Man I took my fly gear on Sunday but we never got em going. I was about ten miles south of where Mark slaughtered em so just missed it. Sounds like Sunday was kinda spotty, but if you got a spot, you would plug the boat no problem.
Tuna 2024
- Thread starter SilverFly
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I've been eying the garmin setups for an upgrade possibly next year, but still not totally sure what kit I need to get. Might need to call Garmin and get a rundown.
Ya would probably be a good way to go. They should be able to get you dialed into exactly what you'd need for your boat and electronics.
Not cheap of course, but my god so worth it.
Did you just say you put 51 in the box?
That’s the way I read it too but Nick was not on his small 6 pack boat from what I read.
Aside from what Nick said, I also found that I was not as tired after a long 120-150 mile tuna day. It really takes away some of the stress of keeping your boat on course and it's really handy when you want to step away from the helm and work the deck while trolling.
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So very true. And very well timed post. Been dealing with an electrical gremlin on the boat lately and today I had no auto all day. I'm so friggen worn out it's ridiculous
Deckhand informed me this morning it was actually 52. Which explained why him and I each took a couple of fish home.
Things are getting weird out here. Caught all our fish 23 miles from Westport today in just over 400' of water. Never had to worry about hanging tuna troll gear on crab pots before
SilverFly
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Weird but in an awesome way. And who is setting crab pots in 400 FOW?!
Wow, I just pulled up the water temperature graphic off the Washington coast from NANOOS and there is NOTHING but warm water along the Washington and Oregon coasts.
Normally, there is a band of cooler water along the coast due to upwelling. This image below is from September 9th, 2022 and you can see the light blue band of cooler water along the coast and warmer water offshore. In a normal year, we have to plow our way 30ish miles offshore against the prevailing swell to reach the edge of the continental shelf where there is warm enough water for albacore.
Upwelling occurs when winds from the northwest push warm, nutrient-poor surface waters away from the coast (due to the Coriolis Effect) and cool, nutrient-rich waters rise to the surface to replace the warmer water offshore. But there is NOT sign of upwelling in the 2024 image.
This is great news for tuna fishers (and their fuel bills). But it may not not very good news for out-migrating salmon juveniles as they won't find much food to fuel their growth and migration to the Gulf of Alaska. Those nutrients are required by the phytoplankton, especially diatoms, that form the base of the oceanic food web. Without nutrients, no phytoplankton, no zooplankton (copepods, krill, etc.), no baitfish, starving salmon.
I checked with NOAA on where we are in the ENSO (El Niño - Southern Oscillation vs La Niña) cycle and we are neutral conditions at present with a transition to La Niña starting about now through at least October. In general, El Niño disrupts / weakens upwelling along the west coast while La Niña strengthens coastal winds and enhances upwelling.
Steve
Normally, there is a band of cooler water along the coast due to upwelling. This image below is from September 9th, 2022 and you can see the light blue band of cooler water along the coast and warmer water offshore. In a normal year, we have to plow our way 30ish miles offshore against the prevailing swell to reach the edge of the continental shelf where there is warm enough water for albacore.
Upwelling occurs when winds from the northwest push warm, nutrient-poor surface waters away from the coast (due to the Coriolis Effect) and cool, nutrient-rich waters rise to the surface to replace the warmer water offshore. But there is NOT sign of upwelling in the 2024 image.
This is great news for tuna fishers (and their fuel bills). But it may not not very good news for out-migrating salmon juveniles as they won't find much food to fuel their growth and migration to the Gulf of Alaska. Those nutrients are required by the phytoplankton, especially diatoms, that form the base of the oceanic food web. Without nutrients, no phytoplankton, no zooplankton (copepods, krill, etc.), no baitfish, starving salmon.
I checked with NOAA on where we are in the ENSO (El Niño - Southern Oscillation vs La Niña) cycle and we are neutral conditions at present with a transition to La Niña starting about now through at least October. In general, El Niño disrupts / weakens upwelling along the west coast while La Niña strengthens coastal winds and enhances upwelling.
Steve
Steve inspired me to look at the buoys, Terrafin and Satfish and it does look extraordinarily bad for juvenile salmon along much of the Washington Coast and even portions of Vancouver Island. While I too love the thought of catching albacore out on the halibut grounds, let's hope that it's temporary.
Man, things are getting fun and the forecast is just lumpy enough to not be fun in a small boat. If they're within like 20-25 miles of Garibaldi or CR though, I could probably tough out a slower ride if it comes to it since there isn't much wind in the forecast. Just tigher swells than I like.
8/14 out of Garibaldi:
Super scratchy today for us. Radio chatter and the boats we were collaborating with were having similar results. We ran NW and covered a lot of ground. Ended up with four fish for a lot of effort.
Took a pic of this here bird to hopefully confirm what it is. Anyone know?
Super scratchy today for us. Radio chatter and the boats we were collaborating with were having similar results. We ran NW and covered a lot of ground. Ended up with four fish for a lot of effort.
Took a pic of this here bird to hopefully confirm what it is. Anyone know?
It appears to be a masked booby. The Oregon coast is a bit far north for this species, but they may be drawn northward by the warm water.
Steve
Nice looking ocean anyway. Too bad it wasn’t more productive for you. Any other observations? Did you feel like you just were not on the fish, or that they were around and not biting your offerings?
Same story all along the coast it seems like. Scratch fishing for single digits.
I think fish were around but not eating. One stop, we actually had a bunch of fish under the boat. Could see them looking down and on the sonar. They were there for like five mins but not one bite on the jigs.
Those bastards! So frustrating when it’s like that.
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