Hooking up with limits of tuna and yellowtail

Hi guys nothing breaks my heart more than to see people getting skunked ..

Specially on a offshore party boat where yellowtail or tuna are being landed,
Desperation and all the expensive metal reels with straight rods waiting, and waiting


As guys with lighter spools and smaller lines are filling up their sacks.


Who is to blame? Misinformation
Most people think that more money or more expensive a reel is the better will be
so they come geared with the latest strongest reel they can afford
a friend from work using 50 pound test told me," I just want to yank them in,
and bounce them on the deck" good luck with that, was my reply. he skunked

I even seen tv pros commenting that using a 20 pound test line is a myth
not real, that the minimum should be 30 pound
That is just not true. the 20mpound test line can and will get you fish


But let’s look at our bait, the most popular is the sardine
and tuna likes them smaller in size, how long will the sardine pull a 30 or 40 # test line?
versus a 20 pound test line?

Drags- how much force you need to pull the hook off a fish?
so, the drags are most of the time at around 6 pounds,
a 20 pound test line should be enough.
the secret, my buddy Walt said, is to re-tie the line after one or 2 fish
and that is true, because of the abrasion caused by the fish body


So the idea is to hide everything
smaller line (20)
smaller hooks
smaller knots
smaller and lighter spool
the rod could be rated 20/40 to help the head shaking and sudden turns
and re-tie your line

knots...a smaller knot that lets the sardine swim very nice is the Palomar

hooks a 2/0 or a 1/0 hook SHORT SHANK is better
so the sardine won't re-hook themselves

reels a Newell 229, 322 or a Daiwa Sealine 20..
some use a modified freshwater reel to have a lighter spool
the sardine will dart far away from the boat

you will get bit very fast, once I told a old buddy,
cuz he was bugging me with all of his talk about how great he is,
I told him you know what? count to 3 and I will catch a tuna,
nah! he said, ..and he started counting..
one two, three..
hook up!:LOL:

Great fishing and tight lines


eddiefishtaco@sbcglobal.net

Great advice i remember in the 70s and 80s we would use 12lb test and #8 hooks for the bluefin at san clemente if you used anything else no bites.

Good post but not always true.
Example; The SBI YT going off right now are not line shy.
So many guys busted off in the last few days they are saying use 50 lb.
Those SBI YT are big. 50 lb Spectra with a flouro leader is a nice kelp cutter.

You get wrapped in the kelp with 15 or 20 then your SOL ShitOuttaLuck.

I like light line. Always go for the 20 lb rod first.
Been fishing KH Bonito on 6 lb with 4 lb leader.
DR

Dude, Thanks for the reply, but island fishing is another deal,
you have rocks and kelp where the fish hides,
and can and will cut you off, if you can't turn them quick,
were talking offshore fishing, not island fishing.
for island fishing, you ar right, espectra and a very short fluoro lider
will get you some nice filetes like these catalina ghost

Thanks for the good advice Eddie.

My experience bears out what you say. Except for that one time,,,, well a lighter drag would have helped then too!

True lighter drags help, here's a video with 20 pound line (PLiNE) and Rosita swimbait
waited for the school of dorado to come to the boat after hooking up a trolled fish
and casted the swimbait, a little jigging up and down slow retreive and another fish was hooked
enjoy

http://youtu.be/620BDA0dIVY

I have a Shimano Corvalus, is it possible to set it to a specific tension or is it more feel. It has a star drag.

Side note, my one and only YT was 18lb and i caught it on 12# test. It was alot of fun but i think the deckhands werent to stoked because the fish ran me up and down the boat multiple times.

<><
KP

I always use a braided 50lb with a 20 to 30 lb leader, has been working great for me so far...