BFT - Anyone ever live bait drift?

unoyankeefan · 01-17-2007, 10:10 AM

I was at a fishing seminar at Ocean Isle Fishing Center (www.oifishingcenter.com) and they talked about when they were on the bait pods that produce tuna or knew they were in the area where some hook ups were, they stopped trolling and start drifting with live pogey or grey trout. I know last year some of the biggest fish we ever got was when we anchored up to bottom fish and put a couple of balloon lines out so it seems that same would produce a big tuna. I never read anything on SFC about light lining for tuna. Is there a time that you guys do this and has anyone caught tuna doing it?

Tunaman40 · 01-17-2007, 10:38 AM

I fished for BFT out of Green Harbor MA. in the early to mid 1980s, thats all we did was anchor up or drift for them. We always had at least two live bluefish swimming in our setup. All of our biggest tuna hit the live bait and still due to this day.

Tight lines

ifish4tuna · 01-17-2007, 02:12 PM

See my post (#6) in the captain's challenge ? on offshore fishing forum.
Here is a challenge for you captains!!!!

Capt. Squiddly · 01-17-2007, 03:32 PM

A lot of guys still do it up north with bluefish. Very productive, but only in certain areas.

Capt. Jon Tennant · 01-17-2007, 04:43 PM

A live bait is hard to beat fishing for anything. The only problem is that it limits your ability to cover ground to locate the fish. Anytime we are in an area where fish are being caught or if we are marking fish & getting no bites we will switch to drifting live baits on balloons or if you want to be total stealth, shut down all the motors, pumps, sounder, etc & fish a couple off kites. This seems to be the most productive way to fish live baits for the tunas down here. "IF" you are on the fish, livies will produce more bites than anything.

01-17-2007, 10:10 AM	#1
unoyankeefan Got fish Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Wrightsville Beach, NC Posts: 181 Credits: 1,745.9 Boat: 23 Regulator, and 17 Jones Brothers; way too many holes in my head! Home Port: Wrightsville Beach, NC Best Catch: Family and friends! (also had a 55 lb. Wahoo) Occupation: Insurance Sales	BFT - Anyone ever live bait drift? I was at a fishing seminar at Ocean Isle Fishing Center (www.oifishingcenter.com) and they talked about when they were on the bait pods that produce tuna or knew they were in the area where some hook ups were, they stopped trolling and start drifting with live pogey or grey trout. I know last year some of the biggest fish we ever got was when we anchored up to bottom fish and put a couple of balloon lines out so it seems that same would produce a big tuna. I never read anything on SFC about light lining for tuna. Is there a time that you guys do this and has anyone caught tuna doing it?

01-17-2007, 04:43 PM	#5
Capt. Jon Tennant Sit down Shut up And fish Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Holden Beach, NC Posts: 476 Credits: 1,850.7 Occupation: Captain, General Contractor	A live bait is hard to beat fishing for anything. The only problem is that it limits your ability to cover ground to locate the fish. Anytime we are in an area where fish are being caught or if we are marking fish & getting no bites we will switch to drifting live baits on balloons or if you want to be total stealth, shut down all the motors, pumps, sounder, etc & fish a couple off kites. This seems to be the most productive way to fish live baits for the tunas down here. "IF" you are on the fish, livies will produce more bites than anything. Last edited by Capt. Jon Tennant; 01-17-2007 at 04:48 PM.

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01-17-2007, 10:38 AM	#2
Tunaman40 Sit down Shut up And fish Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belmar NJ Posts: 540 Credits: 2,049.6 Boat: What everone is closest Home Port: none to speak of Best Catch: BFT 1985 1,035lbs Occupation: Devoted father	I fished for BFT out of Green Harbor MA. in the early to mid 1980s, thats all we did was anchor up or drift for them. We always had at least two live bluefish swimming in our setup. All of our biggest tuna hit the live bait and still due to this day. Tight lines

01-17-2007, 02:12 PM	#3
ifish4tuna Anthony's Ark is a blowboater Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 252 Credits: 1,496.7 Boat: Big Missy Home Port: York Harbor, ME Best Catch: 700lb+ Giant Bluefin Tuna Occupation: Director of Software, Telecom Equipment Company	See my post (#6) in the captain's challenge ? on offshore fishing forum. Here is a challenge for you captains!!!!

01-17-2007, 03:32 PM	#4
Capt. Squiddly Anthony's Ark is a blowboater Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 347 Credits: 1,611.3	A lot of guys still do it up north with bluefish. Very productive, but only in certain areas.