Boston
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January 16th, 2004

The Scoop on Tuna...

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There's something about fishing for bluefin tuna that changes a fisherman.  It gets even the greenest rookies talking like old salts, and walking with a slight swagger to their step.

One of the side affects of this phenomena is you start to hear a lot of "secret" lure and "special" color talk.  It's been a staple of bluefin fishing for at least 20 years, and God willing, my grandkids will someday be swapping flies and lures before they swing into the dock.

Let's take a little look the bluefin, to help you understand why fly choice and color are so utterly important.  First off, we have a fish that has tremendous visual acuity.  I have seen them hang off the transom of the boat taking every chunk we threw over the side, except the ones that had hooks in them.  We tried mousetraps, flouro leader down to 30 lb., everything, and they simply would not take the hook baits.  What does that tell us?  They were either able to see the leader, or the weight of the hook (and we were using small size Gamakatsus) was affecting the way the bait sank.  Do not underestimate their eye sight!

When trolling for school tuna, we used to use smoker-type lures like Green Machines.  These lures leave a bubble trail, which I always felt did more to camoflage the lure than to actually imitate a fish.  Several smokers would look like a school of paniced, spraying bait.  So if you're using spinning tackle or flies, I'd suggest you give consideration to something that throws a spray of water, like a big popper. 

Hot colors are an interesting topic.  I've seen times when pink was the color, green, and even purple (I give up, what bait would purple imitate?).  Another trolling trick we've used is "birds" in the center of the lure spread, with chrome or mirrors.  The flash seems to really interest the tuna.

Capt. Derek Spingler of First Light Anglers, who's been targetting school bluefin with light gear and flies for longer than many of you have been fishing has to say about lure choice:

Hydro Metal jigs in 40g and 60g. They have been outstanding. The best colors have been green mackerel 60g and 40g mullet. These are the jigs that have the fish on one side and a squid on the other. Very very solid producers, we landed dozens of fish on them, even leaving the treble hooks on. The megabait and braid jigs have also worked well, however, these hydro metal jigs have definitely outfished the others. Good luck!

Tidbit of the week:  Did you know that Bluefin Tuna have been known to dive as deep as 1000 meters?  Recent tagging programs have proven it!

That's it for this week.

Don't forget to send me your own reports, and until next week...

Tight Lines!

Mark Cahill

Boston Harbor

Capt. Wayne Frieden of Reel Dream Charters reports:

Saturday, September 21, 2002: I enjoyed taking Charlie Poupoulo and his
buddy Bob Morse out for a morning of fly and light tackle fishing. At
first light, we found loads of bass bustin bait from Hull Gut to West
Gut in Quincy Bay. The fish were feeding heavily on penut bunker and
small minnows and consequently somewhat picky. We left the area to head
north and encountered a nice school of bass with some blues in the mix
that were very "user friendly" fish. After the action died we ran back
into the bay but found the blues scattered as the wind had picked up.
One more run outside to pick up a couple of larger bluefish NE of the
Graves. All in all, a great day with a couple of good friends and
anglers.

Sunday, September 22, 2002: The morning began as a repeat of yesterday
but the fish seemed to be quite finicky for the fly angler. I saw more
fisherman hooking up on light spin tackle. Deb Hogan and her friend
George O'Toole didn't seem to mind and enjoyed a day on the water fly
casting for bass and blues. After yours truly became somewhat frustrated
(on the inside..) with the fishing in the bay, we ran north where we
found more bass and blues willing to take our flies. Small clousers and
peanut bunker patterns in gray/lavendar and olive/yellow/white seemd to
work equally well.

Monday, September 23, 2002: Back at work today but a report just in from
one of my recreational fishing friends: Lots of blues and bass from Hull
Gut to Nixes Mate from late morning to late afternoon. Go fish!

Thursday, September 26, 2002: Still lots of bass and blues in the
harbor. The weekend should be good unless Isador messes things up. I
still have open dates during the Columbus Day weekend. Give me a call if
you're hankerin' to get out before it's all over.

Until next week, we'll see you out there...

Capt. Wayne Frieden

Capt. Bill Smith of Draggin' Fly Charters reports:

Captain Bill originally scrubbed Sunday's charter with Tom Nowak of
Medford but the predicted storm failed to materialize. So as the crew
scrambled to get to dock, Captain Bill readied Draggin' Fly Too for a
mid-morning pushoff. Paul Glover of Kingston and Ed Nowak, senior field
editor of The Fisherman joined Tom for this trip. A small pod of bluefish
were found in Quincy Bay. Tom and Paul hooked up but parted lines. After an
aborted try at getting outside, a nice school of blues had the peanut bunker
trapped in very skinny water along Adam's Shore. With the wind blowing SW at
25, it was very difficult to keep Draggin' Fly in position without going
aground. But both Tom and Paul managed a few fish.
    Wednesday, Jim King of Connecticut used a visit to his son as an excuse
to try to fish the Harbor. Jim fishes Long Island Sound and was pleasantly
surprised with the number of bass and bluefish. While the bass trapped peanut
bunker along the shore, bluefish balled them up in deeper water. Jim and his
son, Andrew had a great time casting poppers and soft jerk baits to busting
fish.
    Harbor veteran, Jay Molloy of Boxborough brought along newcomer, Chris
Fourber for an early morning trip on Saturday. A quick run from the Rowes
Wharf brought the anglers to the first stop off  Gallops Island. The bass had
the peanut bunker trapped tight to the shore. Chris was the first to hook up
with a Bass Assassin. Jay soon got in on the action. After a lengthy battle
on 12 pound tackle, Captain Bill used the Boga Grip to bring Jay's 38 inch
linesider on board. There was time for a quick "high five" before the next
pod of bass were located. The fish didn't school up, but anglers were kept
busy for much of the morning working small pods of bass and an ocassional
blue.
    Captain Bill will finish the season fishing the afternoon tides midweek
and mornings on the weekend.

South Shore

The fish are really starting to mass off the South Shore.  It's migration time...

Capecod posts:

Good Bass Day

Heavy winds, heavy waves, perfect bass day!

Seriouslly angry water today in Cape Cod Bay out east of the Plymouth area. Wet and sloppy but not dangerously so.

7 big fish biggest about 32 pounds. Many small blues and some bigger blues. Only two smaller bass.

We were dragging various late season rigs.

Some pics to follow once I dry off. All fish caught early.

40 Fathom reports that the tuna are still working off Plymouth

East Of The Bank

Made the day trip on the Capt John boat out of Plymouth today. The dogfish were stacked up like cord wood. What a difference a few days make. Last week we killed them. The weather was nice and a few people left happy. Just wanted to let everyone know that have been chasing those Tuna around east of Plymouth that they are still around. I saw a good pod about 5 to 7 miles out on the way back in. The fish looked like they were in the 100# range. No boats chasing them that I saw all day. It looked like the Tuna were hanging around the draggers that are working South West of the bank. Looks like we might be in for some good Bass weather this weekend.

North Shore

Bill Gormley reports:

The Merrimack River

Capt. Charlie Crue reports: