Blackfin Tuna Bite is Happening Early and Late
Pictured here is Paul Castronovo with a fat blackfin tuna from a few days back. Paul went out in the afternoon to target these tuna. Early morning and late in the afternoon is prime time to put a beautiful fish like this in the boat. Most guys catch them with live bait such as goggle eyes and pilchards but you can also catch them trolling. We pick up the speed a bit while targeting them, trolling up to around 8 knots, and we fish small lures with bonito strips way back in the spread. We fish the bait so far back because they can be boat shy. If you are targeting them with live bait, kite fishing is by far the best technique, but flat lines fished way out with circle hooks is awesome as well.
There were a few kingfish and plenty of sailfish around this week as boats were catching three or four sails per trip. There is a lot of scattered seaweed offshore which makes it difficult to fish for mahi-mahi. We did find some really nice patches of weed but they produced no fish. The swordfish bite remains red hot offshore and I would highly suggest making a trip right now. Several fish over 300 pounds were caught this week. The best bait of choice right now is bonito and squid tentacle for the swords.
Tune in to 105.9 the Paul Castronovo show on Friday at 6:40 AM for an up-to-the-minute fishing report.
Get tight!
RJ Boyle