Tuna 2024

[SilverFly]

Roughly 4 months til tuner season ... Looks like we're in for La Nina conditions this year.

Recent “Triple-Dip” La Niña upends current understanding of ENSO - NOAA Research

With the current El Niño in full force, researchers are still puzzling over the 2020–2023 La Niña that upended current understanding of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) dynamics. The three consecutive years of La Niña conditions – a rare “triple-dip” phenomenon – had widespread impacts on the...

research.noaa.gov

 

[Evan B]

I feel like the tuna seasons are so random no matter the macro situation. Every year is totally different

 

[RRSmith]

Evan nailed it... I've tried for over 20 years to correlate ENSO with albacore fishing on the West Coast and there's really not much rhyme or reason to it.

 

[SilverFly]

Evan nailed it... I've tried for over 20 years to correlate ENSO with albacore fishing on the West Coast and there's really not much rhyme or reason to it.

A few more seasons and I'll be fully subscribed to the "box of chocolates" prognostication philosophy. At this point just interpreting the La Nina forecast as more upwelling. Hopefully one that won't manifest as another green desert season.

 

[Nick Clayton]

I agree with the above thoughts. I've given up trying to predict anything. I've seen every theory out there. I've seen seasons where the water couldn't be more perfect but the fish wanted nothing to do with it. I've seen seasons where the water was rather meh, but the fish loved it and the fishing was outstanding. Seen when there is bait of all sorts everywhere with no fish to eat it, and I've seen it where it appears to be a barren wasteland food wise yet the fish are everywhere.

Full moons. No moons. Wind from the east. Big fish early, small fish late. Super aggressive fish. Super finicky fish. Fish that just seem like they are attacking the boat. Huge numbers showing up mid June, and piss poor numbers that don't show till August. I've gotten reports and predictions from commercial guys fishing albacore as far as the south Pacific, and not once has one of those predictions been accurate.

At this point I don't give it a second of thought. When the water is right we start looking, and what we find is what we find. The only consistent thing about our albacore fishery is inconsistency. I'm sure someone much smarter than me could get a better idea of whats going to happen, but I haven't met that person yet unfortunately.

The one thing that absolutely rings true though, is if you want to hear from the experts about what kind of season its going to be, all you need to do is hop into one of the Facebook fishing groups and read their thoughts. Those folks have it DIALED.

 

[SilverFly]

I agree with the above thoughts. I've given up trying to predict anything. I've seen every theory out there. I've seen seasons where the water couldn't be more perfect but the fish wanted nothing to do with it. I've seen seasons where the water was rather meh, but the fish loved it and the fishing was outstanding. Seen when there is bait of all sorts everywhere with no fish to eat it, and I've seen it where it appears to be a barren wasteland food wise yet the fish are everywhere.

Full moons. No moons. Wind from the east. Big fish early, small fish late. Super aggressive fish. Super finicky fish. Fish that just seem like they are attacking the boat. Huge numbers showing up mid June, and piss poor numbers that don't show till August. I've gotten reports and predictions from commercial guys fishing albacore as far as the south Pacific, and not once has one of those predictions been accurate.

At this point I don't give it a second of thought. When the water is right we start looking, and what we find is what we find. The only consistent thing about our albacore fishery is inconsistency. I'm sure someone much smarter than me could get a better idea of whats going to happen, but I haven't met that person yet unfortunately.

The one thing that absolutely rings true though, is if you want to hear from the experts about what kind of season its going to be, all you need to do is hop into one of the Facebook fishing groups and read their thoughts. Those folks have it DIALED.

One thing I'm fairly sure of is a strong correlation between albacore unpredictability and tuna fisher addiction.

 

[SilverFly]

Per the above, a few thoughts for those of us who only get out a few times a year - or are just getting into tuna.

Having a limited "database" it's very easy to draw conclusions from specific/isolated season trends, or even single trip experiences. Like when I went down the "stupid deep" rabbit hole, based on an epic toad albacore day when we had a school keyed on the boat for a few hours. They'd hit flies shallow, but only if we threw a few live anchovies, otherwise we'd have to dredge deep. Another rabbit hole I got lost in was thinking flies need to be dead-ringer imitations of whatever albacore are keyed on. While I'm convinced there can be some validity (or not) to both ideas in specific situations, you never know what works until you're actually in that situation.

The point being, I've been humbled more than once by stubbornly sticking to patterns and tactics that worked well, even the day before. It's good to have a game plan, but nothing beats being observant and flexible.

 

[Matt B]

To all those writing (credibly) that it's a fool's errand to try to correlate X with Y in predicting PNW albacore fishing-- okay, but then what the heck would @SilverFly do for 9 months of the year? And we wouldn't have half the interesting albacore threads that we do have...

 

[NRC]

To all those writing (credibly) that it's a fool's errand to try to correlate X with Y in predicting PNW albacore fishing-- okay, but then what the heck would @SilverFly do for 9 months of the year? And we wouldn't have half the interesting albacore threads that we do have...

Actual footage of @SilverFly tuna planning

 

[Buzzy]

I thought about sending a PM to a bunch of you veteran tuna fly anglers...... but then decided to THREAD DRIFT @SilverFly's thread and ask a couple of rookie, newbie questions:
1) What hook makes and size are your more common flies tied on.
2) I assume overall length of tuna flies vary - how short is too short (hint: I have a littl stash of polar bear).
2.1) Colors of flies, materials, are Spawn heads a good idea?
3) Backing to fly line: is a loop to loop a reasonable way to connect or do I have to learn a bimini twist?
4) More questions as they come to me. And - Thanks for your help!
Patrick

 

[Matt B]

I thought about sending a PM to a bunch of you veteran tuna fly anglers...... but then decided to THREAD DRIFT @SilverFly's thread and ask a couple of rookie, newbie questions:
1) What hook makes and size are your more common flies tied on.
2) I assume overall length of tuna flies vary - how short is too short (hint: I have a littl stash of polar bear).
2.1) Colors of flies, materials, are Spawn heads a good idea?
3) Backing to fly line: is a loop to loop a reasonable way to connect or do I have to learn a bimini twist?
4) More questions as they come to me. And - Thanks for your help!
Patrick

I wouldn't waste northern bear on a tuna fly but that's just me.
A lot of good info here:

Fly Fishing for Albacore Tuna: Part 2

Gear Since ARSC is not a fly fishing specific company they do not provide fly gear. That said, I do try to keep plenty of fly gear onboard for use by customers. Understand this is my own personal gear that I purchase specifically for use by...

pnwflyfishing.com

I was summarily mocked by our resident bluewater heroes for suggesting that a bimini is a good connection to use on an albacore rig (I like it for the leader loop and the backing loop) but I don't think it's that hard to do, kinda fun actually, and I like being confident in my knots!

 

[Nick Clayton]

I've used the Bimini as well the last few years but not because it's necessary, just because it's kinda fun. Ive caught countless albacore using a standard nail knot. An albright is just fine too. No need to get too crazy with it.

I always recommend having a variety of sizes/profiles first, and a variety of colors second. IMO color is far less important mow6 of the time but variety is always a plus. Ive caught albacore on 1" flies and Ive caught them on 8" flies. I'd say the majority of the time I'm fishing stuff in the 3-5" range. But when th3y want small. It's nice to have them. I've never seen a scenario where you actually needed to go much larger than 5" to get it done. I've seen many instances where going small was the only way.

Ahrex Bluewater, Kona Big Game Hunter, and Owner Aki are my favorite hooks, in that order. Think short shank, wide gap, and strong. I tie on 2/0 nearly exclusively. You can go bigger but unless its needed for a particular pattern going bigger is not advantageous

 

[clarkman]

Bimini fun? not in this household! I forbid it....cause it ain't fun!





Can I tie them? oh, for sure, yes. But fun they ain't.

at least in this dumb-ass's opinion.

 

[Buzzy]

I wouldn't waste northern bear on a tuna fly but that's just me.
A lot of good info here:

Fly Fishing for Albacore Tuna: Part 2

Gear Since ARSC is not a fly fishing specific company they do not provide fly gear. That said, I do try to keep plenty of fly gear onboard for use by customers. Understand this is my own personal gear that I purchase specifically for use by...

pnwflyfishing.com

I was summarily mocked by our resident bluewater heroes for suggesting that a bimini is a good connection to use on an albacore rig (I like it for the leader loop and the backing loop) but I don't think it's that hard to do, kinda fun actually, and I like being confident in my knots!

Thanks for sharing the link to Nick's part-2 (which I re-read a few days ago but had already forgotten the pictures and recommendations in Nick's well done report(s).

I've used the Bimini as well the last few years but not because it's necessary, just because it's kinda fun. Ive caught countless albacore using a standard nail knot. An albright is just fine too. No need to get too crazy with it.

I always recommend having a variety of sizes/profiles first, and a variety of colors second. IMO color is far less important mow6 of the time but variety is always a plus. Ive caught albacore on 1" flies and Ive caught them on 8" flies. I'd say the majority of the time I'm fishing stuff in the 3-5" range. But when th3y want small. It's nice to have them. I've never seen a scenario where you actually needed to go much larger than 5" to get it done. I've seen many instances where going small was the only way.

Ahrex Bluewater, Kona Big Game Hunter, and Owner Aki are my favorite hooks, in that order. Think short shank, wide gap, and strong. I tie on 2/0 nearly exclusively. You can go bigger but unless its needed for a particular pattern going bigger is not advantageous

Great stuff you've provided, Nick. Thank you!!

 

[Paige]

All I know is, I will never have a day of fishing like that first Albacore trip with Captain @Nick Clayton, @SilverFly, @Cabezon and Mark in August 2020!

Was absolutely bat shit crazy how fun that day was, 36 fish in the boat by noon!

 

[Matt B]

Bimini fun? not in this household! I forbid it....cause it ain't fun!





Can I tie them? oh, for sure, yes. But fun they ain't.

at least in this dumb-ass's opinion.

It barely even seems like a knot. More like a novelty trick turned into a semi controlled twisty tangle. Plus it takes three appendages to tie, which includes my favorite one.

My big toe of course!!

 

[Evan B]

Bimini fun? not in this household! I forbid it....cause it ain't fun!





Can I tie them? oh, for sure, yes. But fun they ain't.

at least in this dumb-ass's opinion.

I don't enjoy them either. Same with the FG knot.

 

[clarkman]

My big toe of course!!

Maybe THAT'S my problem....I've been using the wrong appendage! No wonder it's so NOT fun....

 

[albula]

If you can't master a Bimini use a poor man's Bimini, the spider hitch. Piece of cake to tie and accomplishes the same thing in creating a doubled line by virtue of a weave and is also near 100 per cent strength. Landed many adult tarpon using this knot with no failures.

 

[SilverFly]

I thought about sending a PM to a bunch of you veteran tuna fly anglers...... but then decided to THREAD DRIFT @SilverFly's thread and ask a couple of rookie, newbie questions:
1) What hook makes and size are your more common flies tied on.
2) I assume overall length of tuna flies vary - how short is too short (hint: I have a littl stash of polar bear).
2.1) Colors of flies, materials, are Spawn heads a good idea?
3) Backing to fly line: is a loop to loop a reasonable way to connect or do I have to learn a bimini twist?
4) More questions as they come to me. And - Thanks for your help!
Patrick

No drift! This kind of discussion is exactly what I hoped to kick off.