a giant insulated fish bag a 50+ will fit in with two big blocks of ice but once you get that second one unfortunately thats it , we gotta go in , the bag will only hold one + zipper up. Our biggest problem is pullin the hooks. I listen to the radio and it sounds like everyone else is losing some fish too. Im workin on it. With the 13# preset we're doin much better now. Usually now if we come tight on a fish it's dinner. But im still tweakin it. I use all info you guys give me but i have an oldtime hardcore swordfisherman with over 40 years experience who is settin me up . He has forgotten more then i'll ever know and has the pictures to prove it. Some of those fish in those pics look like they could eat the fish im catchin . I take all the suggestions i get from everyone and tweak it. Know I appreciate all you guys input. I need a pic of the rig with the hook high in the mantel , I try everything and will try it too. My idea is people think those fish are swiping at the bait but in reality they are coming at the bait at high speed slicing/whacking it as it goes down the sword and into the mouth all in one motion . Sometimes they cut it + miss and come back around , Maybe. This is what i THINK happens. Thats the attack i set up for. Is it right , Who knows . Im sure some will say different but so far the evidence im gettin is that. It's definitely workin for us. Somethin works ? dont screw with it ! Rigs ready now for this weekend !

[Tuna Devil]

Originally Posted by quack quack

On sun maybe we will pick up a sail and a blue to go with the sword for a slam :shock: Now that is something I have not done around here.I got one in mexico on a blue,white and sailfish combo.I have got blues and whites up north with some bigeyes thrown in does that count?

Yea,

A Blue a White and a an Eye is some kind of lame Northeast Slam or somthing they are trying to push now. I am aiming for a skippy, Tripletail, snake king slam. Now thats fishing. hb

[Captain Ollie]

Randy, yes I do fish bouys but try to do that only on weekdays. On weekends I'm rod and reel. Yes I do have fish pull off but its not a normal occurance. My landing ratio is pretty much 95% on the bouys and 85% rod and reel. You wouldn't believe how much pressure you can put on the fish. On the bouy gear they are always hooked in the mouth or deeper. This has to be because the gear is free floating. When your fishing rods off the boat, I don't care if you fish a parachute for a sea anchor, you are still dragging the gear, with a ridiculous amount of weight attatched, to hold the depth. While the bouys, on the other hand, have only a 1 pound weight attatched at the bottom of the drop line. With rod and reel gear, Mr. swordie comes up and swats at your bait, maybe misses and either ends up fouled or spooked because he felt the weight and his meal is still moving away like nothing ever happpend. They are such messy eaters that I think you just gotta get lucky and have the fish actually inhale that bait before the fish realizes something isn't right or gets foul hooked making multiple attempts at the bait. Ever notice how most missed fish have "corkscrewed" your leader? To that end I think a heavier or at least stiffer leader helps prevent some of this. I think its also imperative that your sinker falls off the second a fish hits. I use 3 to 4 pound bags (use pantyhose) of rocks to minimize this expense. The 3 inch river rock works best and you get like 8 sinkers out of a 4 dollar bag. That beats the cost of lead anyday. I attach this weight to a sort of tripline release I devised about 30 feet from the bait. It took me years to perfect this rig but it did wonders for my hookup ratio.
The other thing that will improve your hookups is pin rigging those squid. Here's my attempt at a description: Before crimping your hook on make sure you slide an extra crimp onto the line. It just remains freesliding. When you crimp the hook leave about a 4 inch tag end sticking out of the the crimp. Take your squid and insert the hook into the body, about 2 inches from the pointy end. Don't push it all the way through the whole squid, however, you want to have the hook in the tube, then push it through. Next pull the hook through till it clears the tag end. Now push the hook back into the squid the same way you pulled it through, except this time make sure the tag end goes into the tube and comes out the pointy end of the squid. Next twist the hook in place and push it back through the whole body. The final step is to slide the one crimp down over the tag end. DO NOT CRIMP. Just trim off some of this tag end, I leave about an inch or so. This rig is completely reusable, holds the bait solid as a rock, and keeps the hook upright in the middle of the squids body. It sounds tricky but I can do it in less than 10 seconds. Once you figure it out and see how good it works you'll never do it any other way again.

[Randy]

I gotta see this rig Ollie , It's too complicated to figure with the description. I cant picture it in my mind. I too have fished Bouys , 30+ years ago we used to fish shark . We'd hook two steel drums together with 300' steel cable, hang chain shark hooks with baits between them, drop them 20 miles off sebastian and wait all night before pickin em up. I could tell you some pretty harrowing stories . But not today and not on here , It's Friday , "Gotta make the donuts" and everything has to get ready . Seas are lookin good !

[DORADOsteve]

Capt. O-

That rig sounds interesting. If you dont mind, please post picts.

Thanks!

[quack quack]

Look in the 2nd page of the gallery on this site.It is under squid rigging pics.[/img]www.swordfishingcentral.com/gallery/Rigging/2005_Feb_Squid_Rigging_Tag_End_method_010

[Randy]

The page you Requested could not be found.

http://www.swordfishingcentral.com/g...End_method_010[img][/img]

[quack quack]

Just go to the gallery then to the second page on the bottom you will see it listed

[Captain Ollie]

WOW it took me a while but I managed to find the pics. Thats pretty much the way it looks but I do mine a little differently. I'll try to get some pics taken and post how I do it. I think its a little simpler than that rig but the end result is pretty much the same. I also don't have to use the hollow needle when I do mine.

[RiskTaker]

http://www.swordfishingcentral.com/gallery/Rigging



Or

[Disco Lady]

C :shock: N :shock: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!