If Tuna go down during the day.....

[smalldog]

I understand that Tuna go down for the day and come up at night to feed for the most part. All the daisy chains and plugs are to bring them up.
Does anyone try to slow down a little and sink their gear to get some depth ?
What is the deepist you have trolled your gear for Tuna?
Thanks for your input.

[Pilar]

That's like saying that all deer bed down all day.

There are no absolutes in fishing. The archival tag data posted here some time ago showed what two albacore TUNA! did with thier time. The data included depth, light level, body temp and water temp.

What you see looking at that graph is the fish near the surface all night with a high body temperature. So it was on the surface chasing dinner.

Then as the light level went up the fish went down and cooled off. At 300+ meters you see the fish rising back up quickly to near the surface and heating up as he did it. Then a slow return to deep, the complete cycle taking an hour. This pattern continued all day until nightfall when the fish stayed on top.

Maybe two tagged fish don't prove anything but this pattern matches what I have observed. All day the fish are rising back up, the exertion from swimming helps them regulate temperature. So we see a wide open troll bite and then it goes dead for a while and then on fire again. Often this even happens in the heat of the day, bright sun over head. Near either sun up or sun down the bite is often wide open.

Sometimes I can *see* deep fish on the fish TV. Usually this is near a slick that birds are sitting on. Or near a place where we hooked up. When this happens I troll a circle around the birds or between two crime scenes. We hook up. You see the fish rise from 600 .. 400 .. 200 and then your gear goes bendo.

[tracker]

It sure is fun to see that "Fish" blob on the screen and be able to call the strike. I got quite good at it last year when trolling slower with the swim baits!

[Rubber Boot]

So what about trolling at night or drifting chunks or swimbaits? I know it would have to be good to perfect conditions, maybe on the full moon but sounds like a blast heading out at 7:00pm after sleeping all day? anybody do this?

[smalldog]

That was some great info in a small package. Thanks Pilar.
So, it sounds like there may be reason to slow your troll and get a little deeper ? Tracker?
Speed up to raise your baits as the school comes up?
Would that keep your gear in the strike zone a little longer?
Or, do things happen too fast for that?

[Tinman]

If there really were a set pattern of tuna behavior, everybody would know it and the tackle shops would give away the information on laminated cards. The fact is you never know when the bite will stop or start. A bite can turn on at any time of day, and turn off just as quickly.

[Elkiller]

Last July the pattern went something like this:


Arrive at warm water. Fish jump everywhere.
Cast swimbait into water...wait 0-2 seconds
Fish bite.
Fish quit biting.
Drive to the fish you were watching while landing the last fish and repeat.
Go home when boat is full approx 3 hrs.

Serves: six months.


I'm a few months overdue. need more.

[smalldog]

I hope I dont sound too stupid to you guys. I have only gone out for tuna once. It was last summer and we didnt find any.
We trolled at the designated speed, but we never saw blue water.
It was also very late in the summer and we were limited to going out only 35 miles by fuel capacity.
We heard some people on the radio catching fish,but they were out 70 miles.
I did real well for salmon and sea bass/halibut. But tuna was an effort in futility. LOL.

[Tinman]

Smalldog, there's nothing stupid about honest questions. If anybody here makes you feel stupid, it's their fault, not yours. The Dogs are about sharing, safety and brotherhood.

[Pilar]

Finding the fish is the story. They will bite most anything green and your choice.

I worry about finding the fish about 90% and what I will drag (zuchinni Tcf 100) about 10%.

Right on the surface.

Later in the summer it changes and you see the fish but they won't hit a trolled lure.

[Mark Mc]

Yes, from mid-August on the fish almost never bite on the troll. And they certainly don't like swimbaits & yo-zuri hydro mags trolled slow. Don't waste your time doing that; instead stay close to shore and catch "bass"; I hear they're easier to catch.

[Salty Walty]

There are areas that produce fish year in and year out. Most are around Sea mounts and structure. Even when they have gone down these areas can have fish around them. One of the hardest things is to read the the bite ther can be a slow down 10-2. If you are not doing any better than anyone else, it does not really help to chase the bite 10 miles away.
Large #s of boats driving indescriminately over fish will put them down.
Try coming back to the scene of the crime 30-45 minutes later when the others have given up and you might be surprised to find out that the fish never left. Mark your plotter and see if the fish are moving in a certain direction. Leave the fleet in direction you think they are heading and reset. Last but not least have plenty of fuel.

[CATCH AND EAT]

How do you catch bass? Very mythical creature. Do they bite pink tuna bites?

[smalldog]

Why, bass are easy. LOL
Just catch a mess of hatchery trout and smoke them in your Little Chief.
While fishing...eat the meat and put the skin on your hook. Instant fish frenzy.....really. It turns on everything in the area. From dead to fantastic in two seconds.