From: cherasia@viper.bear.com (Peter Cherasia)
Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing
Subject: Re: New Jersey Tuna Fishing
Date: 29 Sep 92 15:44:19 GMT
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]

John H. Kim (jokim@jarthur.claremont.edu) wrote:
: 
: >By the way Scott Evans mentioned that he thought 14 mins was a short amount
: >of time to land a bluefin on 20# tackle. While these babies are spectacular
: >fighters on light tackle, I'll bet that the average fight time for an
: >experienced standup angler on 20lb tackle is around 15-20 minutes. 
: 
: On the off chance you *didn't* chase the fish with the boat, how many
: yards of line did you have?  If you hook up to a 55 pound bluefin on
: 300 yards of 20 pound test here, 90% of the time, you're gonna be spooled.


 John,

  For in shore tuna fishing when the fish get line shy, I use two Penn Int'l
  30sw's spooled with 20lb Ande mounted on 6' Penn 2260 ARA rods. I guess the
  spool capacity for 20# test must be in excess of 650 yards (I'll have to 
  check). Most times when the fish are in clear water I'll snell then hook
  directly to the line and use a 6oz tuna bomb (chafing gear). In this case
  we weren't using chafing gear we had a 40lb leader connected to a barrel
  swivel and a 15' double line. When chunking inshore we are usually anchored
  in 20 - 40 fathoms of water and we don't come off the ball to chase a fish
  unless its really large (say over 175#) or we don't want to take a chance on
  losing it. The trick that works for us in getting the tuna in the boat quick
  is the same one we use trolling. When we get a hookup we leave the drag @
  3/4 strike for the initial run or until the fish dumps betweem 1/2 to 3/4
  of the spool. After running off at full speed and pulling all that line out
  (which really puts a lot of pressure on the fish) the fish will deplete most
  of stored energy in the outer muscle group (which are used to generate short
  bursts of speed) and have to switch to the inner muscle group which are used
  to generate that steady power stroke tuna are known for. This transition is
  important because if you can keep steady pressure on the fish it keeps him
  from getting oxygen to the outer muscles to replenish them. At this point
  we go to full strike (35% of line strength) and lower gear (1.3:1) on the 
  reel and pump and reel like crazy. Short strokes of the rod and a couple of
  cranks will keep a ram ventilator like a tuna from getting full water flow
  over their gills and reoxygenating the muscle groups. Once you get the tuna
  over on its side you've got the battle won if you can keep the pressure on.
  Of course at this point your muscles are burning just like the tunas. Alot
  of crews lose a lot of time at the side of the boat by taking the pressure 
  off and allowing the fish to make another run. The key is pump them right 
  to the side (not the transom) and hit them with tag stick, harpoon, gaff or 
  tailer. Of course this is difficult to do on a party boat and probably much
  easier to do with an experienced angler/crew combination. On my boat I almost
  always fish with the same guys (we have been since we were kids) and everyone
  knows exactly what their role is when we hookup. I think that translates into
  generally faster fight times than others. Of course we lose our share of fish
  using this method but i don't think anymore than anyone else.
    
 


				Pete Cherasia 
Xref: sparky rec.outdoors.fishing:921 talk.politics.animals:8625