Drag settings

[Threesenough]

I know the general opinion on drag settings is to set it about 11 to 12 pounds at strike and drift with the least amount of drag possible and not have the line go out. I have been doing this religously and I'm getting frustrated fighting a fish for hours ( as was the case a couple nights ago) only to see the hook pull.
Would it be better possibly to put some heat on them early and find out if you do have a good hookup. At least this way if you loose him you can possibly get another drift in that night. I went through a similar thing fishing Tarpon in Miami. Spent lots time chasing around big fish with lighter tackle. By the time we released the fish we had missed most of the bite. We upgraded to bigger gear, heavier leaders and began releasing the fish in half the time. And also being able to catch a lot more Tarpon in one evening.
With so many opinions on Sword fishing techniques, I was just interested in peoples thoughts.

[CAPTINMITCH]

From the sound of it, I'd guess you're fishing J-hooks. Once I switched to circle hooks, that problem virtually disappeared.
I stay in the 12-15 pound range but others subscribe to the heavy heat early theory. If you have the gear and a chair [80# gear + 30#s of drag - chair = midnight swim] then go for it.
Ron can give you a better idea on that.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by CAPTINMITCH

From the sound of it, I'd guess you're fishing J-hooks. Once I switched to circle hooks, that problem virtually disappeared.
I stay in the 12-15 pound range but others subscribe to the heavy heat early theory. If you have the gear and a chair [80# gear + 30#s of drag - chair = midnight swim] then go for it.
Ron can give you a better idea on that.

What size/brand circle hook are you using? And when fishing them, do you leave the drag light and then bump it up to 12 lbs to set the hooK? I am not certain how good a circle hook is..

But once I started offsetting my hooks, my hookup ratio and fish landed has doubled... I have caught 31 fish this year of which we kept 11. Most of the fish were hooked in the corner of the mouth with the offset hook. And of course many were foul hooked in the arse

Tight Lines, I'm heading out tomorrow from 5pm-10pm, and then off to celebrate with the family....

[Capt. Q]

I also prefer circle hooks or offset hooks when fishing live bait.

For squid, I sligtly offset my hooks, and I don't use a squid over 9 inches. I don't have time for these swords to take their time in killing all my baits, I want them to just inhale them. This is where a circle hook is great.

For live bait, I don't have many problems with a J-hook slightly offset. Lately I haven't had much luck on live bait.. the fish have been knocking them off the hook or just slashing them to death. But over the summer I my ratio on livebait was very strong.

I also always have a kingfish, spanish mackeral, or bonita that I do a nice sewing job on. Cut off the tail and sew the mouth shut and drift it deep and I get some nice hookups.

Im heading out at 4:00 today... I just stumbled on the site doing a search for bill painters... Its good to know there are swordoholics like me out there.

Capt Q

[Captain Joe McGivern]

i stick with offset hooks on livies. most of my catches are in the corner.personally i hate circle hooks.anyhow,i have landed 28 fish this yr on live bait all of with were 12/0 offset shortshank..

i usually have 13lbs of drag then if i start getting spooled i will bump it up to 17 but thats it,it seems to have worked for me this yr.

[CaptKen]

12 lbs max for me, rember their body is like a bowl of jelly. anything besides a good hook in the corner of the mouth the hook will rip through from one end of the fish to his tail. take your time with 1 fish and catch him,rather than tring to put big numbers on the board. Ive seen the hook rip from the head through his stomach all the way to his tail, put him in the boat and all his guts fall out on the deck, all from too much drag trying to horse him in,
When I saw that I loosened up my drags,I dont want to see them swimming around out there ripped half in two.
my 2 cents
Ken

[hannaman]

I agree with the lighter drag. 10-12 pounds. One time I went up to 15 pounds and fed a Sword at the boat with a squid, as he swam off with the bait I slowly locked up to the strike position and felt him on strong and then felt a weird feeling of something going on with the fish, as we brought him up we saw the hook had caught him near the jaw and sliced him all the way down to his tail and held him there. That side of the filet was pretty mangled. Now I fish the lighter drag, when the fish runs hard I will drop my drag a bit until he slows down then I will bump the drag up and sometimes all the way up and real as much as I can until he starts to pull again and I'll back off again. A tighter drag will just piss em off and go nuts close to the boat. My theory.
New Lattitude

[Threesenough]

Incredible to hear about swords getting gutted during the fight. Thats a new one on me, but I don't doubt it for a moment.

So pretty much the consensis is to keep the drags light and work on better ways to get a good hook up by experimenting with the type of hook and size of bait. I like the smaller and multiple squid idea. Will give that a try next time.

[Ron.38 Special]

Here's how we set the drag,

You tighten the drag adjustment with vise grip until you can't turn it anymore. Then you take a hammer and wack the drag lever until it starts to bend. Then you pull out your drag scale and check the drag setting. If you can pull the line out, you hammer the drag lever more until the line stops coming out.

You're all set!

[hannaman]

Pop em or stop em!