"Unholy Tuna Tips"
Rule one: all info is just a collaboration of past fish experience, of trial and error and what works over all. Flouro carbon leader is, in my holy opinion, a must, like putting on your fresh clean socks before your smelly old torn up chum slicker. Tuna have a keen eagle eyesight and are as neurotic as french poodles. If they sense anything out of place with the bait, they veer off big time. Night is another story, they'll eat whatever is in the slick, God willing.
But come daytime, fluoro carbon is the way to go. I've been fishing with carbon leaders for eight years, and they have proved to me without a shadow of a doubt, that they can kick butt. But you're going to have to dig down deep into your pocket for the line, it's not coming cheap. This is what I advise: bring 40 lbs. test, 60 lbs. test and 80 lbs. test. Trust me, it will half the time. Be the decision maker between hooking up or not. No shorter than an 8 foot leader. I prefer at least 10 feet. If you decide to go shorter than 8 feet, you'll defeat the purpose because the tuna will see your leader line too close to your regular line and that will spook them off big time. You've gone this far spending your hard earned money and the time off to go on your tuna trip, so don't go cheap.
Another hot tip that Al Goldberg gave me...a few packs of Gamakasu octopus circle fx. size 8/0 hooks. These are great hooks unlike the normal circle hooks they have a much wider gap for meaner hook up. All you do when you get a pick up is let that tuna eat. Let him make the run and push up the drag. You get a mean hook up right in the jaw bone 85 percent of the time, which in translation means less gut hooks which will end up having your line shaved apart from their rough edged mouth, not a pretty sight at all. It can really hurt your fragile little ego. During my last three stories, these hooks whipped those tuna good. That's all the proof I need, it IS in the pudding.
Don't always follow what everybody else is doing, especially if they're losing consciousness and slipping into a coma while staring at their rod for an hour and a half. That's not fishing, it's praying for a fish to commit suicide. Open your ears, listen to your Captain. He'll fish at 80 feet, fish 150 feet, so on and so on. Number one, change your bait. And if there is a good current, your line is going out on an angle so don't count off 80 feet precisely. Look at the angle and figure out how much more line or weight you need to get it into feeding range. I personally would put out at least 140 feet to get to 80 feet because of the angle. And most of all, see where the slick is going out and try to get into it.
Flat lining is really important. Most of the time the fish will hang off the back of the slick from 80 feet to over 200 feet from the boat. Get with it. Take off all the weight and free line your bait with the chum slick. Keep your fingers on the spool for obvious reasons...the tuna will pick up that bait and make a run for it big time. Let him run a bit and stick him good. But feed the line out by hand slow and smooth always staying in contact with your bait. Don't let your line get ahead of the bait. And if you get a bite, remember the count for the next one.
When you flat line in the daytime, use your flouro carbon leaders. Start at 80 lbs. test and work down. Set your drag correctly with your line test. If you go down to forty and your drag is set for 80 lbs.test...I personally don't want to be standing next to you when you push your drag and set the hook. Ouch, this is really going to be depressing. Use your head, it will put more tuna in the boat.
P.S. Overnight tuna trips are long marathon fishing odyssey. Get some sleep on the way out. You're going to need all your strength. I've seen guys put away a few six packs of beer and they are useless when they get to the canyon. Be polite to the guy who is hooked up and running down the boat with his rod bent in half trying to get by unattended poles. It's not fair to him as it would not be fair to you when you get your hook up. I too am guilty of this. Sometimes the bite is slow and I'll go make some espresso mud to stay awake and leave my rod outside unattended. Not cool. Have a friend keep an eye on it.
Anyway, that's enough from me for now. There is a great tuna bite going on, go get them. On the Viking, there are more three day trips going out, only a few spaces left, don't miss out for those October monsters. In Sheepshead Bay, the Brooklyn and the Sea Queen need to be booked now. The spaces are filling up in a heart beat...along with the Explorer.