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barnabus
10-13-2006, 12:16 PM
I just got back from a trip to the Massachusetts coast to go for Bluefin Tuna with a fly. The fish we were targeting are just babies in the 35-90 lb range - any bigger and your back would snap. I was using a 14 wt flyrod with a full sinking Rio Leviathon line and was pushed to max on these fish. Casting into a feeding blitz of tuna is indescribable. I hooked 2 and landed one of them and then released it unharmed. On our boat we had 4 fish boated and 5 hooked. The one I lost snaped the 50 lb test flyline when it wrapped around the rod handle - sounded like a rifle shot.
The season is generally from mid August thru early October before the weather turns sour. Do it - it will be trip of a lifetime.

If any of you ever want the thrill of a lifetime - contact Nat or Derek with First Light Anglers in Gloucester, MA for a chance to go after Bluefin with a fly.
Best,
Barney



ibn
10-13-2006, 12:54 PM
Awesome, how far offshore did you have to run? We do Albacore off the coast of WA/OR and run up to 50 miles. Just curious if it's any closer to shore out east compared to the tuna in the west.
barnabus
10-13-2006, 05:58 PM
We only had to run out 3-7 miles for these fish. On a calm day ,there are guys out there in 14 foot tin boats.

Are the albacore feeding on bait on the surface that you target off west coast? Are you able to flyfish for them without chumming?
Do you head out of Neah Bay?

I'm intersted in finding tunids on the west coast to target with a fly.
thanks,
barney
ibn
10-13-2006, 09:38 PM
They're feeding on bait, not always on the surface though. I've only fished for them out of Oregon, we leave out of Hammond, which is basically the mouth of the Columbia. This year we did not have live bait so we had to fish for them w/out chumming. We were successful on every trip, however, not the numbers we could have had with chum.

Here are a couple links of the reports we posted from this years trips:

http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/board/showthread.php?t=34255
http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/board/showthread.php?t=34425

Thanks for the info, I'd like to hit up blufin sometime, tuna are amazing fish to catch on the fly.

-Ibn