Tuna 2022, let the games begin!

[Matt B]

Please explain the Bimini loop versus, say Perfection - you're tying this into your "leader" and loop connecting it to your fly line? Is the Bimini loop the prefered loop knot for tuna?

Correct, loop to loop for leader to fly line. It is a common loop for offshore, reputed to be 100%. I use 25 or 20 (once I used 16 lb) fluorocarbon, start with about 5.5 feet. There are lots of videos for technique for a Bimini loop but I do the one with both my big toes to tension the loop. I’ve also used my knee.

 

[albula]

You can also use a spider hitch which is also a weave, kind of a poor man's Bimini, and it is considerably easier for most to tie while also achieving the creation of a doubled loop which is close to 100% the breaking strength of unknotted material.

 

[Jake Watrous]

There is a story from our last trip that is just not mine to tell. Weird stuff can happen out there.
Messing with mola mola is supposed to be bad juju but you were probably joking anyway.

Would love to hear that story someday and would be happy to buy a beverage or beverages to hear it.

I was mostly joking, but I tend not to believe in superstitions because I think they’re unlucky.

 

[DimeBrite]

A bimini loop for leader to fly line? I'm sure it works, but I'd rather tie a 15 second perfection loop.

 

[Bagman]

A bimini loop for leader to fly line? I'm sure it works, but I'd rather tie a 15 second perfection loop.

What knot do you use for to tie the fly to the leader?

 

[DimeBrite]

Now that I have blooded Grunden coveralls and rubber boots, I'm a tuna pro.

 

[DimeBrite]

What knot do you use for to tie you fly to the leader?

For albacore a non-slip loop knot.

 

[SculpinSwinger]

Non - slip is far stronger than a perfection loop, Bimini is stronger yet.

 

[albula]

A Steve Huff loop knot is an even better choice if the goal is a strong easy to tie straight pull loop knot especially for tippet to fly connections. It is also conducive for use with heavier (80 lb) shock tippet.

 

[Matt B]

If something breaks, I want it to be close to the fly. Bimini is sweet because it has some built in shock absorption and is strong as hell. I don’t trust perfection loops on a straight leader. The Perfection loops I tie are way weaker than nonslip loops at the fly.

 

[PhilR]

If something breaks, I want it to be close to the fly. Bimini is sweet because it has some built in shock absorption and is strong as hell. I don’t trust perfection loops on a straight leader. The Perfection loops I tie are way weaker than nonslip loops at the fly.

I’m ok with weaker knots at the fly and leader. I’d rather lose a fly than a fly line.

 

[Matt B]

I’m ok with weaker knots at the fly and leader. I’d rather lose a fly than a fly line.

Exactly. So a well designed system will break at the fly first. As a fish—Better to have a fly stuck in your mouth than a fly with 4 feet of fluoro trailing too.

 

[Nick Clayton]

In spite of the strange incident the other day, breaking something off is just not something I've ever had to deal with tuna fishing. That said, a crazy amount of leader strength isn't needed either. 20-25 lb is just fine.

I just don't find anything special is needed for albacore fishing when it comes to knots. A standard nail knot for backing to fly line is just fine. I use factory welded loops when they come on a line. Non slip loop at both the line/leader connection as well as at the fly. Never had any issue.

 

[Paige]

So how did today go guys?

 

[Matt B]

In spite of the strange incident the other day, breaking something off is just not something I've ever had to deal with tuna fishing. That said, a crazy amount of leader strength isn't needed either. 20-25 lb is just fine.

I just don't find anything special is needed for albacore fishing when it comes to knots. A standard nail knot for backing to fly line is just fine. I use factory welded loops when they come on a line. Non slip loop at both the line/leader connection as well as at the fly. Never had any issue.

A blue shark ate my fly once in such a way that it wasn’t coming off or breaking off. Right in the corner of the jaw. We had to get it close enough to cut the leader and it sucked with all that rolling and thrashing at the rail. It was my fault for not getting it away from the shark.

Then there was the time we were surrounded by sharks and I meant to nudge a blue shark away but stupidly used the pointy end of the gaff. I managed to gaff a very pissed off shark that about vibrated my shoulder off before I managed to release it. Oops. A mistake I won’t make again.

But—good to know about rigging. I’m sure I overthink things. That’s part of the fun I suppose. Also since I don’t get to fish for marlin or adult tarpon in Washington, maybe this is good practice for when I do. I’m much more interested in big tarpon than marlin on the fly—but I wouldn’t turn down a sponsorship for either one, just in case anyone was wondering.

 

[Jake Watrous]

A blue shark ate my fly once in such a way that it wasn’t coming off or breaking off. Right in the corner of the jaw. We had to get it close enough to cut the leader and it sucked with all that rolling and thrashing at the rail. It was my fault for not getting it away from the shark.

Then there was the time we were surrounded by sharks and I meant to nudge a blue shark away but stupidly used the pointy end of the gaff. I managed to gaff a very pissed off shark that about vibrated my shoulder off before I managed to release it. Oops. A mistake I won’t make again.

But—good to know about rigging. I’m sure I overthink things. That’s part of the fun I suppose. Also since I don’t get to fish for marlin or adult tarpon in Washington, maybe this is good practice for when I do. I’m much more interested in big tarpon than marlin on the fly—but I wouldn’t turn down a sponsorship for either one, just in case anyone was wondering.

There have been some sightings of striped marlin each year off the Washington coast. Fingers crossed for one of the forum folks. I’d love to catch it myself, but I’d be almost as happy to see the photos and read the report—and the odds are greater.

 

[Nick Clayton]

A blue shark ate my fly once in such a way that it wasn’t coming off or breaking off. Right in the corner of the jaw. We had to get it close enough to cut the leader and it sucked with all that rolling and thrashing at the rail. It was my fault for not getting it away from the shark.

Then there was the time we were surrounded by sharks and I meant to nudge a blue shark away but stupidly used the pointy end of the gaff. I managed to gaff a very pissed off shark that about vibrated my shoulder off before I managed to release it. Oops. A mistake I won’t make again.

But—good to know about rigging. I’m sure I overthink things. That’s part of the fun I suppose. Also since I don’t get to fish for marlin or adult tarpon in Washington, maybe this is good practice for when I do. I’m much more interested in big tarpon than marlin on the fly—but I wouldn’t turn down a sponsorship for either one, just in case anyone was wondering.

Not a thing wrong with "over thinking". One thing I've kinda had to come to terms with is that I am just wired to keep things as absolutely simple as possible. I am kinda obsessed with it honestly. I am the polar opposite of a detail oriented over thinker. I get a sick thrill out of dumbing things down to the bare essentials and making it work. There was a time I would have thought that made me right and others wrong, but what I've come to learn is that fishing, and catching fish, is as much about doing it in a way that gives you confidence and enjoyment as it is about discovering the best or most successful ways of doing things. Just a rambling way of saying that we can all do things in the way we like, and still be successful. It's just fishing after all. We're not saving lives here.

I've definitely had blue sharks hooked in a manner that I couldn't easily break them off, but really those were typically smaller ones that were either hooked in the flesh on their sides or somewhere or were just small enough that they didn't have the mass to provide enough resistance to break them off when I tried to do so.

Other than Guy's encounter Ive never dealt with anything I couldn't break, and even that thing likely would have broken off but the concern of losing a fly line caused us to handle it a bit differently. I break off more blues than I can count on a typical bait trip. Always cracks me up, when in the midst of a typical bait stop, someone hooks a blue and gets all excited about it. Before it can cause any issues or tangles I always tell them to point their rod my way so I can reach their line, at which point I grab the braid and jerk and break it off. Often times they are so sad and disappointed that they didn't get to land their shark lol.

Really though, the more I've thought about this, I can't think of a single thing I'd have a chance of hooking offshore that I wouldn't want to try to land. Outside of maybe a whale, or a porpoise, anything else that could be encountered that was large enough to be a concern would be cool enough that I couldn't bring myself to try to break it off lol.

 

[Cabezon]

Not a thing wrong with "over thinking". One thing I've kinda had to come to terms with is that I am just wired to keep things as absolutely simple as possible. I am kinda obsessed with it honestly. I am the polar opposite of a detail oriented over thinker. I get a sick thrill out of dumbing things down to the bare essentials and making it work. There was a time I would have thought that made me right and others wrong, but what I've come to learn is that fishing, and catching fish, is as much about doing it in a way that gives you confidence and enjoyment as it is about discovering the best or most successful ways of doing things. Just a rambling way of saying that we can all do things in the way we like, and still be successful. It's just fishing after all. We're not saving lives here.

I've definitely had blue sharks hooked in a manner that I couldn't easily break them off, but really those were typically smaller ones that were either hooked in the flesh on their sides or somewhere or were just small enough that they didn't have the mass to provide enough resistance to break them off when I tried to do so.

Other than Guy's encounter Ive never dealt with anything I couldn't break, and even that thing likely would have broken off but the concern of losing a fly line caused us to handle it a bit differently. I break off more blues than I can count on a typical bait trip. Always cracks me up, when in the midst of a typical bait stop, someone hooks a blue and gets all excited about it. Before it can cause any issues or tangles I always tell them to point their rod my way so I can reach their line, at which point I grab the braid and jerk and break it off. Often times they are so sad and disappointed that they didn't get to land their shark lol.

Really though, the more I've thought about this, I can't think of a single thing I'd have a chance of hooking offshore that I wouldn't want to try to land. Outside of maybe a whale, or a porpoise, anything else that could be encountered that was large enough to be a concern would be cool enough that I couldn't bring myself to try to break it off lol.

Or a seal (@SilverFly)?
Steve

 

[SilverFly]

Think I asked this before but forgot the answer - straight 30lb fluor okay for a leader?

I do a short butt section of 40# FC on all the rods. Then uni-to-uni knot 30, 25 or 20 off that. Doubt it matters on the troll but once on the slide, or casting it can make a difference.

I'll do an at length report for Thurs and Sat when I get a chance later but dropping down to 20# FC definitely helped. This was clear on the awesome stop first thing in morning yesterday that was extremely visual. It felt like we were fishing in a giant aquarium ... with a wave machine.

My buddy Kyle was being tortured with drive-by refusals up front. He'd strip the fly and they would zoom by out of nowhere, then disappear as soon as it stopped. They also got pickier with fewer eats the longer we were there. Fly pattern and retrieve were absolutely key to getting eaten. We had a couple of popper hookups with one landed, and one broken off. I am now convinced poppers are NOT a "special occasion" tactic. What we saw yesterday was a clear demonstration a slider type fly fished correctly can actually be a trigger to stimulate strikes. But I digress, more on that later ...

 

[adamcu280]

We had a couple of popper hookups with one landed, and one broken off. I am now convinced poppers are NOT a "special occasion" tactic. What we saw yesterday was a clear demonstration a slider type fly fished correctly can actually be a trigger to stimulate strikes. But I digress, more on that later ...

I heard some excitement about one of these popper hookups!