Bluefin Tuna

[Lonesome Drift]

Took advantage of the primo weather window and sailed the 21SE 45 miles out of Manasquan Inlet with my good pal Mark in hopes of getting in on the Bluefin bite. We weren't disappointed. Two 50-60lb class fish on ice before 9 am and back at the dock by noon. We would have stayed all day but we left early b/c of equipment failure. Fish were caught on stickbaits.

 

[MarkA]

Nice job!! Are they good to eat? I’ve heard only sushi, that true?

 

[Lonesome Drift]

Nice job!! Are they good to eat? I’ve heard only sushi, that true?

Yes, very good eating. tuna steaks on the BBQ last night with a few different marinades. incredible.

- Mike

 

[Brent]

Nice . What is your fishing rod and reel?

B2

 

[Mr. Speeder]

Awesome job, that is a great day in any boat and very impressive in a 21SE.

 

[Mr. Speeder]

Nice job!! Are they good to eat? I’ve heard only sushi, that true?

Yes, very good eating. tuna steaks on the BBQ last night with a few different marinades. incredible.

- Mike

I find BFT to be delicious but you definitely have to be careful not to overcook. I typically get the cast iron pan going (as hot as possible) and pan sear it, cut into steak size pieces and then about 45 sec to 1 min a side, no more. If you are eating it and it tastes fishy, most likely was overcooked (or not properly cared for).

LD - do you get down on the Torro?

 

[shawnee83]

Awesome! Celebrating the 4th in style, bonus points for that.

 

[mheltunen]

Nice catch! Tuna fishing is on my bucket list


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lucky John]

Nice job. We have been seeing a lot of bluefins on our way back and forth from canyons but have thrown everything at them and cannot get a touch. We were in a pod of 150-200 lb fish just cruising pushing water, we could have harpooned one easily. The yellowfin fishing in the canyons has been off the charts thank god. Last Saturday we were about 20 miles into our trip back from the Lindy and spotted all kinds of life. I put out a short 4 rod spread and within minutes the green spreader gets crushed and thought we had a good bluefin on but turned out to be a 60 + yf.

 

[Lonesome Drift]

Nice . What is your fishing rod and reel?

B2

The reel is an old Penn Sargus. The main gear started stripping on the end game of the first fish and by the end game on the second I was handlining. The rod was a Tsunami 50-100 lb class spinning. I don't recommend either for tuna. After this trip I replaced the set up with a Shimano Terez 6'9" heavy/fast spinning rod and a Cabo 60 with 45 lbs of drag. Much better suited for tuna this size and bigger.

 

[Lonesome Drift]

Awesome job, that is a great day in any boat and very impressive in a 21SE.

Awesome! Celebrating the 4th in style, bonus points for that.

Nice catch! Tuna fishing is on my bucket list

Thanks Guys. Was a hell of a day. Can't wait to get back out there.

 

[Lonesome Drift]

Nice job. We have been seeing a lot of bluefins on our way back and forth from canyons but have thrown everything at them and cannot get a touch. We were in a pod of 150-200 lb fish just cruising pushing water, we could have harpooned one easily. The yellowfin fishing in the canyons has been off the charts thank god. Last Saturday we were about 20 miles into our trip back from the Lindy and spotted all kinds of life. I put out a short 4 rod spread and within minutes the green spreader gets crushed and thought we had a good bluefin on but turned out to be a 60 + yf.

Thanks. We had a great YFT bite around the resor wreck last August. Hopefully we get that opportunity again. Nothing better than YFTs only 36 miles from port.

- Mike