Fish typically dive
deep during the day and come up to feed as the sun sets, so dusk and dawn are
the primary fish catching times, especially tuna. The only problems here are
cleaning a fish in the dark and waking your mate from a sound sleep with a
“Fish on” call. During the day use a noisier teaser to attract the fish to the
surface or try using a diving plainer to get a lure to run deeper.
Bigger lures should
be run closer to the boat. Smaller lures are effective further back or close to
the teaser.
Run heavier
lures to windward and closer to the boat, make sure to set the windward lines
lower to prevent them from getting blown across the rest of the spread. Lighter
lures should be run to leeward and further back. Heavy lures can also be lure
faces with rounder heads (bullet) to keep them below the surface longer or more
“bite” on the water (chugger) to keep tension on the line. As the seas get
rougher you’ll need to adjust the face or add more weight to keep the lure in
the water.
Run dark colors (black, purple, blue) on cloudy days and close to the boat
if presented near the stern wake bubbles (to provide a better silhouette).
Brighter colors can be run on sunny days and further back where they will be in
clearer water. Always run a mix of colors unless you have inside information on
the local favorites. I find that lure action has more effect on a lures ability
to catch fish than color does.
Add reflective
shiny material under existing skirts, or as wings along the side of the lure
head. This can be recycled chip bags or commercial Mylar fishing material.
Cut the material into smaller strips at the trailing edge, this gives a wider flash profile.
Don’t be
afraid to run bigger lures, they can achieve the same effect as teasers by
attracting more fish. I’ve caught tuna on lures that were about half the size
of the fish. If there are bigger bait fish in the sea, the fish you are trying
to catch may go else where for a more filling dinner. If you’re terrified of
catching a huge fish, rig smaller or weaker hooks which provide a good weak
link and still save your lure. We initially started with a maximum of 5 inches
for a lure, now we typically run 10-12 inch lures with 10/0 hooks, which I used
to think looked like the gaff!!
Tuna have very
good eyes. If you are not catching fish, try decreasing the size of your leader
material. Tuna rarely hit stainless leaders unless in a frenzy.
If you are
fishing in an area with toothy fish (wahoo, barracuda, dog tooth tuna), run a
stainless steel leader, at least on the hooks. Also make sure the lure head
can’t creep forward on the leader after a strike (jam a toothpick into the
leader hole behind the lure head). Sometimes during the frenzy a second fish
will strike the lure after it has moved up the line, cutting the leader. Wahoo
are attracted to flash so you can add a spoon to the hook which hangs out the
back of the skirt. Be careful because shiny swivels and clips can also attract
them and they’ll bite through there as well.
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