Birdsnest
Well-Known Member
Just Woke up from the day after. lol. The day after is a day where you have hopefully recovered from the tuna trip the day and one half before where I woke up at 230 am and went fishing.
This trip we broke a lot of personal records for a tuna trip and we learned a lot about how we like to fish'em.
The day started off with crappy seas. I broke my 20 kn running rule and that lead to a 5 hour run of which we did about 15 kns. We though we would be able to step up the speed once it got light but we could not so it was a long long run. Luckily it was very fishable and the surface just became softer as the day went on. In fact for the most part it was perfect for it was glassy and we could watch the fish take our chum and bait on hooks which was the an all time thrill.
I took all my camera gear in hopes of getting some good video but the time is so compact with chores and jobs that I could not. I kick myself now for I could have easily videoed the takes and schools under the boat no problem. At times you could see 30 fish all at once down below the boat.
Chores and jobs? This was my first full jigging and baiting trip. We committed the day to doing this and I for some reason thought it would be easier but it was no less work than trolling, it probably was more for when your not on fish you have to work to find them. One guy drives and the other searches and the third guy does what ever else has to be done which was tying new gear and shuffling fish in slush and totes or cleaning. A 4th guy would have helped but space is limited in my boat. I think it was also so busy for we had such a late start due to the travel. We did a bit of trolling to search but we also just ran and searched for jumpers.
Along with having a slow rough ride out by the time we had traveled 40 miles the water had reached an all time time low of 12C which was tough to handle emotionally in all honesty, I was breaking at this point. Within the next 5 miles we found 14 C in clear enough green water and we saw jumpers so we stopped and started Jigging.
The three of us dropped down a jig each and all hooked up right away around 20 to 30 feet under the boat and the fish were all around 30 lbs. This is the good thing about the cooler green water the fish are large. After that we couldn't get them. I threw a couple choves in the water while we jigged. After those choves made it down about 6 feet and away from the boat something cool happened. To my absolute delight, just like the tv shows some LARGE tunas(for our coast) cruised by and took the bait. We didn't have any rods rigged with bait hooks so I quickly tied one up and got it in the water and right away a large tuna swam up and inhaled it only 15 feet from the boat. For me and my crew this was like getting the winning goal in a hockey game. We were all freaking out in celebration for this was exactly what we had set out to do on this trip.
My back is very sore from being bent over holding on to fish doing it's long hard fast runs. A couple of us also received some nasty cuts on our fingers from setting the hooks with the open faced reels. These are NOT appropriate reels for this type of fishing but its all I had for this trip. I would like to have 2 rods/person or more for this type of fishing.
I keep having in some way or another the best day of fishing in my life participating in this fishery. It just keeps happening. It was nice to hear from Sculpin out there on this day.
This fish is my best one yet. Im not sure what to call it but its certainly a tyee in tuna land. Maybe a toonee is an appropriate word for it is over 30. I'm calling it an "end to ender" for it touches each end of my large cooler that I purchased at costco. We also could only fit 4 of these big guys into!
FYI: Thats not me in the photo. That just some tuna addict who's totally messed up on tuna fishing. I don't think he has a hope in hell of quitting this fishing anytime soon. What a bloody mess!!LOL.
This trip we broke a lot of personal records for a tuna trip and we learned a lot about how we like to fish'em.
The day started off with crappy seas. I broke my 20 kn running rule and that lead to a 5 hour run of which we did about 15 kns. We though we would be able to step up the speed once it got light but we could not so it was a long long run. Luckily it was very fishable and the surface just became softer as the day went on. In fact for the most part it was perfect for it was glassy and we could watch the fish take our chum and bait on hooks which was the an all time thrill.
I took all my camera gear in hopes of getting some good video but the time is so compact with chores and jobs that I could not. I kick myself now for I could have easily videoed the takes and schools under the boat no problem. At times you could see 30 fish all at once down below the boat.
Chores and jobs? This was my first full jigging and baiting trip. We committed the day to doing this and I for some reason thought it would be easier but it was no less work than trolling, it probably was more for when your not on fish you have to work to find them. One guy drives and the other searches and the third guy does what ever else has to be done which was tying new gear and shuffling fish in slush and totes or cleaning. A 4th guy would have helped but space is limited in my boat. I think it was also so busy for we had such a late start due to the travel. We did a bit of trolling to search but we also just ran and searched for jumpers.
Along with having a slow rough ride out by the time we had traveled 40 miles the water had reached an all time time low of 12C which was tough to handle emotionally in all honesty, I was breaking at this point. Within the next 5 miles we found 14 C in clear enough green water and we saw jumpers so we stopped and started Jigging.
The three of us dropped down a jig each and all hooked up right away around 20 to 30 feet under the boat and the fish were all around 30 lbs. This is the good thing about the cooler green water the fish are large. After that we couldn't get them. I threw a couple choves in the water while we jigged. After those choves made it down about 6 feet and away from the boat something cool happened. To my absolute delight, just like the tv shows some LARGE tunas(for our coast) cruised by and took the bait. We didn't have any rods rigged with bait hooks so I quickly tied one up and got it in the water and right away a large tuna swam up and inhaled it only 15 feet from the boat. For me and my crew this was like getting the winning goal in a hockey game. We were all freaking out in celebration for this was exactly what we had set out to do on this trip.
My back is very sore from being bent over holding on to fish doing it's long hard fast runs. A couple of us also received some nasty cuts on our fingers from setting the hooks with the open faced reels. These are NOT appropriate reels for this type of fishing but its all I had for this trip. I would like to have 2 rods/person or more for this type of fishing.
I keep having in some way or another the best day of fishing in my life participating in this fishery. It just keeps happening. It was nice to hear from Sculpin out there on this day.
This fish is my best one yet. Im not sure what to call it but its certainly a tyee in tuna land. Maybe a toonee is an appropriate word for it is over 30. I'm calling it an "end to ender" for it touches each end of my large cooler that I purchased at costco. We also could only fit 4 of these big guys into!
FYI: Thats not me in the photo. That just some tuna addict who's totally messed up on tuna fishing. I don't think he has a hope in hell of quitting this fishing anytime soon. What a bloody mess!!LOL.
Last edited by a moderator:
