The Right Rod and Lure For Swordfish
There is no beginner answer for swordfish, and pretending otherwise would be the wrong kind of help. The one method this site covers is deep drop. It needs a rod that is as stiff as rods get, between five feet and six and a half feet long. A shop would write that as extra-heavy power at 5'0" to 6'6". It has nothing in common with a rod bought for anything nearer to shore.
A swordfish is caught in 1,500 to 2,000 feet of water, and that depth decides the tackle before anything else does. Nothing about the answer resembles a bass answer. The bait sits on the bottom under several pounds of lead. The strike arrives as a slack-line change, not a thump. The fish has to be lifted back up through a third of a mile of water. Rod power here is not about casting, because nothing is cast. It is about lifting for a long time without the rod folding. A circle hook does the setting, so the angler never swings.
What Your Gear Has to Handle For Catching Swordfish
A hard mouth has to be penetrated, not merely pierced. A sharp point and a rod that moves line quickly matter more here than raw power. A pull that lands the hook in the jaw corner holds far better than one that lands anywhere else.
Swordfish have to be lifted by the rod, not wound in, and the water they hold in is open enough that abrasion is not the deciding factor. About 60 lb is the floor worth fishing. Going heavier buys nothing here.
They are fished in offshore water. The rods below are the shapes that suit that setting. A profile built for anywhere else is not on this page, however well it might cast the same bait.
How to Catch Them
One method, because one method is what the water allows. Anything that does not reach the depth swordfish hold at is not a slower answer, it is no answer.
Deep Drop
- Where it sits
- vertical
- Hook
- circle
- Rod
- extra-heavy
Daytime swordfish hold near the bottom in deep water, and a weighted bait lowered to them is the only thing that reaches that depth.
Swinging to set a circle hook, which pulls the hook out of the corner of the jaw instead of into it.
Where This Decision Goes Next
What rod for swordfish
The rod answer for swordfish in full, ranked, with the reason for each.
What lure for swordfish
What to tie on for swordfish, by technique, with the reason for each.
Narrow this to your swordfish water and gear
Five questions, four of them skippable. Name the water, how long you have fished and the rod already in your closet, and the answer narrows to what you can throw today — or to what to buy if you own nothing.