Exactly like that
Here's the big pod of pilot whales. One thing about videos on the boat is I always wish I could just mute the commentary
Those are Risso’s dolphins (Grampus griseus) very cool!!
Tuna 2024
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Those are Risso’s dolphins (Grampus griseus) very cool!!
we were so close!
At least you didn’t call them “porpoise”
nah, saw plenty of them, too. Pretty easy to distinguish between one half the size of my boat vs the size of my legAt least you didn’t call them “porpoise”
Were they actually pilot whales? Not saying they weren’t, but pilot whale sightings off WA are pretty rare
We encountered this group of pilot whales as we were trolling (I don't think that a 12 wt. rod would have been enough stick, though...). There were 10-15 individuals in this group that were moving but not at "dolphin" speed. This picture doesn't do them justice, but they were bigger than dolphins/porpoises, about the size of a killer whale. The dorsal fins were "chunky" and broad and pointed toward the tail. And there must have been lots of squid in the area as the albacore were feeding on them. Conclusion: pilot whales.
Steve
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What about Risso's Dolphin, which is what the pod in my video was.
As I remember, the individuals in the pod that we saw were far more "deliberate" in their movements than the Risso's dolphins in your video.
Steve
I mean, the PhD marine biologist on board thought they were pilot whales.
Correction, we were trolling not blasting.
The dorsals were also different and they looked very gray to me. I want to say mottled gray.
Broad chunky fins sound pilot whale-y to me. Pilot whales are pretty uniformly dark brown/black. Adult males can get up to about 24’. They’re usually pretty slow moving and don’t show a lot of surface activity.
Short fin pilot whale photo I took on a NOAA cruise in 2006
But…. Risso’s are gray and often have bright white scars all over their bodies, including their dorsal fins, from their conspecifics. They’re about half the size of pilot whales. More surface active than pilot whales. Much more common off WA.
One of my Risso’s photos from a NOAA cruise a while back.
I can’t tell from Steve’s picture but what he’s describing sounds more PW and what Matt’s describing sounds more Risso’s.
Short fin pilot whale photo I took on a NOAA cruise in 2006
But…. Risso’s are gray and often have bright white scars all over their bodies, including their dorsal fins, from their conspecifics. They’re about half the size of pilot whales. More surface active than pilot whales. Much more common off WA.
One of my Risso’s photos from a NOAA cruise a while back.
I can’t tell from Steve’s picture but what he’s describing sounds more PW and what Matt’s describing sounds more Risso’s.
Question. Seems like there's a lot of 12wts getting blown up in this thread. Is this user error? Why not fish something bigger like a 14wt? Is it just that 14s aren't that common and it's easier to get your hands on a 12? To be clear, I've never fished anything bigger than an 8wt.
14 wts have gotten blown up too.
I've never broke a rod on a tuna. When fighting them it's important to never lift the rod much higher than ones chest. Getting the tip high at any point is what tends to cause unexpected grenades.
To me fighting an albacore on a fly rod is much more of a whole body process rather than using arms and the upper half of the rod. I tuck the butt into my belt line, keep the bottom half of the rod angled no higher than my chest, and do short quick pumps using my legs and whole body more than my arms. It's kinda hard to describe.
It's also rather counter intuitive for people who don't deal with these fish all the time and it's difficult to get people to work them like that. It's just so different than most other fish. I see tips high every single fly trip and I'm constantly waiting to hear the snap.
I've tried every way I can think of to get folks to keep the rod low but it seldom happens. I'm not gonna yell at people who want to do it their way, it's typically their rod after all, but fighting albacore in that manner, like other fish, will kill rods. Even 14s.
Agree with you and appreciate the photo. It’s hard for me to get a sense of scale out there.
I really appreciate the response @Nick Clayton
User error. First one for me I was casting off the bow and the middle ferrule was loose. Hauling on a 600 grain head resulted in a sickening crack and floppy rod.
This last one I unnecessarily lifted the rod high to chest height with both hands including a homemade foregrip on the butt section. If anything can be more than 100%, that’s the percent of my error there.
Skagittarius
Steelhead
Tuna are the ultimate pump fight fish as Nick describes. The most difficult part is overcoming their inertia in the final death spiral phase directly below or to the side of the boat when you have minimal leverage. You need to know the limits of your gear and some rods can't handle it, but I also suspect some of the rods that are blowing up have had some damage prior to the hook-up. I've been on a few Tuna trips when in the panic to present a weighted fly to rolling fish, I've had my rod impacted by a poorly casted fly that could have compromised the blank. I largely purchased my 12 wt Winston Boron based on a video I saw of a guy on a ladder lifting a large pyramid weight off the shop floor without issue.
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