The big one that got away! Tuna Fishing!

[crab bait]

The "not one but two" thread got me pumped up and thinking a little more about what we have offshore here in BC.

In late August 2014 we were 25 miles off of Esperanza, and first thing in the morning a guy came on the radio complaining that he just lost 400yds of new braid off of a halibut road, in a matter of seconds. Whatever was on the other end just kept going to Hawaii.

There were quite a bunch of dolphins out there that morning, maybe he snagged one? Salmon shark? Maybe something else?

The guys to the south of us off of Wash. and Oregon have some great tales of fighting thresher sharks for hours, being spooled by mystery fish etc.

There have been a few writeups of scientists digging in native middens off of Barkley Sound, Nootka, Mid Coast and the southern QCI, recovering vertabrae from huge bluefin tuna. Comparing the vertabrae to tuna off of the east coast, and the growth rings on the vertabrae, the natives were killing 400lb bluefins off of our coast in dugouts! Unreal. (see the link below)

http://fishbull.noaa.gov/951/crockford.pdf

Have you guys got any stories? What have you seen? Anyone left a bunch of line and a hook out there attached to a monster?

 

[Tidal Chaos]

Last year (2013) shootout; we hooked something on one of our outside lines with a white splash boat; never saw it or the splash boat again, it peeled out line and there was no stopping it with as much pressure as my Avet would give it and my thumbs on the spool; we made the decision to lock it up and break it off before we had nothing left on the reel; we got most of the line back but there is something swimming around out there with my splash boat (PMO); and a Zuc attached to it.

One of the main reasons I keep going out there; you never know what you are going to catch or see. Spent more time tuna fishing the west coast this year than salmon fishing. I may have a problem!

 

[Birdsnest]

I had a close hand line explode years ago. It made a bang like a small firecracker when it broke. It spread a heavy salmon snap wide open and the 200 lb test did not break. Did not see anything. That line was off the end of a down rigger. Those scotties are tough I guess. Glad I didn't loose it or damage it.

Another time when using a chain of hoochies we hooked up and a massive battle began. We speculated that it may be a foul hooked tuna. Turned out it was. The tuna likely went for a hootchies up front and got foul hooked. I stopped using those chains that day.

 

[Rum Buddies]

there was a juvinile blue fin caught by a boat fishing in the recent tuna shoot out - I've seen the picture.

 

[Birdsnest]

there was a juvinile blue fin caught by a boat fishing in the recent tuna shoot out - I've seen the picture.

I too caught one of those a few years back. caught it all by its self on the far back zuker and rabbit splasher.

 

[crab bait]

I spoke with a commercial tuna guy who had a marlin off the Washinton/Oregon border (and 100+ miles out). He said it was good for a couple of jumps behind the boat and then broke off.

The X-raps are a popular lure for thresher sharks off of California, never heard of one up here, but they are on the DFO "shark" handout.

The "unknown" factor of it all is awesome, gets the heart beating fast. Love it!

 

[seadna]

I caught a smallish (4-5') thresher on an X-rap last year. I don't think they generally hit baits trolled at typical albacore speeds. This one bit while we were slowed down to pick up gear and run to another location. It was a PITA to release as it was risky to get my relatively short handled needle nose pliers up to it's face to extract the X-rap.

 

[Fish Camp]

Now it was not on the hook .forbes When i was trolling 14 foot, back in the low chair transom, the herring started jumping i thought cool .In moments it grew.till the herring were every where five feet high and pouring down on my rod and into the boat then at starboard five feet and twenty feet tall the killer whale came strait up and down the herring pouring from its mouth on to my rod .and all went calm.i picked up the lines as the whale breached again behind me went back to toquart

 

[gamechanger]

That would be amazing to see

 

[Rum Buddies]

I caught a smallish (4-5') thresher on an X-rap last year. I don't think they generally hit baits trolled at typical albacore speeds. This one bit while we were slowed down to pick up gear and run to another location. It was a PITA to release as it was risky to get my relatively short handled needle nose pliers up to it's face to extract the X-rap.

got a pic? I'd love to see

 

[seadna]

No picture. I was to busy trying to recover the $15 X-rap.

 

[Fish Camp]

as i said in another thread had from the rocks behind ukee ball field a big fish on in may .spooled me a few times never got it close , tuna might be there!! .would tuna be as close to shore ?

 

[Killer B's]

This year in the shoot out just a lttile above Loudon Canyon one of the guys had something. It hit when straight down and didn't stop. The same day I seen a big fish surface by the boat. It looked like a blue fin. I asked the other guy "did you see that" He say no. I told him it looked like a huge tuna and he said have another Beer your seeing things. Got to love Budweiser...

 

[Pippen]

as i said in another thread had from the rocks behind ukee ball field a big fish on in may .spooled me a few times never got it close , tuna might be there!! .would tuna be as close to shore ?

No.

You sure bottom didn't spool you?

If casting using light gear lots of things could spool you.



Some some cool stories from the blue, warm water. I gotta get out there again next year...had the most awesome day.

 

[drmadcow]

as i said in another thread had from the rocks behind ukee ball field a big fish on in may .spooled me a few times never got it close , tuna might be there!! .would tuna be as close to shore ?

Being spooled is a relative term how much line did you have on your rod? Could have been a large halibut, or monster salmon. I caught a 45lb halibut 70 feet from shore by Amphitrite Lighthouse, alternative a giant salmon can peel line like there is no tomorrow. We once had a halibut (or shark) on for 90 minutes before our braided steel line broke out in the 90s around Oak Bay even chasing it we could never get it anywhere near the surface...

 

[Fish Camp]

12' uglystick, 14000 spool shimano ,20 lbs mono .Launching herring, swivel ,buzzbomb rubber bumper ,slide weight ,float, bead, knot with wool to stop float at depth.float is balloon with straw tied in .200'cast and tide work so it takes offshore ,there's a big hole 90 feet .fished 4 times over the years always fish 13 lbs spring ,lings ,last may i had a good time and i will try it again this year , i would do it now if chance at tuna .the video in salt water posting "not one--but two"was good and it looks like the landing at Ucluelet ball field hole.

 

[Birdsnest]

Last year one day we were trolling along and all the sudden huge mola mola beside the boat. Not much time for any evasive maneuvers and we could see it would go through some of our gear. All we could do is watch. Oh oh, that one rig is going to pass right over it. Odds ar about 1 to 4 that we will snag it if it bounces over the huge fishes dorsal fin.... Fingers crossed it's a miss ....noooooo.... Mola mola on, and a real dandy too. That fish just dove straight down and was going to spool the reel. I told my buddy with the rod to snap it off but when he tried the hook came off. Got the gear back.
When we hooked that fish up I thought let's try to land it but after about 300 feet of line came out of the real I could tell there was no stopping it. It must have weighed 4 to 5 hundred pounds.
Sure want to watch out for those thing. They get massive!!!!

 

[jeffywestcoast]

I found a recipe for mola mola online ..im sure they are delicious...Sculpin didn't believe me...we saw many out there this year.

 

[Dogbreath]

I found a recipe for mola mola online ..im sure they are delicious...Sculpin didn't believe me...we saw many out there this year.

Actually they are mostly mush & cartilage there's very little edible meat on one-also Hawaiians believe it's Very Bad Luck to kill one.

 

[Charter Tofino]

Last year one day we were trolling along and all the sudden huge mola mola beside the boat. Not much time for any evasive maneuvers and we could see it would go through some of our gear. All we could do is watch. Oh oh, that one rig is going to pass right over it. Odds ar about 1 to 4 that we will snag it if it bounces over the huge fishes dorsal fin.... Fingers crossed it's a miss ....noooooo.... Mola mola on, and a real dandy too. That fish just dove straight down and was going to spool the reel. I told my buddy with the rod to snap it off but when he tried the hook came off. Got the gear back.
When we hooked that fish up I thought let's try to land it but after about 300 feet of line came out of the real I could tell there was no stopping it. It must have weighed 4 to 5 hundred pounds.
Sure want to watch out for those thing. They get massive!!!!

I've always wondered what the fight would be like? Ive skipped lures off them a few times but thankfully haven't hooked up.