Local Tuna Dana

[Fiskadoro]

I went out of Dana on my modified 14 ft skiff Thursday.


The idea was to fish local and I was really hoping to get some Tuna or Dorado inshore in close. I saw breaking fish about eight miles out, but I could not get them to go and I did not find a paddy holding fish or get bit until I was much further out.

Still it's all good and there was land in sight...


Well sort of...

At maybe 25 miles I started seeing a lot of breaking fish but they did not want troll gear, and they would not let me get close enough to bait them. Tried slow trolling dines but no go. I figured if I just kept working out I'd eventually find a untouched paddy and have a shot. At one point I was 30 miles out on roughly a 200 heading then the wind came up and I started trolling back in. Got my tuna off a single paddy about an hour later at 33-04.60 N 117-58.117 which is maybe 25 miles out on the same heading.

It was actually kind of F'd up. I'm coming back in full foul weather gear beating uphill into the wind and spray in 15-20knot winds and I see the only paddy I'd seen all day.

Pull my trolling gear and maneuver above it and see a Dorado swim by. Dorado local can be very line shy so I put out two dines flylined on light gear: One on fifteen fluorocarbon and the other one on twenty fluorcarbon both with 20 spectra backing.

The first bait gets bit and the fish instantly sounds over a hundred yards straight down, obviously tuna, and before I can get the second rod in it get's nailed as well and that fish sounds too. I know the drill you always fight the first fish first. I work the one and left the second rod in the holder turning the handle every once in a while to keep the line tight. The problem is the first fish is a badass, and he kicks my ass on 15lb. I got him to deep color maybe a dozen times but could not get him to the gaff. After about 45 minutes the hook just pulled while it was shaking it's head. I've taken Bigeye on 30, 60lbs YFT on 20, 90lbs YFT on 50, this was a big fish. I'm figuring from what I saw it was either a YFT or Bluefin easily 50+. Bummer

So you know the saying I'd rather be lucky then good?

Well the second fish was still on after all that. I worked it up and gaffed it on the 20lbs. That fish was 40 inches long but skinny, and it looked a lot like a Bluefin to me.

So by then after an hour on the fish time: I'm beat, hot, sweaty, and a good mile away from the paddy.

As I started slogging uphill to reach it I see there was now a sportboat about a hundred yards to the South of where I found it. Sure enough they were on the paddy. By the time I got there they had drifted maybe 100 yards more in the wind, and since they had fish going they did not bother to go back and cut me off. So I set up another drift. This time using thirty pound I instantly hooked a smaller tuna about 20lbs had it to the boat in a few minutes, but the hook pulled right at the gaff. Four more passes produced nothing, and since it was just getting rougher I finally gave up, put out the trolling gear and started back in.

Trolling in was sloppy and wet with the big South swell, and North West wind chop.
Saw two more paddy's on the way in but neither one was holding.

So one fish for me off kelp. Trolled most of the day without a strike. Bait on paddies was the ticket, but kelp was pretty scarce. One out of the three I found one was holding, so I can't complain.

They had big healthy Sardines at the Dana receiver but pricey at $25 for a half scoop. Next trip I'm making my own bait.

The fish I saw inshore were running with porpoise, a big school of fish YFT that were up puddling and outnumbered the mammals about three to one. They would not hit jigs or tossed mega baits and were moving so fast it was hard to get a live bait in front of them. Basically every time I got close (and I did several times) they sounded then popped up again maybe a hundred yards off. I could not help thinking that if I had been in a yak I could of got close enough to hook them, but then again I'd have to cover the ground to find them.

So there's the good and bad. For me any day I can catch tuna North of Mexico is a good day and I did get a decent fish. I'm definitely hitting the next weather window.

One more funny thing. Dana was pretty empty but right after I got bait as I was pulling out some guy on a 45ft Private boat yelled my name, and asked where I was fishing. I told them offshore and gave them the general location. Didn't recognize the boat but it occurs to me a lot of my friends have probably upgraded, while I'm still fishing my little skiff. Later at the ramp that night two guys came up and asked how I did. I told them what I caught and where. One guy just looked at my boat and said one word: "Salty" the other just shook his head. I swear he totally did not believe me, and I did not even bother to show them the fish
Great year, great fishing! Good luck

UPDATE!!
Those fish that were inshore around the 267 have gone off. Wide open bite today at around 10 miles out so almost in kayak range.