How Do Y'all Fish Tuna Here

[Eddy Bilderback]

So i am getting ready for the upcoming season this fall for tuna, and I am pretty sure I have all the right gear, but how are y'all find where the tuna are? And how are yall fishing them? Bait fishing, jigging, poppers, and kites? I know, I know, Im a newbie... this is much different from salmon and halibut in AK...

 

[Tunahead]

LOADED Question.....Tuna here range from
the tip of Baja/beyond to South of SD and
Socal, even Norcal by Fall...it's a big ocean.
For big bluefin you need big tackle. For others
in Mexican waters short range like YF Tuna, Dorado, Yellowtail in summer-Med. Tackle.
Sometimes lighter for smaller schoolie tuna.
WHAT are your goals? Short range trips or
long range? What's your budget? Give us
some clues and starting points.

 

[Buttchaser]

Are you fishin on a private boat or from sport boats ?

 

[Eddy Bilderback]

Fishing out around clemente and catalina islands... mostly focused on medium to schoolie tuna, but would like to have one set up just in case the biggens show up. My bad, my bad... again im a big newbie.

 

[Eddy Bilderback]

Private. Looking at the Penn fathoms and internationals, along with some baitcaster and spinning reels

 

[dctalk523]

I went on the pq and did the flat fall thing I was rewarded w/ a 195lb BFT

 

[tunacraze]

You got a boat? What boat? Have you ever fished out here before? Those would be my first questions....

 

[Arima-bob]

Doesn’t HAVE to be Penn gear, but this should give you something to read sitting on the john

*Bluefin* FIVE RIGS: Don't leave the dock without them!

Given that long range-grade tuna are now a regular occurrence in local waters, and you never quite know if the next school of tuna you encounter will be 25-pounders, or 250-pounders, what constitutes "local tackle" needs a serious re-boot. Any...

www.bdoutdoors.com

 

[Eddy Bilderback]

Doesn’t HAVE to be Penn gear, but this should give you something to read sitting on the john

*Bluefin* FIVE RIGS: Don't leave the dock without them!

Given that long range-grade tuna are now a regular occurrence in local waters, and you never quite know if the next school of tuna you encounter will be 25-pounders, or 250-pounders, what constitutes "local tackle" needs a serious re-boot. Any...

www.bdoutdoors.com

penn gear just fits the budget well

 

[Eddy Bilderback]

When is the best time of year to be chasing the foamers around?

 

[Arima-bob]

If fishing from San Diego, June through November is a good start. Sometimes they’re found close by in March/April

 

[Kevin A]

When is the best time of year to be chasing the foamers around?

When the fish show up and before the seiners and all the other boats get on them.

 

[Kevin A]

penn gear just fits the budget well

The rod and reel is just a drop in the bucket, Now look at all the terminal tackle, the kite's or ballons with helium tanks, either a big fish hold or a couple big kill bags, The gas, the ice. If your on a budget, do a couple Long Range trips and you will be way ahead of the game, Money and fish wise. This stuff your asking takes years to learn it with a lot of trial and error and bring home the big donut for your money and efforts.

 

[Tunahead]

When is the best time of year to be chasing the foamers around?

Usually June to even late October....but again
that's tuna being tuna...nothing is exact.
To narrow it down, July to September or so.
Depends on water temp, bait to eat, etc.

 

[Tunahead]

The rod and reel is just a drop in the bucket, Now look at all the terminal tackle, the kite's or ballons with helium tanks, either a big fish hold or a couple big kill bags, The gas, the ice. If your on a budget, do a couple Long Range trips and you will be way ahead of the game, Money and fish wise. This stuff your asking takes years to learn it with a lot of trial and error and bring home the big donut for your money and efforts.

He's right...I started age 13 about 1959-60.
Fishing with Veteran anglers,crews,
YOU LEARN if you're paying attention. FYI

 

[Kevin A]

He's right...I started age 13 about 1959-60.
Fishing with Veteran anglers,crews,
YOU LEARN if you're paying attention. FYI

As Tuna head said, Pay close Attention when people are getting bit and your not, Forget about what he said or she said, Just pay attention to the people getting bit and you aren't!! Just like when your fishing for tuna and the skipjack are all over you and the tuna are hanging under the skippies, Forget about using a hot bait, Use a dead bait to get past the skippies, (The skippies generally wont go after the dead bait) and the yellowfin will inhale a dead bait in a New York second.

 

[RodRage]

Bring money!

 

[surfgoose]

Learning to find and catch tuna with some consistency from a private boat is roughly the same investment of money and time as getting your private pilot license. It can certainly be done, but it takes real commitment and a fat wallet. The same for marlin, swordfish, and other big game fish.

 

[Aggro]

I have too many hobbies. All expensive. Try to limit yourself to a gun and a smaller rig 20-40 lb.

 

[Tunahead]

Learning to find and catch tuna with some consistency from a private boat is roughly the same investment of money and time as getting your private pilot license. It can certainly be done, but it takes real commitment and a fat wallet. The same for marlin, swordfish, and other big game fish.

YEP the 1 thing you can't buy right away, is
TIME on the water, learning, looking, catching.

 

[2454 big mike]

When we first started on our boat we had a friend that was experienced. We buddy boated with him several times before we got the hang of it. Took quite a few trips to get it down.
My son then got fish dope and that was a game changer.

 

[Blackfish]

So i am getting ready for the upcoming season this fall for tuna, and I am pretty sure I have all the right gear, but how are y'all find where the tuna are? And how are yall fishing them? Bait fishing, jigging, poppers, and kites? I know, I know, Im a newbie... this is much different from salmon and halibut in AK...

Eddie,

June too Late September is "offshore season". "Yellow Tail, Tuna and Dorado", kind of in that order as the season goes. Every years is a little different, some years are epic and some you really have to put lots of hours on the water. It really does come down to time on the water.

Don't over think it. Find the right conditions, and start from there. Meaning check out the SST and Chlorophyl charts. Look for where the tempbreaks meat clean blue water. Check the tides. And plan your trip from there. Look for kelp paddies.

You don't need fancy expensive gear. The Penn's will work just fine.

Most of fish our Pelagic fish are caught on live bait. Fly line, Dropper, or using a small egg sinker. Smaller hook. Match your hook with your bait size. #2 is pretty standard. 20-40 lb line. with a Floro leader, but I have caught plenty of tuna on strait mono.

Iron jigs are also very popular. Salas, Tady, Megabaits, Coltsnipers.

Trolling, good old Zukers feathers work well for YFT and Yt, and the occasional Dodo.

Stop by your local tackle store and they can help set you with a decent So Cal offshore arsenal.

Blue Fin...whole different beast. There are some great posts here. Ali made a great video on the how to's on fishing the big Blue fin. Check out the search feature in the upper left corner of the screen. Little magnify glass.

Also. Fishdope and YourSaltwaterGuide are great pay to play websites tools to help cut the learning curve and find the location of the fish.

Good luck.

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What rod and reel combo do you use for fishing flat falls for blue fin tuna?

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Seeker GTS80H 30-60 jigging rod for blue fin. Would anyone use this on a full day trip paired with penn fathom 40?

I’m going on a full day tuna trip out of seaforth landing and have a seeker GTS80H 30-60, I’ll pair it with a fathom 40 narrow spooled 80 power pro with top shot floro. I was planning on this being for school size tuna but am concerned if I hook...

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Fathom 40lnd2: work horse

Just got off an epic 1.5 day trip on the Pacific Queen. 30 blue fin tuna over 100lbs. I managed go bag me one on my Penn Fathom 40nld2 loaded with 500yds 80lb maxcuatro and 50yds of 80lb mono. I thought I would be under gunned but after catching...

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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyMghGNsPSHZ7DZdy1hJWHw

 

[islandhooker]

It Takes time on the water to figure it all out. It’s always a learning game. The tuna are always moving and always changing what they will bite. My suggestion is to have a lot of different options on the boat.
Kite rig , helium , different jigs , spreader bars and daisy chains.

 

[Northeastfshman]

When the fish show up and before the seiners and all the other boats get on them.

For BFT the Seiners have been done by February the last 3 years.

Carry on

 

[tunacraze]

I think the Mexican seiners are already done for the year. Saw two boats, Maria Antonieta and El Titi1, North of Cedros for the better part of this month. Both have returned to Ensenada.