Thanks Salty Dogs: Tuna Spank-Fest

Fishmstr · 07-06-2003, 05:47 PM

Thanks a ton to all the salty dogs out there for their guidence to the tuna grounds on Saturday. We thought our temp gauge was broken when we arrived at the numbers and the water was only 56...fortunately a mile further West it was up to 58+. Quite the temp break. We got up to 61 about 35 miles out. Awesome day of fishing. We boated 11 and lost two. All quality 20+ pounders. Half came on purple/black clone, then mex flag, and cedar plug (natural). Trolled a marauder half the day for only one strike. Fished fish-traps on the slide for nothing. All fish were blind jig strikes...saw no breaking fish all day.
Did see lots of birds, a whale and a couple huge schools of dolphin. Gorgeous T-shirt weather all day, until we got inside. Ran 30-35 most of the way back in. Amazing day....and I have the Salty Dogs to thank for it. You guys are awesome. The atmosphere was carnival-like out there and everyone was calling out numbers the second someone asked.
Tried to go out again today, but too snotty. Fished for salmon instead, but only put 3 in the boat (but had about 15 take downs). Not sure what we were doing wrong, but lots of fish came off after the strike and very short battle. I blamed it on the barbless hooks, but it seemed to be incredibly bad luck. Hope to be out next weekend too. Hope the warm water moves in and the wind lays down.

thanks again,

Steve

"Avocation"

seasquid · 07-06-2003, 08:22 PM

Nice job Fishmstr,

I'm heading out this week for bullets. It's a blast to fish with the pack of dogs. No secrets with this bunch.

Sorry to hear about the salmon losses. You might try speeding up your troll, changing to plug cuts or whole herring if you were using fillets, or the opposite. Your hooks also can't be sharp enough. All that being said, some days are just like that.

take care.

ss

Pitch Pocket · 07-07-2003, 06:58 AM

Silvers hooked on barbless hooks will spit the hook if you stop the boat to fight the fish. Try continuing the troll when you hook a fish to keep pressure on the hook. You will lose way less fish.

Netting technique for landing fish on the troll is a little different too. I just put the net in the water behind the fish and drop the rod tip back toward the net. They drop back into the net tail first and generally turn head first into the bag when the pressure is off. Gets em every time.

I know it is recommended to net the fish head first, but after losing more fish than I landed, I changed my mind. This technique works well with kokanee too. You end up landing almost every fish you hook.

The real trick is continuing the troll and don't stop the boat to fight a silver. Your lines stay straight and you often get doubles or triples. Of course you need a pilot not fighting fish or your TR-1 Gold doing the work or you might end up going in circles.