How tuna is caught on an industrial scale. Sea fishing and tuna drifting. How does this happen
7 am. Indian Ocean. Calm. 260 horsepower is carrying the white boat to the center of Kar-Fakhan Bay. Splashes appeared on the water in the distance. The seagulls also noticed them and rushed to the battlefield. We came within the throwing distance of a heavy Yo-Zuri L-Jack Jig to a tuna flock.
You can already see here and there silver silhouettes under the water and dark backs, from time to time appear above its surface. Stop the car! Motors to "neutral". “Go on! What the hell are you waiting for? Cast! Cast right in the middle of the feast! (Come on! What the hell are you waiting for? Throw quickly into the very center of the battle!) "- the captain's voice instantly removes from the stupor. Vzhzhzhik! A small heavy spoon flies about 50 meters and falls in the middle of the diverging circles. I spin the reel as if I want no one to get my spoon. and simultaneously with the blow, pull and squeal of the friction clutch, I understand that the tuna has sat down. Here it is - stand up light tackle sea fishing!
Goals and objectives
At the beginning of March we were invited to go sea fishing. Except for amateur spinning fishing in the Aegean Sea, then for the first time I got into a serious real sea fishing. Therefore, I immediately determined the following goal for myself. Do not look at marlin, sailboat and other billfish. Since these "guys" are not caught "for a fool" just like that, and a lot of time is wasted on them. Do not agree to trolling, fly fishing and "plumb". And learn as much as possible about sea spinning (traditional in our understanding of freshwater) spinning. Having contacted the captain of the fishing vessel in advance, I tried to ask him in as much detail as possible about the necessary tackle and lures and tried to convince him that only spinning is needed, and not just exotic fishing. Most clients (as well as ours) see the trophy as their target, and the way to capture it is secondary for them. I tried to formulate the problem diametrically opposite.
Training
So, according to the recommendations of the captain, I began to collect my kits. Reels at least 3000 - 4000 - for tuna and dorado. Braid maximum 30 lbs. Lures - medium-sized sinking wobblers 7-9 cm with blue, green and black backs and jigs in 14-18-20 g. Jigs are not the same as our jigs. They are heavy little sea shakes like the Yo-Zuri L-Jack Jig. Halco Roosta poppers and similar ones. Spinning rods up to 6 - 7 feet (that is, no longer than 210 cm) and the corresponding 30-lb braid capacity. Fast action is desirable. Fluorocarbon leashes or so on. hardmono (wear-resistant monofilament). For monsters like a GT (carax) or a sailboat, which is also sometimes tossed, reels were recommended around 20,000, braids 70-100 lbs, leashes 150 lbs. The kits are, in general, completely different. Naturally, I eagerly began to select something suitable from my fishing gear and hastily look for what was missing. As a result, trying to please both ours and yours, the kits I formed were a little awkward, but quite working, as it turned out later. In the eyes loomed carax (GT) and, seeing a coil with such an abbreviation and a size just close to 20,000, I, without hesitation, took it. The Tale Scale Attraction spinning rod took it to its reel holder with pleasure. A bit heavy, of course, but, in general, it oozed quite harmoniously. Wrap a 50 lbs braid around it - and you're done. It seems like tuna can be "with a margin", and caraxa "with interference." Of course I was wrong. For tuna, this is too difficult, and, on the contrary, it is not enough for caranx. But it became clear later ...
Errors
But I was told by knowledgeable people ... A man who ate a dog on a sea spinning rod in general and on tuna fishing in particular spoke to me ... He also said that you need to take the tackle. No, we ourselves have a mustache and always decide to come up with something of our own. As a result, I wasted most of the gear and lures.
The lights turned out to be just out of place, and after a couple of casts, I immediately disassembled them. It became immediately clear that exceeding the spinning test was required! A 25 gram spoon with a 25 gram top dough cannot be thrown away quickly and confidently. In practice, the test is needed under 80 - 100 grams. Well, at least under 50 - 60 g, then it still comes out fine. That is, if the weight of the bait is equal to the lower limit of the dough, then it will come out just right. Don't want it, don't believe it! But this is the ocean. There are other rules. The cartoon set, which seemed to be passing through the tests normally, "worked" with the speed of reeling. The powerful cartoon Ambassadeur, a thunderstorm of jerks and pikes, turned out to be useless here. The speed of reeling turned out to be small. A high-speed unit is needed here. Well, it's not in vain that everyone in the sea with Penn cartoons is catching ... In general, it is much more convenient to catch without inertia, all casts take place while standing. From the bow of a ship swaying on the waves. And, as a rule, you have only one cast - therefore it must be fast, accurate and long-range. But the recommendations about "no longer than 210 cm" were, in my opinion, too subjective. Long and powerful spinning rod throws noticeably further. And this is important. True, the hands get tired more, and they also take longer to play out. Here it tastes and colors ... Perhaps, just to the captain of a fishing vessel, who catches this tuna 360 days a year, a couple of mischiefs seems less relevant than tired hands.
Go
There is still a minus in Moscow. Ice on the road in the morning. Wrapping ourselves in jackets and dragging tubes and bags, we load at Sheremetyevo for a flight to Abu Dhabi. Five hours of summer, and we are there ... Then three hours by car to Fujairah. And there they have spring: the air is at + 30 and the water is about 25 degrees. It's cold for the Emirates. As always, a good old Irish friend by the name of Jameson helps to while away the time in flight, with him anywhere. At least five hours to fly, at least ten. Upon arrival, tourists are immediately met by smart Arabs and divided into groups for transfer to hotels. And women have yet to undergo a retinal scan, an unpleasant procedure. But now everything is over, and a smiling driver meets and helps to bring things to the minibus. It's getting dark.
We move on our way through the evening city, through the desert along the smooth, like a mirror, Emirati roads. We arrived on the west coast, but we need exactly the other end, on the east coast. There are fewer people here, and the Indian Ocean ... Three hours of travel, and the hotel Le Meridien, sparkling with all the lights of the rainbow, greets us. Everywhere there are porters, porter and someone else ... You really feel like an important person. And the ear is already catching the sound of the surf. Just a couple of hundred meters to the left - here it is, the Ocean !!!
For fishing
Only when I entered the luxurious room of Le Meridien Al Aquah beach resort with one desire to lie flat on the bed and fall asleep, I hear the internal phone ringing and find out that tomorrow at 6 am a car will come for us. Only my eyes closed, and as if at the same second I hear a hotel wake up call.
To the point
Sleep vanished when, at the entrance to the pier, located 40 minutes from the hotel, I saw a smiling captain and his snow-white ship. There is a cigar in his teeth, powerful sticks in the "glasses" and two Hondas with 130 l / s at the stern. What's a dream ?! "Hi Hi. Well, got up? The bag on board and drove! Whom to wait for? For fishing!" - commanded the captain.
Slowly leading the ship out of the harbor, the captain asks for some reason: "Are you all ready?" But what we are ready for is not yet clear ... It becomes clear after 260 horses roared and carried us along the ocean surface somewhere into the distance. Everything that is not tied, is worn on the head or is just like that, immediately blown away by the wind. The speed is serious.
Deep sea surface fishing
Fishing in the open sea on the surface. The main point of fishing turned out to be simple and painfully familiar to any spinning player who has ever been on perch or asp fishing on the Volga or Rybinka. Tuna, like perch, is schooling fish.
He also hunts for small fish, driving them to the surface of the water. And here the seagulls come into play, which, circling over the sea surface, attract the attention of fishermen. Only the size of the fish, depth, speed, distance and everything else is proportionally increased. Tuna from 1 to 10 - 20 kg. The speed of its movement under water is 50 km / h, the speed of the boat is 70 km / h, the depth under the boat is 100 m, etc. ... The edges and bottom of such boilers, of course, are patrolled by barracudas and sailboats. In our opinion, these are “pikes” and “asps”. And you can catch them too. True, the first ones are almost guaranteed to cut off a fluorocarbon leash with a spoon, without which tuna cannot be caught (they are afraid of braids). And the latter, most likely, will do. But "have fun" (for fun) you can catch them too. The barracuda of a fairly decent size (more than a meter long) I lowered in the park on the last day of fishing. I saw the sailboat directly under the boat, 3 meters away, but did not have time to reconfigure the tackle.
Fishing from tankers
The second fishing option is to survey the water area near anchored tankers, of which there are a great many here a dozen kilometers from the coast. With such depths, lack of reference to the relief, tankers become the only possible places for fish concentration. With low waves and clear water, giant flocks are clearly visible yellowfin tuna cruising around the sides. Here we drifted to catch promising areas with all possible ways... And throw in a jig, and a vertical jig, and a popper, and a deep wobbler. Dorado, whom I really wanted to contemplate, disappeared somewhere. Unfortunately, they were not even visible. But we managed to catch a couple of good yellowfin tuna weighing under 3 kg. And the largest bluefin tuna for "three rubles" was also caught near the side of the tanker.
Technique
Let's go back to the fishing technique itself. You will need to stand firmly on the bow of the boat. The floor is covered with something like a skin, so it's not difficult. The most difficult thing is to constantly balance the body to the beat of the waves (after all, the ocean) and at the same time very far and accurately throw a spoon or wobbler. Casting, in an amicable way, you have only one, the tuna is afraid of the boat and quickly leaves, less than 20-30 seconds is in the casting zone. And he can leave for 300 meters or a kilometer, or even finish eating. As a rule, if the first cast is unsuccessful, then you quickly exhaust the braid and throw it again. And while the spoon is flying, the fish moves 100 m from the boat right before our eyes in 2-3 seconds and leaves. It's amazing how fast it is ... And you can ride like that all day. Kingfish is caught in the same way. The only difference is that this fish is slower and deeper, and just less shy. You can try to catch it at one point for much longer, and it will bite.
Tuna harness
The most interesting thing at first is the wiring. It was not for nothing that the captain said that the reel should be with the highest gear ratio. The speed of reeling should be such as if you want no one to catch up with the bait and not have time to notice and react at all. This is exactly how it seems at first by "freshwater" standards. But then, when you see a couple of times how the fish calmly follows the spoon, coming up from one side, then from the other, or emerging from a 30-meter depth, it's so easy to look at what it is and turn around to swim away calmly, without straining back to the abyss ... and at this time, bent over from the tension, madly twirl the handle of the coil and cover yourself with sweat ... In general, it becomes clear that what “we” have quickly - “here” do not even count “slowly”. And the fact that we have "nonsense and nobody needs it" is only the beginning of the "speedometer". This is with regards to the wiring of L-Jack Jig lures and the like, which are actually specially designed for such fishing. Fishing harness for tankers The second harness option that we have practiced is something like speed jigging, which is popular nowadays among advanced marine spinning anglers. The jig is thrown very close or even vertically descends overboard. We wait half a minute until it sinks 30–40 meters, and then abruptly begin high-speed rewinding, combined with powerful and sharp jerks upward with the rod. As if vertical twitching at prohibitive speed comes out. The tuna perceives the spinner, most likely, as a frightened fish, which someone is already chasing and which is looking for salvation at the surface. A predatory reflex is triggered, and the fish rushes into the attack. This is how yellowfin and bluefin tuna peck. Even the yellowfin pecks, perhaps, that way more often. In general, this fish is rarely caught on a spinning tackle. It is more often caught with fly fishing. But you can seduce her with such a fast "twitchjig" in the water column. Apparently, in the depths, this predator is not so fearful.
For reef fish
On coastal fishing, where we also visited several times at my urgent requests, everything is caught with surface lures. Walkers and Poppers. Although the guides, for the sake of fun, even here caught on heavy jigs and fast wiring. And pecked. But here, in their opinion, it is mainly a trifle that bites. Although a few fish that pecked and descended from me seemed quite decent. It was both kingfish and barilla (the local name for flute fish), very similar to garfish. Both were about half a meter long and resisted seriously. But narrow bony mouths and tees of volumetric bait are not the best terms for reliable fishing. Therefore, most fish come off during surface fishing. But the pleasure remains! The wiring here does not shine with delights. No walk the dog with walkers and no stop and go with poppers. Just quickly drag both those and others. Well, except that sometimes in the process of dragging, twitch for uneven movement. And that's all. Apart from the ubiquitous bariliums, some other beautiful red fish pecked at it. Even the guides don't know their names. Because no - neither sports nor nutritional value they don't represent. The same goes for catching Giant Trevally. Only the places are a little deeper, and the baits with tackle are much more powerful
There is something to see
The morning fishing trips were the most memorable. Imagine silence and smoothness everywhere. There are not even ripples on the surface of the water. And this is the ocean! Our boat is slowly sailing in the area of potential tuna exit. Suddenly, a huge black fin and a round back appear from the water about 100 meters away. What is this? Oh, yes, it's a moonfish playing. With a table the size, slow and clumsy, almost round fish like this in front of us easily flounders for several minutes. And what is that floating below us, like a huge turtle the size of a sewer hatch? So this is it - a sea turtle the size of a sewer hatch. What's the problem? A turtle is a turtle. To be honest, I was in a little pleasant shock from such an abundance of "near-fishing" impressions from the National Geographic series. And the fact that a sailboat is sailing three meters from the side of the boat? Huge, black, with eyes the size of a saucer ... Isn't that a shock? Some unexpected fish, a meter or so in size, show up at the surface from time to time. Who are they, where from, why are they here, where are they sailing? Ocean…
What about dolphins? The most real big black dolphins and among them one albino. They just flop and snort next to the boat. They dive in ... “They play like that sometimes,” says the captain. - It happens". "Yeah, it happens, of course, we understand ... What's so unusual about 20 dolphins jumping at the side ... We've seen this a hundred times." Because of the albino, they were just surprised, and that's all ... But everything is fine. Yeah ... And the sandstone crabs on the beach. You sit quietly for about five minutes, and small claws begin to appear from the sand near the surf. One, two, four, ten. If you sit quietly, they run out and start scurrying here and there in search of food, thrown ashore by the waves. You stamp your foot, and with the speed of a bullet the crabs are carried away to their burrows. Sometimes they don't hit, they rush around, start digging new ones. This is all nonsense, of course. But for some reason, all this nonsense brings a lot of positive.
Stuck
There is one more fun entertainment on this fishing trip. There are hours when nowhere and no one eats anyone and, accordingly, does not bite. And it's too early for the base. It is 50 km away. What to do, what to do with yourself? Remora! Remora is the most natural sticky fish. It sticks not only to sharks, but also to the bottoms of ships. Namely tankers. Holding on to the bottom and bow of the vessel, this fish spends all the time in search of food. Will move away from the parking lot for a couple of meters, eat something and stick back. It's easy to catch her. Approach the very side of the tanker about three or four meters. Vertical cast to the board itself, and keep the bow open. The jig is slowly (20 g of lead per second pass three meters - this is by sea standards on the sly) sinks, waddling along its sides. I drowned about 20 meters, and you start climbing at an average speed with the rocking of the rod. Sometimes with stops and vacations down half a meter. Then you resume wiring. The bait moves in the meter from the side of the vessel upwards. Remora bites either in the classics on the fall, or simply at any stage of the posture. The bite is not very expressive. This is where the fun begins. If you miss a bite or miss something else, the remora will stick back to the side of the ship in a second. Then all! It is almost never possible to tear it off. Only to tear the braid (then goodbye to the jig), or the lip of the remoore (this is the best option), or, if the braid is thick, and the remora is large and took well, then the fishing line has to be cut. So after a bite, you need to immediately and quickly start playing. The second difficulty is that as soon as the remora realizes that she was dragged up from her beloved rusty side and there is no way back, she starts looking for another “home”. And as this house rises to the surface, it sees more and more the bottom of your boat. She sticks to him. And the captain does not like this at all. What does he need a meter-long slippery reptile on the bottom of a beautiful white ship? She's going to live there. Then the captain says to the mate - let's dive in and peel her off as you want. Now the assistant is unhappy. He is afraid to even take a remora in his hands. And even more so they have absolutely no desire to dive towards it and tear it off from the bottom. The fish is extremely ugly both in appearance, and in the touch, and in the smell. The whole process of catching it goes with shouts, jokes, jokes, power procedures. Here's the fun.
Power
What I want to say separately is the strength and speed of marine fish. The first bite of a small tuna gave a completely unambiguous impression. I was sure that it was something about a meter long and weighing less than 10 kilograms. It turned out to be 1.5 kg tuna, 30 centimeters long. The one that was the largest, according to various estimates from 3 to 4 kg, was dragged like a Yamaha in two horses, released at full throttle. Seriously, I held on to the spinning rod with one hand and the handrail on the bow of the boat with the other. That's with a 50lib braid, a GT series reel, and a 3oz dough stick. Of course, with the number of bites and the accumulation of experience, the understanding comes that a much less powerful tackle will be enough. But at first it was simply amazing. The dash of a barracuda after a bite, a line that whistles through the water in the literal sense of the word. You do not have time to hook it yet, but it has already "run" 20 meters and pulled the braid into a line. You just grab the handle of the reel, and it is already in the other side at 30 m. I grabbed the handle, and she already took a bite of the spoon ... The tuna, taken out of the water after a couple of minutes of tug-of-war, beats in the same way as at the very beginning. The tail thrashes on the deck like a small motor. Due to such capacities and speeds, of course, there are a lot of retirements. I can imagine what a sailboat or a caravan with a mass of 20-30-50 kg does ... Or a tuna weighing 20 kg ... We saw these on the last day. A decent flock cruised in the middle of the bay, showing scarred gray backs just below the surface of the water. Those tunas didn't react to any bait. Although we had 10 minutes for experiments. The only thing these hulks came up to the side of the boat for was the same Yo-Zuri L-Jack Jig and Rapala Jointed Shad, which one of these monsters even tasted by mouth. And that's all.
As an epilogue
A kind of confusion and inconsistency in the presentation of this material is primarily due to the mass of impressions and emotions that accompanied the process of delving into sea spinning. The lesson is so unusual and exciting with all the seeming simplicity and clarity that, probably, on paper, the whole gamut of feelings and thoughts accompanying it, it will not be possible to convey not only half, but God forbid, a third. If you consider yourself, as it is customary to call it today, even a little "advanced" spinning player, then be sure to try this. Qualitatively new level some opens. The tackle and methods are all the same, familiar and understandable. But everything happens so unusual and unusual that much changes in consciousness. It turns out that you still do not know everything about fish and about tackle and baits. It turns out that sea fishing is not trolling with beer at the stern. So much new fishing information in one incomplete week, my personal brain has not received for the last two or three years for sure. All this is reflected in the subsequent freshwater fishing one hundred percent. When you remember the number of nuances and problems "here", you realize with relief how much easier fishing "here" is. True, even the pike for some reason began to understand better ...
Not a bungalow on the island
Your second half (or third, or whatever, or not half at all) will definitely not be against such fishing. After all, you can take it with you. As well as the offspring. Fortunately, Al Aqua beach Resort will allow you to leave them for spa treatments, in a cocktail bar and in the children's area under the supervision of trained personnel for any time you need for fishing. Here, in the Emirates, there is only desert and camels around. Therefore, a tourist has nowhere to go for a walk. So the organizers tried to fit everything they might want on the territory of one hotel. Mini golf, tennis, swimming pool (very large, by the way), shops, restaurants (I highly recommend local beef), bars, snack bars, coffee shops, hookahs, cars ... The service is of the most variegated and diverse folk. Specially brought bartenders and receptionists unexpectedly, seeing you as "Russo Turisto", turn to you in their native language. So whoever is at odds with English need not worry. There are so many entertainments, restaurants and everything else that you probably won't be able to get around everything in a week. Despite the fact that alcohol is strictly in the Emirates, in Fujairah in general and in Al Aqua in particular, there is no problem with this. Of course, it's not worth getting into the trash. It's somehow inconvenient. But everything is always available. Decent price, but there is.
There are as many boats as cars in coastal cities and towns in southern Italy. When two men meet in a trattoria for a glass of wine, fishing is one of the main topics of their conversation. True, this conversation is little understood by the uninitiated. I heard a Frenchman, the owner of a yacht docked in the port of Marina Grande on Capri, say to the local captain of the boat: "If not for my wife, who was impatient to sail to the festival in San Remo, I would have been chasing this swordfish for at least a week." ...
However, one should not think that the waters of the open sea here are teeming with large fish. No. Italian anglers prefer to catch small fish off the coast rather than spend time exploring far offshore areas with no hope of catching. Yet the search for strong emotions associated with hunting large predators attracts many enthusiasts to trolling and drifting - the main types of fishing on the high seas. Wealthy people, as a rule, have personal boats equipped with powerful motors, an automatic navigation system and three-dimensional sonar, a must for successful fishing, which shows the topography of the seabed on the display, the movement of schools and even individual fish. At the same time, with good fishing equipment, you can catch not some horse mackerel, but much larger fish - a herring shark or hammerhead fish, for example. But we will dwell in more detail on the description of the most real object of fishing on the high seas - so, tuna and how to catch it.
Sometime a few years ago, my Italian friends and I sailed on their yacht along the coast of Sicily. The artificial "fish", which I lowered on the line behind the stern, jumped beautifully on small waves, but for several hours it did not seduce anyone. The Italians, looking at my by no means sea spinning rod, equipped with a "Nevskaya" reel, chuckled that I was fishing with such a prehistoric tackle. I also had a couple of multi-colored artificial "octopuses" imitating small octopuses - I managed to buy them at the port fishing store. However, when I changed the fish to the Octopus, the result did not improve. Then there was a night crossing to Sardinia. Of course, I wound the spinning so that the line would not get tangled on the yacht's tack. Captain Mario woke me up at night.
Alex, - he wheezed excitedly in a smoky voice, - where are your gear? Give them here. Fish.
The wind barely stirred the sails. Two deck lamps were burning. I rubbed my eyes and peered into the darkness overboard. In the black transparent water, like ghosts, shimmery with a silvery color and prowled from side to side the quivering "spindles" of fish bodies. There were a lot of them, and they walked in a dense formation, obviously driving a school of some small fish.
I frantically unwound the line and, hanging over the handrails, threw the Octopus forward along the side, closer to the bow of the yacht. I wind up the reel - and suddenly a blow! A large fish entered the line. She rests, rushes about, tries to go to the depths. The CFRP spinning rod is quite strong and the line is 0.50mm. I hold the fish and feel how it gives in, goes towards me. There is no time to mess around, and I am dragging recklessly. Captain Mario with his hands shaking in excitement tenaciously grabs a fish slightly raised to the side.
Tuno! - he exclaims happily, stepping away from the edge of the yacht with a quivering tuna pressed to his chest.
Slightly stunning the fish with his fist, he deftly takes the hook out of her mouth and hands me the freed Octopus.
Come on, throw it up, quickly! The captain's movements are impatient.
As soon as the bait touched the water - again a dash, and spinning in an arc. And suddenly he straightens up sharply. The fish is gone.
The captain clutches his head in despair, wrinkling his unshaven face in a funny way. But I quickly change the tackle - and now, after a short struggle, the second tuna is already on the deck. Behind him the third ... Then the bite, as if on command, breaks off. How much and wherever I throw it - no effect. The captain turns the searchlight, the beam illuminates the calm sea in stripes. Everything is calm around. The fish is not visible.
Basta, the joint has passed, - says Señor Mario. - Go to bed.
In the morning, feeling the scent fried fish coming from the galley, I wake up. Seeing me, friends joyfully exclaim, greeting the lucky fisherman, and invite me to an elegantly served table, in the center of which lies a five-kilogram tuna decorated with greenery on a platter.
This is how I first came across this worthy fish. Then, during my travels around the world, I more than once caught tuna, and sometimes much larger ones, and I used the most modern tackles. In general, these fish can reach enormous size. Individuals over 4.5 m and weighing over 600 kg are known.
Tuna is a schooling pelagic fish. Distributed in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans... In the North it enters the Barents Sea. Comes to the coastal zone in spring. Spawning is almost all summer. Pelagic caviar 1-1.15 mm in diameter. After spawning, tuna makes long-distance migrations in search of food. The main food item is small schooling fish (sardines, saury, sprats, etc.), but it does not disdain both crustaceans (shrimps, amphipods) and cephalopods (squid, octopus).
Here is a list of records approved by the International Recreational Fishing Association (IGFA) and included in the Guinness Book of Records (as of January 2000).
- Big-eyed tuna (Pacific) - 197.31 kg (Dr. Russell V.A.Le; Cabo Blanco, Peru, 04/17/1957).
- Blue tuna (Pacific) - 679.00 kg (Ken Fraser; Olds Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada, 10/26/1979).
- Yellowfin tuna (Atlantic) - 176.35 kg (Kurt Wiesen-Hutter; San Benedicto Island, Mexico, 04/01/1977).
According to the Egyptian Angling Federation (EAF), the largest tuna - 44.2 kg - was taken in February 1991. for trolling with artificial bait.
Guests of the Fishing Caravan company catch tuna in the Red Sea different types(bonito, yellowfin, blue, etc.) many, different sizes, but every time with great pleasure. The fish is very athletic and makes even the most experienced anglers jittery.
Fishing for tuna with natural baits
Fishing with natural baits is sometimes more effective. This is due to various factors, one of which is the excessive transparency of the water. Squid, small octopus, mackerel or horse mackerel are used as bait for catching tuna by trolling and drifting; their size is chosen according to the expected size of the object of fishing. It is important that the attachment is firmly attached to the hook when towing.
For this purpose, the belly of the fish is ripped open and the entrails are taken out. The hook is inserted into the back with inside, and the sting is taken out near the head. Attached to the hook, a 20-30 centimeter leash is taken out through the mouth and, by means of a carabiner and a swivel, is attached to the fishing line; the belly of the fish is sewn up with harsh threads. The sinker must be attached a meter from the hook. If you fish in the sea, where giant fish are abundant, it is better to use a steel lead.
A very good attachment for trolling predatory fish, including tuna fish, is a strip of meat cut from the bottom of the carcass of small mackerel fish. Cutting begins from the lower articulation of the gills, first cutting off the cartilaginous thread, and ends a few centimeters further behind the anal fin.
This procedure requires a very sharp knife. The optimal size of the strip is 30-40 cm. It is more convenient to separate the abdomen when the fish lies on its side. The cut part is freed from the viscera and excess meat beyond the anus. Then hook No. 10-11 / 0, tied to a nylon leash 120-150 cm long, pierce a strip of peritoneum near the anal fin and produce a so-called filling, consisting of several couplings.
The first sleeve is located near the hook ear, the second and third at a distance of about 6 and 12 cm from it. Farther couplings prevent the bait from slipping and sinking to the hook itself. Then the edges of the abdomen are securely sewn up to the level of the hook (or a little short of it) using a thick needle and waxed strong thread. At the end of the abdomen, an incision can be made up to the anal fin, so that the mobility of the edges during the retrieval process will better attract the fish. Sometimes, in order to make the bait more attractive and at the same time protect its front, a multicolored octopus bait is attached to it.
The rods are installed in sockets or holders longitudinally along the sides of the boat or (if there is one) on the central post. The rig is vented at a distance of 30 - 100 m from the stern, and the line is inserted into the slot of special clamps - outriggers, which are able to freely release it when biting. The line clamping contributes to a more stable bait play.
When fishing for relatively small tuna, they use voluminous sea landing nets, and if a giant has already sat on the hook, prepare hooks and harpoons fixed on a long shaft.
Fishing for tuna with artificial bait
Ninety out of one hundred percent of the time, heat-loving pelagic predators, which include tuna, spend at the surface or in the upper layers of the water of the seas and oceans. Therefore, the technique of trolling without or with a small submersion of the bait is the most common in the world. In order to fish deeper, you need to have solid experience in the technique of dipping lures. The most suitable baits for towing in the upper layers of water are small "fish" (made from various polymers), or spoon baits. Usually, their size is from 14 to 18 cm (smaller spinners with a recommended towing speed of 6-7 knots per hour play poorly when reaching the surface due to their low weight and weak drag). All predators react to these baits indiscriminately; the game of lures, similar to the movements of a wounded fish, is visible even at a considerable distance.
Commercially available trolling or throw-in artificial sea lures are often supplied with tees. But it is more correct to put doubles instead of them - then the game will noticeably improve. You can also supply large (from 20 to 27 cm) spoons with such hooks. They will also be more attractive.
One of the classic towing lures is the artificial octopus. There are many models of "octopuses". Their shape and size - from 9 to 18 cm - ensure high-quality wiring. The color of the bait is for every taste. The peculiarity of the design of the "octopus" head is that, if necessary, it can be weighted with lead. This allows you to regulate the game and the dive of the bait, as well as to make diving movements at the start. Lead is fastened like this; the pin is pushed into the hole in the weight. At the same time, the fish hook is removed for a while, and then tied in such a way as to hide it among the tentacles of the bait. To give the necessary game, you can install additional weights on the hairpin or wind a streamlined tampon.
Andrey Bazhenov
Articles and answers written
Tuna is a very large marine (oceanic) fish that is a welcome trophy for both industrial fishermen and hobbyists. In this article, you will learn where to fish for tuna, what to fish for, and what gear to use.
Useful information about tuna:
- The cost of a kilogram of tuna can be as high as $ 40 per kilogram.
- Tuna belongs to the Mackerel family.
- The weight of large tuna can reach over 600 kg, and the length is over 4 meters.
- The body of a tuna can be compared to a torpedo, which tapers strongly towards the tail.
- The tuna can move at speeds in excess of 80 km / h.
Types of tuna
- Bluefeather
- Yellowfin
- Skipjack
- Longtip
- Big-eyed
- Small Atlantic
- Mackerel
Bluefin tuna is the largest and mackerel is the smallest.
Where to look for tuna
Tuna can be found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Also, tuna lives in the seas, for example, in the Mediterranean, Red, Adriatic, Aegean, Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas. That is, tuna stays in warm waters rich in small fish, such as sardines or mackerel.
Tuna moves along the same routes every year, so if you know where to fish there is a high chance of catching it.
Fishermen note that small tuna are more often caught in spring, and larger individuals in autumn. As a rule, flocks of large tunas consist of a dozen individuals, while schools of small tunas, on the contrary, are kept in large schools. Also note that large tuna lives at great depths, 100-150 meters, and small ones closer to the surface.
When fishing for tuna, it can be detected visually, that is, it can jump out of the water. Dolphins, which feed on small tuna, are another good sign of tuna. Diving birds are also a sign of tuna.
Tuna feeding
A very important role in tuna fishing is played by feeding small fish. Often they take the carcasses of sardines, which are thrown both whole and cut in parts. The task of feeding is a clear forage trail, which is created by methodically tossing fish along the path of the vessel. For feeding, both cut and whole sardines are needed, since cut fish sinks faster, and whole fish slower.
That is, due to the fact that a flock of tuna can be at different depths, from 20 to 100 m, then finding bait distributed throughout the water column, the tuna rises higher and its chance to swallow the bait with a hook increases.
For large and medium tuna, use the whole sardine, and for small tuna, use half.
Tackle for tuna fishing
For tuna weighing up to 100 kg, rods are used with a test load of 70-90 lb, if the fish is more than 100 kg, then tackles with a test of 100-130 lb are used.
The optimal rod length is 180-200 cm. As a basis, a marine dacron line with a high breaking load is used.
The reel should be of a marine class, preferably multiplier and high-speed, because the tuna is very fast and when playing it you have to often and quickly choose the slack in the line. The reel capacity must be more than 600 m of line. The brake setting is also important. We recommend tested coils from Shimano , Daiwa and Penn.
Daiwa Sealine-X-40
Shimano Tyrnos (TYR30)
Echo sounder for finding tuna
Also, a very important tool for catching tuna is an echo sounder, which allows you to determine the depth of the fish, its size and speed of movement. Since tuna can be located at a depth of over 100 meters, the echo sounder should penetrate such depth without any problems. High-quality marine echo sounders start at $ 500, and some models also have functionality related to gps maps of the area, which is very convenient.
Fishing for tuna (video)
Tuna rig
Tuna fishing tackle consists of the usual components, but their size and strength are very impressive. Strong line, lead, lead, hook and large round float designed for tuna fishing.
The leash is made of thick fluorocarbon with a diameter of 1-2 mm and a length of 2-3 meters. Since the water in the sea and ocean is very clean, tuna can see well, and fluorocarbon is almost invisible in the water, which will not alert the fish.
As you can imagine, tuna hooks and swivels should be of maximum strength, so you cannot save on them. Sea hooks from firms are suitable Owner and Mustad №8/0-12/0.
Weight used sinkers depends on the depth of fishing, the heavier the load, the greater the depth of the bait. Most often, sinkers weighing 200-300 grams are used.
If tuna is caught with several rods at once, then float balls are used, which delimit the space between the rigs, not allowing them to get confused with each other. For example, one ball descends 50 meters from the vessel, the second ball 70 meters and the third 90 meters. The depth of tuna fishing can be from 10 to 150 meters.
We also recommend articles about catching the following marine fish: halibut, flounder, cod, pelengas.
Fishing for large tuna (video)
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Fishing boats |
- Is it difficult to fish on the high seas?
This question often worries yachtsmen going on long voyages in the Atlantic or Mediterranean Sea. Someone tries to fish sea fish with river tackle and is disappointed with the result. Someone has never tried to catch, really wants to start and does not know how ...
We fish on almost every crossing in the ocean. Tuna, luminous fish, swordfish - they visit our galley quite regularly and keep our crews happy and well-fed. The crackle of the reel - and the sleepy crew instantly flies into the cockpit in only underpants, challenging the place at the rod: only those who saw a ten-kilogram luminary flying out like a candle upwards, two meters from the water, will understand this feeling of fishing excitement!
In fact, it is not difficult to fish in the open sea in an amount sufficient to feed a team of 3-4 people. I will take the liberty of giving some advice.
1. Purchase Cruiser's handbook of fishing. This is a comprehensive guide to fishing techniques from a yacht, which includes not only a description of fishing methods, bait and a variety of tackle, but also information on how to properly cut and prepare the catch. Kindle edition costs about $ 10 - the cost of one inexpensive bait.
2. Buy a good 30 or 50 lb spool for trolling fishing. You will need a dedicated saltwater fishing reel, preferably with a lever stop. This device is quite expensive, so do not forget to take care of it: regularly desalinate it and carry out the necessary maintenance once a year. A good 30lb reel (Okuma, Shimano, Penn) costs between 200 and 500 euros. You should not take huge swordfish reels under 100-pound fishing line: anyway, you will simply not be able to lift trophies of this size on a yacht.
3. Equip the reel with good line- I recommend Penn monofilament, 40-50 lbs. I use a 30lb spool with 50lb line, if you are using thinner line then do not neglect special knots to strengthen the last 3-5 meters of line, such as the bimini twist. You can use a "braid", but it absorbs the impact worse at the time of the bite
4. The rod is an ordinary inexpensive rod under fishing line 30-40 pounds, can be collapsible in two parts. Don't chase expensive branded rods with rollers instead of rings - catching big fish from a sailing yacht is inconvenient and unnecessary. Focus on trophies weighing up to 15 kg.
5. All baits you use must have their own leash. that connects to the line with quality carabiners and rings with a minimum breaking strength of 100 kg (200 lb). The leash can be made of fishing line with a gap of 50 kg or more, for fishing tuna and luminaries it is best to have a leash made of fishing line, if you expect an attack of "nibbles" (wahoo, barracuda) - put a steel leash.
6. For a beginner, the easiest way is to purchase ready-made baits., immediately equipped with a hook and leash, for example from Williamson. It is best to have several baits in your arsenal, of different depths and character. As a basic set, I recommend having three plastic squid, different color combinations, 10-15 cm long. The best and most popular combination that simulates a wounded fish is red-white color... Black and red squids work well in shaken water. Black and purple, blue and white baits also work well. If the fish is not interested in the bait, change it to a different color, and continue changing the bait in a circle every 2 hours until someone bites.
You can also add one or two sea wobblers to the squid, especially Rapala Shad-rap and X-rap. The hooks on these wobblers are really not very high quality and rust quickly. Wobblers work well at low speeds (less than 5 knots), squid at speeds of 4+ knots.
7. DO NOT OVERRIDE THE STOPPER! The stopper on the reel should be adjusted so that the line comes out quietly, but with a small load - no more than 25% of the breaking strength of the line. A squashed stopper is the reason for the majority of fish coming off when biting, as well as bait loss. Let the fish calmly grind your squid and joyfully take off into the vastness of the sea, jingling with a rattle and calling fishermen to battle. Tie the rod to the rail properly by the eye in the reel- use for this purpose a thin spectrum, at least 500-800 kg at break. For attaching a fishing rod, it is most convenient to use an ordinary "glass", with fastening on the rail.
8. The most fun part of sea fishing- this is playing. When playing: if the wind is weak, remove the sails and turn the yacht into the wind. If the wind is strong, the fish is big, and there are very few lines on the reel, turn on the engine and gently hold the yacht in place against the wind. Don't let the fish go under the yacht - the line on the screw is not fun at all :)!
After stopping the yacht, close the stopper little by little - but not too much! - and start playing by raising the line up, sharply lowering it down and picking up the slack in the line. Do not try to pull up a large fish with the reel; you will have to tighten the stopper too much to do this, and if it breaks, it will immediately come off. Work with a fishing rod, gradually exhausting and pulling the fish towards the yacht.
If the fish starts to make "candles", fight and try to escape - release the stopper slightly, let it swim, and then start playing again. Time is on your side - the main thing is not to let the fish rest: if necessary, change the rod.
9. Get a folding hook! A hook is an absolutely necessary device if you are going to catch fish weighing more than 1-2 kg. When you fish a fish, try to get it in the area of the center line, just behind the gills. This is almost guaranteed to kill her and make it easier to get the booty into the cockpit.
10. To calm the caught fish(and a luminary weighing 10-15 kg can give you a real fight for life and death) I use a towel, a hammer and a thin screwdriver or knife. A towel thrown over the head of a fish disorients the enemy, a hammer stuns, and a well-adjusted blow with a screwdriver at the junction of the spine and skull on the fish's head immediately kills it, hitting the brain. There are those who like to put the fish to sleep by pouring vodka into its gills, or others spirits, but in my opinion this is just a translation of the product. Bagrit, pull out, stun and finish. Do not torment the fish, do not leave them to beat long and painfully in the cockpit, spraying blood and mucus all over the deck. One blow to the brain and you're done. It is better for the faint-hearted and sensitive natures to retire: a large amount of blood flows out of the tuna and coryphans.
12. Fish bite best at sunrise and sunset. however, bites are possible at any time of the day or night. I usually take my rod out at night: at night there is a better chance of picking up a fearsome snake mackerel, or something serious like swordfish or marlin. We fish to eat, we do not need monsters and trophies for 200 kg - so the bait goes into the water with morning twilight and rises as soon as the sky is completely dark.
13. Where to fish and when? On Mediterranean - almost the entire season, but there is little chance of catching something while the water temperature is less than 15 degrees. In the Atlantic - postpone tuna fishing until the water warms up to the same 15 degrees, however, in northern waters on a small tuna squid or wobbler, you can quite successfully catch mackerel. Cod, catfish and other northern fish are not caught on the track, and we do not even think about this fishing on the crossing.
14. Don't be greedy! If you supply squid with a size of 15 cm or more, wait for the visit of large fish. It is quite possible to catch a tuna weighing 50 kg, but pulling it out is much more difficult. And there is no need to talk about eating such a fish ourselves.
15. If a shark bites, cut the leash. Seriously. A small mako shark can arrange for you such a Texas chainsaw massacre in the cockpit that you will not be able to see fishing rods without shuddering for a long time. Fortunately, the shark usually just bites into the line.
16. Penultimate tip: when frying fresh tuna or corifeno, remember that the fish continues to cook for a few minutes after you have removed it from the grill or pan. Don't overcook the fish! Fry not too thick tuna fillets on each side for no more than 1 minute, remove from heat and serve immediately. A slightly pinkish fillet in the center of a piece is a perfectly achievable ideal. Freshly caught tuna, properly drained and cut, marinated for 20-30 minutes in your favorite marinade and lightly fried in a pan or grill ... There is hardly anything tastier!
17. What if you have 10 kg of tuna in the refrigerator and the team can no longer see the fish? Wither the catch! Salt small strips of tuna with the skin in a weak spicy brine for 6-12 hours, dry and string. Hang a string underneath a spray hood or bimini and after 2-3 days you will be rewarded with a wonderful light snack to accompany light white wine or beer. Do not oversalt: there are no flies or other insects in the ocean, and even practically unsalted fish will dry quickly and efficiently.
(c) 2015 Sailing Expeditions Club, reprinting and copying of the material in any form is prohibited
Where to catch tuna: This fish is found in the tropics and subtropics of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic. Warm waters, where small fish such as sardines are found, are especially attractive to this predator.
The following types of tuna are found in these areas:
- Albacore,
- Big-eyed,
- Blacktip,
- Blue,
- Atlantic blue
- South blue.
According to experienced fishermen, in the spring, small specimens come across most of all, in the fall - medium and large ones. A representative of the Mackerel family moves along the same route from year to year, so it will not be difficult for experienced fishermen to catch it.
Commercial tuna, found in specially fenced areas, is somewhat different from tuna in coastal waters or in the open oceans, primarily in taste and appearance(there is less silvery dusting on the scales).
When can you fish for tuna?
Catching this predator is possible all year round, but here such a factor as the temperature of coastal waters is important. So, if fishing takes place in winter, then you should not go out into the open sea (especially if it takes place in Atlantic Ocean from the coast of Iceland to Mexico), otherwise there is a risk of failure.
In summer, you can fish both by boat, yacht or from the shore. As a rule, an abundance of sea creatures is observed in the sea at this time, so a large catch can be obtained. Best time The length of fishing for this fish is morning and noon, because it is at this time that schools of fish, which a representative of the Mackerel family hunt, swim everywhere.
Fishing for tuna on the high seas
To catch a trophy on the high seas, you must follow the following guidelines:
- Fishing must necessarily take place with a rod - this standard method is no less effective. A hook with a bait reminds a predator of its usual prey (small fish), so it will happily bite at it.
- A reliable vehicle must be present - if you belong to the type of fishermen that recognize tuna upon arrival of dolphins and soaring diving birds, then you should beware of a large accumulation of these representatives of the fauna, otherwise there is a chance of getting various kinds of injuries.
- Fishing for wild tuna must necessarily take place far from the fishing grounds, otherwise there is an opportunity to get a fine from the owners of the enterprises and catch fish for sale that differ in taste from the real one caught just in warm waters.
Used tackle, bait, bait
Fishing for large specimens should be done with quality fishing equipment. Experienced anglers are advised to use what in nature attracts this predator, that is, small fish.
Some hobbyists direct a stream of water to the surface, this creates the effect of a funnel formed when a school of small fish (sardines or herring) swirls.
By nature, tuna is a predator, so this illusion is one of the most powerful baits for it. Before lowering the bait into the water, you should feed the fishing spot with small frozen fish, and only then string it on the hook. Having created the appearance of feeding, light food, the fisherman will make this robber, on a subconscious level, want to return to a certain place.
As for which tackle to fish for tuna, opinions differ here. Some say that it is necessary to fish with a spinning rod, others - with something more durable and reliable.
The fact is that catching large specimens is not an easy task, because this fish has an aggressive demeanor and is capable of speeds up to 85 kilometers per hour. The tackle can break off, and the fish can escape.
So, if you are fishing for small individuals, then you can use spinning, but if it is, for example, catching bluefin tuna, you should buy tackle for professional anglers.
The bait is portioned pieces of small frozen fish of no more than 5 by 5 centimeters in size. For fishing, you should take a dozen bait at once, because tuna can be caught far from the first time.
In addition, getting this giant out of the water is far from easy, especially if it is a large individual.
You should wear practical clothes for fishing in which you can move, because this coveted fish is very resourceful and fast. Do not exclude the possibility of accidental injury when trying to catch a large trophy.
Fishing for large tuna:
