My first blufin
 

On a buddys boat on peaked hill bar saturday, good time and a great fight. Only 44" , my kids couldn't believe I had to throw it back!!!Attachment 17454

Your hooked now....

Congrats!! - did it swim away or become lobster bait?

Inthehole,

Congrats on your first tuna! I don't want to take anything away from your first catch but...please don't take this the wrong way, but by the looks of the picture it looks like you gaffed in the gills and threw it back in to die.

It was alive and kickin when we released it, the 2nd one we caught wasn't so lucky.... it broke my carniverous heart to throw it back for the dogfish, the gaff was in the bottom jaw, it was hooked way back by the gills.

that fish is deader than dead.
shoulda kept it.
there's a better way to handle them.

nice catch though.

You DON'T use a gaff unless you are keeping the fish!

Why did you kill that fish? Gaffs are for fish to be kept. What a shame!

Easy guys, that's not the first fish posted on this site that looks like it isn't going to make it. And I think anyone that has trolled the larger squid for footballs (and I know they are popular here) knows that those bigger hooks end up coming out the fish's eyeball quite often. No matter how careful you are, some of them are going to be lobster bait.

ITH -congrats on your first bluefin. Nothing runs like them.

Maybe everybody can throw out how they handle fish at boatside - so that way some of the guys who are new to the tuna game will be better prepared.

Smaller fish get netted since they come in pretty green and it helps to control them. 40" ish get leadered and grabbed by the tail at boat side. They are lifted by the tail and the body is supported with the other arm. Keepers get the gaff.

That fish looks like it was gaffed too far back in the jaw, near the gills. That put it about three inches from the heart.

Nice!:kewl: :drool: Y did you throw it back?:scream: Is there a limit on Tuna?:rtfm:

Ok,ok ... points taken. To all who offered advice, thanks. You can be sure that next time we will have a better boat-side plan and try to temper the excitement with a little more common sense.

Don

To all lets all give input in this thread http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripert...ad.php?t=35047 and we'll be wiser sportsmen....

bluefin=ruined for life=bassin' will never be the same.