CHUNKING TUNA ?????

[Bluewater Sportfishing]

What you want to look for is structure and bait you find that and you should find BFT . As the thermocline drops deeper in the water column thats when its time to chunk. When I was out saturday we had fish steady from early mid day to early afternoon. Its tough to say when they will bite. I have seen it turn on at daybreak and never end, and I have seen it turn on in the afternoon without a morning bite. just have to be there and not give up. Alot goes into trying new things also, dont be shy to try new things,drift around and find some fish. but dont for one second think that you are going to fill up the fish with your chunks, chunk heavy!! use only the best looking butters for your baits, ones that look different from the other ones tend to get hit hard. look for slicks and chick birds, rip lines temp breaks diving gannets find these and you will find tuna
hope this helps.

[Outtahand]

Bluewater thanks for the information. So with the thermocline dropping down 50 feet like it was on saturday does that mean you stand a better chance chunking than you do trolling them up. Also can you chunk with hi vis line?

[Lumpasizer]

I will be chunking the 30 line tommorrow most likely north around the claw area. We will give it a shot even though it may be early.

[mako__]

Originally Posted by Outtahand

Bluewater thanks for the information. So with the thermocline dropping down 50 feet like it was on saturday does that mean you stand a better chance chunking than you do trolling them up. Also can you chunk with hi vis line?

There is no trolling bite right now at all on bigger fish. At least from what I have experienced this year and what my friends (some of which are charter captains) have reported.

You can definitely chunk with Hi VIS line. I had an 80lb fish on the HI VIS line Sunday chunking. As long as you have a long enough leader it is fine. Also scale down your swivel size. The stealthier the better!

Hope this helps. I am sure Kobey will jump in and provide better info then this. I hope this helps you out some.

Brian

[Big Jay]

There absolutely still is a trolling bite. Believe me, i know. They aren't that far out either. My father and brother had them around the old AC Ridge on the troll.

Just to note, our trolling bite has been AFTERNOON with nothing in the morning.

I do agree with chunking heavy. Especially if you are boucing around from spot to spot.

ANother tip, watch your depth finder/sounder. Look for the thermocline. Put your baits just above the thermocline and a few below. The bigger BFT's are VERY oppurtunistic feeders. They have been known to dive down to wrecks and actually eat ling! We have hooked several giants LATE in the seasons @ depths of 120 ft. The big boys like to stay a bit cooler than the schoolies.

So if you are in 180 feet of water. The thermocline is @ 50 ft. Put a a bait or two @ 100 ft. down or deeper. You may find yourself on the other end of something quite large.

[mako__]

Originally Posted by Big Jay

There absolutely still is a trolling bite. Believe me, i know. They aren't that far out either. My father and brother had them around the old AC Ridge on the troll.

Just to note, our trolling bite has been AFTERNOON with nothing in the morning.

I do agree with chunking heavy. Especially if you are boucing around from spot to spot.

ANother tip, watch your depth finder/sounder. Look for the thermocline. Put your baits just above the thermocline and a few below. The bigger BFT's are VERY oppurtunistic feeders. They have been known to dive down to wrecks and actually eat ling! We have hooked several giants LATE in the seasons @ depths of 120 ft. The big boys like to stay a bit cooler than the schoolies.

So if you are in 180 feet of water. The thermocline is @ 50 ft. Put a a bait or two @ 100 ft. down or deeper. You may find yourself on the other end of something quite large.

Your father & brother are trolling up BIGGER fish? (70-100lb)? If they are, my hat goes off to them.

[Big Jay]

Nah. They hit some 30" fish in around that area.

We were ESE of the 750 square in about 180 ft. of water when we hit the 48" guy. That was on the troll though...blue/white zuker if i recall correctly.

This time of year specifically i have seen larger BFT's around the 30-40 line. Many times have we seen giants pushing water in around 200-240 feet of water. Difficult to get them to feed though, they are on that migratory mission to the Canadian MAritimes.

Another tip: Become friendly with the scallopers out there (ie: keep a reserve 6 pack on the boat). Trade em for some scallop guts and get the info when they do their haul. Believe me...you will want to do this.

[mako__]

Originally Posted by Big Jay

Nah. They hit some 30" fish in around that area.

We were ESE of the 750 square in about 180 ft. of water when we hit the 48" guy. That was on the troll though...blue/white zuker if i recall correctly.

This time of year specifically i have seen larger BFT's around the 30-40 line. Many times have we seen giants pushing water in around 200-240 feet of water. Difficult to get them to feed though, they are on that migratory mission to the Canadian MAritimes.

Another tip: Become friendly with the scallopers out there (ie: keep a reserve 6 pack on the boat). Trade em for some scallop guts and get the info when they do their haul. Believe me...you will want to do this.

Oh OK that is what I figured. I was telling him that there is no trolling bite on bigger fish.

Good info thanks for the heads up