Opinions are like...

Chasin' Tales · 02-27-2005, 10:46 AM

Everyone has one, now let's hear them!

I am just getting into swording and have heard many opinions as far as drag goes when fighting a fish. Some say swords have soft mouths, 12 lbs of drag. Others say a swords mouth is tough and that those people that pull hooks just had them foul hooked.

RiskTaker · 02-27-2005, 11:42 PM

Chasin Tales:

Yeah, everybody has an opinion. And I think your opinion poll may not quite get you the proper answer that you are fishing for.

Let's start by asking you: How badly do you want to get a fish in the boat? And are you running short on time?

It seems like from all of the reading I have been doing on this forum, that anglers do it both ways: gentle drag with open time limit and crank ''em in tighter/faster than that.

From my experiences so far: Swordfish do have soft mouths in spots, Foul hooking does not necessarily mean you have a weak connection on the fish, you can lose fish by applying too much drag and pulling hooks and you can conserve fight time by bumping up the drag. So you should probably be flexible on your decision for each and every fish you go tight on.

We had one fish, that was put in the boat: it was hooked in the soft flesh between the lower jaw bones, this is probably the classic example of a swordfish with a soft mouth. I happened to be the angler on the fish for this one and I never bumped up the drag past strike. And while the fish was at the boat, even loosened the drag a little bit to allow for any irratic behavior. We got the fish: but the hook nearly fell out once the fish was on the deck.

Many other times you will have a more solid connection, foul hooked, gut hooked or firmly jaw hooked and you could take a chance and power in the fish faster.

But if you ever get the fish up to the boat early, try to see how the fish is hooked. That could give you some knowledge to dertermine if you can prudently apply more drag as you deem appropriate.

tunaman81 · 02-28-2005, 01:30 AM

I agree with Risktaker...

View Poll Results: When first hooked up on a fish do you?
Crank down the drag to see if the hook will pull in the first few minutes of battle?	10	71.43%
Baby the drag and spend 3 hours getting a foul-hooked fish to the boat?	4	28.57%
Ummm...I don't know, I just do what the captain tells me.	0	0%
Voters: 14. You may not vote on this poll

02-27-2005, 10:46 AM	#1 (permalink)
Chasin' Tales Lines In Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Pensacola Posts: 44	Opinions are like... Everyone has one, now let's hear them! I am just getting into swording and have heard many opinions as far as drag goes when fighting a fish. Some say swords have soft mouths, 12 lbs of drag. Others say a swords mouth is tough and that those people that pull hooks just had them foul hooked.

02-28-2005, 01:30 AM	#3 (permalink)
tunaman81 Hooked Up Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Fl Occupation: student Posts: 381	I agree with Risktaker... __________________ There is nothing like fishing the deep blue offshore waters

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02-27-2005, 11:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
RiskTaker Grander Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pompano Beach, Florida, USA Best Catch: Had one once, then she took the boat away Posts: 1,978	Chasin Tales: Yeah, everybody has an opinion. And I think your opinion poll may not quite get you the proper answer that you are fishing for. Let's start by asking you: How badly do you want to get a fish in the boat? And are you running short on time? It seems like from all of the reading I have been doing on this forum, that anglers do it both ways: gentle drag with open time limit and crank ''em in tighter/faster than that. From my experiences so far: Swordfish do have soft mouths in spots, Foul hooking does not necessarily mean you have a weak connection on the fish, you can lose fish by applying too much drag and pulling hooks and you can conserve fight time by bumping up the drag. So you should probably be flexible on your decision for each and every fish you go tight on. We had one fish, that was put in the boat: it was hooked in the soft flesh between the lower jaw bones, this is probably the classic example of a swordfish with a soft mouth. I happened to be the angler on the fish for this one and I never bumped up the drag past strike. And while the fish was at the boat, even loosened the drag a little bit to allow for any irratic behavior. We got the fish: but the hook nearly fell out once the fish was on the deck. Many other times you will have a more solid connection, foul hooked, gut hooked or firmly jaw hooked and you could take a chance and power in the fish faster. But if you ever get the fish up to the boat early, try to see how the fish is hooked. That could give you some knowledge to dertermine if you can prudently apply more drag as you deem appropriate.

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