Tuna Regs Update

[big jay]

Originally Posted by Sweetwater

I think the areas I fish (Peaked Hill and SW Corner) won't be seeing many fish under 59". No tuna on the table this year.

Oct/Nov last year had lots of fish in that class on both those spots. And there were a ton of them down the backside. Fishing ledge had serious #'s of 60-80 lb fish the entire month of october - and for 6 weeks (oct - nov) every afternoon there were 50-60 lbers chasing 1/2 beaks at the 1 cc bouy. One day at the end of Sept there were literally small fish busting bait as far east as I could see.

There will be plenty of fish for the table.

[Slick Moedee]

General category bag limit (comm.) change went through today. 3 fish/day 73" or larger starting on June 1. We should see it posted tomorrow.

[beamie]

This is the latest news I got today from a freind.......................standby, rumor has it this very well may change in a couple weeks.

Below is the latest tuna regulations.
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Recreational Atlantic Tunas Retention Limits
The recreational daily bluefin tuna (BFT) retention for limit for HMS Angling and HMS Charter/Headboat vessels (while fishing recreationally) is 1 BFT/vessel/day/trip, measuring 27 to less than 73" CFL. These BFT retention limits are effective for all areas, except for the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico is designated as a spawning grounds for BFT and therefore NMFS does not allow vessels, commercial or recreational, to target BFT while fishing in this area. However, HMS Angling and HMS Charter/Heaboats are eligible to retain 1 BFT (73 inches or greater) per vessel per year as a "trophy" fish for the boat. This fish may be retained in the Gulf of Mexico if it is caught incidentally while pursuing other species. The recreational yellowfin tuna daily retention limit is 3 yellowfin/person/day/trip. The minimum size for yellowfin and bigeye tuna is 27" curved fork length. There are no recreational limits for bigeye, skipjack or albacore tunas.


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(no tuna sales in the General category until Tuesday June 1.- Tom K)

Coastwide General Category BFT Fishery will reopen on 6/1/10

The coastwide General category BFT fishery closed at 11:59 p.m. on January 31, 2010. The fishery will reopen on June 1.

(the default position until the new rules for the general category come out would be 1 fish per day 73 inches and over could be sold. - Tom K)

[Sweetwater]

Originally Posted by big jay

Oct/Nov last year had lots of fish in that class on both those spots. And there were a ton of them down the backside. Fishing ledge had serious #'s of 60-80 lb fish the entire month of october - and for 6 weeks (oct - nov) every afternoon there were 50-60 lbers chasing 1/2 beaks at the 1 cc bouy. One day at the end of Sept there were literally small fish busting bait as far east as I could see.

There will be plenty of fish for the table.

Good to hear big jay...you made my day

All I know is that we did not hook a single fish under 55" last year.

[Sweetwater]

New tuna regs for recreational for June 1 through August 31, 2010 are 1 fish per boat per day 27" to under 73". So for now, the rec's can keep a fish, but this could change.

[Van]

Better than a full closure. They way the numbers were presented, we thought that could happen.

Fish are biting well. Superman Riptide hauled 73" over the rail on spin gear. Man he is good...

[Raider Ronnie]

I'll say this.
It's gonna be pretty tough controlling these size fish boat side to get a measurement without doing damage to the fish.
We got a fish today, once we got it to the surface it looked in the 60 inch class.
After boating it realized it was bigger @ 72

[MakoMike]

Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie

I'll say this.
It's gonna be pretty tough controlling these size fish boat side to get a measurement without doing damage to the fish.
We got a fish today, once we got it to the surface it looked in the 60 inch class.
After boating it realized it was bigger @ 72

Make up a line attached to a big snap, make the line 73 inches long including a bright red piece of rag on the end. When you get the fish close to the boat clip the line to the fishing line and let it go. It will stream from the hook and tell you whether the fish is too big or not. No need for an actual measurement, you just need to know if its too big.

[PRBuzz]

Originally Posted by MakoMike

Make up a line attached to a big snap, make the line 73 inches long including a bright red piece of rag on the end. When you get the fish close to the boat clip the line to the fishing line and let it go. It will stream from the hook and tell you whether the fish is too big or not. No need for an actual measurement, you just need to know if its too big.

Nice hint Mike for measuring. I'll need to use it after I boat my 1st 73+. Now lets hope we ultimately don't have to tie the flag at 59"!