What would you do?

[King Saba]

So with all this talk about tuna I've been wondering what one would do with a large tuna should the kayak gods bless one of us with a cow. My only thought is processing the fish on the spot and keeping what ever meat my cooler can hold.

[Dave Legacy]

This is probably not a popular move, but I think I'd turn most of it into jerky. As far as getting it home I might consider lining my trunk with trash bags and filling it with ice or something ghetto like that.

[Zed]

My only thought is processing the fish on the spot and keeping what ever meat my cooler can hold.

If it comes to that cut it loose. I don't intend to waste what "won't fit in the cooler" on my yak.

Whatever you do, don't forget the anal vent in your cooler.

https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.a...=105315&inline

[taggermike]

That's a dilemma most of us would like to have. Unless your a fish cutting ninja filleting a 100 lb tuna while it's in your lap would be about impossible as well as dangerous.

As for stuffing meat into your fish bag until it's full and throwing the rest away; please dont do that. The waste is wrong and if you are checked by a warden and have1/2 a tuna you're gonna get a ticket for wastage. And you'd still have to fillet the fish across your lap.

The best solution I can come up with is to lighten the fish as much as possible while remaining legal. Removing the head, guts, and fins would really reduce the length and weight of the fish. There would still be some knife work but most of these cuts can be done away from you.

Basically do the first 3 steps this fish ninja does

https://youtu.be/aeiI1T7uu0o. Mike

[maquinapescado]

Before all the high tech fish holds, they used to just keep them on water. I have had tuna kept wet and out of the sun that was fine by my standards for sashimi and everything else.

With the high hopes of being a lucky one, I carry a large white towel with me, even when I am just fishing YT and WSB. I throw this towel over my fish wet. The white helps keep them cool and being a beach towel, it also retains lots of water to keep the temp down and fish moist.

For the tuna, I took 60lbs of ice the other day with the intent of stuffing a fish with the ice. To replace this method, I am freezing 32 water bottles (they will stay frosen longer than the ice) in which I plan to make an incision in the belly just big enough to pull the guts out and stuff with frozen bottles.

I will say, having 60lbs of ice on the bow of my PA made the surf launch extra wet and the wind chop going out just kept going over the bow. I moved it to the back and called it my poor man's trim tabs. I am going to look into a bag with a good ergonomic fit for the stern of my PA, square/rectangular which is easier and cheaper to come by. I'm over the bow/kayak cut kill bags.......don't want that much ice and fish weight on my bow.

Sorry for the novel folks.

[maquinapescado]

Mike,

I swear I am bookmarking that video and studying it everyday lol

[skrilla]

Free ride home?

[tacmik]

oooh! I like the whip.

[jorluivil]

Find someone that lives near that has a quality sealer/chamber, ask them to allow you to use the sealer/chamber and split the fillets with them. Seal it right and it will last months

[Iceman]

wet towel is great. Frozen water bottles in a small cooler to throw in the towel even better!

[katchfish]

Man, some guys just have one thing on their mind..............







And there is only one cure!

[GregAndrew]

I took a large drybag rolled up and six or 8 frozen water bottles in a small soft sided cooler last year. Bled the fish, stuffed it into the dry bag and positioned the water bottles all around it. The bottles still had about 20% ice in them when I got back to the beach (10+ hours later) and the fish stayed cool. Of course I had a paddle yak with a big hatch that I was able to keep the fish inside and out of the sun. The drybag I took would probably have maxed out at under 40#s, luckily my fish was only 33. Seems to me, that unless you have some kind of insulation around the fish, that you are better off keeping the outside cool. It is more susceptible to heat gain than the inside. I have to agree with the other guys though, if I were not prepared to keep the fish fresh, I would have to release it. Wasting a fish for bragging rights is poor sportsmanship at best.

[King Saba]

I definitely agree with the notion of releasing a fish that is too large to harvest. To be honest, I wouldn't know what to do with a large tuna anyways. When I'm offered yellows a 15lb fish is already a lot of meat for me.

Thanks for entertaining my curiosity everyone.

[maquinapescado]

Originally Posted by jorluivil

Find someone that lives near that has a quality sealer/chamber, ask them to allow you to use the sealer/chamber and split the fillets with them. Seal it right and it will last months

That is for sure. I really want a Vacmaster. I think I kill enough shit to justify it. And if I don't kill enough shit now, I'll definitely have to start hunting again to make sure I don't unjustifiably buy something.

[taggermike]

Maquinapescado; that's the best tuna filleting video I've ever seen. I learned to cut tuna in a much different way, removing 4 loins off the fish and I always thought it was a PITA.
The techniqu in the vid is easy. I practiced on a few bonito then cut a dozen tuna and it worked great from the first fish. I showed 2 buddies that style. 1 has little experience cutting fish and he picked it right up. The other worked on and ran local sports boats for 10 years and has cut 1000s of tuna. He tried it found it superior. I like that many of the cuts are away from me. This is safer, especially on a moving boat. Mike

[FullFlavorPike]

If I didn't think I could handle the fish, I don't think I'd try to catch it in the first place.

[chris138]

Never mind how you will store the fish... You will never get the thing in your yak without a kage. How many people here have gaffed an 80#+ tuna? 30# nearly capsized me. These fish don't come up to the surface exhausted like yt. They EXPLODE when stuck with the gaff. And they always have another big run in them the first, and sometimes the second, time you get them to gaff.

A 100#+ BF cant be landed with a single gaff, especially not a kayak sized gaff. It usually takes two gaffs and 2 full grown men to keep the fish under control when gaffed. And the first gaff shot typically happens about 2-3' below the surface. Either a flying gaff, or a well placed shot with the kage is the only chance at landing that kayak cow. I also thought a slip tip pole spear could work. Never mind that the pole spear and kage are illegal when angling in socal waters if I'm not mistaken. So before you decide how to fillet your giant bluefin OTW and how many pounds of ice you're bringing... I'd just focus on getting a bite first and go from there haha.

If you get one of these badboys to color... I'd be radioing for help asap

[Mr_Fixit]

If you guys want a good solution to ice, this one works extremely well. These things stay very cold all day long, especially if they are in a cooler. I throw three in my kill bag and they do the trick.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Orca Winfrey]

Just take a sushi chef along with you. Your lunch will be fresher than if you got it from the Tsukiji fish market.

[BigAppa]

This is pretty out there, but how about taking along something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Solstice-2935.../dp/B004PPTC9G

Stows easily, comes with a pump that will inflate it quickly, has a 500 lb carrying capacity. The biggest issue will be that it punctures easily, so you'll have to throw a puncture resistant tarp over it. Then, if you can manage to get the fish in there, throw some bags of ice on top of it and then tow it in.