Tuna dirtbag trip

SilverFly

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I was a gear dirtbag today. We're about to cross the CR bar with 30-ish good grade tuna. I suffered the indignity of reeling in several on troll gear. At least I got one on a jig and a troll fish on fly gear.
 

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Matt B

RAMONES
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I was a gear dirtbag today. We're about to cross the CR bar with 30-ish good grade tuna. I suffered the indignity of reeling in several on troll gear. At least I got one on a jig and a troll fish on fly gear.
Looks like you’ve got some work ahead of you, too.
 

SilverFly

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Never got a final count but only took 4 home whole. Got em packed in salt ice in the cooler. OMW to work today (wife driving) after a bowl of ibuprofen for breakfast. Off tomorrow so carking and canning day.

BTW, although this was a dedicated and successful gear/meat trip, when I was finally given a green light to troll the 14wt, the small white squid dispelled any skepticism with 2 troll, one slide, and one legit cast hookup in less than an hour. We had a couple gear troll also come unbuttoned at the end, so maybe they were short striking. Anyway, I was asked for a couple sample flies.
 

Matt B

RAMONES
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if flies are so effective, especially on troll—Is there any reason flies could not be deployed behind regular troll gear? On troll, there’s not a lot that the fly line is doing for us. A small sinker above a fly on braid to mono/fluoro should work, right?
 

Cabezon

Sculpin Enterprises
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When you were reeling in those tuna on the gear rods, did you feel dirty? Like you had to take a shower? Like you cheated on your favorite fly rod? Well, then just another tuna trip!😉 Well done.
Steve
 

Evan B

Bobber Downey Jr.
Staff member
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if flies are so effective, especially on troll—Is there any reason flies could not be deployed behind regular troll gear? On troll, there’s not a lot that the fly line is doing for us. A small sinker above a fly on braid to mono/fluoro should work, right?
@Nick Clayton is an advocate for trolling with the fly rod because the fly line does actually impart some action that mono/braid doesn't. I'm inclined to agree, and it does catch fish, sometimes more than the meat rods. My issue with it is that bringing the fish to the boat on the fly rod is a lot more of a chore, and the fish tend to go on longer runs with fly gear, which can make it tougher to keep the school close by. So it's definitely a pros and cons thing to consider.
 
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Matt B

RAMONES
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@Nick Clayton is an advocate for trolling with the fly rod because the fly line does actually impart some action that mono/braid doesn't. I'm inclined to agree, and it does catch fish, sometimes more than the meat rods. My issue with it is that bringing the fish to the boat on the fly rod is a lot more of a chore, and the fish tend to go on longer runs with this gear, which can make it tougher to keep the school close by. So it's definitely a pros and cons thing to consider.
No doubt that fly rods are not the best tool for gettin’ em in. There’s an easy experiment that could be conducted here by running a fly behind the boat on normal fly gear and running the same pattern on a meat rod. An experiment that costs a lot in gas and time and potential oppor-tuna-ty I suppose.
 

Evan B

Bobber Downey Jr.
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No doubt that fly rods are not the best tool for gettin’ em in. There’s an easy experiment that could be conducted here by running a fly behind the boat on normal fly gear and running the same pattern on a meat rod. An experiment that costs a lot in gas and time and potential oppor-tuna-ty I suppose.
For me personally: I've plugged my boat before lunch time the last three or four times I've gone out. So haven't really needed to switch tactics or experiment. Troll rods for me are just what I use to find the schools. The place I'm really putting meat on deck is when we're stopped. So the quicker I can get the troll rods dealt with, the better, and a fly rod really complicates that process.

I still want to get out with Nick and experience his program because it sounds like a lot of fun and something I can learn a whole lot from, I just don't think I'll ever run it on my boat.
 

SilverFly

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When you were reeling in those tuna on the gear rods, did you feel dirty? Like you had to take a shower? Like you cheated on your favorite fly rod? Well, then just another tuna trip!😉 Well done.
Steve

I told the Capt I was suffering through the indignity of reeling in troll fish. He laughed and made some comment about posting.

I can't say there isn't any fun factor, but it's more work than fun on those broomsticks. I don’t count troll hookups on fly as fly fishing, but still hella fun feeling the grab, listening to the reel scream, and fighting them on a rod that let's you actually fight the fish.

I'm to the point I want someone else to hookup the troll first so I can feel a retrieve grab on the slide. That only happened once in the last hour after the 14wt was finally in action. The squid fly was first hit 2 out of our last 4 troll hookups. Not sure what that pencils out to but not bad over four troll stops with 4 rods fishing.
 
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SilverFly

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No doubt that fly rods are not the best tool for gettin’ em in. There’s an easy experiment that could be conducted here by running a fly behind the boat on normal fly gear and running the same pattern on a meat rod. An experiment that costs a lot in gas and time and potential oppor-tuna-ty I suppose.

After discussions with Nick, and wasting a ton of time clearing lines yesterday, I'm not entirely convinced that's the case. Ironically we set a boat record of 52 on this boat (different Capt that day) on a mixed gear/fly trip a few years ago. Standard troll gear being relatively ignored compared to squid flies getting crushed and starting productive bait/jig stops.

We had a bunch of troll hits and only managed to get a couple brief jig/bait stops going.

It was frustrating yesterday wasting tons of time getting un-bit clone rods stowed. Then dropping a jig that didn't get hit, or fumbling to hook a live bait that didnt get eaten, knowing the school is probably long gone, or waaay back where a slide fly would still be fishing - if not hooked up already.

The one time I went up front I immediately got a solid retrieve grab at about 20'. It didn't stick, but thankfully was observed by others who were skeptical. Had I been trolling flies all day, I'm sure we would've caught more. Not only due to more troll and slide fish, but better chances of converting to a bait/jig stops due to clearing one less troll rod if nothing else.

Not complaining (much). It was a great day, and was thankful to get out there.
 
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Evan B

Bobber Downey Jr.
Staff member
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After discussions with Nick, and wasting a ton of time clearing lines yesterday, I'm not entirely convinced that's the case. Ironically we set a boat record of 52 on this boat (different Capt that day) on a mixed gear/fly trip a few years ago. Standard troll gear being relatively ignored compared to squid flies getting crushed and starting productive bait/jig stops.

We had a bunch of troll hits and only managed to get a couple brief jig/bait stops going.

It was frustrating yesterday wasting tons of time getting un-bit clone rods stowed. Then dropping a jig, or fumbling to hook a live bait, knowing the school is probably long gone, or waaay back where a slide fly would still be fishing - if not hooked up already.

The one time I went up front I immediately got a solid retrieve grab at about 20'. It didn't stick, but thankfully was observed by others who were skeptical. Had I been trolling flies all day, I'm sure we would've caught more. Not only due to more troll and slide fish, but better chances of converting to a bait/jig stops due to clearing one less troll rod if nothing else.

Not complaining (much). It was a great day, and was thankful to get out there.
Sounds like he runs too many troll rods. Figure out what's working and in what part of the spread/wake, then cull the others. I run 3 troll rods tops. Usually 2 now.
 

SilverFly

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I've never been in charge of setting the troll spread. I get the hunt factor though and just appreciate being allowed to drag what I want.

That said I tend to agree less is more. The fact they will single out a much smaller fly in a full spread of standard troll lures is proof to me they don't necessarily respond to, or need a smorgasbord of stuff to come up.

So yeah, four rods doesn't seem overkill, but the time wasted clearing even one can be too long when seconds count. I think it's (usually) more important to drag something with a profile closer to what they are actually eating. Their vision is so good they don't need lots of big flashy attention getting stuff.
 
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SilverFly

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The bonus for the day was several pods of Pacific White Sided dolphin playing next to the boat. Got some great video but here's a nice still.

Screenshot_20220913-184457_Gallery.jpg

And no BLUEFIN! we're spotted (pre-empting smarty pants comments from the peanut gallery ;).)
 

Evan B

Bobber Downey Jr.
Staff member
Admin
The bonus for the day was several pods of Pacific White Sided dolphin playing next to the boat. Got some great video but here's a nice still.

View attachment 32168

And no BLUEFIN! we're spotted (pre-empting smarty pants comments from the peanut gallery ;).)
When I went out on August 14th, coming back we saw THOUSANDS of those dolphins. Saw a few jumping and thought that was super cool. Then we kept going and realized they were part of a several miles long line of them. Was so cool to see. I've had them run along the boat like that a few times, too. One of my favorite things to see out there.
 

SilverFly

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When I went out on August 14th, coming back we saw THOUSANDS of those dolphins. Saw a few jumping and thought that was super cool. Then we kept going and realized they were part of a several miles long line of them. Was so cool to see. I've had them run along the boat like that a few times, too. One of my favorite things to see out there.
We saw the same on Spooling Day in 2015. Literally thousands, 360 degrees, to the horizon.
 

clarkman

average member
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When I went out on August 14th, coming back we saw THOUSANDS of those dolphins. Saw a few jumping and thought that was super cool. Then we kept going and realized they were part of a several miles long line of them. Was so cool to see. I've had them run along the boat like that a few times, too. One of my favorite things to see out there.
So jealous of these types of sightings...
 

SilverFly

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Oh yeah. Had another totally unexpected encounter with this obviously non sea bird. Poor little guy was exhausted. Actually came into the cabin. He re-fueled on some dead bugs laying behind the windshield then disappeared.

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