Fished tuna commercially for many years until DFO kicked us out of the EZ zone. On the sportfishing end I observed a group of Puker style boats (princess boats) fishing out of Westport and they were not trolling with jigs. They had a setup that looked like it would work well for hali's. The rods looked like ugly sticks or similar, penn style reels, mooching weights in the 4 to 6 oz range with about a 6 foot leader to either herring or anchovy. I got as close as I could without running them over but I could not tell if they were fishing livees or frozen. When they got on a school all hell would break loose as tuna tend to get in a feeding frenzy when the bite comes on. Once when we were done early I decided to try to get one on a rod and reel. I used a stingzilda, 10 1/2 ft mooching rod, hardy longstone with straight 20 lb test. I got a small one about 12 lbs. It was very similar to playing a halibut. Tuna go fast and they go DOWN. Lots of pulling, but just down, down, down. It took about 20 minutes on the light gear. After satisfying my curiosity I did not try to get any more.
Out of Bamfield/ukee you definitely want to have a water chart, the various canyons often seem to hold fish, Nitnat, Barclay, Father Charles etc. Sometimes the water can be very close to shore from Esperanza inlet up to Winter harbour. The last time I was up that way we got fish as close as 10 miles from shore. I have friends who have fished them off the west side of the Charlottes and sometimes they are only 5 miles out.
While fishing we usually fish at speeds between 5.5 and 6 knots but the big American boats will search with the jigs out at speeds that look to be around 10-12 knots. When fishing tuna if you think you are going to slow then you probably are.
Look at your temp charts, you are looking for blue water usually 60 degrees and warmer but I have had good fishing ( once ) with surface temps as low as 58.5, look for birds, look for tuna fisherman, and WATCH YOUR SOUNDER. Tuna often show on the sounder between 10-25 fathoms. They tend to show like an inverted V shape except the front part of the V is not their and the back side of the inverted V has an extra long tail. I guess you could say the marks look more like a comma than an inverted V. If you find fish on the sounder don't leave the area, they will come on the bite at some time during the day. Sometimes you can circle on top of a school of fish and entice them to come up to your jigs on the surface. If you are on fish and you are trolling jigs and they won't bite don't be afraid to switch directions. Like sockeye, tuna can be very directional when trolling jigs. If you happen to be working around commercial tuna guys make sure to give them some room. They will not be looking for smallish recreational boats and they certainly will not move or change their course to get out of your way; at speeds around 6 knots you will be surprised at just how quickly a safe distance is no longer safe. Good luck and above all watch the weather, you will be a long way from a harbour.
