March is here and the “all-around the island” pelagic species are available. It seems to be an early season this year with plenty of yellowfin tuna being caught in February. Some boats have also been catching a few white marlin, mahi-mahi and some wahoo. There has been a lot of whale sightings which is normally a good sign of numerous bait fish feeding on plankton and therefore causing a whole food chain effect of pelagics to migrate through. The high-speed trolling still remains an option for those specifically targeting wahoo, but general slow trolling with ballyhoo/Islander lures are a great choice for all around species.
We have been focusing on yellowfin tuna with live bait as this year has produced a large school of pilchards, which we take advantage of. There is still very little bird activity so finding the tuna relies on local knowledge of where they tend to feed and then enticing them up by live chumming with pilchards.
We like to use a range of tackle from heavy duty spinning reels spooled with 40 to 50 pound braid and 50 pound fluorocarbon top shots to 50 wide reels spooled with 50 to 80 pound mono. We are using mostly 60 pound clear fluorocarbon leader 30 feet long with a 120 pound Spro power swivel and a 9/0 Mustad 39960D circle hook tied with a custom non-slip lukes knot. A simple variation of a non-slip loop knot. This leader is intended to be a fully wind on leader providing you have adequate rod guides to allow the swivel to pass through. This rig provides us great success with yellowfin tuna from 30 to 70 pounds. If goggle eyes are available, we like to beef up the rig with 80 pound fluorocarbon and a 10/0 Mustad 39960D circle hook.
The sharks are always a problem so we like to preset our drag to 20 pounds and bump the drag to full after we get a strike. Getting large tunas into the boat can be a tantalizing task. We have seen so many fish lost by sharks because of a poor fighting technique. You must have the right gear to begin with, a thigh padded rod belt with a back harness is vital. Adjust the harness so the angle of the rod tip is head height and then crouch down allowing your body weight to absorb the pull from the fish, then bend your knees which will give a pumping effect and stand up at the same time turning the reel half a crank, gaining a few inches of line. Repeat this in a vigorous motion. This technique keeps constant motion on the fish and not allowing him to sit on the line and rest.