A VETERAN PARTY BOAT SKIPPER'S TIPS FOR BOATING MORE BLUEFIN
by
Marc Malkin
Now that
bluefin have entered the fall mix off the Southern California and
Baja coasts, it’s time for anglers to take the gloves off and
get ready for serious battle. While albacore are fun to catch and
great eating, their shorter-finned cousins are capable of putting
up a much more powerful, sustained fight. The problem is, when many
anglers encounter a school of these unforgiving saltwater predators,
they are either “under-gunned” when it comes to tackle,
or they employ the wrong fighting strategy. Renowned bluefin expert
Mike Lackey, skipper of the party boat Vagabond out of Point Loma
Sportfishing, is quick to point out some common mistakes that keep
anglers from catching more bluefin.
The problem
I see happening most often is that the angler lets the bluefin take
control of the situation,” said Lackey. “The fisherman
allows the tuna every chance in the world to get away, instead of
taking charge, fishing with confidence and steadily working the fish
to the boat in a timely manner.” Lackey tells his party boat
anglers to fish with the attitude that you are going to win the battle
quickly. “Many fishermen have adopted the bad habit of lightening
up too much on these fish because they are afraid the line will break,”
he noted. “This is actually counter-productive, because the
longer the battle lasts, the more the line stretches and the hook
twists, shifting the odds in favor of the bluefin. I’d venture
to say that about 80 percent of the fish fought for more than 25 minutes
end up being lost,” Lackey added.
According
to Lackey, another common mistake that results in “break-offs,”
is allowing a bluefin too much time to swallow and run with a bait
before setting the hook. Lackey points out that when most anglers
feel the initial pick-up, they let their tuna run for 3 to 5 seconds
before the hook set. Unfortunately, this gives a bluefin plenty of
time to ingest the hook-bait deeply, putting the line in a position
where it can be gnawed through more easily. To avoid this situation,
Lacky suggests a different approach. “Because bluefin inhale
a bait immediately, start cranking in rapidly the second you detect
a hit,” he said. “When the line starts to tighten up,
keep cranking, but don’t swing. The hook will set itself in
the tough, fleshy corner of the tuna’s mouth, keeping the monofilament
away from its sharp teeth. This technique is even more effective when
circle hooks are used as opposed to traditional hooks.
Regardless
of what type of hook is used, Lackey reminds anglers to match the
size of the hook appropriately to the tackle and line. “I always
have a few anglers aboard my boat asking me why they are losing bluefin,
and then I see that they’re fishing with 2/0-size hooks pinned
to 50-pound test!” he said. “Using hooks that are too
small with heavier line often results in lost fish, as the hook tends
to pull out under pressure. A good general rule of thumb is to match
your hook size to the pound-test you are using – for 20 pound
test, use a 2/0, for 30 lb. test tie on a 3/0, for 40-pound test a
4/0, and so on.”
As far
as rods and reels are concerned, when it comes to bluefin, leave your
spinning gear and baitcasters at home. Most party boat skippers suggest
using nothing lighter than a Penn 500-size reel spooled with at least
30-pound test, matched with a medium or medium-heavy 6- to 7-foot
tuna stick. Online marine specialty retailer BoatersWorld.com (www.BoatersWorld.com)
offers a large selection of rods, reels and combos ideal for taking
on bluefin, plus the additional benefits of a “Low Prices Guarantee,”
no sales tax and free shipping.
At times
bluefin can be line-shy, and private boaters may want to lighten up
in these situations. However, introducing 25 or more party boat anglers
using light tackle to a school of big, hungry bluefin is a recipe
for disaster. “When anglers use the lighter tackle they would
for albacore, it creates a kind of ‘catch-22’ situation,
where we hook more fish but end up busting them off” said Lackey.
“When the bluefin are hungry, however, and the school is approached
properly, they’ll usually take the heavier stuff without thinking
twice about it.”
Once
a school of feeding bluefin is located, it’s imperative to select
a lively bait and present it to the fish right away. “Choosing
a good, healthy bait and getting it out to the school quickly after
a jig strike is imperative,” said Lackey. “ Those anglers
that get their active, fly-lined anchovies, sardines or small mackerel
away from the boat and out to the tuna first will be the ones that
get bit.”
Of course,
if you hook a bluefin, don’t forget to follow your fish up or
down the rail. Lackey always tells his anglers to “get the cement
out their boots” and move with their hooked tuna. Failure to
react quickly and go over or under the lines of other anglers will
almost always result in tangle ups, broken lines and lost fish. In
addition to a frisky live bait, jigs can also be deadly for bluefin.
Lackey and other experienced bluefin skippers recommend “yo-yoing”
the iron. A variety of jigs, such as Tady 9 or Salas 6X models in
chrome or blue and white, are likely to attract aggressive strikes
– often from bigger bluefin. This technique usually works best
when fish are metered 10 to 35 fathoms down, directly beneath the
boat. If the bluefin are feeding further out on the perimeter, a fly-lined
bait will typically produce better results.
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