A charter captain pinpoints five common mistakes he sees on the tuna grounds.
My son, Capt Tommy shouts, “Dad a quarter mile to the northeast there are blows.” I quickly turn in that direction and run right smack into what we were looking for in the form of massive feeds of yellowfin tuna and finback whales gorging themselves on sand eels.
“Grab those popping rods and let them fly,” Tommy shouts out to our clients, adding “Sweep, pause, sweep, pause.” But nothing happens. No one comes tight. Either the casts missed the mark or the retrieve was not right.
In my world as a charter captain mistakes made by beginners are common and expected as most simply don’t know what to do or how to do it. With some teaching from an experienced crew, the learning curve is shortened and success shows itself with tuna hitting the deck.
Here are a five of the most common mistakes I see beginners making when trying to hook and land their first tuna.
Not being prepared physically. Fighting a tuna is not like fighting a striped bass. It requires strength, stamina, and skill. If you are out of shape a tuna will make that evident quickly. So get in shape ahead of time. Going to the gym one day before your trip is not going to do it. Instead plan for months of training. Do lifting exercises with weights that mimic what you will be doing with the rod.
Don’t overestimate your abilities. Your training should prepare you to land the footballs and tuna up to a hundred pounds. But if a much bigger tuna is hooked up know your limits. Pass the rod off if you cannot make any more progress on the fish. If you are resting, the tuna is too. You need to have constant pressure on the fish while always keeping the line tight. Beginners that fight a tuna well beyond what they are capable of usually lose it to angler error or even worse can end up hurting themselves.
Setting the hook when holding the rod. When jigging or casting to a tuna and it hits your artificial it will do so extremely hard, running or sounding with lighting speed as your drag starts screaming and your rod pumps. This all happens in a matter of seconds and a beginner is usually mesmerized as they just hold on for dear life as their adrenaline levels go through the roof. The common mistake here is failure to set the hook. When a tuna is hooked its main objective in life is now to become unhooked. The tuna will shake its head violently to set itself free. Setting the hook needs to come immediately after you feel the hit. With a tight line to the tuna set the hook hard. Then lower the rod and reel tight any slack with a few quick cranks of the reel handle and set the hook again. Repeat for a third time and now hold on and enjoy the run.
Keep the line tight by cranking. When a tuna runs right or left or even runs up and towards the boat there are times to crank and times not to crank on the reel. While the tuna is running away from you it will be pulling against the drag so do not turn the handle and crank when this is happening. Doing so will result in a pulled hook or a leader breaking. If the tuna is running towards you, you will need to increase your cranking speed so your line stays tight to the fish. As soon as your line has any slack in it, it is much easier for the tuna to shake the hook out and most likely will.
Fighting to the end. When nearing the end of the fight with the tuna just under the surface many beginners will walk backwards thinking that this will help lift the tuna up and get it closer to the boat. This will be the kiss of death if the tuna now decides to run under the boat. If it does your line will run against the boat and most likely break. I tell my clients that their knees should always stay pinned against the gunnel. If the tuna runs under the boat now you can just stick the rod in the water without the line ever touching the boat. From this position you can pull the tuna up as it death spiral begins. Reel down and lift on the rod when the tuna is at the top of its spiral as it just begins to turn towards you.
