My son Dylan & me August 2008
SPOTTING AND TROLLING FOR YELLOWFIN TUNA
It is no secret that if you want to find Yellowfin Tuna, find the birds first! A good radar can help immensely as your eye can only pick out a flock of birds at around 1/4 mile, while a super radar can see them at six miles if the waves aren't too big.
While many people have their own variances on how to troll up Yellowfin tuna from a school, I will try to give you the easiest and most productive way that I have found fishing with crews of people with limited or no experience with me playing both captain and mate like most of you do....
1. fish a limited number of lines, maximum four without a very experienced mate.
2. Fish our Mini Tuna Dart, or Steel Head WFB (Way Freakin Back), maybe 250 feet....
3. Fish our Tuna Plug or Bullnose Bubbler at around 175 feet back.
4. Fish a Tuna Plug, Bullnose Bubbler, or Bird Chain around 100 feet back.
5. Fish one of the items listed in steps 2-4 at 50 feet back.
6. No need for outriggers as by fishing a lighter bait WFB, it will stay above the others. Fish heavier baits closer to the boat and make the distance between each bait substantial. You should be able to make turns without tangling your rigs, but always keep an eye out for problems.
7. Approach the school and always watch for the "lead bird" as when the school is on the move, there is usually a single bird in front of the pack following the Yellowfin Tuna. Remember this word "FOLLOWING". This means he is BEHIND the Tuna and if you want to present your baits without running over the school and not send them down, you must get in front of the school which means your boat usually needs to be 250 feet in front of the lead bird (depending on how close to the water he is).
8. With the baits you have deployed and without outriggers, you can run up to 15 knots to get in front of the school. Play with the particular baits and distances to rty to get your speeds over 20 knots if your Tuna keep moving hard.
9. Get in front of the moving school and slow down to 5-6 knots and try to troll with minimal wake as many Tuna are sensitive to wakes and this alone might send them down.
10. If the school of Yellowfin Tuna has stopped and they are feeding, troll circles around the fish trying to drag your baits through the school of fish but do not run over the fish with your boat.
11. When you get a bite, straighten the boat, DO NOT SLOW DOWN, as if you keep moving another 15 seconds you have a 40-50% chance to double (or triple) up. This will also give your angler time to get set up to fight the fish.
12. It is usually best to keep the boat moving when the fish gets close to control what he does rather than the other way around.
13. There is usually no need to bring in all of your lines unless you have a really strong or large fish that will require all of your attention. If they are behind the boat and you do not need to back down, they will be ready for a bite as soon as you gaff your fish and start moving again. I have actually gotten hits byYellowfin Tuna just after putting the boat back in gear to start trolling again!
Click on this link to be directed to our
Tuna Lures Page 
where you will find lures that work extremely well when targeting Tuna!
