YFT - Catch or release...

[Snapp]

A few questions to ponder....

What is an accpetable size YFT that should go in the box?

Just because its 27" should it always go in the box?

[gameover]

27" is min. size, as tough as those things are to find I would not toss back a 27....

[Carson Mac]

Depends on how many i have in the box. if I have 6-7 50lbers its going back. If I have pepe he is riding home

[scattered_grass]

Depends on how many i have in the box. if I have 6-7 50lbers its going back. If I have pepe he is riding home

I would agree with that philosophy, depends on how many you got in the box..although nowadays, I would say for most people, a 27" YFT= Sashimi!

[Captain Fred Archer]

We had to deal with restrictive limits in The Baja and so, had to release a lot of tuna. Plus, we encouraged our clients to release all other really big yellowfin after they'd caught one cow. They were tourists for the most part who couldn't even take all the meat from one big 'fin home in the first place and for the most part, had some great tuna meals prepared for them at local restaurants during their stays. And it was blatantly illegal for charterboats to sell their catches, so killing a pile of cows seemed a senseless waste to us.

The same limits required that we release a lot of the smaller versions during the typical day.

We made special "mouth gaffs" for handling and releasing big tunas that we couldn't just grab the lure and twist the hook out of while the fish stayed in the water. The fish in the picture was removed from the water to show how that kind of gaff works.

When it came to releasing fish, our philosophy and goal was to not just get rid of them, but healthy ones that had a good chance of survival. We got pretty good at it.

[Fish Dad]

We got into those BLT (Barely Legal Tuna) in June of this year when they rolled through Virginia Beach. The YFT for us has been so scarce over the last several years that I have no problems with anyone who keeps a 27 inch YFT (as long as the meat is not wasted). We caught over 60 in a 4 hour period. None were big, most were between 24 and 30 inches but we put our limit in the box of YFT between 27 and 30 inches. I am always amazed that even a 27 inch YFT can pop the clip and pull drag and put up a decent fight for that size fish. Of course I'd rather fight and keep a 50 lb or bigger YFT but if they tape out, it's going the box and none of this meat is wasted in my family. The spade fish fillet may hang out in the freezer for a while but not tuna.

[SharkJP]

I like to give myself a 1" or 1.5" room for error. It seemed like every time I got back to the barn and was filling up the DNR was right there.

No sense in getting written up for a 26.75" fish.

That being said, the fish will generally go into the box if they meet that min.

[MikeV.]

You will never get big yellowfin if you kill all the little ones. catch a couple for the table and let the rest go.

[CB&T]

You will never get big yellowfin if you kill all the little ones. catch a couple for the table and let the rest go.

I agree with Mike, Being in the charter business, I have seen alot of smaller fish and a lack of fish through the past years and its getting harder and harder to please paying customers that expect a good catch of fish for the prices they are paying.