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Beche De Mer
(Sea Cucumber - Trepang)

Fishing Angling for Yellowfin Tuna | Tuna Fishing:

Yellowfin Tuna (Thunnus albacares) is named for its distinctive long yellow top and bottom fins. Found right around the Australian coast, it is our most common Tuna. It can vary greatly in size from 4 to 100kg (50-90cm) and prime specimens are air freighted to Japan where they fetch a high price.

Photo from John Bell - Thanks JB!

Fishing Tips - Yellowfin tuna are fished in near-coastal and offshore regions of New South Wales and can be caught by trolling lures or fishing live or dead baits at anchor or on the drift. Pilchards, small skipjack tuna and mackerel are common baits used by anglers. These tuna can also be caught from drifting boats using dead or live bait such as redfish or nannygai along with berley.

Yellowfin tuna are some of the most popular game fish in the world, and given their tremendous fight, size, and tastiness, it's easy to see why. Once you tie into a big one, you may never go back to other game fish. And whether you bring that big yellowfin home to eat or to hang on the wall, you'll have a fish story to be proud of.

A favoured Australian technique for taking large yellowfin involves the use of unweighted flesh strip baits or pilchards used in conjunction with a berley trail of fish 'cubes'.

Yellowfin tuna are one of the most challenging species to catch with a rod and reel. Their large size and high capacity for exercise can result in broken tackle if you are poorly prepared. Trolling and chumming are the primary methods used by anglers. Trolling involves creating a flashy presentation of multiple lures trolled in the boat wake while moving along at 7-8 nautical miles per hour. Single hook lures with plastic skirts are a common offering and chains or spreader bars of lures are an option to increase the visual attraction. Green is a popular color for yellowfin tuna. The idea is to have a pattern of lures that splash, wiggle and sparkle enough to trick the fish into thinking it is attacking a group of agitated baitfish. Chumming involves introducing a baited hook to yellowfin tuna while the boat is drifting or anchored. Cut pieces of butterfish or silver hake are common baits, and small pieces of the bait are deliberately tossed in the water around the baited hook to attract tuna.

Both methods use similar tackle. Since yellowfin typically range between 30-80 pounds in this fishery, you most often see high quality 30, 50, or 80 pound-class reels and rods and line used. Yellowfin that exceed 100 pounds are matched well with the 80 pound class gear. Lighter tackle can be used and is gaining popularity, but you better have time on your hands if you want to land a 150 lb. yellowfin tuna with 30 pound class tackle. Once hooked, rods are taken from rod holders and transferred to the angler wearing a gimbal belt and/or back harness. This sets up a "stand-up" fish fighting technique that can quickly fatigue the inexperienced angler faced with a large tuna.

Current Yellowfin Tuna All Tackle Record (IGFA) 427 lbs. 0 ounces.

Cube Burleying for Yellowfin Tuna:
Some pelagic species such as yellowfin tuna tend to hunt by sight, and berleying for tuna requires the use of “chunks” or “cubes”. If you cut up baitfish or tuna flesh into 2cm cubes and then drop a single cube into a current every 30 seconds to a minute, you’ll establish a “cube trail”. While each individual piece is small, the underwater visual attraction of a long trail of juicy morsels can attract fish from considerable distance, and in medium to heavy current a cube trail is very easy to see for predators in the surface or mid depths, as the overall image created by the long line of cubes gives a very big profile. Tuna feed along the cube trail until they find its source, at which time they can be presented a cube with a hook in it.

The above photos by Jon Schwartz

 

See Also:
Yellowfin Tuna Photos & Information
Angling & Fishing for Yellowfin Tuna
Cooking Yellowfin Tuna and Tuna Recipes
Yellowfin Tuna (Thunnus albacares) Commercial Fisheries
Yellow fin Tuna Links & Resources