Tuna of the Pacific Northwest

[FASTWATER]

I run all 30w internationals anyway and one 50w going to step up to another 50 this summer and run 2 rigs with bigger lures than ever before every trip this summer just for giggles. I am like tracker or tuna time and usually in the blue water by daylite so my plan this summer is just to do a few earlier departures when things look right, I usually fish out of Ilwaco cornfed and the canyon inside corner is about 30 miles out I usually fish from 45 to 60 out thou,. there is a nice corner on the southside of the canyon that is a fish magnet from late July on!!!PEACE

[Dylan]

We could try deep water drifting w bait. 1000'-2000' during the day light hours.(keep in mind were fishing waters 1-5k ft) Have been talking to a few FL Swordboat capts, this is a good technique. Im thinking this will allow us to target swords more frequently, as there will be few people attempting overnighters when the conditions permit.

Start trolling bigger lures/spreader bars, muraders, illander rigs w/mackeral.
Time to try figuring out how to effectively catch squid. We get them up to 5' long. if we could fill up our livewell with 3'-4' squid and bridled em up, drop em 1500' down during the day time alongside canyon walls. There are quite a few shelves that go from 1-5k ft deep.


I heard from a buddy thats a NOAA researcher aboard the 160' Waukoma that the main diet staple of a NW pacific swordfish is hake. So why not make fresh bait daily. Deep water drifting hake or live squid sounds ideal.

[shane reilly]

good job

[Squidnation]

Big hunter caught 22 yesterday and 22 today but he is still fishing

[Captain Fred Archer]

First off, that Oregon and even NorCal albacore fishery is a bear and a half...probably among the very best albacore fishing anywhere! People from other areas consider that "Nanook of the North" country where the only shows in town are salmon and halibut. The truth is a long way from that. We have piles of customers up there who simply knock the snot out of the albies summer thru fall.

Be on the lookout for a feature article on the alby fishing up there in Sportfishing Magazine. It will be sometime this spring. You KNOW it's some kind of fishery when the second biggest saltwater fishing magazine sends a writer from Florida up there for a week to do an article! That writer spent a lot of time fishing with Bud Hosner and some of the others up in that neck of the woods and he got a lot of great pictures and detailed info on how the Igloo Tuna Hunters catch their tunas - all on artificials.

I should add here that a lot of the fishermen in Oregon donate all or part of their catches to the Food Bank up there for those in need. A fine gesture!

Matt Goldsworthy of NorCal also has a feature article on the great albacore fishing up in his country by Noyo Bay that I'm sure is going to be a really good one - that kid can write! The article will be in Pacific Sportfishing Mag in the next month or two. And Bud Hosner isn't just a hard core fisherman - he can write too! Each has written chapters in my new "Secrets of the West Coast Private Boat Pros" book and each did just great jobs and gave some outright astounding tips.

A couple of swordfish hints, if I may (I've written the only two books on swordfishing and have done a lot of it, both night and day and have learned the long, hard ways). First, forget the big baits. Swordfish will try to hack them up into edible size pieces and they are murder to mouth hook and likely to get snagged if you do hook them on a big bait. Swordfish have very soft flesh, so most snagged fish pull the hook, so you want to avoid snagging them if you can.

Yes, west coast swords feed on hake, but the truth is, swordfish are like ocean going garbage trucks. We have found everything from little, tiny baits, to pieces of big ones and everything in between in sword bellies and this isn't just the ones that we have caught. I have a number of plank boat buddies and have ridden with them many times. They always check the stomach contents of their fish and will confirm what I am saying here. In fact, several have told me that they have found shrimp, lobsters and even sea birds in them!

My favorite night sword bait is about a ten inch strip bait cut off of a Humbolt squid. They are nice and thick and tough with lot's of good juices and they are super easy for a sword to eat. We cut, brine, then vac pack and freeze them.

You also do not want to fish live bait. I know that some of the Florida guys do, but they would probably agree that, like the big baits, you get too many snagged fish because the sword will bill and kill a livey before he eats it. If a sword sees a nice, bite sized little dead bait when he comes into the light, he will wolf it down right now, you will mouth hook him and have a great chance at landing him - if you are using the heavy artillery it takes to catch him if he's a big one...or even a medium one. Don't even bother going for them if all you have are pea shooters.

Last hint for now - BE CAREFUL AT THE END GAME! Swords are dangerous as hell at gaffing time! I can't emphasize this enough. They are rocket-fast, can turn on a dime, are strong and aggressive, including at the end game. The best way to gaff them is with a substantial fly gaff with a barb on it tied off to a big "salmon egg" buoy, NOT THE BOAT if you are in a smaller one. Put the egg in the water, be sure to hang onto the rope or have someone else hold it when you do, then take your time and take a gill shot across the top of the fish - never from the bottom up - right in the middle of the gills, then dump the rope and let the fish fight the salmon egg. It will take a lot less time than you think and the gaff will not come out. I do them this way even from bigger boats. I attach a glow stick to the egg so we can easily spot it when it has killed the fish and comes up.

The biggest drawback to people catching swordfish in areas where they are is that fishermen are in bed, sleeping, instead of being out there fishing when they are most active, at night. By all means, buddy boat if you go and the more the merrier. Where you find one, there will almost always be more, so a little mini fleet of boats spread out on good structure or a prime current/temp break have a better chance of one boat contacting them and then he can call the others into the area. Here's a four hundred pound hulkster that was hooked about an hour before daylight and fought for over two hours on 130# That brown color is the good one when it comes to landing Elvis.

And that's the cover of the West Coast Pros book - almost three hundred pages and great tips from fourteen co-authors that apply to fishing everywhere.

Good luck!

[Matuka Fly]

Thanks Captain Fred Archer nice information, which I will ponder, dream and have nightmares about. I used to play basket ball in my sleep (so I was told as I slam dunked her head) Now I will be hooking and landing Swordfish.

[NO INTEREST]

Over the the last eleven years albacore fishing out of Eureka we have crossed paths with several swords up sunning. It is my understanding that fish you encounter on the surface are there to help digest their food after a heavy feeding session. Kind of like sitting on the couch after a trip to the all you can eat buffet. So catching one up on the surface is pretty much a pipe dream. So we are in the process of gearing up for overnight swordfish trips. We have got our 7 1/2 Fin Nors loaded with JB 100#, LP lights and hooks, underwater light and are working on what flying gaffs to purchase. Any suggestions? Thanks, Ian