Fishing: Tuna trip preparation: gear/tackle?
Doing a deep water tuna trip in January out of Port Aransas, TX. Usually they get blackfin, yellowfin, and AJs. looking for advice on gear. I have a Penn 9/0 reel on a 6/0 rod, figure that should work fine, usually spool it with 60lb test. Advice on leader wire and hook size for drift bait fishing? How long a leader?
Artificials: any ideas on good baits for trolling?
Also looking for baits to cast on a smaller rod… I’ve heard people talk about “irons” and “darts” can anyone tell me what these are? I’m thinking its like a slab.Reccomendations? Any answers or other suggestions would be much appreciated.-
Wow! I didn’t know you could fish for tuna in January. Very cool!
Penn 9/0 is a big reel. If you’re comfortable with its size, by all means go for it. Generally speaking, you could get away with a 4/0. 60 pound line is good. But if you want to troll, 80 pound test is a good start.
I don’t know what kind of bait you’ll get. We usually use small mackerel, bonito or live squid as bait. We’ll use sardine or anchovy for bait when bigger baits aren’t available. So, bring a good variety of hooks just to be safe. I usually bring hooks from as small as size 2 all the way up to 9/0. Bring an assortment of sliding egg sinkers as well. 1/8 to 2 oz is good enough for most situations.
As for leader, I like it to be at least the length of the rod I’m using. I’ll use at least 2x the rod length if I’m tossing irons or jigging. I prefer fluorocarbon leaders.
As for irons, Tady 45 and 77 is good for the surface. You can use Salas or UFO if you like; the difference is negligible. I’d retrieve as fast as I could then gradually slow down until I got a hit. Fast retrieve will get you the most aggressive (most willing to bite) fish first. You can also try yo-yo-ing aka speed jigging. You’ll need to use heavier jigs for yo-yo-ing. Sumo makes pretty nice yo-yo irons. I like Sumo Jr or Tady 4/0 for yo-yo-ing. I don’t know what colors are good for your area. But blue/chrome, blue/white, green/white and green/yellow all worked pretty well around here.
I’d recommend using braid for tossing irons. Many reels that look and feel good on a jig stick usually don’t hold enough mono. If you happened to hook onto a lunker, there’s a chance that you’ll get spooled if you fill your jigging reel with mono.
There’s also the revolutionary butterfly jigs. I finally get to try them this year and they are absolutely scary! You could drop it straight down till it hit the bottom and retrieve it back as fast as you could. You could also vertical jig it and work it back 2-4ft at a time. I must warn you those butterfly jigs are very effective on bottom species. If you don’t want any bottom species, you’ll have to count down till it reached desired depth. It worked pretty well on yellowtails while vertical jigging and speed jigging around Southern California. I think it will work very nicely on AJ’s as well. Shimano butterflies are effective but costly. Williamson made jigs that cost a lot less but worked very similar to Shimano jigs. By the way, a long leader will really help when speed jigging. The knots connecting the leader to the main line will serve as an “end of line” warning; slamming your jig into your rod tip isn’t that fun. LOL
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