Tuna Temperatures

[spring fever]

I have heard that the tuna were as close as 25 miles off Kain Island at WH this year and one boat out of Hardy got 27!! What temperature am I looking for and where do I have to go to find where and when this current of warm water moves in closer to shore.

 

[Aces]

I started using buoyweather but bought a subscription to terrafin cause it's the best by far. It's more the breaks rather than the actual temp

 

[spring fever]

By the breaks do you mean where there is a significant temp change from one area of water to another-say 2 degrees. Is 58 what we are looking for or higher?? Is there a noticeable color change to this warmer water-like the gulf stream on the east coast or is it much more subtle than that?? Thanks for any help-appreciate it.

 

[Steelhead S2]

It doesn't have to be a very significant break, not even a full degree. But a sharp break will form an invisible wall that they'll stack up against; it's an awfully big ocean if they aren't concentrated somehow. Especially good is to find a peninsula of warm water extending into cooler water, which often shows up after a big blow. Very big breaks, like 2 degrees are good too, but often they will be clogged with detritus on the cold side, so if you drift over you will be constantly pulling your gear. Also, on more moderate breaks its not uncommon to find the big fish (25# and up) on the cold side. Don't underestimate the importance of bottom contour either. Just because its 2000' deep doesn't make it inconsequential. There's lots more tricks too, but they only come out if I'm at the party.

Never gone on them recreationally, but many years on the commercial harvest has made me pretty confident in my tuna skills.

 

[Charlie]

As far as the SST, the U.S. has two satellite systems. The information you want is from the Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES). And, there is a LOT of information than SST you can pull from them, including winds, currents, weather, algae blooms, National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) information.

Once you get into the browser for SST, go to the top of the page where it says “edit” and choose, “map”. Then go to under “Select a region” check “N1” (that stands for north 1), then go back up to “edit” and choose “grid data”. The SST will appear from the POES system. Now go check “1 day”, go down to “Download Grid Data” and chose “Google Earth”. You will have to allow the download into Google. After Google opens, do not close it and go back and check “3 day” and hit download to Google again and just keep loading the information you want into Google. Google will retain all the information you download to it and you can actually overlay one or all at a time.
http://coastwatch.pfel.noaa.gov/coastwatch/CWBrowser.jsp

 

[spring fever]

Thanks Charlie I'll give that a try. We have snow up here and it's cold-perfect day to find out all this stuff and tuna sites as well.

 

[Charlie]

I agree with temperature breaks more important than the temperature itself; however, before I was to run 40 miles offshore I would want to be heading for at least 58 degree water. Tuna will certainly be in cooler waters, but they will follow that El Nino. I very much agree they will be close to those canyons, also. We are actually lucky in the sense due to the way the currents flow, the canyons and valleys, and the Continental Shelf, those temperature breaks will happen very close to the same area each year. It is based largely on the effects of the El Nino currents so basically, go back to the same area each year when the currents bring that warm water closer. If you want to see where those temperature breaks normally happen and when, why the tuna come close to VI during August and September, just look at the history of the El Nino currents and breaks.
http://coastwatch.pfel.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/elnino.cgi?year=2010&month=8&legend=deg+F+/+color&type=SST

I would also personally rig up a couple of “hand lines’ (meat lines). They work well and the instruction I followed are at the link below and have made two, myself – very easy! And, I would find and dust off those outriggers that people have stored from all those U.S. boats, they are well worth mounting.
http://www.ifish.net/Pilar/handlines.html

Bob Franko has written and published a real nice article on tuna, which is well worth the read.
http://www.coastsidefishingclub.com/Trolling-Jigs-For-Albacore-bob-franko

If everyone is going to get into the tuna thing and run that 30-50 miles offshore, I would suggest closer to a 30-foot boat, with twins for those trips? I don't think I personally would make that run anymore without at least a 26-27 foot "OFFSHORE" boat and I don't care how well a boat is built or how experienced a person thinks they are, that is one place SIZE really does matterI I have been offshore in smaller boats and that is actually the reason I now have my current boat - for offshore! And, there have been times when I thought, it wasn't big enough! You can make that run a 100 times without any weather or other issues, but it only takes one bad trip - and it could be all over! You just can't out-run the weather that far off!

Have fun… it is frigging cold here, also! J

 

[Aces]

Yes, warm water fingers starting around 58.5 deg. Also the water goes from green to blue