Wicked week of Tuna

[Capt. Yakes]

Had two great days of Tuna fishing on the “MAKOWISH”! I cannot say enough good things about our 2120 that is now 10 years old, she is a little “tank” and rides like a much bigger boat. We made two 84 mile round trips to the Hot Dog lumps off Ocean City Maryland in beautiful conditions that I have been waiting for.
First day pulled trigger fish off the lobster pots and then chunked a 70# Yellowfin.
Second day chunked a 100# Bluefin hooked on 50# fluorocarbon leader. My 16 year old son fought the very tough fish for two hours as we could not use heavy drag on the light leader. We ran in circles, backed down and did 360s through the charter fleet as some fishless charter boat customers looked on. Pretty cool being on our little 2120 with the rod bent double blowing our horn to keep clueless boats away. My youngest son and I drove sequential gaffs to the fishes head and he was in the box.
Felt a little better this year making the trips with the addition of the brand new Tohatsu 9.8 kicker. Also carrying an ACR 406 EPIRB as always.

 

[DaleH]

Nice fish! And great stab by the younger son!

Don't be afraid to put the drag to school fish that size, as when I use fluro leaders that rating I'll use nothing less than 17-18 lbs of drag, as measured. I've even have palmed the reels when using spinning gear too.

My theory on school fish to medium BFT is one of you is taking line - either him taking it out or you taking it in. Fight it every second! If the line goes left, your rod tip goes low and to the right, as this brings the line up and along-side their head and wears them down fast. If they go into the dreaded death spiral, but won't surface, use the boat to get them to turn the other way, then get that rod tip low and down to the opposite to the way they're trying to go. Keep them out of their death spiral!

Pump, lift, reel a crank or 2 ... repeat ... , short/fast lifts and reel, keep that pressure on.

Doing so I've beat tuna that size measured in minutes ... my best was an 80#r to the boat in 10-minutes or less, as he was pulled to the boat so fast he didn't even know he was hooked, never mind beat ... using a Penn 950 coffee-grinder spinning reel to boot! Out-fight the fish and they'll be yours!

If you do have a fish on for a long time and plan to eat it, you really should swim it alongside the boat, at slow forward, for at least 15-minutes to release the lactic acid in the fish's system.

Your boy did good, but you can beat these fish much faster ... not intending to demean you son's fine efforts mind you ...

 

[Capt. Yakes]

I have caught many Tuna as well in much shorter time and utilize the short stroke technique including a 300# bluefin in 15 minutes on 100# leader. Have my drags set in the same range as you but the boy was succumbing to the pressure and the very hot day so had to decrease a bit as he was not giving up the rod under any circumstances and the fish was a tough one. I had two Tiagra 50LRS 2 speeds but this fish hit the Penn 50W single speed, would have been nice on the Tiagra. IMHO this can be a case by case situation and as a Captain and mate since the 1970s have seen differences in the fighting characteristics of individual fish and the abilities of the anglers to deal with them . Since this was his first big Tuna 50"+ I did not want to force the issue and loose the fish, we fished all day with no hits and this one came late. I know it was a lengthy battle but the result was well worth it for him with his prize in the cooler. Now that he has a big one under his belt he can work more on technique and heavier drag.

Thanks for your input

MAKOWISH at the dock

 

[Capt. Yakes]

Makowish at the dock

 

[miky2884]

Great picture!!! Looks like you are utilizing every inch of that 21 NICE!!!!

 

[DaleH]

Now that he has a big one under his belt he can work more on technique and heavier drag. Thanks for your input

And likewise, many thanks to you too for taking my comments in the right spirit!

NICE rig ... I've always called the 21 SCs a "pocket battleship" and your boat sure proves it!

Lookie at this photo of a 21, in the infamous "How to make a Parker fly" post:

 

[Capt. Yakes]

I think I would need to mainline Advil after catching that kind of air! Since I have hit 50 I have learned to pull the throttle back on wakes and backless swells as 40 years of offshore has taken its toll and it ain't pretty! Hopefully in the next few years I can move to the 25 deep-vee and sit in the back on a bean bag chair while my boys drive.

Keep up the good work you have a great forum!

 

[Lucky John]

That looks like a great trip in a 2120. Mine is in it's 7th season and do similar trips out of my inlet. Amazing to put a nice size tuna in a boat that size. We are going in the am. Two weeks ago we had double digit bft to 100 lbs.