Thats some serious wake there :kewl:

So let me ask for a little advice for my weekend trip. I have a single 30lb spinning setup with 30lb power pro. Also, some trolling setups in the 30lb class. I have 2 friends with me, newbies to stripers/tuna, and we have allocated Saturday to the tuna hunt as Friday and Sat nights will be eels on the backbeach. I have a permit but have never seen nor caught a SBFT.

If we're out of the Pamet by 5:00 am (18' Grady CC), would you recommend heading towards the SW corner and working to the H? Or would you shoot for the fishing ledge? Once there, do you guys troll while looking for the schools or cruise around? Do you look for bait on the finder? Any tips are appreciated. Last time at the ledge it was nothing but dogs finning everywhere...

I'm a considerate captain that is not going to crash anyones action, just looking to maximize the chance that we get a cast or two. Unfortunately the waters east of Chatham are not an option.

can't help you with location but trolling seems to be the way to go.
troll whear you think they are, or look for the birds. five or six white turns offshore is a good indication of tuna under them. if there's shearwaters there too? even better. cast at them if you can, but don't run too close to them, they spook very easy. troll arround the school and cast in the middle with small stuff. but if you overrun them don't blast up another 100' just mosey over there if you keep the same rpm's they will stay up.the ones we saw yesterday under the birds were 20#, so super-light approach would be the way to go.
for trolling i would put your two 30# outfits with green machines back about 40 feet and put your spinning rod and a small jet head about eight feet behind the boat rubber banded to a cleat so it's in the wash.

i'd save a few of those eels to toss into the blitz too :devil2:

CapeCodder, trolling is not the way to go in CC Bay unless your targeting giants. Catching two after trolling all day with rigs is not very productive in my book especially from a fifty footer trolling God knows how many rigs. Might as well watch paint dry. If you want to troll them with a higher degree of success then go east of Chatham but your boat is a wee bit too small for that water. That being said if you want to catch fish in CC Bay get a chart and find Fishing Ledge. That's all you need to know. Get there right at or better yet just before sunrise. You will see them believe me. Cruise up on a pod and let go with any popping plug you have. Cut face traditional styles work better than pencils. Chrome with green, chartreuse or Mackerel patterns are best. If the popper floats even better. A three foot 30 pound Flouro leader to a good ball bearing swivel to the braid and a Breakaway 80lb speed clip completes the rig. Forget blind casting you need to put the plug right into the middle of the breaking fish and pop it good but not real fast. Nice and steady. You will know when you hook up and hold on. Watch for the lobster pot buoys and try to keep the fish away from them, which ain't easy. If you can't be there at dawn try ther evening. It doesn't mean they will not break in between those periods but it does seriously increase your chances of hooking up. The rest is up to you.

Flap and Freak,
Thanks to both of you. I think Flaps method will be the way to go for me. May hit the SW corner as well. Then Ptown for bass afterwards.

I'll report back Monday...

Now that I have my intinerary down, how does one properly bleed and clean a bluefin? Got to be prepared... From what part does the best sashimi come?

hmmm,
in my book, trolling up three tuna on a 58 footer in 4-6 footers, with a 6hr charter, is very productive....
especially when the rest of the fleet is home... and there's no fish showing on the surface.

Mike,
I need a ride on that boat!!!

you busy this weekend? :hihi:

Where we going? :jester:

not far..... 10 miles from graves..in the bay

Mike, you know I luv ya but you gotta go east. A bad day is ten fish. ;)

First off, the tuna regs change October 1st. one fish between 47 and 73 inches I beleive, one per boat. I do not have the bulletin in front of me. That's a substantially larger fish. They are out there but the smaller ones outnumber them by a long shot. A tuna found to be legal should be chin gaffed. Gaffing in the belly or across the back ruins good tuna flesh. Use two in the chin or cheek if needed for weight. Just where the gills meet the lower part of the throat mkae a slice and free the gill where they attach at the bottom. Tie a tail rope and hang the fish over the side unless you like blood on everything. Give him five to ten minutes and bring him back aboard and finish the gutting process then pack him on ice even the belly cavity. Tunas don't "fillet" like normal fish. Two from the shoulders back to the tail and two from the cheeks and belly back. You will find an area around the latereal line that is dark red and full of minute veins and hundreds of small white threadlike nerve endings. Cut that off. It's tuff and it just sucks anyway. Skin and cut the piece into medallions 3/4 of an inch thick. I don't do shashimi. I rub with a mix 1/2 cajun spince and 1/2 brown sugar both sides and each side three minutes on the grill. Yummy.

Thanks Flap, got to be prepared and optimistic!

I caught my first sbft last Friday on a popper. Now I have tuna fever. Bleed out the fish by making two vertical slices just behind the pectoral fins. The slices do not have to be deep. You should also plunge a knife through the soft part of its head into its brain to kill it immediately. These fish will continue to produce lactic acid which degrades the flesh if they are not killed immediately. It needs to be gutted immediately and have its cavity packed with ice especially if you are going to eat the tuna as sashimi.

thats 2,500 horsepower on a 58' ocean

And you can almost see the gas guage moving!!!!

dont plunge a knife anywhere. especially in the good head meat.

do like flap said and cut there throat while the hearts still pumpin' and hang them bye the tails to bleed.

don't kill them right away. bleed them out til the heart stops beating.
then gut them, remove head/gills/guts. then ice them down good.

If one does not have shaved ice is regular ice ok? Will it bruise or ruin the meat? Do you mix with some salt water?

I have to disagree with the above. Here is a link to proper tuna handling.

http://www.fishep.com/fep/documents/Sashimi.pdf

Got Ice Rink?

Interesting and thanks for posting, everyone should read the description there are some really detailed diagrams, but since I am not fishing for commercial sale to the Japanese Sashimi market and since I have had no problems with the way I have been doing it I will stick to the methods I use. The cut I make does not sever the heart but the ateries seperating the gills for the heart and it pumps until the fish dies from loss of blood. Then we bring back aboard and remove all the entrails, scrub and pack on ice. One thing i always marvel at when doing this is that the fishes body cavity temperature is noticeably warmer than the the water. I guess they do indeed develop body heat. Thanks again for posting. It ain't over by a long shot so go get 'em while you can it's a long winter.

thanks flappytail!!!! :lm: you rock!! thanks again for the hospitality
boated 3 for 5 today with about three more knockdowns.

Your killin me!!! :drool: :drool: :bc:

Guys,
FWIW, in doing my reports yesterday I hear that the tuna are back in the Mud Hole and there was a hot tuna bite 7 miles south of Block Island. Supposedly keep sized BFT were tough to come by in the Mud Hole, but common south of Block.

Mike, we all had a good time in our boat teaming up with you and John on yours. It shure is nice knowing that far offshore that a helping hand is near and for finding fish, well, it just works so much better! Although slow, the fishing was fun, the last fish we landed after coming back to meet up with you guys was our biggest to date. A shade over sixty pounds. Seems pink was the color of the day on our end and that black/Rainbow combo you guys had working, that combo in Blurple with a pink/purple stinger has been good to us. Hope you guys can make it down to join us again one more time before it's over. They get a little bigger come fall even though there might not be that many. My digital camera had something happen to it and I cannot get the pics I took out. Had some nice ones of you guys trolling among all the whales. Dammit, technology sometimes sucks! Anyway look forward to the next time, Flap. :kewl:

yes indeedie!!
we'll be down the next open weather window!
and thanks for the escort out the river. or we'd still be stuck in the sand waitin' for the tide to come up.
could not belive all the seals down there. now i know what all the complainin' is about.

nice to get the call from friends 10-15 miles away on a hot bite, and have that long run pay off huh?
glad you got that big one. thats what we were hoping for all day.
sorry about your antenna but chit happens right. :fishslap:

I thought I'd report back after my first tuna trip saturday. Left the Pamet and arrived at the Fishing Ledge just before sunup. No birds or signs of activity along the way or on the ledge. Trolled a squid chain and diving rapala for about 45 minutes without any sign of life.

Just as we were getting ready to head off, 2 small footballs surfaced next to the boat and disappeared, not to be seen again.

On the way to Stellwagen, came across a huge pod of porpoises that was pretty cool. No signs of any tuna, no birds, nothing, so hit the waters of PTown for bass.

Nice take of bass in the 36-38" range on jigs and live eels.

Saturday night hit the back beaches of Truro with eels both live and rigged, dannies, needles, and more. Not even a bump.... Beautiful night but no fish.

Overall a great trip as I put 2 good friends on to fish.

Maybe next year for tuna....

The tuna are moving. The truro area outside has some and the giants were active off of the Duxbury/Plymouth area. We had to go way east and south Sunday.