Yellowfin size

[FinRazr]

Why do we on the east coast get yellowfins up to 150lb class and the Gulf of Mexico and the West coast get them up to 300lbs.Does any one have an explanation it can't be the temp they go where the good water goes.This is not fair and I want it to stop now!

[blackwell50]

maybe there is more nutrients in the Gulf and Pacific.

[shoefish]

More offshore seamounts and islands means more baitfish means they have more to eat and get bigger?

[FinRazr]

I was wondering if it is 2 different species?

[Capt. Mark]

My three biggest yellowfin in NY/NJ waters are 200,232 and 239 .. there was a 268 yellow caught a few years ago in the Hudson. This past season, both Canyon Runner boats were trolling outrigger to outrigger .. I was running one boat and Phil the other boat ..we had a school of fish up on top and were both heading for them .. Phil called me and asked what I wanted to do ..we decided he would take the left side and I would take the right .. well, as the school passes between us, three rods go off for me and he has nothing. I pull back and he has a huge boil then hookup. I boat my three (all 60-80lbs) and he calls me and says he has a good one on .. 30 minutes later he says he saw color once and its a bigeye. I am thinking to myself "we are a little shallow for a bigeye bite, but you never know" .. 15 minutes later he calls me excited and says they just put a huge yellowfin in the boat .. he says 200+ .. back at the dock the scale told it all .. 201lbs. The point is there are large yellowfin on the east coast, but we dont have the numbers of large fish the west coast sees. I think it has to do with fishing pressure and forage .. 2005 saw a good number of 100-140lb yellowfin hit the deck of both Canyon Runner boats, with 3-5 fish that class per night during August and Sept. . 2006 saw some larger fish in the 100-125 lb class mix in during August and Sept .. where these fish come from and where they go is a mystery ...

Mark

[blackwell50]

More offshore seamounts and islands means more baitfish means they have more to eat and get bigger?

We also have all the rigs in the gulf,they are always loaded with all kinds of bait.There are tons of rock islands,seamounts and other structure in the pacific.We must get the big fish in big numbers in the gulf because they gather around the oil rigs in large number.In the pacific they gather around the schools of spinner dolphin.

[shoefish]

We also have all the rigs in the gulf,they are always loaded with all kinds of bait.There are tons of rock islands,seamounts and other structure in the pacific.We must get the big fish in big numbers in the gulf because they gather around the oil rigs in large number.In the pacific they gather around the schools of spinner dolphin.

Well let's put some oil rigs offshore and get some fatties going!

[blackwell50]

Well let's put some oil rigs offshore and get some fatties going!

Don't worry they will be there soon I would bet.

[CAPTJohnny]

I would have to think it all comes down to the fishing pressure, or lack thereof on the west coast. Look at the Mako fishing out there, the size difference is staggering. They also venture a hell of alot further from shore on those long range trips than we do in the NE canyons.....You could also make an argument for species difference. The Pacific sail is commonly well over 200lbs and alot huskier than the Atlantic sails that avg around 100 if I am not mistaken.

[capt. jakeg]

At least yous guys up there fishing the Hudson and northern canyons get those 100-150# fish. In Virginia and the Carolinas, even those fish are very rare. I don't think its that the fish do not pass through here. I think that once the tunas show up, we fish too shallow to find the big girls. Once tunas move in here, we fish 100-120' most of the time and very rarely get out to the 50 or 100 fa curve. Those fish have a lot of coastline and a lot of longlines to dodge to get here from south america, the gulf of mexico, the carribean, and the southern east coast. We are the last coastal area they reach that is heavily fished on their circumnavigation of the atlantic. I know for a fact a very large number of those fish are picked off long before they can make it to the east coast of the US.
I've noticed a similar thing with our longfin fishery. Very few longfins are caught here in Virginia Beach. The ones that are caught are usually caught early or late in the season when we are fishing yellowfins that are further offshore of where they normally are during the summer. I don't think these fish are caught because its the only time of the year they are here. I'm sure they are off the coast of Virginia almost all year long. I think they are caught because its the only time there is any effort put into fishing in their neighborhood.
Pacific sails are considerably bigger than Atlantic sails, but I would say 100# is closer to average. Atlantic sails average way less than 100#. I've caught enough sails that I can't count them anymore and the two biggest atlantic sails I've seen may have went 80#. Try about 30# for the average. They get alot of small little buggers in Fla.