It’s the last leg of a two-month mission chasing 30 species on a bucket list. Nige & Nicko work from the west to the east coast of Cape York and everything, from Sailies to Archer Fish is fair game.
Pushed to the brink by greedy practices, southern bluefin tuna came back on the radar about a decade ago when it was apparent they had regenerated after some serious global intervention. The years that followed the resurgence of the stock has seen more and more fisho’s invest in sea worthy trailer boats to venture far and wide to chase these hard fighting speedsters. Bluefin as they are known, are an attractive, highly desired pelagic schooling fish that often travel 80 km in a day and with a fast metabolism, they consume vast amounts of baitfish, squid and crustaceans to maintain growth and their perpetual motion.
Most often located on or seaward of the continental shelf, the average southern bluefin tuna is in the order of 10 to 18 kg and in recent times have been caught up to 160 kg and have potential to grow in excess of 200 kilograms. Bluefin are a realistic target in South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales and are not out of the question in southern Western Australia and Queensland given the right conditions. That’s a massive range for any species to be found in.
FIRST STEP
The first thing I recommend if you have tuna from your boat in mind is to do precisely the opposite. That’s right, for now take in this article, leave the boat on land and don’t spend a cent on gear or decide on upgrades. To begin with, I believe you should either hook up with a reputable charter operator or jump on board with a reliable crew to get a feel for tuna fishing and all that it entails. The next person that splurges on expensive game gear and purchases a big trailer boat and then finds themselves selling it all a season or two later won’t be the last. Make sure you like the blue water and that tuna is your cup of tea before you take the leap. You will benefit greatly from this exercise and gain important experience as well.
Where the fish are and when
A great deal of mystery surrounds the exact migratory path of these fish. It’s commonly accepted that the mature fish spawn in the Java Sea in the Indian Ocean and then migrate down around the southern half of Australia; however, the route taken on return and the timing back is less clear, which also includes part of the biomass spearing off in the direction of South Africa and New Zealand.
Recent efforts at satellite tagging mature fish will hopefully shed some more light on this but what we know in the meantime is that there are plenty of places to target bluefin as they traverse the Great Australian Bight and head up and down the east coast. Three hotspots immediately spring to mind; south-west Victoria including the ports of Warrnambool, Port Fairy and Portland, (as well as just across the border to Port MacDonnell in South Australia), Eagle Hawk Neck in Tasmania and Bermagui in New South Wales. It is hard to pinpoint the exact times that these areas will fire up because of seasonal fluctuations but below is a rough indication.
Starting with the Vic south-west and South Australian run, fish generally start to be spotted out wide in late summer into early autumn (as I write this, very good tuna have been encountered off Port Fairy in mid-January 2014). These early schools are very often slightly better quality fish than those seen later in the season as well and probably average around 25 kilograms. There are not many boats out wide at the shelf at this time so who knows how many fish come through early. By late March into Easter things are usually in full swing. May is good before the bite starts to slow and taper off throughout June and July. As the season matures, if southerly winds are persistent enough, quite often the bait and cooler water (containing the fish) are blown closer, well inside the continental shelf.
Over in Tassie it’s pretty much the same times of year as per Victoria and South Australia; however there isn’t the same need to venture that wide as the continental shelf is located a lot closer to land. More often than not, fish are found within the shadows of the formidable cliffs out to the 100 m line. Most Tasmanian tuna fishing occurs between Pedra Branca located 26 km offshore and Eaglehawk Neck. Following the established migratory path theories, the season in Tasmania is later than Victoria but the fish often prove this to be wrong. If there are good concentrations of red bait around, they may hang in the area longer and quite often these stayers are trophy fish. Tasmanian waters are quite famous for producing barrel sized bluefin and 24-37 kg tackle is sage advice, not just for the fish but also to beat the seal population which is downright ferocious.
The NSW south coast run generally occurs around mid to late June, into early July. Starting from the south, Eden will often be the first port that the long liners strike the fish before moving further north. The south coast is a place where the Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) reliably indicate where the fish are likely to be and it could be to the south or north. It just depends on where the good water pushes closest to the land. The fish will be there, but some years they are just out of range of the trailer boat brigade.
Hooked up to a solid south coast bluefin.
An oddity about the Welshy run is that it can be over in a month and the average size is a good bit larger than those in Victoria, leading to many more unanswered questions. Once you hear that the south coast has fired you need to react immediately – planning a trip for a couple weeks later will likely be too late. I was lucky enough to time it just right a couple years back and while we only hooked up twice, the quality was outstanding.
More so than anywhere else, the ideal water you are looking for is temperature breaks between 18 and 20°C. There are excellent data sources available for this, or alternatively, keep an eye on fishing reports and social media as word gets out pretty quickly once the tuna turn up.
While bluefin can and do tolerate quite a wide temperature range, research indicates that they will spend considerable time at depth to locate their preferred temperatures. Even half a degree can make quite a bit of difference so it’s vital to keep an eye on your sounder, not just for the presence of bait or fish, but also changes in temperature.
The stuff of dreams, let’s hope that fish like these south coast monsters are not your first!
RODS ’N’ REELS
The most popular approach to chasing bluefin is trolling; however, cubing, casting and jigging are also productive and add more technical aspects to the sport. Putting that aside for now, most bluefin are caught on the troll and that’s what you should learn first and concentrate on. Trolling makes a lot of sense when it comes to tuna fishing as it allows ground to be covered when there is no obvious sign of the fish and it’s a mighty big ocean out there. Short stroker game rods (with or without rollers), coupled with a quality size 30 overhead lever drag reel, loaded with 500-600 m of 15 kg mono will provide great sport on small fish while putting you in with a chance of landing a big tuna. If you prefer doing things heavier and tipping things a little in your favour, an upgrade to 24 or even 37 kg tackle could be called for but you will wrestle the tackle more than the fish on most occasions.
If you favour spin tackle, quality larger-sized spin reels combined with shorter jigging rods are fun to use. Powerful drags make these reels extremely capable of dealing with the tuna but braid can be a nightmare when mixed in with mono. If deciding to use braid equipped rods in conjunction with mono lines at the same time – make sure the rod with braid is either the closest lure to the boat or the longest. This will help to keep things well and truly separated. The reality is: spin gear is best for casting and jigging while overheads are vastly superior as trolling outfits, especially if there are big fish around as line capacity will be an issue.
RIGGING FOR TROLLING
My standard rig is pretty simple: make a double in the line of about two or three rod lengths and learn to tie a plait to complete it. It’s a knot that takes some learning but one that’s well worth the effort. To the end of the double you have created, attach a quality snap swivel by either a cat’s paw or a uni knot. This simple rig will allow you the flexibility to attach a number of lure types or cubing leaders via the snap. On the lure front, whether it’s a skirt, bibbed or bibless trolling lure, a 6 ft length of 120 to 200 lb mono leader is sufficient and allows you to control smaller fish from the rod tip which helps if fishing two up.
FAVOURITE LURES AND SPREADS
The majority of successful tuna trolling skirts measure between 5 to 8 inches and tend to exert a less aggressive action. Instead, they rely on running straight and creating a bubble trail. The true running attribute of skirts assists with running a mixed spread of both diving and surface lures at the same time without foul ups.
I like to set up a five lure spread, which will include a small tuna bullet run in the ‘shotgun’ position at least 60 m behind the boat. Next up, I run a slightly larger tuna bullet out of the ‘long rigger’ position (mid gunnel rod holder), which sits about 45 m from the transom. On the opposite gunnel in the ‘short rigger’ position, I like to run a cup faced pusher style skirt with some good wobble about it. This lure will run 5 to 10 m inside the long rigger. Next closest in the ‘long corner’ position (transom rod holder) I run the largest skirt in the spread. It will usually be about 8 inches in length and possess a cupped face but shorter head. In terms of length, it will again be closer than the ‘short rigger’. On the opposite side in the ‘short corner’ will be a diving minnow, which will sit in the prop wash.
Sea conditions and lure performance will dictate your trolling speed but it will generally range from 6 to 10 knots. On a rough day with a following sea, you may need to further regulate your speed as you can find yourself racing down the face of waves with lures pulling out of the water. Ideally, you want to see your skirted lures come to the surface and ‘smoke’ on the surface about 1/3 of the time without jumping out. Hardbody diving lures that are designed with this purpose in mind will run true and straight at the same speeds but one that is out of tune will track to one side and blow out of the water pretty often. Running large single in-line hooks like Decoy Jigging Singles helps markedly. The use of outriggers is not entirely necessary and in the middle of a hot tuna bite they become a bit of a pain to be honest. Rod riggers help to keep the lures separated if you find the need.
TROLLING ETIQUETTE
If a patch of fish is found, it will attract the attention of other boats in the area. The boat that finds the fish first, clearly has the first crack at them but don’t make the mistake of thinking you own them. As others close in to make a pass, everyone needs to take a breath and consider what those around them are doing. Cutting in front of the bow of another boat so that it must slow down or change course won’t win you friends, nor will cutting across the back of another boats’ spread. Working parallel lines is the most common sense approach and boats that just cut circles through the action are plain selfish. If it gets too frantic, it’s better to go find another patch of fish.
CUBING
While not popular in Victoria, Welshies love to cube for bluefin and it’s a sound method to attract fish up from the depths. It can be applied in a variety of circumstances and is particularly effective for when you have found fish and want to keep them up, or when you can’t find fish and want to try and raise them from the sea floor. It’s usually applied when you can’t raise a bite, even when there are signs of tuna in the area. A constant cube trail can see the fish boiling at the transom, if everything goes to plan, opening up a host of other techniques also. Remember to keep your leaders lighter and to hide the hook in the bait as tuna have all the time in the world to inspect your cube offering.
CARING FOR YOUR CATCH
Bluefin is prized as an eating fish for both sashimi and medium rare tuna steaks; however, if the fish are not cared for properly, the flesh is susceptible to degrading. Tuna can actually ‘cook’ itself on the boat if uncared for. There are many ways and theories regarding tuna care, however this is a simple and achievable approach. With the hooks removed, make a small incision inside the base of the pectoral fin no more than 40 mm deep; this will cause the fish to bleed out rapidly. Once bled for a minute or two, the fish should be gutted or cored if you know how – including the removal of the gills. The cavity of the fish should be packed with ice immediately and kept out of the sun. Fish bags and/or Esky’s are vital to preserve the fish and ice. Once back on land, the prime eating fish can be filleted and skun with ease. The top half of the fillet provides deep red lean flesh, ideal for sashimi or steaks, while the belly meat is suited to grilling as it contains a lot of oil.
FINAL WORD
A final word of caution is required. Journeying far out into the big blue yonder in your own small trailer boat in a quest for the mighty speedster can be a formidable, expensive and possibly hazardous assignment and it’s not for everyone. The attraction of chasing big, pelagic fish from a small boat is a strong one, however the old but wise motto ‘no fish is worth dying for’ should ring loudly in your ears whenever heading out, no matter how hot the bite is or how fever pitched your enthusiasm… enough said.
John cut his teeth fishing for natives and trout in the impoundments and rivers of northern Victoria. A pretty versatile all rounder he is very well travelled regularly catching flights off to fishing locations such as the Northern Territory, New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia, the Middle East and Malaysia however his all-time favourite would be top water fishing for the mighty GT wherever they are found!
