Release fishing for large Bluefin.What do you think?

[reeltwisted]

I'm starting to hear more and more concerns for this type of fishing.Your hearing more and more about jigging with indestructible but much smaller tackle than we have used in past years.I think the main concern is the length of the fight.
I had a customer come in with a report of 5-8 on 150lb class fish,(which is a good day)and the guy right behind him told him that 4-5 of his releases probably died because it took more than an hour of fighting time.

What do you think?I've always tried to practice get the fish to the boat as fast as possible for a good release.But beleive me i am no expert.

I'm starting this thread to gather information for our subscribers to learn different techniques on fishing for these beautiful fish.i hope some of our proffesionals share some of their thoughts on this.

[krabill]

Heres a study.


http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/publi...una_sharks.pdf

[seabass]

Heres a study.


http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/publi...una_sharks.pdf

Very interesting , thanks .

[blckbart]

I guess there is two ways to read that study:
1. We need to spend more time trying to revive the fish
2. We be allowed to keep more fish since the chances are they will die any way.....

[Capt. Terry]

............WELL I DIDN'T LINK TO THAT LINK THAT YOU WROTE BECAUSE SIMPLY IT ENDS IN A .GOV AND IN MY MIND IF IT ENDS IN A .GOV THEN IT AIN'T WORTH THE POWDER TO BLOW IT UP WITH.........

NOW AS FAR AS YOU SIMPLY ASKING FOR INPUT OR OPINIONS...........

WELL,.....HERE'S MINE....

TAKE WHAT YOU NEED AND LEAVE THE REST ALONE.

I MEAN FIGHTING A 150 LB BFT FOR OVER AN HOUR,....HAUS THEY COME TO THE BOAT WITH ALL BUT THEIR ENTIRE LIFE WIPED OUT OF THEM,......I MEAN DON'T GET ME WRONG - THEY ARE TRUE ANIMALS AND THEY WILL FIGHT TILL THE DEATH AND MAKE A RUN AS SOON AS YOU REACH OVER THEIR BACK WITH THE STEEL!

BUT,....SERIOUSLY CATCH YOU SLOB 150 LB BFT AND GET OFF THE JIGGING ROD, AND/OR PUT THE BUTTERFISH KNIFE AWAY AND RIG SOME BALLYHOO AND GO FISHING.

PERIOD - END OF DISCUSSION AND THERE NEEDS TO BE NO MORE SAID. YOU ARE WASTING THE LIFE OF A 150 LB CLASS BFT IF YOU ARE CATCHING THEM AND RELEASING THEM I THINK..........OF COURSE THIS IS MY OPINION AND EACH IS ENTITLED TO HIS OR HER OWN.........I JUST DO NOT THINK THAT THE BULK OF THESE BIGGER CLASS OF FISH CAN SERIOUSLY RECOVER FROM THAT LONG FIGHT WELL ENOUGH TO MAKE IT FURTHER IN LIFE.

[reeltwisted]

But what about this jig fishing where the estimated fight time is around 10-15 min.

I've never done it myself so i don't know.

[paul708]

i am still trying to get that 150+# on a jig.

so far about estamited.135# -62"measured is the biggest. .

i am sure a FEW people are getting these 150#+ fish in/to the boat in 10-15 minutes.

most of the guys are using 1200$+ setups.
and have ALOT of fishing time .

10minutes doesnt seem to be "the norm" with these 150#+ fish.

20-35 minutes seems to be a popular time.
but most are longer, and passinng the rods around is common.

i was just talking with a guy..jigging with a shimano30..got hooked up..45minutes to boat. fish maybe less than 150#..measure at 57"

we have 100's of boats fishing for these big fish.
and about 10 or so guys reporting "record" time catching.

i would love to see more reports..from different guys on how long.

[Caveman Sportfishing]

The BFT are no longer available of our local ports no matter how you fish for them so maybe next year or later in the fall this becomes a topic again. Right now it is becoming canyon troll time pretty much except the anglers up in far North NJ who still have a good BFT bit but on smaller size fish.

John Flores beat a nice BFT tuna the other day on our boat in 4 minutes but he is truley an exception to the 99% of our average charter customers. We fight these fish with 130 lb leader and 22 lbs of drag on the fish we are going to kill and then up the drag to 28 lbs on any catch and release fish. The higher drag and stronger leader allows us to make short order of our catch and release fish but we honestly prefer to move off and troll for other species these days rather than a catch and release. It is safe for me to say I no longer do catch and release except when we have accomplished anglers capable of getting one of these to the boat in less than 10-15 minutes max.

Having said all of this I personally participated in Dr.Barbara Bocks Tag a Giant Program and we never had one die after being tagged and surgically implanted and we tagged a good number over the years down in MHC. They can be revived if you run the salt water washdown thru their mouths and over the gill plates for a extended period and that is exactly how we handled tagging the GBT and they did live.