Heading offshore in New England means being ready to tackle whatever the bluewater has in store.
What’s trending on the Northeast saltwater scene? Buzzwords like ‘nearshore’ and ‘midshore’ bluefin are dominating right now and it’s inspiring a lot of new anglers to take their small boats and center consoles on an adventure to catch a bluefin. With patterns seemingly changing, especially in the vicinity of Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard, these ‘nearshore’ bluefin have developed an affinity for bunker which is bringing them closer to the dock and within range of small boats.
Tuna fishing is more like big game hunting and it requires several dedicated setups if you want to be ready for whatever the bluewater throws at you. In one regard, the rods and reels you use will be dictated by how you intend to target the fish, but on the other hand, you have to armed and ready to react to how the fish are feeding, what they’re feeding on and where in the water the column this feeding activity is taking place.
Generally, depending on your physical limitations, vessel layout and budget, this is broken down into four techniques: baiting/chumming, trolling, jigging and casting. The latter two, are often lumped together as Jig & Pop, but the gear for each varies from an equipment perspective. While each style and rod and reel selection are articles unto themselves, here’s a few distinctions:
Trolling Setups
| OPTIONS OFFSHORE |
While the author prefers Shimano outfits, there are many other options for tuna hunters to fit various price points. 
Trolling/Bait Reels: Trolling/Bait Rods: Jigging Reels: Conventional: Jigging Rods: Popping Reels: Popping Rods: -D.Anderson |
These setups are typically bought in groups, depending on your vessel size, manpower and budget, you’ll be looking at buying anywhere from two to as many as 12, or even more. The power and rating of the setups should be matched to the size class of tuna being targeted. Breaking it down simply, we have 25 class reels with MH rated rods for smaller tuna, 50 class reels with H rated rods for medium to large tuna and 80/130 Class reels with XH and XXH rated rods for giants. It’s best to eventually get a mix of these so that you can adjust to whatever size class happens to be available at the time. If you’re looking to go in easy without committing to a full spread, the safest route to go is the middle of the road with 50’s matched to H rods to have a shot at landing all three sizes, overkill for the smaller class fish and you’ll have your work cut out for you with a jumbo, but with the right techniques and experience you should be able to land anything that swims on this setup.
Regardless of the power class, there are few specific characteristics you should be looking for when selecting trolling setups. Rods should be shorter in length for standup fighting, leverage and cockpit clearance…typically these rods are sold as two components: blade and butt. The blade section should measure between 46 and 70 inches. It should be constructed with some type of “glass” core for durability and its forgiving nature compared to graphite. While a full guide train of roller guides is optimal, a rod with a roller tip and stripper guide is more than adequate for trolling.
This blade is then matched to a butt of your preference, straight, bent, or combination style (think Winthrop Terminator), these allow you to adjust the angle of the rod in the holder for best performance. Just make sure to select the right length butt to lock into your rod holders and be sure that the size of the butt matches the base of your blade. The author uses a combination of Shimano Terez Bluewater and Tallus Rods to make up his offshore trolling spread.
Reels should be robust capacity, conventional “lever drag” reels to allow for rapid deployment of lures into the spread and then incremental fine-tune drag adjustments for hook penetration while also allowing a fish to take drag on initial strike, which is often violent and intense, if the drag were engaged to ‘full’ it would result in catastrophic gear failure. Another Key feature of a good trolling reel for tuna is the presence of a dependable “clicker” feature. This clicker not only provides an audible alarm when a trolled bait is taken, but it also prevents backlashing after a sharp impact. One other nice option is a two-speed feature, this allows the angler to drop the reel into a lower gear, like riding a bike uphill, in order to gain line on an otherwise unmovable fish.
For those using mono, a larger reel is needed to accommodate the larger diameter, most anglers now use braided lines and add a top-shot of mono. Reels designed for braided line are slightly smaller thanks to the thinness of braided line, have much steeper drag curves to handle the power of braid and typically have taller/narrower profiles the keep the weight more centered. Reels, like Shimano’s Talica II series, offer two separate cams to accommodate for either type of line and optimize performance. They also feature a technology, called infinity drive, that reduces contact of its internal components under heavy load, giving you that low gear feeling but without having to drop down a gear and lose speed making them the preferred trolling reel for the author.
Baiting Setups
Baiting rods are similar to those for trolling, especially with regard to blank construction and features relating to durability and forgiveness. They too, are made of a blade matched to a butt. There are a few key features that differ for optimum performance. Baiting rods are typically longer than trolling rods, since often they are fought from in the gunwale for most if not all of battle, especially true of the larger class fish. The author’s preferred length range for this type of blade is 67 to 83 inches. The shorter option allow the angler to remove the rod from the gunwale and stand up with the fish, without sacrificing leverage. The longer option allows the angler to keep the rod in the gunwale or chair while maintaining clearance from the hull and other components.
When bait fishing for tuna, whether it be on anchor or drifting, the reels are virtually identical to those used for trolling. The lever drag being the critical component to choose between an instant hookset from a static position or allowing the fish to run with a larger bait for a while before engaging the drag to secure a hook set. They are matched to the rod class and line as with trolling and again features like a clicker, two speed switch and interchangeable drag cams are all huge advantages.
Jigging Setups
Jigging rods are designed to work a jig effectively without having to “overwork the rod.” This is achieved by distinctive carbon patterns though out the length of these highly-evolved hybrid blanks. True jigging blanks, not just short rods with fancy looking designs on the blank, will work a jig with significantly less effort than a blank that was simply cut to length. A notable example of this “feeling” when working a jig is Shimano’s new Grappler Series.
As mentioned, jigging rods are shorter, they keep weight and load closer to the body for more efficient lifting under load. They are generally made up of a mix of specialized carbon, glass and graphite builds, focusing on keeping overall weight down and optimal performance. These rods can be either spinning or conventional matched to the reel. They are best constructed from blanks with a “low” modulus density, giving them a more forgiving action much further into the blank.
If conventional, which is the best style of rod for jigging, the favors rods series like Shimano’s Game Type J and Grapplers series for their Spiral X Core technology. This feature eliminates the blank twisting while under load at awkward angles during the endgame and negates the need to “acid wrap” a rod to compensate for blank twisting. This allows the line to run more evenly along the blanks natural spine by keeping the guides perfectly in line along the top of the blank. Spin Jigging rods should have larger guides to allow for easy movement of the leader and technical knots, like the FG and PR, to glide through the guides. Additionally, wind on connections should be spaced perfectly along the blank especially between the first guide and the reel to avoid any unnecessarily sharp angles under load.
The reels used for jigging tuna should have ample line capacity, ideally 300-plus yards of line at the desirable strength for the target size fish. They need strong durable drag systems for the intense 0 to 100 tuna often treat an angler to from the moment of “I’m tight” to ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. They can be spinning or conventional.
Often the biggest choice to make is between a HG high gear or MG/PG lower gear. Both have their own advantages, an HG reel will have a high inches-per-crank and faster overall speed. An MG/PG, often referred to as a Power Gear, will feature lower inches per crank but more torque. HG Reels are best for deeper water applications where you need to impart actions at longer distances quickly and are best suited or lighter faster moving jigs. Power-geared reels are well-suited for shallower water, heavier and for more passive jigs like weighted head soft bodied lures like a RonZ. PG reels also tend to offer more power and torque under heavy load like dropping into a lower gear on a bike. Whether you find that you prefer high speed or power reels for jigging, simple adjustments to technique or cadence can be made to adapt to any jigging/fighting situation so simply choose one that suites your favored approach and adjust as necessary.
Popping & Stickbaiting
Casting rods for tuna in the Northeast are predominately spinning rods, our cousins on the West Coast tend to play by some different rules. These rods are longer in length generally 7 to 9 feet, overall and have specialized high modulus density blanks focused on casting distance, accuracy and rapid blank recovery. For the author, when distance and accuracy are key factors, the Shimano Ocea Plugger Full Throttle is the go-to. When fish are closer in range and trending XL, rods that bend further into the blanks with a slightly lower modulus density like Ocea Plugger Big Game are preferred.
There are noticeable differences in casting blanks for tuna that matter much more for your success than just how much it will bend with a weight hanging from it. Casting style rods should again be matched by class ratings to the weight of the lures being used for optimal performance and have a power rating appropriate to line class being used. The size of the targeted fish will be relative to the experience of the angler.
Reels for casting, again trend toward spinning for the Northeast region. While they can range from 8000 size class to as large as 30,000, the optimal range are those in the 14000 to 18000 size and ideally HG in nature. The higher gear reels allow for quick slack line maintenance, instant lure contact at distance and improved action overall. They too, should have at least 300 yards of the desired pound test line generally 50- to 130-pound braid, and feature robust drag systems capable of handling high heat. For the author, this means Shimano Stella and TwinPower series for their smoothness, cranking power and overall durability.
As you can see, it’s not cheap to outfit your boat for tuna, and you really can’t swap in gear you use for stripers or any other species. Bluefin are a different animal, capable of growing to immense size and running at speeds so fast that you actually have to be cognizant of the heat created inside your reel and drag stack! There is nothing like the hit and blistering run of a jacked-up bluefin, and once you experience that, you’ll be hooked forever.
