Tuna VS Tyee

[Wooly]

Ok folks,

Its slow season out there so lets have some good debates and discussions. I'm a true west coast boy and I love my Chinook Fishing. Really I would rather catch a 60 pound tyee then a 300 pound tuna. Thats probably because im biast to the North West, and a tuna would be a tropical fish so they just dont do it for me like a West Coast tyee. Don't get me wrong lots of those tropical fish are on my bucket list and I would love to catch them some day. Personally I would rather be on the west coast catching a boat load of chinooks in the 20-40 pound range in a day then down in Hawaii or Mexico catching a few tuna. I would love to get out tuna fishing with some of you Van island guys and see what its all about. I'm looking forward to a response from you boys. You guys talk it up so much? Is it really that much better then chinook fishing.

You guys are West coast canadians......Tyees are where its at. The classic Islander mooching rod combo fighting a nice tyee. How can you beat that? Making the switch to tuna fishing would be like going from Hockey to Basketball?

Anyway id Like to hear the Pros and cons of both? Why tuna is better or worse and vise versa.

Heres my opinion.....doesnt really count because Iv only fished tuna once for my stag in Hawaii.
Everyone sais tuna fight so much better. Well tuna are crazy robot looking fish so im sure they fight hard but I think a Chinook would fight pretty hard if you were trolling at 15 knots while fighting it as well. You use huge gear for tuna. big test,big reels, big rods.
Salmon is light stuff. 25lb line Nice 11 ft rod and a fly reel (mooching reel).

When i went I used massive gear and caught 5 pound tunas. I like the idea of light gear and big fish (tyee).

I like seeing the shore when I'm fishing salmon little weird out in the open like that lol. More to see more to catch chinook fishing

Seems if the Tuna are not there, there not there. at least with salmon fishing you can pick up other species.

Tuna fishing has to be much more expensive.....going out further as well as trollung at high speeds instead of a couple miles an hour at low RPM or better yet Mooching or cut plugging in the current (thats a beautiful thing when the chinooks are thick)

Anyay Id like to get out and do some WCVI tuna fishing, I just want to see what everyones opinion is on the topic.

And dont forget guys I fish outa the Pacific North Coast. you guys have to take that in consideration when you beek the chinook fishing. Its a little more productive up here. Not saying its not productive down there just a little more consistant. You have some great fisheries down there out on the wcvi, hardy and rivers inlet. However.........Just my own opinion again.

Cheers,

Wooly

PS please excuse the spelling and grammer. I didnt use spell check and I'm very un edumacated. lol

 

[Sculpin]

Tuna fishing............they don't call it the dark side for nothing. It truly will ruin an individual.

 

[Birdsnest]

I think it is like anything else. The harder you work for something the better the reward.

Cant say much now cuz I'm on my phone but I look forward to this discussion...that's if we survive the end of the world. Good luck out there.

 

[Cuba Libre]

tuna.............

 

[Dogbreath]

Tuna have been West Coast since the beginning of time.

WCVI natives used to spear Bluefin inshore @ night-spotting them when the fish cruised through luminescent plankton-they also caught them in paired trawls offshore.

Look it up if you don't believe me-I don't have time to educate you.

 

[Falcon]

Never fished for Tuna, but I'd love to try it out and see for myself.

 

[hambone]

I had my first tuna experience from a sailboat in mexico where we somehow found ourselves in the middle of a large school of football sized YF's breaking the surface. That was a day I will never forget especially because it was a "do it yourself" successful fishing trip in a different country. These were only 10-50lbs but the crazy action pretty much has me hooked for life on anything tuna. One guy grabbed the Peetz reel we had set up and he literally blew the reel up over his hand trying to put the brakes on one fish. The reel was broken and his hand was bleeding pretty bad by the time we landed the fish. Tuna are an amazing fish but in most cases they are reserved for the guys willing to spend a sh*t load of money on fishing...

Salmon rule on the BC Coast unless you can afford a safe enough boat and the expensive tackle to go way offshore to chase the Albies. The window of opportunity to go for canadian tooners is also pretty small, you couldnt potentially never get out in an entire summer. So I think its hard to compare the two.... Nothing wrong with fishing either species, we're pretty lucky people.

 

[Finished Business]

I agree that little beats a Tyee Salmon on a classic moocher set-up. But I don't think many of the WC Tuna group have had a chance to try a lot of "sport" fishing of these albacores. Hopefully this coming season we can work on perfecting bait stops and sliding swim baits and get a chance to fish some Tuna with a more sporting set-up. But until then its a numbers game for me. Tuna fishing so far for me has been a test of both mental and physical strength, something that I have yet to find comparable to salmon fishing....nothing gets the blood pumping like hooking onto a big school of albys...I'm usually left shaking from adrenaline. My first outing for tuna, albeit pretty successful, left me awake well into the night once we got back to the cabin. After a long day of salmon fishing I'm ready to crash. Tuna just leaves you wired! It was intoxicating.

 

[CrabbyChris]

I have fished everywhere in B.C.Rupert,WCQC,Rivers,Hakia,every nook and cranny of Van Isle for salmon...BlaBlaBla.....
Nothing gets me going like hammering tuna way offshore!Maybe just because its new to me,or because they rip line so fast,or they taste so good!But I love it...it is the "Dark Side"

 

[runamuk]

Salmon fishing.................it's ok . Tuna is where it's at in my books , if all the heavy gear makes thing too easy for you use your salmon gear. It takes twice as long but it is quite a fight.

 

[seadna]

I've been fishing salmon for about 10 years and tuna for a little over 1 year. To date, I've not caught a true Tyee - just lots of springs in the 15-25lb range. This past year we boated 31 albacore. While I love a good battle with a spring, I'm far more addicted to the tuna fishing. Once you find them, it's mayhem. I usually slow down after we get some hookups and the albies still fight better than a spring. While I troll with several hail rods, I also use some of my salmon rods and the fight of an albie on a salmon rod is still better than a spring. Also, once you're into a school, doubles, triples and quadruples are not that uncommon. We had one quadruple this past year and all the fish were 25+ lbs. Albie fishing has the mayhem of multiple hookups (like coho fishing) but with fight that's better than a spring. I've never had a quadruple of good side springs. So to my mind, it's no comparison - the tuna fishing is more fun and more exciting. The fact that I can't do it near as often as I can do salmon fishing (both due to weather and expense) makes it all that much more alluring.

 

[tincan]

Only been tuna fishing in Mexico a few times. Would love to get out to the west coast of VI to give it a shot but for my money there is no better feeling than playing a tyee with my lucky MR2 with the haida gwaii shoreline in the backdrop. Looking forward to challenging that opinion with a trip or two tuna fishing.

 

[Pippen]

Love west coast fishing, love a big spring rippin out line.........however tuna fishing off the WCVI is my favourite! (and that's after only trying it one day!)

 

[Cut Plug]

I've only ever fished for Tuna out of Costa Rica but have done it quite a few times. The way we do it there (fishing out of a Panga) is to locate the schools, typically less than a mile offshore, and then cast 5 in Crocodiles using gear not any heavier than we use for springs. Using high speed level winds (about the size of a Charter Boat Special) we retrieve the spoons as fast as we fricken can and then WHAM! One hell of a hit followed by an impossibly fast run. Most of the fish are 10 to 30 lbs but as others have suggested, once you find them its pretty much non-stop. The last time we did this we quit the charter early and went snorkeling because we simply couldn't pull on any more fish. Pretty damn exciting and with YF's some pretty awesome eats at the end of the day as well.

That being said, I'd suggest that the fight from an equal sized spring is more interesting. In my experience, tuna are kind of linear in the way they fight unlike a spring which can be all over the place. Tuna are faster, springs have more stamina. Also, the end game on a tuna can be a little frustrating with that damn side-pull circling thing straight down that can take forever on lighter gear.

All things considered, I love 'em both - different fish in diferent environments. If I was forced to choose, I'd take a good old Tyee I guess. There does seem to be more excitement when you've had to work hard for the fish in the first place.

CP

 

[getbent]

There are times when you can get into a boat load of tuna just like a boat load of springs.
When you know you are on school tuna in the 30 to 50lb class you can adjust your tackle size and they will kick your a$$. Mind you they will kick your a$$ on most gear!
don't get me wrong, I love my west coast fishing for all species but love to fish barefoot in that warm water for those super tiough pelagics....pound for pound tuna are pretty wicked fish man!
I have heard that 1 beat of their tail drives them 1.5 their body lenght and they can beat there tail like 10 beats a second so....

My kids love to catch mackerel on trout gear and they just wail back n forth all outta control, throw 50 to 300 lbs onto that and well you get the idea...I don't think the speed of the boat has anything to do with it other than to attract them. it doesn't add to the fight.

Both species are fantastic sportfish with each having their merits.

Getbent

 

[Bod]

They are both great and when we fish the Tuna off WCVI the springs are slowing down anyway. I'm hooked on both. I haven't caught a 300 pound Tuna (yet) and I have not caught a 60 pound spring either, so I can't compare but would love to do both! Albacore on the salmon rod and Islander is great fun, you don't have to use heavy gear. Now back to my cold Pacifico and resting up for tomorrows Marlin trip in Los Cabo.

 

[getbent]

Now back to my cold Pacifico and resting up for tomorrows Marlin trip in Los Cabo.

Good luck Bod and good luck with the sstripers...hopefully you get into a few and perhaps you will find a cow to compare a few notes on...
I myself should be in the same boat in two weeks....

Guy

 

[sawtooth]

Two different types of fish and fishing. Nothing can beat hooking into a large fish of either species with light gear. Like Runamuk states above, you should hook into a tuna with lighter gear... it can get crazy.

 

[JAC]

Good luck down south ken! I have fished for tuna down south but never up north which I plan to do one day. But I really love west coast salmon fishing there just something about it. I like to fish inshore near structure way more than offshore even if the fishing is slower. I spoke with a guy down in Oregon who owns a company that makes kill bags, He said he use to love salmon until he caught his first albacore tuna!

 

[Big Green Machine]

Can't we just enjoy all types of fishing? I know I do and would consider myself lucky to be able to get a chance to enjoy any fishing experience and to learn new things. Go stick em boys!