2012 TUNA trips

[Slivo]

hey BN I was out Barkley canyon fri started at 48m then trolled to 61m. always about 57.5 to 57.9 couldnt find 58 59, turned around and started heading back 10m south of canyon on a tack back and saw 3 tuner trollers heading out to 100 or 200m . just couldnt go with them not enough fuel. water was blue trolled back to 40m.

 

[Slivo]

oh ya got skunked. next will be better.

 

[Birdsnest]

looks like a blow out for us sporties temperature wise. Just have to wait a while. This SE wind is great for that. I did get some last year in cool water, about 12 or 13C but I will not be out there for that any more. Looking for a solid 15C from now on. Never the less, even when everything looks perfect to the point of tuna purposing all around the boat while your fishing in 17C gin clear blue water, one will not always get'em. Thats just the way it goes sometimes. Thanks for the report from ukee.

 

[crab bait]

Some more light reading try "www.coastsidefishingclub.com" under "tutorials" at the top of the page.

"Tuna" section. The albacore trolling article by tuna guru Bob Franko is a good read. The guy has decades of experience and writes like he's giving you a no shi##er, not trying to sell charters or tackle.

 

[OMEGA]

Heading up to fish big bank for 4-5 days this next week. Have ran my boat to West port number of times and done the tuna thing. Not to mention lots of flights to Cabo for the good stuff. Love the VI offshore fishery and the beauty of Barkley sound. A albacore trip on the way from the Puget sound would be fantastic. No WP trip this summer. Last summer found numbers of tuna between La Push and VI when running wide from WP to VI. Any recent Intel would be much appreciated so I could get my albi's for this year. Running a 40ft diesel sport fish. Thanks.

 

[landnseatunacharters]

check out landnseatunacharters for an idea of what we are catching on the east coast,PEI.
this monster was 1079 lbs

 

[lorneparker1]

Why are you guys killing those fish?

I thought it was mostly catch and release. Josh Temple has done it a few years and most of his vids are releases. Is this species not in severe decline?

 

[outback]

Why are you guys killing those fish?

I thought it was mostly catch and release. Josh Temple has done it a few years and most of his vids are releases. Is this species not in severe decline?

i was wondering the same thing... im pretty sure that a fish at that size on any gear would be hard pressed to be released.. have you ever tried to released a 1000 tuna? i cant imagine it would be an easy task.... not to mention the fish would be dog tired once you got it close enough to release.

my other thought process was the amount of mercury in those older bigger fish. i can imagine it would be pretty unhealthy.

 

[Dogbreath]

I think they're allowed to kill a few a year-overall it's quite a highly regulated fishery.

 

[-smtw]

Pretty sure it is rare a sport boat gets permit to take one..... And that is a pile of sashimi. Josh can hopefully chime in with details.

 

[Aces]

check out landnseatunacharters for an idea of what we are catching on the east coast,PEI.
this monster was 1079 lbs

Pretty lame attempt at self promotion

 

[Libbs]

I'm pretty sure I saw an episode of Fishul Thinking with Charlie Wray out there fishing these things.

If I remember correctly they were bringing them up beside the boat into a cradle, then releasing them. I can't remember for sure, but think they were just cutting them off at the leader...the fish kept the hook.

They were chumming the water and several of these things could be seen zooming around in the water. Then when the fisher was ready, they'd throw a baited hook into the water and a big tuna was on in seconds.

 

[Big Green Machine]

Pretty lame attempt at self promotion

Exactly, showing a photo on their website of a bagged Bluefin leads one to believe that all clients who book a charter can retain a fish. They should at least explain the regulations on the site somewhere.

 

[seadna]

Was looking at the weather, Terrafin.com and Swellwatch.com all week last week and decided that Saturday was the day to go out for tuna. We got off the dock around 9AM and ran southwest of Tatoosh along the north edge of Juan de Fuca canyon. Got out to the Prairie and water was already up to 61F. Trolled there for about 1-2 hours with no bites so I ran out farther. Got to about 47°58'N and 125°26'W and the water was blue and up to 64F/65F.

Dropped the lines and trolled. Was running 4 Rapala X-Rap 20' divers in the purple/black mackerel pattern. Wound up picking up 6 fish. Two in the 12-15# range and 4 in the 20-25# range. Ran a bit father south on the way to some prawn pots I dropped the day before and as we crossed the canyon, we found water up to 68.8F. Even got a 9 year old his first albie

My buddy with a smaller one

 

[harper44]

Great report. that is some warm water you found. Were there any solid temperature breaks are just progressively warmer water?

Cheers,

 

[Sculpin]

Cool stuff seadna! Good on ya for getting the young fella involved. I bet he was excited.

 

[seadna]

Great report. that is some warm water you found. Were there any solid temperature breaks are just progressively warmer water?

Cheers,

Going from the east towards the west, it was mostly just progressively warmer water. Heading N/S there are some better breaks but still not super.

 

[Birdsnest]

Sweet!! Nice to see. I was thinking of getting out again soon and now I am not pondering it so much as I am just chompin at the bit to go.

 

[Birdsnest]

Seadna,

Those temps are really high. Have you calibrated your thermometer. Just want to double check. I ask this in the nicest friendliest way I know how. I am new to this so if I am out of line sorry. How are others here calibrating their thermometers?

I clipped a commercial fridge thermometer to my down rigger and pulled it under water(3 inches) for 5 minutes and them pulled it up and quickly looked at it. I could not think of a better way. I also lowered the thermometer to the same depth as my sensor for 5 min and did the same. My unit was out 2 degree's for I had originally calibrated it with some dive computers a couple of years ago. I will recalibrate on a regular basis now. The fridge thermometer is the most accurate thing I could find.

"check out landnseatunacharters for an idea of what we are catching on the east coast,PEI.
this monster was 1079 lbs"

Hijacking my favorite thread eh. PFFTTTT!

 

[seadna]

Seadna,

Those temps are really high. Have you calibrated your thermometer. Just want to double check. I ask this in the nicest friendliest way I know how. I am new to this so if I am out of line sorry. How are others here calibrating their thermometers?
<stuff clipped>

I have not calibrated the thermometer but it did read 52F at the Neah Bay Marina and in the straits near Neah which is consistent with both how it felt to me and with the NOAA charts. I too was surprised by how warm the water was in the canyon. It was even 61F on the Prairie. I'll put another thermometer in the water next time I'm out to check.