Swordfishing

[fin]

This something that i have personally invested a lot in this year and hope will reap the benefits. I am very determined to catch swords at night on rod and reel and are looking forward to find some good areas not too far off from our shores. I have heard mant mentioning some good hot spots but never too sure if these lovely specimens are caught at all around here out at sea.

I am not talking about what a call a 'baby catch' i am talking of swords atleast 47 inches + size.

Any locals who go searching for these, any hot areas you would like to share?

YOURS FIN

[Fishmagician]

It may help to start with a good temperature break and current. They you can set your baits (lines) and drift with the current. Set those lines at varying depths and what ever you do, set everything up for saftey sake before dropping the baits..

[fin]

So in general,

valleys, with good temp breaks are potentially good areas right\?

What about overall gear for night?

FIN

[fin]

Hey guys,

loads of sword around in the area from 5 kgs up to around 50kgs.

Night fishing is definitely in our plans now.

FIN

[skip]

Yep so far we've seen them near Xghajra as close as 2 miles, then further south near the gas storage tanks, 4-5 miles, and yesterday all over the West coast but nothing more than 6-7 miles out!

[Simon G]

we have spotted a few swords quite close in about 1-2.5miles off shore
one thing i noticed is they all where running parallel to dropoffs or in ridges

one piece of info which is interesting is most small swords (5-10kg) where found with lacci in their bellys
Thanks to malta centre for fisheries science

[gottie]

So What's the best sport fishing method to catch sword fish ?

[skip]

Drift with a sea anchor, at night, use something like a Swordlight in the water, chum a bit the area, and deploy your lines with live/dead bait suspended at different depths with a baloon.

Trouble is with all the long lining done in Malta it's a serious disadvantage to the USA where long lining is not allowed as it depletes all fish stocks and doesn't selectively target fish. Even baby swords are hooked up.

[gottie]

Fin,
What do you mean drift with an anchor? And what type of line and bait do I use ? Thanks.

[skip]

Drift with one of these http://www.seaanchor.com/seaanchor.htm

Go for Min 50lbs line, but watch your drag setting, ideally no more than 12-15lbs at Strike.

Mackerel are very good, I would imagine so are Squid, ideally both of them live, but that's pretty unlikely! Perhaps even a live cuttlefish.

[fin]

Just one thing to add, if you find atlantic mackerel they r much better as they give off more oil than the meditteranean ones.

FIN

[Simon G]

One of the biggest mistakes amature rod fisherman do is not to allow the fish to hook itself
Swordfish first strike the bait with their bill to kill it then come round to eat it
what we normally do is have an extra 2mt line by the balloon attatched with a rubber band so when the fish strikes it is released.

if you start pulling the line up before it takes it it will lose interest and swim away

[ciappinu]

One stupid question, whe you guys refer to Mackarel, are you refering to "Kavalli"?

[Simon G]

yes we are refering to kavalli but not the localy caught ones the atlantic ones as they are oilier and jucier and it seems the fish prefer them .

[twoutes]

Hey Guys, I just discovered this forum, and would like to ask you all what chance l have of getting on to some good swordfish action during my visit to Malta in August. I live in Australia, and have enjoyed many Marlin captures here. I have caught Striped Marlin up to 134kg and also Black Marlin from Cairns up to 400kg. I really would love to catch a swordfish, any chance?