May means tuna to me! Big blackfin tuna cruise along the reef edge searching for an easy meal in May and June. The trick to big catches is chumming. If you can get live pilchards, then the odds are you will catch tuna. However, you will need a lot of pilchards.
Anchor or set up a drift in 90 to 180 feet of water. Rig your tackle with 30 pound fluorocarbon leaders and 5/0 to 7/0 VMC light wire circle hooks and set out your spread. Hopefully, you will have enough breeze to fly a couple of kites. Hang live pilchards or flying fish, dead or alive, on your kites. Add flat lines baited with pilchards or small live baits of some kind and finally add a couple of baits with some lead and fish them about 60 feet below the boat.
Now start chumming. A couple pilchards every minute will draw blackfin tuna to your boat. If pilchards are scarce, then chum with chunked pieces of sardine, ballyhoo or squid. Keep that chum flowing.
If you can’t get live baits, then even small live grunts may draw strikes on the kite baits. On the flat lines you can float back chunks of cut ballyhoo, sardine or herring. Float the chunks back just like when yellowtail fishing. Keep them drifting back. If you stop letting out line retrieve your bait and start over. When you hook up, keep everybody chumming and fishing. Followers are the normal event.
Upon boating a tuna, cut its throat or pull a gill raker to bleed them and get the fish under ice.
Enjoy the action and the dinner!
CAPT. BOUNCER SMITH
Bouncer’s Dusky 33
(305) 439-2475
www.CaptBouncer.com