2013 Bamfield Tuna Shootout recaps and pics

[Birdsnest]

I've got'em 25 miles off tofino but back in the day, my first few years of tuna fishing, we would run out to 25 miles and start trolling out further. It took a few years but we finally noticed a pattern of not getting fish until around 2 hours of trolling when we were another 12 miles out from the inside tip of the clayoquat canyon. This was also before I used terafin. I have seen jumpers 20 miles off as well which is up around 4- 5 hundred feet of water well up on the shelf.
Nowadays we look at charts and drive to good water, THEN start fishing, and we are having much more success. Catching them is easy if they will bite. Finding them can be the challenge.
The boats out of tofino fished the same 6 or 7 square miles, 32-40 miles off all year except on for my first successful trip I was 50 miles off.

 

[Charter Tofino]

I've talked to an old timer that told me one year in the 70's he was fishing Southbank in August with plugs and hammered Albacore.

 

[bifish99]

The tuna are thick right now about 35 miles out off Central WA. This Youtube video was from a charter I took last Friday, stupid good bite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxhOBtTsxIQ

The captain made us quit at 10:30 AM lest we sink the boat. Big fun and an excellent freezer packing venture. If they are that close off Winter Harbor next summer during my August trip, I may have to make the run if I can get a few buddy boats to participate.

 

[Sculpin]

I found this shot on my camera of some old salty dog (firelight) cruising the harbor on the last Saturday.



I bet he wished he had a nice toasty cabin on his boat with a heaterlol!!!

I've never heard of those IFE up arrow key boats before...............