Tackle Tips: Swordfish Squid, Bow Lines and Live Bait

Quick and Easy Swordfish Squid

Captain Ron Rico

When making tackle rigs for swordfishing, leave a long tag end on your hook connection. Depending on your squid size, you will need to measure your hook placement and cut accordingly. Insert your hook, as pictured, and push the tag end of the leader back into the center of the mantle. It’s important to keep your hook and leader dead center in the squid to eliminate spinning. Once rigged properly, your squid will fish in a realistic position thru the current.

Red Short Black Long Captain Tucker Colquhoun Speed is everything when it comes to tournament fishing. One of the easiest and simple ways to ensure your baits are positioned quickly is to mark your lines with a Sharpie marker. Capt. Tucker adds a second marker. One is for the short rigger position, in this case red color, and the long rigger position is black color. Regardless of different rods being rotated through the cockpit positions, each angler can easily position a bait by looking for a specific color.

Bow Lines on for Safety

Captain Kevin Deerman

Like many other sportfish boat owners nowadays, we opted to go without a bow rail. This gives us a cleaner look and we really don’t have anyone (except for the mates) going up on the bow.

When we are in a situation where we may be anchoring, tying off to a buoy or rig here in the Gulf, we will stretch out a couple of dock lines and run them tight from the handrails at the front of the bridge house to each of the bow cleats. This rigging acts as a safety precaution for anyone to hold on to on the bow, making it safer for everyone even in rough seas.

Live Bait Slip Float

Captain/Mate Stephen Brexel

Deckhand Stephen Brexel utilizes a #64 rubber band under his float-sinker-bead set-up on his wind-on leaders when live baiting. The rubber band holds the float in place so you can see it near the top of the wind-on when kite fishing. It also allows the float-sinker-bead to slip down the wind-on when a fish is on. “It lets my anglers wind the line all the way to the five-foot leader swivel.

This is helpful for a number of reasons, like when wiring a fish, the angler cranks while I grab the wind-on so we don’t have the leader flying around behind me. It also helps when we pick up and run—the float is down to the snap swivel and only the short leader and hook needs to be secured versus the entire wind–on. Plus, this set-up can be used with wire leader for toothy critters,” says Brexel.

Red Short Black Long

Captain Tucker Colquhoun

Speed is everything when it comes to tournament fishing. One of the easiest and simple ways to ensure your baits are positioned quickly is to mark your lines with a Sharpie marker. Capt. Tucker adds a second marker. One is for the short rigger position, in this case red color, and the long rigger position is black color. Regardless of different rods
being rotated through the cockpit positions, each angler can easily position a bait by looking for a specific color.

Do you have any comments or questions for us? We’d love to hear from you.