Tuna Talk

Here is some cool information about tagging Albacore Tuna and tracking them.

http://swfsc.noaa.gov/albacore_tag.aspx

That five hundred dollar reward looks interesting. It could pay for your trip if you lucked out and caught a tagged fish! Probably like winning the lotto though lol.
 
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-30 in Calgary and all I want to do is ride my boat to the tuna grounds for a rematch with Finished Business et al.

Truly addicted!
 
dak said:
-30 in Calgary and all I want to do is ride my boat to the tuna grounds for a rematch with Finished Business et al.

Truly addicted!
Click to expand...

Ha ha:D. Just keeping the dream alive through winter dak.
 
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It sounds like the tuna fishing is better later on in the season. Can some of the tuna veterans tell me how early in the season they could expect tuna on WCVI?
 
Dak is Back!

Its sounds like a challenge was thrown out! A-C-C-E-P-T-E-D!!

Jeff fished as early as July, if I recall correctly.

Is your freezer empty yet? I'm down to my last 10 loins or so....had some cold smoked... WOW!!

great hearing from ya cowboy!
 
Always been here just lurkin and dreamin. Has Osama scheduled the Toona Shootout for 2012 yet?
 
Initial Post but here is what I know (this won't take long)

My group has been out for the past two years, trialering from Campbell River, running out of Coal Harbour, out past Winter Harbour and then south off the Brooks Penninsula. We have caught fish both trips but it has been a total experiment on our part.

First trip in mid Sept 2010 resulted in 4 tuna for two boats. Weather was iffy, and the surprise was catching magnum coho trolling at 7 knots on zuker tuna jigs. The tuna we caught had been eating small squid, and the only thing they would bite was a 5 inch white feather jigs, while the coho would bite anything. The fish were mixed together, with one triple header, two cohos (released) and one tuna. The bite was on for only half an hour and then we had to run for the beach due to weather.

The second trip Mid Sept 2011 resulted in 2 tuna caught on newly purchased rapala Xrap 20's (wholesale sports in Nanaimo, $17 bucks each). We caught a single, threw the gear back out and had a triple, but lost two of them. 15 minutes of action within the 12 hours of fishing. All on Xraps. (fish were 29 and 30 lbs) We didn't have these the first year. GET SOME!, they work very well. We trolled a mix of Xraps and jigs, but had no action on the feathers & plastic.

The fish on both trips were caught 25kms SW from the tip of the Brooks Peninsula in roughly the same spot. 2011 water temp where we caught the fish was 58.5 with a high for the day of 59.

Most of my info has come from the "ifish" website out of Oregon and Washington. These guys have been doing this for years, and seem very willing to share info.

This year (water temps, holidays, wind and waves permitting) we want to stay at Winter Harbour and do a couple of days. I would like to try to the NW, off San Joseph Bay and the "Pices Canyon" as I've heard the commercial boats do well there when the water temps are right.

Keep the info coming! It's appreciated.

I have never used "noise makers" such as birds, rabbits, and other stuff. I see the commercial trollers dragging them, so they must help. I'm starting to buy more and better tuna gear, but it's a tough learning curve when we can only do a day or two per year.
 
crab bait said:
Initial Post but here is what I know (this won't take long)

My group has been out for the past two years, trialering from Campbell River, running out of Coal Harbour, out past Winter Harbour and then south off the Brooks Penninsula. We have caught fish both trips but it has been a total experiment on our part.

First trip in mid Sept 2010 resulted in 4 tuna for two boats. Weather was iffy, and the surprise was catching magnum coho trolling at 7 knots on zuker tuna jigs. The tuna we caught had been eating small squid, and the only thing they would bite was a 5 inch white feather jigs, while the coho would bite anything. The fish were mixed together, with one triple header, two cohos (released) and one tuna. The bite was on for only half an hour and then we had to run for the beach due to weather.

The second trip Mid Sept 2011 resulted in 2 tuna caught on newly purchased rapala Xrap 20's (wholesale sports in Nanaimo, $17 bucks each). We caught a single, threw the gear back out and had a triple, but lost two of them. 15 minutes of action within the 12 hours of fishing. All on Xraps. (fish were 29 and 30 lbs) We didn't have these the first year. GET SOME!, they work very well. We trolled a mix of Xraps and jigs, but had no action on the feathers & plastic.

The fish on both trips were caught 25kms SW from the tip of the Brooks Peninsula in roughly the same spot. 2011 water temp where we caught the fish was 58.5 with a high for the day of 59.

Most of my info has come from the "ifish" website out of Oregon and Washington. These guys have been doing this for years, and seem very willing to share info.

This year (water temps, holidays, wind and waves permitting) we want to stay at Winter Harbour and do a couple of days. I would like to try to the NW, off San Joseph Bay and the "Pices Canyon" as I've heard the commercial boats do well there when the water temps are right.

Keep the info coming! It's appreciated.

I have never used "noise makers" such as birds, rabbits, and other stuff. I see the commercial trollers dragging them, so they must help. I'm starting to buy more and better tuna gear, but it's a tough learning curve when we can only do a day or two per year.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info crab bait. Sounds like a couple of cool trips out of Winter Harbour. Hardest part is the weather and water temps. I'm going to subscribe to Terrafin this year so I can monitor the water temps and try to make a few runs this year for these addicting creatures.
 
Sea Otter Cove is a great tie up for the Cape Scott area. For any that haven't done it take care and get some info from somebody that has! Take charts as well as a plotter!!
 
The deep running RapX come in sizes 15, 20 and 30. The number is the max depth the rapalas will run when trolled. The 15's and 20's are the most popular with the Washington & Oregon crowd. They can be trolled up to 13mph (so the box says) but we had our luck on them from 7-9mph.

Next year I would like to try 20's out each side with a deeper 30 in the middle under the prop wash.

They look really cool, I'd bite one!

I've looked on line and in a few Washington stores, they cost within a few bucks of Whole Sale sports in Nanaimo.

Expensive, but I'd deifinietly pay $20 for another tuna, after spending $400 on fuel and more on beer+food+gear.
 
I like the mag 15's and 20's the best, we run a spread of 8 lines and the plugs always go on the stern corner holders so they run short just below the prop wash. Having a good spread of gear is critical, we always run a mix of 4 clones, 2 cedar pulgs and 2 rapalas. The diving plugs are always consistent producers and usually the first lures to get hit.

Having the terrafin software is proably the most important tool alongside with a good gps plotter and radar. I WOULD NOT GO OFFSHORE WITHOUT MY TERRAFIN SHOTS, there is too much water and often the tuna will be concentrated in a small area. This last year we found them in a small 2 square mile area, if we went out of it the catch rate drastically decreased. Right before I leave in the morning I dial up the most recent shots and set waypoints on my plotters building a grid to search for tuna. The $100 investment for terrafin can save you lots in fuel, we usually burn 500-700 liters. Being able to know exactly where the warm and clear water is located has saved us some serious coin in the last few years. Also one more thing to note is that you are not just looking for warm water, you are also looking for clear water. There was lots of 58+ degree water off the coast last year but alot of it was dirty green water. I would much rather fish 55-58 degree blue water than 58-63 degree green water.
 
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Great info mikep. I just subscribed to Terrafin yesterday:). Now I just have to learn how to read the charts properly. I figured I would subscribe now so I can learn as much as I can before the summer.
 
C.S. said:
Crab Bait,
How deep do those rapala's run @ trolling speed?
17 bucks eh,maybe cheaper ordering off line from the states?
Click to expand...

When I went on a fishing/sailing trip in Mexico, I was told to wait and buy Rapala's in the states or mexico because they are way cheaper, especially at Wall-Mart. To make a long story short, I went to many different places and never found prices that were much better. In Mexico Wall-Mart was useless for fishing gear. Unless you're buying a bunch of them then I'd recommend just going to Wholesale. Maybe someone knows where to find cheaper gear??

The guys at Trotac in Victoria were extremely helpful for me. I think they've started carrying sport gear for tuna now as well as their commercial stuff.
 
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Well I got the go ahead from the war department and get to go to the Seattle Boat Show with Fishtofino and take in Todd Swartz's tuna seminar on Monday night. Fishtofino and I will be looking at some of the boats and picking up some tackle too. Can't wait!
 
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hambone said:
When I went on a fishing/sailing trip in Mexico, I was told to wait and buy Rapala's in the states or mexico because they are way cheaper, especially at Wall-Mart. To make a long story short, I went to many different places and never found prices that were much better. In Mexico Wall-Mart was useless for fishing gear. Unless you're buying a bunch of them then I'd recommend just going to Wholesale. Maybe someone knows where to find cheaper gear??

The guys at Trotac in Victoria were extremely helpful for me. I think they've started carrying sport gear for tuna now as well as their commercial stuff.
Click to expand...
Prices in the USA aren't that much lower-not like 15 even 10 years ago and I've never ever bought tackle in Mexico-in fact I've bought lots here and taken it there to give out as tips for pangeros.

EBay occasionally has deals but once you figure in shipping....
 
found this on the tube

[5Xt43D9JDHo] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xt43D9JDHo&feature=related
 
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