Waiting (for the tunoids) is part of the fun

[Tuna]

I love the fall run, and get a bit schizo this time of year.

Part of me is jealous of small tunoids seeming to show to the north and south before they hit east end LI. This part is impatient, almost grouchy. Where are those dang funny fish, they should have showed by now?

Other part of me is like a kid, day and night before Christmas, stoked over visions of whats to come. Hmm was that sound (=that report for New England) a hint of a new bike (=tunoids around the corner)? Wonder what I'll get (=will my first tunoid be a bonito or albie, or something more exotic)?

Tracking the tunoid progression has become a mid summer ritual for me. noreast says this. rt says that. flyfishsaltwater says this. local paper says that. guide I bump into says this.

The only part of the kid waiting for Christmas analogy that doesn't work is that when the albies arrive (even 1999 when they were around in fewer numbers) I am never disappointed.

week and a half (current prediction when I'll see the first tunoid)....

[AndyF]

But in the mean time, how is the new boat working out?

[kamau]

I fish the east end of the sound. The annual question is where will they show- the gut?, Rocky point? goldsmiths?
How about a bit of networking, to cut back on trave time and time spend bobbing along waiting for the action.

[Tuna]

New boat is great, but has me itchy, in that more than ever (the following phrase "borrowed" from an email I got) I want to fish on any day which ends in the letter "y". Two weeks ago my trip to LI got interrupted by a bad driver who totaled my car. Bystanders had to calm me down (I was swearing like a drunken sailor, and was told "calm down, he's just an old man" - true, but it killed a weekend of fishing for me, and had me in a cold sweat thinking my minor injuries would end up killing more fishing [fine now, or as close to fine as I ever am at 48]).

I like the new boat for a number of reasons - my best friend, who gets tired and bored on longer trips with me, found it perfect for sleeping on [big box in back with cushion on it] - direct fuel inject Merc seems to run on vapor (doesn't burn much gas) - half foot wider beam means my knees won't get all busted up as I chase albies around boat - larger casting platform in front easier to stay stable on.

It is different, though, so it has taken some adjustments. Turns more difficult at low speed (several folks at gone fishing marina had a laugh at my first attempt at mooring) - larger casting platform means fly line under feet more often - better remember to turn my battery off every day.

Overall, though, I love the thing.

Response below - I will post all my sightings, even maybes, and pass any rumor along that seems relatively solid.

[obsessed]

On Wednesday, I was jigging for bluefish at 11B(boring...). All of a sudden line started to scream off the rod. Surprise, surprise, it was a 6 1/2 lb bonito. I quickly switched over to a fly rod, and had 4 fish on within the next hour. All of them bonito of the same size class!

They are out there, not in large numbers yet, but there non-the less.

t

[Ltack18]

Which 11B?

[joshr]

Peter--

You're off by a week and a half my friend. I was in Cherry Harbor on Sat. and saw several small pods of definite tunoids (probably bonito given date, but not 100% sure they weren't albies) porpoising here and there. Once a nice enough pod surfaced next to the boat that it represented a legit shot, but I didn't have an appropriately rigged rod at hand.

They're out there guys....they'll be tough to catch for a couple weeks, but they're out there!

--Josh Reibel

[Tuna]

Josh -

Great to hear you've had them spotted. I've heard of some here and there (Saturday morning I saw Ted for the first time this season, and he said Dixon had echoed Rafferty's description of some bonito mixed in with blues around Eastern Plains Point).

Seems like I've been a week and a half off all season, but my guess is I'll do some catching up in Sept and Oct.

[mctrout]

saw some Tunoids out by little gull on Mon and Tues. had one cast into them and then couldn't keep up with them. they looked big, and more like Bluefin but what do I know. seem to be over 15 lbs. good bass fishing as well. need to have someone e3lse with me, to chase them alone is impossible. wish I threw a lure at them just to see what there were. and yess sure would love to know which 11B!!!