How fast to troll for tuna

If jumping fish are spotted try and troll the edge of the school rather than driving straight through it first up, as it can keep the bite going longer. Also those anglers quick off the mark with a casting outfit can be at the ready at this point to lob lures into the frenzy if they like before the troll rods go off! Trolling is a great way to locate schools of fish to then actively throw lures like Coltsniper Rockslides at from a stationary boat if you want.

Bluefin tuna are exceptional sport and demand the use of quality gear if you want to come out on top. The X factor of chasing blues on the troll is the various sizes you could encounter in a day. Standard trolling outfits for bluefin are based on a preferred overhead or threadline combination. At the heavier end of chasing school bluefin would be something like a TLD 20 or 25 on a kg rod, with possibly a roller tip, but this isn't essential.

The threadline equivalent would be say a Stella on a heavy jig rod running 50lb braid, with a Shimano Wind-On leader also handy to have tied on for tracing fish. Dropping your gear size down will really show you how hard these fish can fight. A to sized threadline reel like a Saragosa SW running lb is a bit more sporty when used on a ft rod.

The beauty of these setups is they can be trolled or cast and are quite versatile if you need to swap between techniques. Going much lighter again is doable on the smaller fish although a half decent tuna could have you wrapped up for an eternity - if you like epic fights then this might be for you!

The drawback being light rods aren't the best for trolling unless you're towing small skirts or little minnows that don't have a lot of drag. All in all trolling for bluefin is highly effective and will put you in the thick of the action!

Trolling , chunking , and jigging are popular methods for pursuing offshore gamefish, and all three tactics are effective — but not every day. The savvy tuna angler keeps options open when running offshore and prepares for whatever bite presents itself.

Daily changing conditions require anglers to be ready for everything from old-school trolling to new-wave jigging. Learning to be a multidimensional tuna fisherman increases your chances of consistent success.

But typically the early season starts off by trolling, so here we go. There are many theories on trolling spreads. Mine has always been the more lines in the water, the better. An line starting spread gives a variety of offerings to find the preferred offering of the day, assuming your pit can handle that many rods.

Of course, the more lines that are pulled, the greater the headaches and chance for tangles. Pulling a spread this big is a tradeoff. Only with experimentation can anglers decide how many lines can be trolled comfortably on their own boats.

A basic five-line spread including two flat lines, two rigger lines, and a center shotgun is a good starting point. This is the foundation upon which the building blocks of tuna trolling are added. The next step would be to add two long-rigger lines, then a dedicated deep planer line, then more wherever you can fit them.

Artificial or rigged natural baits are both equal to the task of catching tuna. Spreader bars have been the hot ticket for the past 20 years.

However, tuna are often hesitant to feed on surface trolled bait. For a typical spread, set the flat lines at 25 and 35 feet. Run a center flat line 50 to 60 feet off the transom. This forms a triangle of bait close to the boat. Set the short rigger lines at 75 and feet respectfully with long riggers and feet. The shotgun rig is run back to A large rigged ballyhoo or bird with triple green machines are a good choice for the shotgun position. Rigged ballyhoo naked or skirted along with the vast array of artificial lures like Green Machines can be pulled in any line position with success.

On the outriggers, the drag of the bird does a great job of keeping the line tight and preventing lures from sliding across the spread in the wind. On those rare calm days, I like to break out the spreader bars and daisy chains to add more action.

Consider keeping your trolling spread simple, with just single lures. You can run more lines, take multiple hook-ups, and if you spot fish in the distance, can pick up the speed without reeling them in. At 9 knots, I can cover nearly twice the water to find birds, debris, and current breaks faster. The lures run well and the additional speed gives the fish less of a chance to inspect my imposter baits.

Pelagic fish, being built for speed, have no problem running down a lure trolled a few knots faster than most. On a typical day trip, I cover 50 to 75 miles of track lines, so this allows me to get through the dead water faster and focus on those areas with indications of fish. I have been adding a rigged ballyhoo on my shotgun, and even at high speeds, it tracks perfectly and catches. Putting my money where my mouth is, I have tried this speed technique in the Northeast and caught plenty of tuna and mahi in the canyons by doing so.

Try going past an offshore lobster buoy at 12 knots and you can just about watch the mahi skip across the surface as they charge the lures.

I used to run very sporty outfits, but after a five-hour fight with a bluefin on Stellwagen Bank that nearly cost me my hand, I backed off on using lightand even medium-tackle trolling gear. Chasing big fish on small boats is a fair fight, so it is important to be in control of the fish and not hurt yourself in the process. Reels in the and pound class are the standard for any size Hawaiian boat.

We get only a few shots at big fish, and once that strike happens, I want to put the screws to it. All my reels have heavy mono topshots and braid backing. My leaders on all but the smallest lures are pound test. It is a lot of firepower for a small boat, but my reason is simple—that next strike could be a 1,pound marlin or a pound ahi, or in New England, an pound bluefin.

You never know when that fish of a lifetime is going to show up. In typically snotty weather, lighter tackle is a safety issue because a standup fight on a pitching deck is sketchy. All my rods are on bent butts and I have installed swivel rod holders in my gunwales. To keep my gear and boat together, I installed mahogany backing plates on the underside of all my rod holders.

I have had mornings in Cape Cod Bay or south of Block Island where there seemed to be boats, all trolling exactly the same color spreader bar and no one was catching anything. It can drive you nuts and leave you feeling defeated. Regional techniques develop for of one reason—they work. Fish seem to wise up to seeing the same thing over and over.