Tuna 2024

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Cabezon said:
Yes, but the anglers have to be hypervigilent that fly lines and live bait lines don't cross when fighting fish. The braid on the latter is VERY unforgiving if wrapped around a fly line. There goes a $120 fly line... We were given very strong warnings by Nick to avoid this issue (and we largely did). At one point, we were fighting four hooked fish in the stern. It was barely-managed chaos...
Steve
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I mean, yeah, wrapped lines are bad any time, but this doesn't mean instant fly line death, I can say from personal experience my last PB trip with the two noobs. One of the noobs let their fish wrap mine two or three times and the lines both survived unscathed. When you hook a lot of tuna, gear can get busted, it's kinda just how it is. We strive to do things perfectly but the tuna are trying not to die, sharks are trying to make a living, etc...
 
Evan B said:
I'd personally run a jig rod 10 out of 10 times vs a live bait rod. Can't say for sure it has the same effect, but it's a moving fish-like thing that gets them all riled up.
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Sometimes jigs rile 'em and sometimes they don't. I have definitely seen times where the fish aren't hitting flies or jigs but they are eating the chum and the live bait.
 
Matt B said:
Sometimes jigs rile 'em and sometimes they don't. I have definitely seen times where the fish aren't hitting flies or jigs but they are eating the chum and the live bait.
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Can also depend on the jig type/presentation. Seems like most default to either flat falls or flat sides. The flutterdown presentation vs the vertical speed presentation. I do employ those sometimes, but I'm finding more and more that jigs you cast out, then retrieve back erratically, almost like twitching for coho, get far, far better results. But I'll try all methods to see what's working that day.
 
Yeah, I now have totally unrealistic expectations for how a day of flyfishing for tuna is supposed to go. We caught fish on a variety of flies. My first one was on a squid pattern, 5-6" long, but Nick had me change to baitfish. I got one on the troll using this chartreuse over green clouser.

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Most of my fish came to a silver flash baitfish with one or two grizzly hackles, 5-6" long. My only regret is that I didn't fish any topwater flies or break out my NFC 8'6" 10 wt Iconoglass. Nick rather strongly poo-poo'd the idea, and I didn't want to push it. I understand it's totally impractical, but I'd have preferred to switch to C&R after we had a handful of fish in the boat.
 
Matt B said:
I mean, yeah, wrapped lines are bad any time, but this doesn't mean instant fly line death, I can say from personal experience my last PB trip with the two noobs. One of the noobs let their fish wrap mine two or three times and the lines both survived unscathed. When you hook a lot of tuna, gear can get busted, it's kinda just how it is. We strive to do things perfectly but the tuna are trying not to die, sharks are trying to make a living, etc...
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It is very helpful when you have an experienced captain like @Nick Clayton shouting instructions like freeing drags and releasing tension as the anglers work to unravel the mess. In addition to @Phil K, the other two anglers were a friend of mine and his son, both experienced anglers but not necessarily hard-core fly guys. All of us started out with fly rods and Cal set up a bait rod for my friend during a stop as my friend wasn't enjoying the casting aspect and wanted to try live bait (which was VERY effective). He then went back to the fly rod on the troll; it is Nick's opinion that flies under fly lines are the best trolling setup. At most, we had one or two live bait rods out at a time. Having the nimble @Phil K on the bow really helped relieve some of the congestion (and potential for trouble) in the stern.
Both my friend and his son really enjoyed the day and were amazed at the fighting capacities of albacore. The son had one fish on that he just couldn't move on the fly rod. Every time he gained a little line, the fish would take it back. When he finally started to gain on it and bring it into view, the fish made one more run and came off...
Steve
And @Matt B, I blew up a 12 wt just like you did, just before an attempt to gaff a fish. My rod snapped cleanly at the ferule between the butt section and the next. I'm not sure exactly how it happened. I might have had the drag a bit too tight on my reel and I might have been trying to lift the fish's head to make gaffing easier. Adding insult to injury, the damn fish got off.
 
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Fly/bait combo trips can definitely work. I've done more than a few. I do strongly believe that if the goal is less about loading up the boat, and more about the fly fishing aspect, then sticking to flies is more productive for multiple reasons. At least in terms of getting them to eat cast flies specifically.

Braid and fly line tangles don't have to end badly, but that's very angler dependent. The simple reality is that most people don't have the experience dealing with tuna to always know what to do quickly enough for it not to be an issue. I've seen a good six or eight fly lines get cut by braid. It can happen very quickly.

FYI, I didn't mean to give Phil the impression that I was against the idea of fishing a popper. I just have no confidence in the ones I have tied due to their head size causing them not to fish properly, and I have far less confidence in traditional styled poppers unless the fish are showing a very specific behavior. I was trying to explain all that when he asked, but as I mentioned to him, it would take hours to properly explain my thoughts on the subject lol. With the fish being willing, but not easy that day, I did not have confidence in anything tied as a standard popper, and mine are just not right either.

This has been one of the most incredible weeks of albacore fishing I've ever personally seen. Got some weather coming the next day or two, so no doubt we'll have to zero it back in after that's gone, but man has it been good. For reference we put 51 fish in the boat on a single stop today in just over an hour. Just for Evan I got a couple on a flatfall, and then I pulled out the bug rod and stuck one first cast. We finished our morning trying like hell to get my deckhand to catch one on a cast fly, but he wasn't able to seal the deal.

I'm quickly becoming convinced that the manner in which a fly is fished is every bit as important, if not more so than the fly itself a high percentage of the time. I've always heard people talk about fly fishing for Roosters and how the fly needs to track perfectly, swim perfectly, correct pace etc and I'm really becoming a big believer that this is all crucial with albacore as well.
 
SilverFly said:
I know Shake 'n' Bake does some FF, and usually has a bug stick on board. Also @Blackdogfishing out of Warrenton is on PNWFF and has done at least one fly trip.
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I’ve done a couple of trips with Gordy of Black Dog. Had fun and caught fish! It’s an easier drive from Portland too.
 
Phil K said:
My only regret is that I didn't fish any topwater flies or break out my NFC 8'6" 10 wt Iconoglass. Nick rather strongly poo-poo'd the idea, and I didn't want to push it.
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Was this because a 10wt isn't a realistic wt rod for tuna?
 
SpawnFlyFish said:
Legendz is the boat that approached us last week! they landed 104 yesterday its a big boat for overnight trips!
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I kinda like the sound of spending a night out there. It's something I've never done.

Their website says $7,000 for 6 passengers for a 1.5 day tuna trip. That is a different program from ARSC's for sure. Real nice boat.
 
SpawnFlyFish said:
Legendz is the boat that approached us last week! they landed 104 yesterday its a big boat for overnight trips!
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$6k-$7k better be for the whole boat!
Matt B said:
I kinda like the sound of spending a night out there. It's something I've never done.

Their website says $7,000 for 6 passengers for a 1.5 day tuna trip. That is a different program from ARSC's for sure. Real nice boat.
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Depends on the night for me. I’ve got thousands of nights at sea but some of the most hateful were on a boat not much bigger than that out of Westport- summer 2012. I did catch my first albacore on that trip though!
 
adamcu280 said:
$6k-$7k better be for the whole boat!

Depends on the night for me. I’ve got thousands of nights at sea but some of the most hateful were on a boat not much bigger than that out of Westport- summer 2012. I did catch my first albacore on that trip though!
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Yeah it's the whole boat for that. So there ya go, you've got thousands of nights, I've got zero. I'm under no illusion that all nights off the coast of Washington are magical and I certainly understand how it can go when you pick your charter date 8 months in advance. It's just something I want to try.
 
Matt B said:
Yeah it's the whole boat for that. So there ya go, you've got thousands of nights, I've got zero. I'm under no illusion that all nights off the coast of Washington are magical and I certainly understand how it can go when you pick your charter date 8 months in advance. It's just something I want to try.
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Those magical nights are definitely magical!! I highly recommend it if you can pull it off, esp if you aren’t susceptible to motion sickness.
 
mcswny said:
Was this because a 10wt isn't a realistic wt rod for tuna?
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Yes. I hear it can be done, as I think @clarkman has shown, but it's not the right tool for the job and can lead to spending an unreasonable amount of time trying to horse one in. After we had a few dozen fish on board, I think we might have had some flexibility to play silly games. Maybe next time...
 
Phil K said:
Yes. I hear it can be done, as I think @clarkman has shown, but it's not the right tool for the job and can lead to spending an unreasonable amount of time trying to horse one in. After we had a few dozen fish on board, I think we might have had some flexibility to play silly games. Maybe next time...
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Having seen Randy and his glass 10wt catching tuna, I think it was a good thing we were catching peanuts. Nothing against Randy but he’d have had a lot harder time on that 10wt with bigger fish.
 
Nick Clayton said:
Fly/bait combo trips can definitely work. I've done more than a few. I do strongly believe that if the goal is less about loading up the boat, and more about the fly fishing aspect, then sticking to flies is more productive for multiple reasons. At least in terms of getting them to eat cast flies specifically.

Braid and fly line tangles don't have to end badly, but that's very angler dependent. The simple reality is that most people don't have the experience dealing with tuna to always know what to do quickly enough for it not to be an issue. I've seen a good six or eight fly lines get cut by braid. It can happen very quickly.

FYI, I didn't mean to give Phil the impression that I was against the idea of fishing a popper. I just have no confidence in the ones I have tied due to their head size causing them not to fish properly, and I have far less confidence in traditional styled poppers unless the fish are showing a very specific behavior. I was trying to explain all that when he asked, but as I mentioned to him, it would take hours to properly explain my thoughts on the subject lol. With the fish being willing, but not easy that day, I did not have confidence in anything tied as a standard popper, and mine are just not right either.

This has been one of the most incredible weeks of albacore fishing I've ever personally seen. Got some weather coming the next day or two, so no doubt we'll have to zero it back in after that's gone, but man has it been good. For reference we put 51 fish in the boat on a single stop today in just over an hour. Just for Evan I got a couple on a flatfall, and then I pulled out the bug rod and stuck one first cast. We finished our morning trying like hell to get my deckhand to catch one on a cast fly, but he wasn't able to seal the deal.

I'm quickly becoming convinced that the manner in which a fly is fished is every bit as important, if not more so than the fly itself a high percentage of the time. I've always heard people talk about fly fishing for Roosters and how the fly needs to track perfectly, swim perfectly, correct pace etc and I'm really becoming a big believer that this is all crucial with albacore as well.
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Spoken like a true (what I call "good") fishing guide. Always gonna tell you to do what he/she thinks will accomplish the goal of catching fish, and you'd probably better listen. Seems to have worked out well in the case in question.

Looks like a lot of fun is being had out there this year. It's days like these when I wish I had your job, @Nick Clayton . Have fun out there!
 
Jake Watrous said:
Having seen Randy and his glass 10wt catching tuna, I think it was a good thing we were catching peanuts. Nothing against Randy but he’d have had a lot harder time on that 10wt with bigger fish.
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probably depends on the 10wt. The one I took that day (the NFC)? probably fine...my primary musky stick (also a 10)? probably not so fun...


edit: also, that rod pictured earlier is definitely not a 10wt....that's a 12+...and shorter
 
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clarkman said:
probably depends on the 10wt. The one I took that day (the NFC)? probably fine...my primary musky stick (also a 10)? probably not so fun...


edit: also, that rod pictured earlier is definitely not a 10wt....that's a 12+
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Help me understand 12+ (fiberglass?)....
 
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