1. IT'S MARCH....MARCH IS WAHOO TIME....MARCH SHOULD ALSO BE YFT TIME...BUT THE SHOWING HAS BEEN OFF THE LAST COUPLE YEARS
2. STEALTH IS THE NAME OF THE GAME TARGETING TUNA ....LOW DIAMETER 18 FT LEADERS BOTH BRIGHT WIRE OR MONO....KEEP SWIVELS RIDING HIGH OUT OF THE WATER AS BEST YOU CAN.....BRIGHT WIRE IS LESS VISIBLE FROM DOWN UNDER THAN COFFEE WIRE....TRUST ME ON THIS!
3. TUNA WILL EAT A WIRE BAIT....I HAVE ONLY KILLED 39 MILLION OF THEM ON WIRE SO KEEP IN MIND WAHOO SHOULD BE YOUR PRIMARY TARGET HERE IN MARCH UNTIL YOU SEE EVIDENCE OF TUNA....
4. ALWAYS HAVE A MONO SPREAD READY FOR DEPLOYMENT FOR YFT IF THEY SHOW.....WE LIKE TO USE WHAT WE CALL OUR COVER UP SPREAD...FIVE BAITS ALL TIGHT JUST BEHIND OUR TWO TEASER CHAINS....THE LONG RIGGERS ARE ALSO TIGHTENED UP TO FORM OUR OWN BALLYHOO BAITBALL.....WE ALSO DEPLOY A SECOND BRIDGEPOLE....IT'S A 9-10-11 ROD SPREAD FOR US WHEN WE KNOW THE YFT ARE PRESENT
5. IF WE SEE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR YELLOWFIN WE WILL MAKE THE SWITCH FROM WIRE TO MONO LEADERS....AND SACRIFICE THE WAHOO BITE/LOSS ON MONO IF WE MUST....IF THE YFT ARE CHEWING WE GENERALLY, IN THE PAST , CAN CATCH OUR LIMIT AND THEN WE GO TARGET WAHOO ONCE AGAIN....
6. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR LOSING A WAHOO IN THE MIDDLE OF MARCH ON A PIECE OF MONO....NONE WHATSOEVER. HOWEVER, IF I SEE THE TUNA BUSTING OR A NEARBY BOAT HAS CAUGHT YFT, I WILL THEN SWITCH TO MY MONO SPREAD WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE SHOTGUN WHICH REMAINS WIRE ALL YEAR LONG.....WHY YOU ASK? WHY WIRE ON THE SHOTGUN BAIT ALL YEAR LONG? IF I SWITCH OUT MY RIGGERS AND FLATS TO MONO, AND THE WAHOO THEN CUT ME OFF, THERE IS A FAT POSSIBILITY THAT WE WILL NAIL HIM ON THE BRIDGE POLE WIRE BAIT MOMENTS LATER.
6.IF FLUORO IS IN THE BUDGET THEN BUY IT,.... FLUORO DOES INCREASE YOUR CHANCES FOR A TUNA BITE PROVIDED THERE ARE TUNA IN RANGE OF YOUR SPREAD....
7. IF YOU ARE USING MONO OR FLUORO LOOKING FOR A TUNA BITE, AND REALLY WANT TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF A TUNA BITE, THEN MAKE YOUR LEADERS APPX 18FT LONG .......WHY? ....A SPLASHING SWIVEL IS A DETERRENT, A NEGATIVE, WHEN TUNA FISHING.....REMEMBER I SAID STEALTH IS THE NAME OF THE GAME FOR YFT! ......... A SWIVEL SPLASHING FIVE -SIX FEET IN FRONT OF YOUR BAIT IS A CARDINAL SIN IMO.....OH SURE YOU WILL GET A HANDFUL OF BITES ON A SHORT ASS LEADER....SHORT LEADERS CATCH THE DUMB FISH......I WANT THE SMART FISH AND THE DUMB FISH IN MY BOX....AND THIS IS BUT ONE OF SEVERAL REASONS TO USE AN 18FT LEADER
IF YOU WANT TO BE PRODUCTIVE AND HAVE A BIG THROWDOWN AT THE DOCK, THEN INCREASE THE LENGTH OF YOUR LEADERS FROM SWIVEL TO HOOK.
ALL THE ABOVE DOESN'T MEAN JACK SQUAT IF YOU ARE NOT IN PROPER PLACE ON THE MAP....IF YOU HAVE COMFORT(TEMP) AND MARKING BAIT YOU SHOULD HAVE FISH PRESENT
REMEMBER THAT MOST WEEKEND WARRIORS SET THEIR BAITS OUT ON GPS NUMBERS THAT EVERY MAN IN THE WORLD HAS....THE SAME OL....THE SWANSBORO HOLE....THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF BIG ROCK...ETC ETC SO ON AND SO ON.........START FISHING OFF TO THE SIDE A MILE OR SO OR START OUT IN FRONT OF THESE FAVORITE LOCATIONS...FIND THE DEPTH/ TEMP HOLDING FISH AND STICK WITH IT
SURE THESE FAVORITE SON GPS #'S HOLD SOME FISH....BUT THEY ALSO ATTRACT A LOT OF ATTENTION TO A LOT OF BOATS......SO FIND YOUR OWN FISHING SPOT TO WORK!!!! KEEP IN MIND THERE ARE ONLY "X" NUMBER OF FISH IN A GIVEN AREA......IF 20 BOATS ARE KNOTTED UP ALL IN ONE SPOT THEN TWENTY BOATS ARE ANGLING FOR THE SAME X NUMBER OF FISH WHICH IS WHY THE AVERAGE C/C OR SMALL BOAT COMES HOME WITH POOR MAYBE FAIR TO MODERATE CATCH RATES........WHEN TWENTY BOATS ARE POUNDING ONE SPOT THEN TWENTY BOATS ARE DRIVING THE BAIT FURTHER DOWN IN THE WATER COLUMN....I CAN'T HELP BUT CHUCKLE WHEN ANOTHER BOAT FOLLOWS IN OUR PATH THROUGHOUT THE DAY....I MEAN REALLY? I AIN'T TRYING TO SOUND LIKE A BRAGGING HORSE HERE BUT WE DO CATCH A LOT OF FISH....SO WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO FOLLOW THE DESTRUCTIVE PATH WE HAVE JUST BLAZED?
I WANT TO CATCH ALL OF THE FISH RESIDENT TO A SMALL AREA...THIS AREA MAY BE AS SMALL AS 70 YARDS SQUARE......SO MY GOAL IS TO I FIND MY OWN BAIT AND WORK IT HARD!! COMFORT AND BAIT PEOPLE .....COMFORT AND BAIT....FIND THESE AND THE ACTION WILL FOLLOW!
REMEMBER.... THIS IS JUST MY/OUR WAY AND NOT THE ONLY WAY.
GOOD LUCK THIS WEEK,,,,I'M LANDLOCKED SANDING A HULL AND DYING A SLOW DEATH.
Last edited by WAHOONBOX; 03-16-12 at 02:15 PM.
Thats words to live by right there!
Do you think Fluro leaders help against bite offs too in addition to being stealthier than mono or wire? Only because its harder than mono?
Wow! Great info there BOX!
Best thread here in a long while and I think it should be posted to the top so it doesn't get lost. Lot's of good, real good info here that will no doubt increase your catches. Believe me I have burned a lot of gas and time learning this stuff and came home with 2-3 yellowfins when the top guns are bringing home double digits. Get your notebooks out and write this down people!
I would also like to add to the COMFORT and BAIT. Later in the summer when all the water temps blend in there won't be that many temp breaks (at least up here in NJ). So switch over to the chlorophyll charts and look for color changes. Fish will hang on those chloro breaks.
Capt. Gary
Widowmaker
Late in the summer we also always look for tidelines or anywhere the current is doing something different in a small area than the greater area around it (Usually indicated by a weedline, but not always.) Anything that looks unique or different compared against the general uniformity and apparent sameness of the surrounding ocean.
Taking into account Box's point about #'s, all the phenomena I just listed tends to move day to day, or hour by hour making it kind of foolish to keep running to the same #'s day after day for no reason other than having a point of reference, especially if there is no reason ('comfort', bait, current etc.) for fish to be there, then you need to go somewhere else. Like the man said, fish where the fish are and you'll probably catch some.
Just get him on, then we'll worry about gettin him in!
Thanks for sharing this info! I haven't been on here in a while and glad I checked back in today.
now that is what we are here for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! way to go Box. Thanks for the out of this box post.
If you aren't fishing, you're just fooling around.
Unbelievable information right there. I agree with the aforementioned that this is the kind of stuff that is an actual game changer! I am going to print this out and take it with me fishing Friday![]()
Legasea, Little Tooth, czoubek,... Its all just Nauti Natured