Tuna, 2018 - it won't be long

I was out on Sat. but was fishing out of Ilwaco (at the mouth of the Columbia River). We put 19 in the boat on a fairly windy day. I think we could have gotten more if we weren't getting blown off our chum line so quickly. Most of the fish were small ones (10-12lb) but later in the day, we found a school of bigger ones. My wife hooked up on one on live bait that she couldn't handle so I wound up fighting it. I could barely manage it myself and after 4 times to the surface, we managed to land it. This one weighed 34# after bleeding.

big_albacore.jpg
 
Anyone want to share intel and numbers? I'm heading for Loudon canyon. PM if you want

ch 78A or 12 "Ospray"
 
Drag N Fly got Blanked for the first time when going for Tuna.

Went a long way, off the dock at 5:30am back around 6:30pm

Didn't see any Tuna, few birds. Lots of warm water, but nothing in/on it for us.

Beauty day, great smooth water and warm sunshine. 2 out of 3 got sunburned, One Tangle. Didn't even snag a weed by accident.

Oddly, on the way back in, saw another incident of predator chasing pray on the surface, but didn't look like what I remember Tuna look like, so thinking maybe it was Mackerel or something similar. 60 degree water, 500' depth. Birds circling caught my attention, surface was kind of boiling/writthing, didn't get close enough to make out what it was exactly before it subsided.
 
J-GLOBAL said:
Drag N Fly got Blanked for the first time when going for Tuna.

Went a long way, off the dock at 5:30am back around 6:30pm

Didn't see any Tuna, few birds. Lots of warm water, but nothing in/on it for us.

Beauty day, great smooth water and warm sunshine. 2 out of 3 got sunburned, One Tangle. Didn't even snag a weed by accident.

Oddly, on the way back in, saw another incident of predator chasing pray on the surface, but didn't look like what I remember Tuna look like, so thinking maybe it was Mackerel or something similar. 60 degree water, 500' depth. Birds circling caught my attention, surface was kind of boiling/writthing, didn't get close enough to make out what it was exactly before it subsided.
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Hopefully the next trip will be better, how far did you end it up?
 
Yes, J Global and I partner fished today and it was dry out there for us. We were out 60 miles and then ran back in to some numbers I have got them many times over the years. Apparently a few were caught sw of where we started later in the day.

That’s tuna fishing!

Unfortunately because of the weather forecasts and prior commitments that was my one and only stab at them Albacores this year.
We will be chasing Yellow Fins in the Sea of Cortez late November !
 
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Well I think we had the worst trip I’ve ever had. Figure we hit something about 15 nm off Ukee and holed the boat. Made a mad dash back in with a boat full of water. I’m just glad it didn’t happen 60 nm out!!!
I’d like to give a big thanks to Spearo Tim for running with us back in.

It’s definitely a reminder that s@%t happens out there and you need to be prepared for anything.

Cheers all and safe travels,
Coastal Crew
 
I fished southwest of J-Global and Fish Tofino, we only caught one fish (62 and then 70 nautical miles south west of Ukee in Loudan area, coordinate below) . There were about 5 guide boats around us, best any of them did was 4 in the boat and two of them got skunked. So we didn’t feel that bad about our one chicken.

Worst day ever ...agreed, I woke up to a flat tire and our spare rusted solid to the box, took an hour and a half to change it, lost my 1 week old $4k Honda kicker to the chuck and then went to meet Coastal Crew to find him high tailing it back to the harbour taking on water. After he made it safe we turned around and finally got out to the grounds at 11.

We passed tons of wild life at about 45-50 miles, water hit 60F and then we hit blue water water and temps of 63F+ and saw far less wildlife 58 miles onwards. That’s unfortunately where we started to fish and moved out to 70 because guys chirping on the radio said they caught a few. I’m thinking we should have stayed back in the 60F water at about 50 miles with all the birds and whales. If anybody wants to fish I’d recommend putting your lines in slightly cooler water to the east of that coordinate below by about 5-10 miles, and only move out if you get nothing. A lot more bait and I heard one guy crackling over the radio that he caught quite a few closer in.

Blue Water 48, 38.58N and 127 12.27W. But...Drop your lines 5 miles east of this.
 
Geez, some nefarious jerk must have hidden banana's on all your boats. Tough trip. Thanks for the reports.
 
Coastal Crew said:
Well I think we had the worst trip I’ve ever had. Figure we hit something about 15 nm off Ukee and holed the boat. Made a mad dash back in with a boat full of water. I’m just glad it didn’t happen 60 nm out!!!
I’d like to give a big thanks to Spearo Tim for running with us back in.

It’s definitely a reminder that s@%t happens out there and you need to be prepared for anything.

Cheers all and safe travels,
Coastal Crew
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Scary stuff! Glad you made it back ok
 
Yeah I think my boat is staying on the inside rest of the season.

If anybody wants a capable deck hand willing to chip in for gas though let me know. I have lots of gear too.
 
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