Giant Blue Fin Tuna - Report

[Old Smoothound]

Hi guys,

Sorry it’s been so long in posting a report of the Tuna trip.

But here goes……………..

We left the landing stage at a very respectable 10.00am in the morning and headed out into the bay. Whilst the skipper was getting the 130lb class gear out and testing the third outrigger…known as a “shotgun” I got to drive the boat for a few miles.

We cruised at 18 knots aboard the 5-year-old 43-foot Aquastar. Loads of deck space and a cabin big enough for all the crew.

As we approached the Tuna grounds we slowed to around 9 knots and started to scan the horizon for the “Tell Tale” signs…. BIRDS…Gannets to be exact!

Having spotted a group of birds some 1.5 miles out to our left and we headed towards them. Then we saw the fish …GIANT BLUE FINS. What the Irish call Busting, crashing through the bait ball that was sub surface, but breaking the surface. Not big fish by Irish standards only a Meer 400lbs! As we got closer we unleashed the secret bait no not King prawns from Tesco's or Giant Irish Mussels but…………..15 BIG rubber squid on Titanium squid bars with a 12/0 Tuna hook on the stinger. Unfortunately as we got close to them the feeding frenzy stopped……..We had spooked them…damn @!!***. Giant Blue Fins do not like boats!!

They would be up and feeding again...Giant Blue Fins have to they must eat 25% of their body weight each and every day to sustain them and pack on the weight.

So we trolled round for another couple of hours hoping for a blind strike at the lures but to no avail. This went on most of the day. Sight the birds and fish…motor across to them at 4knots…any faster and we would spook them and upset the other boats in the area. Its amazing how long it takes to do 2 miles at 4 knots!!

But then at 4.55pm I spotted a pod of huge fish just starting to feed, within striking range. So the skipper turned us in a wide arc to get in amongst them. In no time at all we were about and in the middle of them and they were absolutely huge!!!!!

I was out on deck looking on in awe at this truly spectacular sight. I was out on the Port side and then 12-15 yards away a huge Giant Blue Fin broke the surface, head and tailing before slipping away beneath the waves but not before looking at me straight in the eye! When I say this fish was huge….just imagine a fish the size of a Ford Fiesta Car……busting out of the water and through the waves, one was so intent on getting its mouthful of food, it jumped 8 feet clean out of the water. We were surrounded by them at least 30-40 of them.

This time the fish stayed up, probably more mature fish that have seen boats before, but although we were in the right place at the right time with the right skipper and the right lures out the back of the boat….. NO STRIKES! We stayed with the pod for about half an hour, before they slipped back into the icy depths of the Atlantic Ocean.

Sadly we repeated this the next day, spot the fish, troll the lures, no strikes and no hook ups. One boat reported that they had had a fish on for a few minutes and we saw a boats outrigger "Pop" as a fish struck at their lures. They thought they had caught up on some weed or flotsam, I later spotted a 12 inch fluorescent orange squid floating in the sea not far from where they had had the strike, so it was definitely a Giant Blue Fin.

So no strikes or hook ups but that’s fishing, and there is always a next time!

As an aside the "Blue Planet" team were filming in the area again and we saw a rib with a diver out in the water camera in hand filiming the spectacle.

So you may see it on telly in a couple of years time!

A new Forum Tuna Crew are back out there again in October so we may actually hook and land one or just drown our sorrows the Irish way!

[Charter Skipper]

Brilliant read. Sounds like you had an awesome couple of days,just to see em close up to the boat must have been brilliant.Still theres always next time to hook into a biggie...Any pics of the fish around the boat??.....

[Pross]

Lovely report Shaun, shame about not hooking into one but that's part of the thrill of chasing big fish I guess, you just never know whether you'll catch one or even hook one.

[pingu]

wow sounds an awsome couple of days, unlucky in not catching one but sure one will come your way next time

[Portland Pirate]

How many do the boats land in a year? What is the chance of them coming up the English Channel? Is it too shallow?

[Norfolkboy]

Great read Shaun. Shame you didn't hook into any...but seeing them must have been just as good

[Calincalif]

Awesome report, sounds like a totally knarly sight to see 600 pound fish jumping 8 feet out of the water.

gotta do me a tuna trip one day

thanks for the read

[Fishing Forum Admin]

lovely read mate

I think they are just waiting for the next tuna run your on in a few weeks

mmm - wish I was coming now

[Old Smoothound]

Oh I forgot to add whilst waiting for the Tuna to turn up again and reset the gear. I dangled some Sabikis and had Red Gurnard or Two




May not have caught any Tuna but at least got 1.5 points and a difficult species

[pingu]

didnt think you would get away without any points
well done shaun
(wonder where you got that hat )