albacore at the guide 8/25/07

I have seen some of the guys around here picking up Tuna using fresh of live bait. I am sure Rocket could tell you more he caught one today off his yak, but trolling fresh bait seems to have a much higher catch ratio then lures around here.  Some of the Hawaiians argue that at lower speeds the fish looks closer at the bait and it might cause him to wave off.  I think the smell or natural look of bait may push the fish to bite.  I have also heard guys having luck with trolling bait on down riggers, but that was for yellow fin so I am not sure if it would transfer.

Ed

What is your feeling about leader for a lure from a kayak? you can't go 8 knots, you can only go 3 knots. So no bubble trail, you have to use a swimbait or rapala or something like that which will work at kayak speeds.

I don't seem to worry about leader with lures, only with live bait, and only with chovies, and only some of the time.  Some times the albies will be chewing half dead bait on 50#.  Other times, you need to step down to 15# and select the liveliest bait.  I always start with 20# with fluoro leader and adjust if needed.  But on swimbaits I start with 25# and irons with 30#.  I usually don't have to change.

and why no bait? just the hassle factor? bait generally seems to be the answer. if you had it, why not use it?

Hassle is part of it.  The other is that if you're not sitting on the albacore and holding them with chum, then you best be moving around looking for the next school.  A bait stop with chum can last 5 minutes or it can last 2+ hours.  Go with one rod and keep is simple.  The bait really is for chum.  If you have a good chum slick going, then you'll catch on swimbaits and irons as well.  If you don't have a good chumslick going, you can troll the swimbait.

leader has to be in between the leader for bait fishing and leader for boat trolling.

Yup.  I'd think 25-30 would work just fine.

Before we nixed the kayaks I rigged up a 10-25lb ugly stick with a newell 235 with 25 lb yozuri hybrid and grabbed some 5" big hammer swimbait bodies in anchovy with 2.5oz shad heads and heavy duty owner jig hooks that mate well.  I figured I'd troll two lures like this in a hot area and hope for the best. not sure if it's enough to get a hook up.  maybe you'd have to chum some live bait as you paddled too?

Again, keep it simple.  You don't always need bait.  In fact, often times we'll be trolling around and see puddlers or jumpers.  We'll be up on the bow casting at them and hooking up before the troll rods hook up or before any chums enter the water.  This is why I say to find an area holding fish.  You can find them and not need to chum or troll at 6.5 knots.

Forget trolling 2 rigs.  You'll get a double and break them both off.  If I were to get fancy, I'd troll a hookless daisy chain behind the yak on the surface.  I'd place a swimbait just right to swim right under it.  You ask why an albacore will come up from the depths.  The answer is that it sees something out of place and is coming to check it out to see if it can eat it.  So a daisychain gives you a bigger "footprint".  Heck, paddle sloppily and make a lots of commotion.  I've been on boat where we turn the deck hose on and spray the water when on a bait stop.  Some principal applies, make a lot of commotion, and present something the albacore will eat.

Before I starting kayak fishing I used to be a pretty hard core tuna fisherman.  Just talking about this is getting me excited.  How can I invite myself on one of these trips?   

-Allen

One more piece of info.  The other boat I talked to had a T-shark encounter out there.  A 300+ pound model circled the boat a few times but had no interest in what they offered her.  John, leader strength would make a difference on this fish!!!   

BTW, the guy is a member here.  His name is sharky, although I haven't seen him logged on in a while.

-Allen

Nice report, John.

Good info from Hawaii, Ed.

If I can get my dad to strap one of my yaks to his Triumph maybe I'll get a chance to boat an albie - but he thinks I'm ridiculous for wanting to do that instead of just going fishing from the PB...  Damn surfer!  Doesn't he get the whole "thrill of it" thing?!   

Doesn't he get the whole "thrill of it" thing?!   

I think a whole lot of people don't get it. PB'rs give me some of the craziest looks. Then again, last week I had a PB'r asking a few questions and finally say he couldn't wait to see me hook up a huge Chinook.. I saw the light switch click.

Z

I've been operating on a major sleep deficit the past two days. Combine that with family obligations, and I've not even glanced at the site since Friday afternoon. John did an incredible job of describing the trip, about all I can add is a few details, and I'll post some more pictures as well.

First of all, we picked up the fish in a single, a double, a triple with one fish coming off, a couple peanut fish as singles, one of which came on a tossed swimbait, then the triple that included the big 35 pounder, and the last fish came in as a double. I think for the day we had two fish come off, one at long distance, the other at the boat due to operator error. Someone who shall remain nameless thought they could hoist a peanut using the leader..

We also came across a couple pods of dolphin/porpoises. The first was quite large, numbering at least 100. The second was a smaller group of Risso's dolphin, maybe 2 dozen fish or so. That was the first time I'd seen that particular species. I didn't get any pictures of them, so here's one from teh intarweb:


Anyway, the experience was incredible. I can see how folks can call tuna fishing addictive. It completely spanks fishing for Salmon.  When an acquaintance describes fishing for Yellowfin on the East coast, his eyes kind of roll back in their sockets and he starts sounding like he's speaking in tongues. Now I know why.

Alan - I really, really like going to sea with an obsessive-compulsive type. I've been out with a laissez-faire type, wondering if we were going to eventually call in for a tow. Trust me, I'd rather scrub a boat with a toothbrush twice over than repeat that again.

I was thinking about all sorts of ways to deal with Albacore from a kayak, but after a bit of time to think it over, I'd just go with a net. Because you'd be using tackle on the light side when fishing from a kayak, I think by the time you brought the fish to the yak itself, it would be pretty darn tired. I bet the fish could be netted much as you would a Salmon. Net it, put it on a gripper, remove the hook, rip the gills, spike it, go for the next fish. This is one place were I could see having a tankwell with a cooler of ice would really be the way to go. Or have the mothership come by once you've boated a fish.

One last thing - Albacore sashimi is some good shizzle.


Regards,
Scott

One last thing - Albacore sashimi is some good shizzle.

Tell me about it... 

Z

Can't wait to see the pics of you guys paddling around out there covered with the albacore blood! 

I'm bummed I could not make the trip (thanks again for the invite Alan)...I was kinda worried about the long haul....I don't do well on boats and hate taking prescription drugs 

But I'm glad you guys got into the fish! Congrats! Nothing like having a bloody deck a cooler full of sashimi at the end of the day!

How long was the trip to and from?

Joel,

On the trip out it took us just under 3 hours to get lines in the water. We were running in the dark most of the time. On the way back we were a bit further north, had daylight and calmer water, and made the trip in just about 2 hours. Coming into HMB with both engines at 5K rpm was very cooool.

Scott

On the run out




The crew in the midst of it





The big fish of the day





We didn't seem to be too sad at not bringing kayaks

Great report!!  I bet your hooked Scott!!  Glad you got em!!  You went with a great captain!

I was in Chicago on business for a week, then Lake Shasta for a week and just got back from Chicago again.  That weather was sure bad on Thursday!!  I wasn't sure if I was going to make it home but it cleared on Friday,  Whew!!!  Dang...I'm sure ready to hit the salt.  Too bad the tuna are so far out!!  It's a bit far for my Whaler, I hope they come in closer again!!

Dave

I'm vacuum bagging the balance of the meat tonight, in between bites of Shiro Maguro sashimi. I repeat, this is some gooood shizzle. Quite possibly the best sashimi I've ever had. So mild, so tender, it virtually melts on your tongue. Time for me to get back to eatin uh, work.

Scott

each of us came away with about 35 pounds worth of this .............

Looks like an incredible trip guys!

The first thing I thought when I saw the boat deck was "Oh wow Tani is going to freak!"