Blackfin Tuna - HalfHitch.com

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Blackfin Tuna
By Tim Broom
This seminar teachs you about an exciting and basically
untouched fishery, blackfin tuna. The tips and tricks can
be easily used for kings, dolphin, red and black snapper,
yellowfin tuna, cobia and amberjack on occasion. For
the other species, you would need to change terminal
tackle (leader and hook size), rods and reels, and
location, but the basics are about the same.
To give some history on blackfin tuna here along the
emerald coast and where we are today: When I was a
teenager, we almost never caught blackfin tuna from the pier, at best a couple a year. In 1985 Hurricane Elana
hit our area and something changed. Every Fall from the full moon in August to as late as Christmas, the
ballyhoo showed up on the local beaches and the blackfin tuna followed with the best runs on the full moon
and new moon. There were many day the pier would catch in excess of 50 a day. My best day from the pier
was three in one day.
In 1995 Hurricane Opal hit, once again something changed and the ballyhoo that showed up along the
beaches in giant schools quit and so did the blackfin tuna. Now the pier catches two or three per year just like
when I was a teenager in the late 70’s.
Even though the blackfin tuna
don’t come all the way to the
beach for pier fisherman to catch
they do venture quite close in
good to great numbers. Here
along the Emerald Coast we have
some of the biggest blackfin tuna
anywhere, our average is about
25lbs and we catch them up to
35lbs or so.
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When and Where to Catch Blackfin Tuna
fan of braid
as I am. I just
like that the
diameter is
very small and
allows for more
power and
better action
on your baits.
We catch some blackfins starting in mid-March until
Christmas time. The peak of the season starts with
the full moon in August and ends shortly after the
full moon in November. Several area charter boats
specialize in catching these great eating tuna and it
is not uncommon for them to catch 10 to 20 a day.
While the blackfin tuna bite all day and night, the
prime time is 30 minutes before sun up and the first
three hours of daylight and the last three hours of
daylight until about an hour after dark. During the
time of the full moon there is normally a great bite
right during the middle of the day from 11am to 2pm
when the moon is on the opposite side of the earth.
Chumming,
Chunking
and Live
Baiting
While you can
catch blackfins
trolling with
Yo-Zuri plugs,
cedar plugs,
islanders,
softheads and
ballyhoo the
most effective
way to catch
them here is
chumming,
chunking and
live baiting.
While you can catch them relatively close to shore
5-15 miles out over natural bottom or man-made
reefs, most of the prime location lay some 20 to 35
miles offshore. Here are a few examples of places
you can catch tuna here along the emerald coast:
South Edge
Knuckle
Southwest
Edge
Big Break
3007.525
2959.426
3004.890
8643.372
3004.687
8645.411
8651.068
8658.076
Sometimes you only
need to go a mile or
so offshore.
Some of the
best chum is
fresh bonito, of
course frozen
bonito, Boston
mackerel or king mackerel will work as well. I’m sure
most of you have seen the show Wicked Tuna; we’re
fishing similar to them and one of the big keys is to
have enough chum to last for the day. We sell Boston
mackerel by the flat and comes in 25lb or 33lb flats.
I would not go with less than one flat, and really you
need two flats. If you are using bonita I would say six
to seven nice size bonita or kings for a days fishing.
What you are looking for is at least one (if not two)
full five gallon buckets. I would also take two 5lb
blocks of chum I could deploy in a chum bag.
Isaiah caught this
blackfin tuna fishing
just offshore on his
kayak!
Rods and Reels
You can use either spinning or conventional tackle. In
most cases the same outfits you use for kings, cobia
and snapper are ideal. These include:
Shimano Torium 30
Shimano Tallus Rod
Penn Fathom 40
Penn Rampage Rod
Shimano Spheros 8000
Penn Battle 7000
As for line I prefer 65lb Power Pro Braid, but if
you use 30lb to 60lb mono you would not hurt my
feelings at all, as I know not everyone is as big a
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For you chunk chum you are going to use, cut the
bonita, Boston mackerel or king mackerel cut into
chunks about one inch squares and keep most of
it on ice until you are going to use it, the fresher the
better. You want big enough pieces to attract the
tuna but not so big to fill them up.
Lastly, this takes more work on your
part, but there is no better way to
attract and catch tuna of any sort
than live chumming. Go back in the
bay and cast net five to 10 gallons
of live baby menhaden or ly’s and
dump them in the live well. Throw
these out with some chunk chum
and you will have fish on!!
Once you chose a fishing spot it
may take only a few minutes to an
hour or more to attract the tuna and
get them fired up. You don’t want
to drift too fast. So, if the current is
fast, or the wind is blowing, or the
seas are rough, you may need to
deploy a sea anchor to slow your
drift. A five-gallon bucket with a rope
handle makes an inexpensive sea
anchor. Hang the chum bag over
and start throwing scoops of chum
over until you get a nice slick behind
the boat. If you have not seen fish or
gotten a bite within an hour this will
be your clue to try a different spot.
You need enough chum but not too
much, let a few pieces disappear and have time to
work 1/4 to 1/2 way to the bottom before throwing
the next scoop.
Rigs and Baits
hooks either a
5/0 to 7/0 Owner
Mutu Light or a
#2 treble hook.
Plan to loose
quite a few
hooks to kings
and dolphin and
have plenty on
hand.
Leaders should be at least 10ft and up to 20ft, on
the balloon rig and the free line rigs splice the leader
direct to the main line with no swivel so you can reel
most of the leader onto the reel. You will have to
have a swivel on the slip lead rig to stop the lead.
For leader I suggest 40lb Seagur Fluorocarbon,
I am going to
give you a secret
on bait, you have
plenty of choices all of which are good. All should
be live for the best results, cigar minnows, herring,
threadfin herring, small hardtail, some of the baby
menhaden or ly’s you use for live chumming, pieces
of the fresh bonita or mackerel. Ok here you go: the
secret baits are live pinfish! Yes, tuna on pinfish!
Blackfin love them! The other nice thing about pinfish
is the other fish don’t seem to like them as much
as the baits mentioned earlier so when you get a
bite it is normally a tuna. Lastly you can catch them
You will attract many other species so be prepared
for those as well; kings, cobia, dolphin, sharks,
amberjack, and snapper.
Fish no more than four rods, one with a balloon,
two just free-lined, and one deep with a slip lead.
Tuna are leader and hook shy. For those who don’t
know, Fluorocarbon was originally designed for
tuna fishing. Fluorocarbon works by being the same
density as saltwater and not refracting light, making
it invisible to the fish.
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on Shimano Butterfly Jigs and Berkley Swim Shad
Power baits, 5in or 6in size.
LIVE BAIT
Hardtail
Threadfin Herring
Cigar Minnow
LY
Herring
in about 1in thick pieces, spray
Boston or Northern Mackerel
with olive or avocado oil, salt
and pepper, and dredge with
powder Italian seasoning (the
powder works much better than
dressing). Grill at this low temp
for about five to seven minutes
per side. Yummy right off the grill
but store in the fridge overnight
Pinfish
and crumble over salad the next
Finger Mullet
day with fresh avocado and
After the Catch!
mango for a wonderful delightful salad for lunch or
Tuna spoil quickly and proper icing will ensure a
dinner!! Using the Primo or Big Green Egg grill at
yummy dinner. As soon as your tuna comes aboard
these low temps won’t dry the tuna out. No worries!!
make a small incision almost to the backbone under
each pectoral fin and cut a ring around the tuna’s
tail, stand him on his nose in a bucket or cooler and
he will quickly bleed out in a couple minutes, this
helps in preservation. Then have a cooler with a
slush mix of salt water and ice. The salt will lower the
freezing point and preserve the meat much better
than just ice. I use the ice mix for all species and it
Don’t forget your gaff!
just keeps them better than ice alone.
Once you are home, filet the tuna as normal and
cut out the red meat along the spine. Eat fresh, or
vacuum seal and freeze. You can do anything with
blackfin tuna that you do with yellowfin tuna. My
favorite may surprise you and most people think you
can only sear tuna quickly on a grill.
If you have a Primo or Big Green Egg grill, set the
temperature to 275 to 300 degrees. Cut the tuna
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