That's My Story

Say what you will about the taste of the meat, but as a fighter and gamefish, the popularity is hard to argue among sports anglers, especially in Baja waters. I mean, there’s a reason that San Diego landings pile up with anglers climbing all over each other when the albacore siren goes off. There’s a reason that long range boys salivate over thoughts of big yellowfin off the Ridge or Mag Bay. Did someone say there’s big paddies off San Quintin? Why do my reservation lines and e-mails suddenly spike and tank-topped anglers tumble out onto Baja airplane runways when the tuna bite is on? Why is the WON Tuna Tournament so popular? This is tuna time, Baby!

Simply put, tuna kick butt. If you’ve never done the tuna tango, ask someone who has! A lot of you S. Cal and SW United States anglers know the beast of which I speak. However, I still get a lot of anglers , especially folks from other regions, who just don’t have any idea what we mean until they actually get bit my “Mr. T.” I’m not even necessarily talking about big tuna or even prime time tuna like yellowfin, bluefin, bigeye or even albacore. What about bonito and skipjack?

Many of you have heard something like the following…

“Sure, you may have caught your 30 pound king salmon on the Kenai in Alaska and high-give for that 5 pound hook-jawed German brown you got in the Rockies that busted your chops on the flyrod, but, amigo…that’s just a 12-pound bonito on the end of your rod and it’s taken you up the rail for 10 minutes already! “ Ah yes…feel the power!

Often, late summer and fall fishing can be spectacular for the yellowfin tuna that roll into Southern Baja waters. These are not to be confused with yellowtail, which are members of the jack family, but rather these are the critters that, along with albacore, often end up in your Chicken-of-the-Sea can and are also known in some places as “ahi,” or “Allison tuna.” Ranging in size from 5 pound “footballs” to 200-300 pound “gorillas,” Baja is a prime world-class destination for catching these sluggers.

There’s any number of methods for catching tuna. Often found as schooling fish, trolling is one of the most common methods of locating fish, especially fast movers. To cover the most area, feathers are regularly used. Many anglers will run their colors with the darker colors at dawn and dusk and the brighter colors during the daytime. Personally, I prefer a different method. I don’t think color makes that much difference (heresy!). I subscribe more to the theory that swimming action, movement and shapes are more important! Therefore, I like to use lures that have heads or actions that cause the jig to pop, shimmy or wiggle. I like to run my darker lures closer into the prop wash to create darker shadows in the white water and my lighter-colored lures outside to catch more reflection off the sun and water. Finding moving porpoise or birds working an area are definitely worth checking out! If I know that fish are “fer shure” in an area, either because of birds and porpoise or just because the area looks promising or I’m lucky enough to have electronics, I won’t wait for the fish to come up! I’ll bring the lures down to the fish using deeper running jigs like lipped-lures, heavy runners and the like, making sure to watch my boat speeds so that the lure “swims” properly.

If I’m bet-the-farm-certain that the fish are around, I’ll slow troll by cranking down the RPM’s on the motor. I like dropping back a live bait, if I have some, like a small mackerel or sardine coupled with the occasional one or two live baits (If I’m using sardines) tossed into the wake. Now-and-then, a small handful also goes over.

One of the lesser known tricks I picked up years ago from one of my skippers when I’m working the cockpit or doing the chumming, is to pop the eye out of the bait before launching it. I know…OK…I’m being mean and all, but by doing this, the bait will flip around on the surface a bit longer in circles generally causing a commotion in the wake rather than quickly jetting off. Can’t tell ya how many times that produced instant boils as the fish fly up to the surface to feed! Once they’re up and boiling and the frenzy is on, pin baits on hooks and get ‘em going!

One of the most effective and often unknown or ignored methods for taking tuna, especially the larger ones, is called “chunking.” The San Diego long rangers have used if for years with devastating effect and it works just as well from your private boat or panga in Baja. Essentially, it consists of taking “chunks” of other fish such as other tuna, bonito, bait fish, junk fish and tossing these cuts into the current…one or two at a time from an anchored or drifting boat.

Another chunk is then hooked and set adrift with the rest of the chunks gently floating and drifting down with the current. Line is continually peeled off a free-spooling reel to keep the baited chunk drifting naturally. The cardinal rule is “Dead bait does not swim!” If your slack line suddenly goes tight and starts “swimming away,” it’s time to slam the reel into gear because someone has your bait in it’s mouth!

In Mexico, my first experience with this technique was watching in somewhat restrained horror as my panga skipper (who now works for me!) took a few handfuls of our precious live sardines (that I had just paid 20 bucks for!) and killed it by tossing it rudely into our plastic bucket to die. To that, he added some of the already dead guys at the bottom of the bait tank. I watched incredulously as he stripped off a bunch of line from my reel into a small pile on the deck and pinned a dead sardine to the hook. As he let the boat drift, he then took all the dead bait and dumped it over the gunwale. Grabbing my hooked bait , the captain tossed it also into the slowly sinking morass of silver slivers and scales. Was this guy nuts? I looked on skeptically as my slack line and bait sank away into the depths with the rest of the mess when suddenly WHAM!!! My line goes tight and my skipper yells, “Reel! Reel!” I kick in the brakes and the rod goes bendo! I look up from the now-straining reel and my skipper just flashes a broad smile and taps the temple of his head knowingly! Ahhhhhhh…chunking! That’s what he was doing! I had done it on long range as a passenger and when I had worked boats. but never ever thought it might be applied to other applications!

Since that time many many years ago, that technique has been responsible for countless tuna. It works especially well when nothing else will. It works when nothing seems to be able to bring the fish to feed on the surface. If I’m guiding, it’s the technique I will most often employ, especially when things slow down.

Being diver and always bringing a mask and snorkel aboard, I’ve had many an opportunity to see how and why this works. I’m no marine biologist or expert on fish behaviour, but this is how I figure it. Fish are like people. No one likes chasing their food around. It’s why we LOVE our buffets! All you can eat right in front of you! It’s nice to have your chow all lined up for you when all you have to do is open your mouth!

I’ve seen some pretty impressive things underwater while fishing like this. As the bait drifts down, it tends to disburse because of current and gravity. The secret is keeping the hooked piece of bait among the other pieces. That’s why we keep the line slack and the reel out of gear to keep the hooked bait drifting naturally. If you let the line tighten the bait ball drifts away. By the same token, if you let your bait drift too long all the bait drifts and falls away as well. Time to start over! However, it’s pretty fascinating watching the tuna feed on these candy chunks! A tuna is a powerful fast fish, but I’ve seen them slowly and lethargically literally swim around the chunks and leisurely slurp up one chunk…then another…then another! Well, surprise! One of those pieces has YOUR hook in it! Often, I have seen the tuna continue to lawnmower through the bait zone even after it has picked up the hooked piece. I’ve caught dozens of tuna and found their stomachs gorged with chunks or whole pieces of bait! That’s why if you’re on the rod and reel and your bait starts swimming away, it’s time to grab your socks and throw the danged reel into gear!