Tuna Hunt'n

[RJ]

I'm starting to get the hang of this Blue chart ,Wak we need to do some explorin on that pinnacle south of Tuna 1 just might find the Mother load there any one else interested in Hunt'n Tuna RJ

[Threemuch]

That does look pretty good as does the 876 directly north of the marker. Looks like about 10 miles short of tuna town, so around 40 miles?
KB

[RJ]

pretty close Kurt the ruler is sayin 14mi.

729 feet, it should have halibut. D'oh!!!!The charts are in fathoms :grin:

[RJ]

interesting,if you take the north pinnacle and draw and run a line to Tuna town then over to the South pinnacle and back to point of Origin you come up with ...Holy Jumpin up & down Martha...it's the Tunuda Triangle

[Mark Mc]

Keta, c'mon you know better. 125 x 45 is right smack on the 500 fathom line. That chart above has obviously been converted to feet, not fathoms. The 18520 chart goes out to about 1000 fathoms, at 125deg20min. Tell me I'm not smokin' anything.....

p.s. RJ, I really like the shark fins & jaws music on your website!!

[ 01-18-2003, 09:06 PM: Message edited by: Mark Mc ]

[Sensei-san]

Ah soo... Mr. RJ-san velly perceptive tuna hunter. See structure... think like good fisherman. But I fear that the structure may be too small to really matter. But always best to check if you are in the area. Never erase your waypoints. They are like a roadmap for next year. Buy another GPS and fill it up too. But we should call it RJ's spot.

There is a famous pimple off Santa Cruz, CA called the 601. It is for the small seamount that exists there that rises to 601 fathoms. I have fished it many a time. Often you can catch tuna dead over the 601 and nowhere else. But it also is surrounded by several canyon fingers that channel the currents over it.

If you look at the position of Tunatown, it is on the edge of the 3,000 line near a peninsula. The currents are influenced by the bottom contours. In my experience fishing off Oregon, the tuna seem to prefer: 1. Temperature. The best tuna fishing is in 60-62 degree water. I realize that larger tuna are caught in colder water but more consistent scores are had in the 60-62 temps. 2. Structure. They like valleys and rises that mix the water. I suspect it also brings nutrients up to feed the bait. 3. A little wind. Dead flat water seems to put them to sleep. A little ripple on the water wakes them up and make them curious. 4. Sunrise or sunset seems to be always productive. Especially sunset bite. Tuna like to take a siesta at noon.


[ 01-19-2003, 10:08 AM: Message edited by: Sensei-san ]

[wak'm&stak'm]

The tunnda triangle....that was pretty good Ron.

[Mark Mc]

Hey RJ, does the blue chart map show any more definition? I see the one above has the 100 & 500 fathom lines, but not all the other increments found on the paper chart. Those other increments show it more like a topo map, with the direction of the ledges, like where you circled 792. Just curious...

[skein]

RJ,

I've seen the effects of that piece of ocean. The men and women who venture there come back dirty and bloody, with glazed eyes and shaking hands. You will find them hanging around harbors and fish-cleaning stations mumbling something that sounds like "toooonnnaaahhhh, toooonnnaaahhhh" over and over. They only live to return, and have been known to coerce friends, family, and even perfect strangers into accompanying them.

No one has been able to return them to normalcy. It appears to be terminal, but even the use of that word will throw them into a frenzy of perfection loops and uni-knots. I personally watched one person who was so far gone he would just tie knots in a line every 18 inches - over and over and over.

Don't go there!

Skein

[Sensei-san]

Mark Mc, Bluechart is the best electronic charting system out. Except if you have the major bucks to buy the Nobeltec version for hundreds more and it only runs on computers.

Bluechart will run on a bunch of Garmin's fishfinders and chartplotters. They have a great blackbox sounder system to hook into their chartplotters now and it is a killer system.




GO RAIDERS!!! ESPECIALLY FLASH 80!!!!

[ 01-19-2003, 10:03 AM: Message edited by: Sensei-san ]

[Uglygreen]

Hmmm... looks like the place the commercial draggers are usually working, I think it is called "Bananna Reef" Or "Bananna ground", It gets hit pretty hard for bottomfish, all we could catch there was a single pacific hake.

Seen Albi jumpers in the area, was green water last year, usually cool at around 55-56 degrees.

UG

[Sensei-san]

Maybe that is a clue for sportfishermen. I thought that bananas were verboten on any self-respecting sportfishing boat.

[ 01-19-2003, 11:18 AM: Message edited by: Sensei-san ]

[corrirod]

I'll have to get the GPS out and check but I think that is very close to the spots me and Pilar have marked. Pilar has a spot marked 61 degrees and I have one just north of his. Out of the times I fished my spot, there was only once we didn't catch one there. UG is right about the commercials fishing that area. They were almost always there, in fact the charters fished there several times too.

[mcsmd]

I was playing with some navigation software and I was hoping you could give the the corrinates of this area. Just wanted to see what you all were discussing.

[Sensei-san]

The spot they are all buzzing about is: 44 53' 38" N and 124 45' 27" W. There is a bank there that is clearly marked on the Yaquina Head to Columbia River chart. Somehow they think that tuna have a secret lair there that they hide in and pop up to tease tuna anglers that drive by.

If you look at the tunatown location it is on the edge of the 500 fathom curve. The bottom begins to rapidly drop off after that. Doesn't take much rocket science to realize why the tuna hang there.

[Mark Mc]

There are certain nomenclatures of naming some of these high spots. The boring ones are by the numbers (like the 601 sensei mentioned). But the more interesting is by the shape on the chart. My favorite is the "roosterhead" NW of Fort Bragg CA. You can clearly see it's a roosterhead!

So when I look at the spot you're talking about (after only one glass of good red wine), I see a piggy with a humpback. Do I hear a second nomination for the "humpback pig"?

Let's hear some other nominations!

[ 01-19-2003, 10:29 PM: Message edited by: Mark Mc ]

[Sensei-san]

RJ, decided to check my tuna numbers and came up with some interesting observations. These are waypoints from several years of tuna fishing. Each waypoint represents either a strike or landing.

You can see that the waypoints are mysteriously clustered over a ridge and canyon. I have yet to be able to extract the time of day from the waypoint. Garmin claims that it is in the waypoint data and can be accessed with PC software. It will be interesting to see how the time of day clusters with the waypoints on the map.

I agree with you that Bluechart is the easiest and best chartplotting software on the market. By saving your waypoints from year to year you can build a wealth of fishing spots. Now I can give up my DuPont spinners. It is more fun to use Bluechart.

Hey, Mark Mc, how about the "Dogbone" off Monterey? That one is pretty obvious too.


[ 01-19-2003, 10:31 PM: Message edited by: Sensei-san ]

[Mark Mc]

OK RJ & all, here's the same spot from the paper chart. Is it a humpback pig? What else do you see? Don't worry, this is not a Rorschak (sp?) ink blot test.....

[Mark Mc]

Hey Sensei, yea lots of good names down there. I wanted to ask you, where is that area in the chart you posted? I don't quite recognize it. And speaking of down south spots, exactly where is the "weenie"? Yea, Mark doesn't know where the weenie is. Let the jokes fly....

[Miss B Haven]

I think it's an Elk! :grin: :shocked:


Actually it looks more like a Brahma bull than a pig! Hump on back, deep chest (brisket?), the nose. No horns though, must got clipped!

Mark,
What is to the east of the trench on the left side of the large hump? Several smaller humps/pinacles here too.

[Mark Mc]

Hey Sensei, that last pic you posted be the dogbone a.k.a. 451, off Pt Sur. Sure doesn't look like any weenie I've ever seen, except maybe something they roasted on Fear Factor!

I'm still trying to figure out the other one..hehehe...didn't leave any clues on that one did ya.

[RJ]

look what I done went and started humpback pigs ,Brahma Bulls,Elk all we need is a beverage of choice and we'll have the 4 basic food groups covered :grin:

Sensei-san o honorable wun RJ ready to snatch the pebble from your hand good info and posts.

Skein I've been to this place and I still lead a normal life...we'll kinda ..there's still those weak moments i drift back to yesteryear and let out a Sam Adams Beer woop as I watch three stand up rods and a couple handlines all light up at the same time

[Mark Mc]

Oh Seeeensei-Saaaan, Marky-San knows where that spot is now. Reference to your nephew was clue. That is definitely no-man's land; I wouldn't worry about too many skiffs showing up there. Quite a nice canyon; I'll bet it sees some hellacious upwelling.

Has Rich hooked any bluefin off Oregon?

[Sensei-san]

Mark Mc, I suspect that the Dogbone and Weenie are the same. Most of the time you hear the same people talking about it fishing off Monterey.

As for the other spot, you will have to figure it out. But it most be in the Pacific Ocean cuz the map says so. But is feet or fathoms? My nephew says it is top secret. He would have to use me for chum on a tuna trip if I told you. It's messy going through the chum grinder. Kinda like the last episode of CSI or FARGO except he would have to cut me up into small pieces to fit the chum grinder. :depressed: :depressed: :depressed: :depressed:



[ 01-20-2003, 12:21 PM: Message edited by: Sensei-san ]

[Mark Mc]

Birth of... the Piggy

Originally Posted by Mark Mc

There are certain nomenclatures of naming some of these high spots. The boring ones are by the numbers (like the 601 sensei mentioned). But the more interesting is by the shape on the chart. My favorite is the "roosterhead" NW of Fort Bragg CA. You can clearly see it's a roosterhead!

So when I look at the spot you're talking about (after only one glass of good red wine), I see a piggy with a humpback. Do I hear a second nomination for the "humpback pig"?

Let's hear some other nominations!

[ 01-19-2003, 10:29 PM: Message edited by: Mark Mc ]

[wak'm&stak'm]

Geez Mark.... kind of brings back ole memories, started tearing up in the middle of it.
I actually have to work with ole RJ the next couple of nights. I still have a couple of the RJ Ugly Lures .... never seen one on market yet.

Thanks for sharing.... I miss them days.