2012 TUNA trips

[Sculpin]

Hey Guys,

While we're on the topic of "tuna" .....damnfish who is new to the board but was out with us on Sunday asked me about mercury count in these albies.

Anyone ever had the meat tested for mercury levels? I wouldn't think too much about it as someone I know ate tuna about 4-5 times per week for close to 20 years before he had his levels counted and at that point his were high. Not sure if these smaller guys would be anything to be concerned about or if it's more of a concern in the larger yellow/blue fin fish?

Just for you my friend.....

 

[mikep]

If you are having trouble gettin the xraps to run straight then you need to tune them. If you find they are running to the left then you need to bend the wire eye the ring attaches to to the right. grab it with a pair of needle nose pliers and just tweak it ever so slightly as it doesnt take much. Test beside the boat at high speed and it should track true. If it starts going to the right then you have done it too much. I had to do it a few times with my plugs over the course of the weekend.

 

[Sculpin]

Here is another great reason to eat these tasty fish...........

 

[TunaDon]

Here is twitter feed from MVEstevan tuna boat out of courtenay. They also say where they are fishing and how catch is at times

Also I see on my terrafin report warm water moved south in hurry. Only looks good past Nitnat close to where we went on weekend.


22 Aug Estevan Tuna Corp. ‏@EstevanTuna
Radioactivity test lab results from July 23rd indicate no discernible traces of radioactive agents in North Pacific Albacore.

 

[Birdsnest]

I'm thinking about hard wiring that gopro in. I seem to always forget to turn it on or forget to charge the battery. My NSS12 plotter has HD video input also so I could hook that up for playback. I took some footage of the last 10 mins of a fight with 56" hali earlier this year. The camera dies just as I stick it with the harpoon. What you don't get to see is the Chaos that insues as the Hali drags the float under and dissapears into the abyss. Would have been cool to replay our reaction as we drive around waiting for the thing to re-surface and then stick it with the gaffs and drag it over the side.

Hey. I am using a Drift HD camera http://driftinnovation.com/camera/drift-hd/ that comes with a remote control that I wear around my neck. It beeps when you start it and beeps a low tone when you stop it. The front lens rotates so that you can always adjust the lens so that the picture is 16x9 and not 9x16, sideways if you know what I mean. This is a massive improvement from the gopo. Also the dive housing for the camera is only 50 or $60!

I also carry a camera pole when I fish that is only an aluminum extendable broom handle which most hardware stores carry. If you put a flex mount at the end of the pole between the adjustable lens and the flex mount you can always set up for cool shots. In the end of the pole I wrapped foam so that if floats if i drop it and it fits snug into any rod holder on the boat so I can set it up all over the place on the boat and turn it on and off just by pressing a button that is around my neck.
I made this video with it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYERhlSn0Yk&feature=plcp

Pretty much all of the shots are off "the camera pole".

At 1:50 in the video the camera does not have the foam on the handle so it is rocking in the rod holder on the roof.
At 2:59 the next day the water is rougher and the pole does have the foam so it is steady.
At 3:33 In this shot you can see the pole and the on off switch around my neck
At 4:03 I am holding the pole in this shot.

Its a great setup.

Sorry for the repeat video guys.

 

[Sculpin]

Holy that warm water can change fast. Stuck around for quite a while now look at today...........

http://www.tempbreak.com/index.php?&cwregion=wa

Click on the drop down menu at the top of the page and you can see the separate shots from early this morning till now. It really moved South.

 

[blackvelvet]

:

I read an article a while back about mercury levels in Albacore tuna. IIRC there was some talk about the fish from oregon through BC being prefered over SoCal Albacore due to higher levels of Mercury in the fish down south. I don't remember the source of the article nor the levels of Mercury found in any of the fish, just that the fish up north had lower levels then those down south.

The albacore that migrate up our way are young (2-3 years old), thus they have considerably less mercury than the 5-8 year old albacore that reside farther south off of California. Those older albacore are what ends up in a can of starkist, that is why they recommend limiting consumption to twice a week and no more than once a week for a pregnant woman.

The younger albacore off our northern coastlines are safe to eat 7 days a week, at least until they become radioactive.

 

[sammyslabber]

Perhaps the warmer currents moving south are why the mackerel have been spotted in the San Juan River estuary.
This could be the start of El Niño…

Holy that warm water can change fast. Stuck around for quite a while now look at today...........

Click on the drop down menu at the top of the page and you can see the separate shots from early this morning till now. It really moved South.

 

[harper44]

John,

Do you have a terrafin subscription as well? seems to me like Tempbreak is a day behind because yesterday's terrafin shots were way down in temp. Terrafin has no useful data for today due to cloud cover.

Cheers,

 

[Sculpin]

John,

Do you have a terrafin subscription as well? seems to me like Tempbreak is a day behind because yesterday's terrafin shots were way down in temp. Terrafin has no useful data for today due to cloud cover.

Cheers,

Yes I do but like you mentioned all the shots are pretty bad today. That tempbreak is supposed to be fairly accurate. In the drop down menu you can get a 09/05/2012 3:31 pm shot and 4 or 5 more from today. Who knows. Hopefully Terrafin has some better shot's this evening.

 

[harper44]

We shall see I guess. is there somewhere to see archived historical data? im curious to know how late in the year the water temp can recover from significant drop in temps.

 

[TunaDon]

Some more info for guys rigging up for tuna next year. Last winter I bought 6, 2 speed daiwa reels @ 380.00 each. they worked well had them spooled with 500 yds (if using any reel get as much line as possible to keep trolling) 100# JB hollowcore braid. I put 30yd Yozuri floracarbon topshot on 2 rods. Not enough data yet to see if makes a difference. They said you can set strike brake at 1/3 line test so I set it at 25 lbs. Well when first hits happened had rods going off they did not run with that brake but also ended up breaking 3 lines off. We did not have many run very much and could winch most in quite quickly without dropping below 7 mph. I did back off strike brake and will reset at 12 lbs I think. Istvan (whynot) who I will now call bigtuna after his and slivos run had some 2 speeds set at 12 lbs and said he still broke off 1 or 2 I think. He also got a great deal on some reels over winter 100$ and worked fine. I may get a couple more of his kind this winter. Just Pm him and i am sure he will let you know what they are and how to get. Our trip showed that if we get a bunch together for tuna shootout out of bamfield we will find fish for everyone and more boats the better as far as i can see.

 

[Sculpin]

TunDon that Jerry B is the shizzle. Probably the best braid going. What poundage is your top shot? Good advice about the drags. We ended up setting ours quite light for the initial strike then put the brakes on a bit to slow them down.

We are running 80 lb Power Pro and the lures all have 150-200 lb leaders that are 10' long so no top shot for us so far.

 

[TunaDon]

topshot is 130# which is what I am tyeing all my leaders. I think you are right with long leaders and if you use floracarbon with them should be no worries about line shy. they said only matters early in season when i guess they are more finicky.

 

[harper44]

topshot is 130# which is what I am tyeing all my leaders. I think you are right with long leaders and if you use floracarbon with them should be no worries about line shy. they said only matters early in season when i guess they are more finicky.

I've been told that late season they get quite skiddish, to the point that picking them up on the troll is near impossible and becomes a full on casting game with the boat in stealth mode. Whats your experience with this Don?

 

[Birdsnest]

Firday is looking good weather wise. Hope it is smooth so that the jumpers are easy to spot. I am going to do some popper chuck'n if it is.

 

[lorneparker1]

Thats it im taking the double eagle!














Just kidding,

Lorne

 

[Sculpin]

Thats it im taking the double eagle!

Lorne

Yeah and I saw this guy out there on Saturday lol. Gotta pack that extra fuel with you.

 

[mikep]

You guys are fishing some heavy gear out there. All I run is good quality lever drag reels with about 300yrds of 40# or 50# mono in high vis. Green. These are like 15-35 pound fish no need for 200# leaders and super heavy rods/reels. I like a 15-30# stand up rod. Unless you just keep drivig away from the fish you will never go though 300 yrds. Running 80# flouro leaders is a really good idea .

 

[Sculpin]

You guys are fishing some heavy gear out there. All I run is good quality lever drag reels with about 300yrds of 40# or 50# mono in high vis. Green. These are like 15-35 pound fish no need for 200# leaders and super heavy rods/reels. I like a 15-30# stand up rod. Unless you just keep drivig away from the fish you will never go though 300 yrds. Running 80# flouro leaders is a really good idea .

I think I will start adjusting my gear for next year but as a nubee to this fishery I thought it would be safe to go heavier and those heavy mono leaders are great for grabbing and flinging them into the boat without cutting your hands or the need for gloves. We didn't gaff a single fish on Sunday.