" Giant " Blue Fin Tuna .... a story

[JuanPablo]

hey shaun saw ur pics in the pic gallery - that is one hell of a fighting chair!!!

[massive pollocks]

yes your right mate,britain used to hold the world record for tuna, think off whitby. the trawlers used to net thousands of tons of herring which the tuna used to feed on.fisherman used to get in small 20ft clinker built boats and catch the tuna with i think,massive scarbourough type reels.think the record back then for our waters was well over 800lb.the tuna off of ireland has been quite well documented but not overly though they have been catching them for a number of years.the one ambition i have before i go in my box would be to catch a marlin but to catch one of these giant tuna would be as thrilling.as a final note,surely there must be something you can do to stop the trace from getting bitten trough,that is ridiculous to go to all that effort for something like that to keep happening.ispose it goes through cus its rubbing in the very corner of the mouth and you need to hook up more towards the front of the mouth.

[John Marshall]

Hows about this idea,

Tuna where fished for in our waters, decline of herring, no tuna! anglers stop trying because,of the lack of bait fish.

They have been caught off the s'west coast, n'west Scotland and in the northsea all in recent history, mostly in nets, some reports hint that one or two lucky anglers have boated them.

All keeped very secret by the "lucky"

Food for thought??? Comments please, Smoothie ideas?

[Old Smoothound]

Originally Posted by John Marshall

Hows about this idea,

Tuna where fished for in our waters, decline of herring, no tuna! anglers stop trying because,of the lack of bait fish.

They have been caught off the s'west coast, n'west Scotland and in the northsea all in recent history, mostly in nets, some reports hint that one or two lucky anglers have boated them.

All keeped very secret by the "lucky"

Food for thought??? Comments please, Smoothie ideas?

Without giving the game away for the Tuna boats too much, they have been very close to the Scottish shoreline in the recent past. One or two fish had a scottish twang to them!

I firmly believe that the Tuna still run up BOTH sides of the UK Island, but we never hear of them cos some people want it kept quiet. The Tuna have been caught off Scandinavia so..... it makes sense that they would need to travel through the English Channel to get there.

When the fish have been tagged the pop ups have sent signals from fish from the same pod caught on the same day but..... one fish was in the Med the other in the Gulf of Mexico.... 000's of miles away. These fish travel great distances in their life cycle so if some of them still have the genes of pevious north sea pods in them... then it makes sense... does it not?

Me I am a believer I have seen how fast they can travel if they swim at 25-75 metres down... they don't have to come up for air then it is possible they go past us undetected.

John, have e-mailed the Skipper in Ireland and he is just waiting for one more bloke to come back to him, then he will replease the dates to me for next years trip.

[John Marshall]

Cheers Shaun, knew I could rely on you for an informed answer,

Tuna fishing in the channel......mmmmmmmm

[Old Smoothound]

Well John it made the Daily Mail today, Tuna officially in the Channel!
The first ever to be caught in the channel.

A Big Eye Tuna was caught in nets off the Dorset Coast by Peter Dadds, and he sold it for £50 before he realised what he had actually caught and what mometous thing it was. IT weighed 12 1/2lbs!

Scientists say it is because of the effects of Global warming.... but we know better than that don't we John

[John Marshall]

They still on their routes, year by year, maybe not in numbers but enough

to try for them.

Shaun, must bow to your to expertise as I really don't know alot about fishing for them, on my part more reserch needed.

[Old Smoothound]

Originally Posted by John Marshall

They still on their routes, year by year, maybe not in numbers but enough

to try for them.

Shaun, must bow to your to expertise as I really don't know alot about fishing for them, on my part more reserch needed.

Looks like we might have to invest in 130lb class gear John....wonder if Electric Blue is geared up for it
I know someone who's got a fighting chair..... do know anyone with Squid Bars?

[Ben]

130lb gear for 12lb tunas??LOL
sounds like abit of over kill
could be fun though
and if there aint any tuna i guess you could use it as a small crain n hire it out

Well there's tuna and tuna. The Big Eyes still run the North Sea, they come up the west coast of Britain and the warm current there splits half to Norway and half down in to the North Sea, they just follow the herring. They harpoon them off Norway.

The "little tuna" things like Albacore turn up now and again. There are more about than people think it’s just that no one trolls at 9 kts of headlands for them.

As for fishing the big ones in the North Sea, its the cost nowadays that would be prohibitive. In the 30's and 50's the Scarborough big game club boys used to live aboard big boats then go out in the Dories as the herring boats were hauling at dawn. Week long trips, it get pricey live aboard deep sea. Of course when the herring went so did the Tuna, when the herring returned so did the tuna - just not the Anglers.

I am jealous, sounds like a great trip, but 300 yds in 3 seconds! I work that out to be 215 mph, that’s going some even for one of these fish!