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Random Quote: When the tides of life turn against you, and the current upsets your boat. Don't waste those tears on what might have been, just lay on your back and float."
With the purchase of the new boat, I am looking to get into the art that is tuna fishing. I am absolutely clueless as to, well, everything. If anyones familiar with NJ tuna spots, this year we will probably go no further than the mudhole because we want to get familiar with the boat before going out to the canyons (which we will be doing down the road)
What, and how much tackle should I buy?
-rods
-reels
-line
-rigs,baits,lures,etc
Now, as far as methods for catching tuna go, I have heard of chunking, jigging, and trolling. When is each method used? What do you look for when choosing a method? What method has been most effective for you?
Thanks for the advice
boatless (no more)
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2009 Boston Whaler 305 Conquest - Twin 300 V-Rods
2005 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon - My (surf) fishing machine
2008 Ocean Kayak Prowler 13 Angler - back in business
Best thing to do is buy a book;
*****Saltwater Gamefishing
Offshore and onshore
By Peter Goadby
*#*#*Tales of Swordfish and Tuna by Zane Grey
******Northeast Guide to
Saltwater Fishing and Boating
by Vin Sparano
The last book has accurate charts with which the species listed in the area described. I still refferene this book from time to time. I think they were written in the early 90's but are still accurate for you knowledge base.Use the Internet for up to date hot tips but read the books so you have a complete understanding of the whole picture.
This will greatly steepen the learning curve for you
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Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth. George Washington
How big is your budget - seriously: $20k is a good start.
If you want to fish Mudhole, it is mostly day chunking and jigging (although trolling if it is not too crowded), Canyon fishing is trolling during the day and chunking at night.We fish the same things plus sharking too.
I have mostly dedicated tackle. For trolling we fish mostly 9 rods (sometimes 11). For tackle for our overnight canyon trips we carry 2 Penn 70VS's, 5 Penn 50VSW's, 4 Penn 30 VSW's, 4 Penn 16VS's all on custom 5'8"-6' rods with Aftco wind-on guides and unibutts, 3 Penn Torque 200's on Trevala TVC-66's (for jigging and tilefish), and 3 Penn 750ssm's on 7' rods (for casting to squid or other bait and Mahi's). For Sharking we have 2 50 SW's, 2 30SW's and 2 16S's on custom stand-up rods at 6' (different set than the Tuna gear, plus 3 750 ssm's for jigging Bluefish. For middle grounds school Bluefin,the same gear as the canyon's without the 70 VS's.
As far as lures and other items for tuna, we usually carry everything we have - 20+ spreader bars of various types afd sizes, daisy chains (10), jets & green machines(20), feathers & clones (16), Cedar plugs (6), ballhoo hoods (16), birds & trailing plugs (4) and a buch of other misc stuff (mostly everything falls into 3 basic color patterns - rainbow, black/purple and lots of greens (all green, green/yellow or green/yellow/red (mexican flag)); 3-4 dozen tuna hooks in 6/0-8/0 (we prefer owner Super Mutu both with and without swivels) sizes with 5' of 40-80 lb flouro leader and 150 lb BB swivels, swordfish hooks lights & weights, tilefish setups and lots of spares.
since you are in the jersey area, i would advise you to go to this tackle shop over there, its called jig-n-pop (www.jignpop.com). the owners name is kilsong. he's an incredible fisherman. he would also be able to set you up w/ some gear, as well as tactics on how to get on the fish... heck if you want ask him to come fishing with you... he's retired and runs the jig shop for fun while he fishes around the world...
I'm no longer sure if trolling is the way to go for us. I have no idea how we're going to be able to work with 9 to 11 rods on our factory rigged BW. Leave a rod in the rocket launcher and put the line on an outrigger? I dunno...
Anyone want to go on a tuna trip? You bring the gear and put us on the fish we'll pay for gas
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2009 Boston Whaler 305 Conquest - Twin 300 V-Rods
2005 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon - My (surf) fishing machine
2008 Ocean Kayak Prowler 13 Angler - back in business
Does anyone have any feedback on Accurate reels? I almost bought a pair of them for my bigger surf rods and was told that I could double them up for some offshore stuff.
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2009 Boston Whaler 305 Conquest - Twin 300 V-Rods
2005 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon - My (surf) fishing machine
2008 Ocean Kayak Prowler 13 Angler - back in business
I'm no longer sure if trolling is the way to go for us. I have no idea how we're going to be able to work with 9 to 11 rods on our factory rigged BW. Leave a rod in the rocket launcher and put the line on an outrigger? I dunno...
The same way everyone else with a 28-32' boat does - 2 rods off each rigger (with a bigger boat 3 per side are common), 5 flat lines of the stern (although I haven't tried it myself over two big outboards), and if 11, 1 off each side on the 45 degree rod holders. This assumes you have 9 or more rod holders in the gunnels and plenty on the hard top and rocket launcher to clear them during a fight (we have 19 total on the hard top). And, if you are really pressed for space you could cut it down to 7 lines - 4 off the riggers + 3 flat lines.
Plus, don't forget about the landing equipment - 1 flying gaff with 2 heads (6" & 8"), 2 - 5" straight gaffs, 2 - 3" straight gaffs, tail ropes (2), bait net, landing net, and maybe a harpoon. Flat line clips, safety lanyards (unless you want to swim for that rod that goes overboard, and at least 2 belt/harness combos.
You will also need a large insulated box (300 qt cooler or 10 cu. ft Bonar style) for the 300 lbs or so of ice, and unless you have an insuled fish box, a fish storage bag, like a Canyon B-14 to chill some of your catch.
9 pole setup on a 28ft center console. Same on both sides and 9th pole is in the center back of the console seat. And yes the guy is taking a leak off the back!
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2003 Scout Abaco 242
" A boater's two happiest days are the day he takes title and the day he sells".
Damn!!!! You weren't supposed to give away the trick to catching tuna so easily.....you know....the extra warm water temperature break running out from the back of the boat!
You need several people in your boat if you are going to run more than 5 - 7 lines. That's a lot a chaos on the boat when you get a fish on for just a couple of people.
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31 Contender F 250s CCA Lifetime Member
One other comment, if you have the time and will to learn, building your own trolling bars and rigs will save you considerable coin - your typical 10 lure squid bar will cost $45 to build (with top shelf components - Sea Striker Titanium bars, Mustad SS hooks) verses $90 or more to buy; even real Green Machine bars that cost $150 to buy can be built for $90 - clones with cheaper imported look-a-likes for $70. As far as time to get a spreader bar right - perfect spacing and balance will take about 2-3 hours per bar. There are plenty of articlea and thoughts on how to rig them - people vary: types (Canyon Runner's are all three chain; others use only 5 chain versions - we use both, but have reduced our 5 chain inventory to mostly 14 (2-3-4-3-2) 6" squid bars; all of our 3 chains ones are 3-4-3 lure patterns); spacing of lures from as little as 12" to as much as 20"; some people keep all the lures spaced the same - others add some space to hook holding lure; Some like really heavy mono, others use lighter mono on the wing chains (we tend to use 130 lb or 150 lb on the wings and 200 or 250 lb on the main chain); some like their bars with floats; and then there are the mutlitudes of colors.
As someone else suggested, the Canyon Runner Seminars are first rate, but it will take you 2-3 of them to catch all the breakout sessions they have. One last option is to hire a charter captain/expert to run the first 1-2 fishing trips - they will also supply gear if requested.
Another good source for info. Especially in the NJ area is the NJ Angler Website. they have online seminars that an be viewed real-time as they are happening or replayed from an archive on the site. They do charge a fee for those but they also have an archive of their TV shows that will provide you some tips.
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26' Twin Vee Express w/ Twin F150s
You need several people in your boat if you are going to run more than 5 - 7 lines. That's a lot a chaos on the boat when you get a fish on for just a couple of people.
How many people would you suggest for trolling with 5-7 lines? There will most likely be 4 people on board when we go fishing.
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2009 Boston Whaler 305 Conquest - Twin 300 V-Rods
2005 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon - My (surf) fishing machine
2008 Ocean Kayak Prowler 13 Angler - back in business
How many people would you suggest for trolling with 5-7 lines? There will most likely be 4 people on board when we go fishing.
Four people is to many boats a full crew, and would be no issue in handling even 9 lines. We have done 9 lines witha crew of 3 on a few occasions. Generally the way it works is when the fish hit, you keep driving for 15-20 seconds more to hopefully get a 2nd or 3rd hookup, once you stop, you have four people free to work the deck. If you have multiple of them hooked, use up to 3 anglers to fight those on (if you had 5 on, 2 will remain untended until all is clea, and assuming nothing needs a gaff), starting with the ones closest to the boat; the 4th man will start clearing lines and gear, starting again with the ones closest to the boat (usually the flat lines, pulling in the ones on the riggers last because they are furthest from the action, and a good portion of the line is out of the water.
On our boat the ultimate crew for day fishing is 5 people, beyond that it gets crowded - on overnighters we will go with 6, which allows 2 to sleep at a time without any loss of capability.
Tuna Fishing... Noob questions
