Fin Addiction
02-05-2006, 03:32 PM
Sure why not...We actually had some very good success this past season teasing up bluefin on spreader bars and throwing a fly back towards the hookless stinger. We by no means perfected this technique but on days where the tuna were jumping onto Green Machines and bars it was almost a sure thing.
Many will debate this method but there are instances when running and gunning for tuna or chumming them up are just not gonna deliver in certain areas for the fly guy.
This past season the tuna were thick as thieves off Chatham. Early on they were crashing on top and getting them on a fly rod or spinning rod casting into the melee was almost a sure thing. As the season moved on the tuna became less and less active on top so that somedays you would not even see one fish break, however you would leader 15-20+ fish on an 8 hour trip plus "X" amount of short strikes. All these fish came from trolling on top.
The first fly I tried was a crude re-creation of the popular Green Machine tuna lure. An epoxy laden cone with a green plastic skirt with red beads spacing the hook back in the skirt.
We preferred to use 13" bars fished tight to port and starboard with a hookless stinger. In place of the hook we would use a 5-6oz egg sinker crimped on and have the shell squid slide over that.
We employed this method only after we found an area where the tuna were eager to jump onto the trolling rigs.
A 5 gallon bucket was used to strip the flyline into and the rod was layed on the floor or held by the angler. Once a tuna came up it was 3 short false casts as the fly plopped into the foam while the angler swung it back behind to the side of the spreader bar. A tad behind the stinger is where most of the hookups happened. Short pops creating oxygen and whitewater would sometimes trigger a strike.
We did very well with this technique and it put alot of smiles on anglers faces who would of otherwise not had the opportunity at a fly tuna unless we thought a bit outside the box.
The below pixtures show last years prototype GM. It was tyed on a Owner Ballyhoo hook size 7/0...This fly produced but had two problems, One it would spin due to the reversed popper head. We ended up putting a 60lb spro swivel two feet up the leader to fix this. Two with the fixed hook we had numberous short strikes. To fix this problem my buddy Leon Piasecki and I sat down last nite and came up with the new improved GM fly. It is now tied on a tube and the hook can be carried much farther back. It also has an EZ body head system that is completely round and balanced on the nose. It is rigged with Orvis 80lb Mirage leader with a Trey Combs 6/0 hook.
Some will say, "why not just throw em a green machine"? The flies are very castable believe it or not. For bait and switch technique they will work well.
I would never use this technique for the bay tuna fishery which btw is my favorite and the most challenging but for anglers looking to take a tuna home and experience sushi at it's finest with the hopes of getting one on a fly, this technique certainly has it's merits...
http://photos.imageevent.com/jeffs/flypics/websize/flybox%202%20002.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/jeffs/flypics/websize/green%20machine%20head%20on1.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/jeffs/flypics/websize/green%20machine%20prototype.jpg
Many will debate this method but there are instances when running and gunning for tuna or chumming them up are just not gonna deliver in certain areas for the fly guy.
This past season the tuna were thick as thieves off Chatham. Early on they were crashing on top and getting them on a fly rod or spinning rod casting into the melee was almost a sure thing. As the season moved on the tuna became less and less active on top so that somedays you would not even see one fish break, however you would leader 15-20+ fish on an 8 hour trip plus "X" amount of short strikes. All these fish came from trolling on top.
The first fly I tried was a crude re-creation of the popular Green Machine tuna lure. An epoxy laden cone with a green plastic skirt with red beads spacing the hook back in the skirt.
We preferred to use 13" bars fished tight to port and starboard with a hookless stinger. In place of the hook we would use a 5-6oz egg sinker crimped on and have the shell squid slide over that.
We employed this method only after we found an area where the tuna were eager to jump onto the trolling rigs.
A 5 gallon bucket was used to strip the flyline into and the rod was layed on the floor or held by the angler. Once a tuna came up it was 3 short false casts as the fly plopped into the foam while the angler swung it back behind to the side of the spreader bar. A tad behind the stinger is where most of the hookups happened. Short pops creating oxygen and whitewater would sometimes trigger a strike.
We did very well with this technique and it put alot of smiles on anglers faces who would of otherwise not had the opportunity at a fly tuna unless we thought a bit outside the box.
The below pixtures show last years prototype GM. It was tyed on a Owner Ballyhoo hook size 7/0...This fly produced but had two problems, One it would spin due to the reversed popper head. We ended up putting a 60lb spro swivel two feet up the leader to fix this. Two with the fixed hook we had numberous short strikes. To fix this problem my buddy Leon Piasecki and I sat down last nite and came up with the new improved GM fly. It is now tied on a tube and the hook can be carried much farther back. It also has an EZ body head system that is completely round and balanced on the nose. It is rigged with Orvis 80lb Mirage leader with a Trey Combs 6/0 hook.
Some will say, "why not just throw em a green machine"? The flies are very castable believe it or not. For bait and switch technique they will work well.
I would never use this technique for the bay tuna fishery which btw is my favorite and the most challenging but for anglers looking to take a tuna home and experience sushi at it's finest with the hopes of getting one on a fly, this technique certainly has it's merits...
http://photos.imageevent.com/jeffs/flypics/websize/flybox%202%20002.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/jeffs/flypics/websize/green%20machine%20head%20on1.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/jeffs/flypics/websize/green%20machine%20prototype.jpg