Jumbo heaven

You bloody ripper! I have just returned from a serious mission driving all the wayfrom Sydney to Port Fairy on Victoria’s West Coast. My old mate Andy Smith called me to say there were huge bluefin in just 50 metres of water out the front. Every season Victoria’s West Coast sees some big fish around the magic 100kg, but this season there were heaps and they were all well over the ton mark.

I love my tuna and the chance to catch a bigger one I raced down with my ever reliable cameraman Ron Croft in the hope of bettering my 103kg model from Tassie. I lost an absolute beast on the first day after almost three hours. Day two we saw nothing, but hit pay dirt on the third morning. 

The battle started at 10.15am and lasted almost 7 hours. Never in my life have I experienced such and incredible battle with such a tough opponent. Finally we got the fish to the boat and only when it got stuck in the side door did we realise just how big it was. That evening in front of a crowd the huge fish pulled the scales down to 154.7kg making it one of the biggest bluefin ever caught. Incidentally that record fish was caught on a modified Halco laser pro 190 mackerel colour, with a Daiwa jig hook at the rear and a Jobu attached via a PF Swivel at the front. Leader was Prestige 200-pound leader, and Momoi 24kg line all on Daiwa fully rollered game rod and Sealine Tournament reel.

This is the best run of jumbo sized tuna Victoria has ever seen with as many as a dozen jumbos caught in a single day. Trolling has been the number one technique with fish being caught on both deep divers and skirted lures. Interesting both the big jumbos I hooked were on Laser Pro 190s in purple and silver, the exact same model I caught the tuna on in Tassie. The only thing I recommend is to upgrade the hooks from trebles to singles. On the back I run a single Daiwa jig assist hook, While on the front I run a Prestige heavy duty swivel attached to a 7/0 Jobu. The great thing about this rig is that it works on small a school sized fish just as well as the big boys.

The fish are spread out between the 50 and 70 metre line. Focus your efforts around the birds or seal concentrations. I suspect the jumbos will thin out but the school fish will run for a while yet.

Victorian angler Ritchie has been keeping his boat at Eagle Hawk Neck in Tasmania and opened his account with a 80kg model on the first day while local skipper Stu Nicholls has been producing a steady run of fish. The remote waters around Pedra Blanca will also fire and chances are with such a good run of fish off Victoria the Apple Isle will fire.

Yellowfin Time

The East Australian Current has been running extremely late this season and as a result the hot water has held out putting the tuna season back a month. The water is still a hot 23 degrees and is holding a few marlin. However it will quickly start cooling down and the big tune will appear. Places like Bermi are already reporting big fish but I suspect the fishing will improve. 

I know I keep saying it but use the SST charts, but they really are a vital tool for finding fish. Study them and find the edges of the current and then focus your efforts around this spots, particularly areas where the birds are concentrated. There have already been fin to 80kg caught and I suspect there will be bigger ones this month..

Big Kings

From all accounts the kings have been very slow as of late but I suspect they will really fire up as the water starts to cool. Normally May is prime time but this month with everything running late this month should fire. Concentrate around the deeper reefs 30 to 70m deep. Use the sounder and find the reef edges as well as bait concentrations and of course the kings themselves. 

Drifting with live baits like yakkas and slimy fished down deep is my favourite technique, but fresh squid is also highly productive as well if you can get it. Interestingly late afternoon is usually the peak period.

Bluefin issues

This amazing run of bluefin is something anglers should not take for granted. Just because the numbers are going up we need to show restraint and promote the fact we are letting some go. Remember the greenies will use anything they can against us so we need to be responsible.

While being interviewed about the capture there were a few green questions about the fishery and I pointed out how anglers were at the forefront of conservation taking less than there bag limit and volunteering for tagging research etc. It really is vital that we all work to together and show how responsible the angling fraternity are and how much we treasure this precious fishery.

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