Tuna fishing

[stoneramhunter]

Im interested in finding out about tuna fishing off of Vancouver Island is it a day trip? How far off the coast do you need to be? Is it a challenge ? is it exciting?

[Imdone]

Charters out of Ukie, Tofino, Bamfield.
Temperature dependent on where they are traveling, sometimes 50 miles out, other times 20 or less .
Meat fishery, trolling at mach 1 lol. Not really sporting IMO. But when on you can get a haul. Need to be iced immediately for proper care.
Hey something different if you've never done it.
Goodluck SRH

[stoneramhunter]

Charters out of Ukie, Tofino, Bamfield.
Temperature dependent on where they are traveling, sometimes 50 miles out, other times 20 or less .
Meat fishery, trolling at mach 1 lol. Not really sporting IMO. But when on you can get a haul. Need to be iced immediately for proper care.
Hey something different if you've never done it.
Goodluck SRH

Thanks for the info

[Pioneerman]

Charters out of Ukie, Tofino, Bamfield.
Temperature dependent on where they are traveling, sometimes 50 miles out, other times 20 or less .
Meat fishery, trolling at mach 1 lol. Not really sporting IMO. But when on you can get a haul. Need to be iced immediately for proper care.
Hey something different if you've never done it.
Goodluck SRH

So why is trolling fast not sporting, but slow trolling is. What exactly is the part of this fishing is not sporting, just curious ?

[THE SWEDE]

George contact Adam, he’s been out a few times. Heading south across the line is your best value and usually a shorter run to the fishing grounds

[stoneramhunter]

George contact Adam, he’s been out a few times. Heading south across the line is your best value and usually a shorter run to the fishing grounds

will do thanks

[Husky7mm]

A high school friend of mine added it to a salmon and halibut trip they did up in rupert and he said it was one of the most enjoyable trips he's ever had. I think you just have to go for it. Life’s too short.

[Imdone]

So why is trolling fast not sporting, but slow trolling is. What exactly is the part of this fishing is not sporting, just curious ?

It's similar to Sockeye fishing except high speed, keep all other gear down, just crank them in, bonk bonk blood fest lol.
Just my opinion.
I say the same thing of Halibut fishing, once you've done it, no big deal, bring up a few big halibut is like hauling in a 5 gal bucket of concrete.
I call sport fishing IMO a battle of back and forth, lighter gear all round...... Many tuna fishers use a drum like giant reel, no rod. It's a meat fishery.
No different than comparing a halibut to a big smiley Spring...... No comparison.
I will add, it's something to do different, and experience. If that what floats your boat

[Bugle M In]

Well, depends where you start from?
Example, Bamfield.
You May travel 50 miles off shore!
So, depending how big and fast the boat can move will dictate what time you get up, but guarantee you it’s a very early start, if the weather and winds allow.
Tuna is found in a certain ocean water temperature zone, which continuously changes, thus how far you have to travel from shore can change etc.
And most will say you have to travel in pairs of boats, just for safety reasons because you are far from shore.
Yes, they troll fast!
Completely different type of fishing.
A charter is your best bet for sure.
You can YouTube Brendan morrisson (x Canuck) on reel Westcoast fishing as he did an episode on it a couple years back that will give some insight.
Even taking care of your catch is highly important when it comes to tuna in bleeding it and getting it cooled down and staying cool.
Probably not a cheap trip however!
But looks fun if you find them!

[tigrr]

You would really have to like the taste of tuna to spend that much. I would not spend 2 grand to fish anything.

[Greg]

A high school friend of mine added it to a salmon and halibut trip they did up in rupert and he said it was one of the most enjoyable trips he's ever had. I think you just have to go for it. Life’s too short.
Up in rupert??? How far out do they have to go for that? 50 miles out and your at the east side of haida gwaii. Been tuna fishing out of skidegate but that was still a long run out.

[dabber]

I look forward to going every year. They don't seem to show up on the north island until the later part of August.
Usually we have to go at least 25miles off shore. So you want to pick the better weather days.
They hit hard and fight hard. Cool catching them on a light rod.
The one nice thing about fishing for them is they are on or close to the surface so no DownRigger or weight.

[Husky7mm]

Up in rupert??? How far out do they have to go for that? 50 miles out and your at the east side of haida gwaii. Been tuna fishing out of skidegate but that was still a long run out.

I am sorry, I don’t know more, they could have been out past haida gwaii, I recall he said they were way out, might have even stayed out on the boat overnight, was a while back. Sounded like the trip of a lifetime.

[stoneramhunter]

I look forward to going every year. They don't seem to show up on the north island until the later part of August.
Usually we have to go at least 25miles off shore. So you want to pick the better weather days.
They hit hard and fight hard. Cool catching them on a light rod.
The one nice thing about fishing for them is they are on or close to the surface so no DownRigger or weight.

Thats interesting I dont do a lot of fishing but i was talking to a friend of mine who went tuna fishing i think sometime in august they stayed out in the boat for a few days but he said he had a blast . to tell the truth i didnt even know you could fish for tuna of the coast here.

[browningboy]

I’ve done it three years straight, about 50-70 kms offshore from Torino, you sleep out there and buddy boats are a must. Total different set up than normal, very fast troll, outriggers and lots and lots of ice… once you find them there’s lots, as for a fight, sure they are fun but the boat doesn’t generally slow down for one tuna

[Bugle M In]

If i recall right, don’t they troll at 7 mph or so??
So ya, fighting a fish that is shaped like a torpedo and is made for speed, it’s got to be a bit of an arm burner!
Generally it’s albacore tuna, but I hear at times some yellowfin can be caught.
Just read one charter description and you can end up 80 to 150 miles out!!!!
Dont think I would be doing that trip in anything under 36ft, thank you very much!!

[MB_Boy]

I have done it a few times including this past August where the biomass of tuna out there was insane. We couldn't keep anymore fish as we were of space to ice them. The thing to bear in mind if booking a trip is a lot of things have to align with the most important being weather and the seas and then satellite imagery will show you where they key temperature break is as you need that bump up in temp. This year we ran out about 50 miles off Tofino to get to that break and came home with 35 tuna, could have done more but all storage was full, coolers full and had a few fish in the slurry (garbage bucket with ice and water for cooling them down/bleeding before putting on ice).

It is a lot of fun and hooking up multiple fish is not uncommon. We had a few triples this past year as well as a quad.

As mentioning above with conditions having to align a buddy went to Kyuquot a few years back with the intention of trying tuna and even though it tends to be a shorter run out as you get further north on the island the state of the weather/seas didn't allow them to get out and they spent 4 days fishing salmon etc in the inside waters.

Kelly Aspinall of Charter Tofino would be a good guy to go with if looking to book. I have always just gone with a few buddies who live in Tofino. This year we got the call on a Friday saying "Monday looks like the day" and I quickly went into travel agent mode on short notice and booked flights over and coordinated my in-laws house etc.

As for the post above from Bugle.....yes you are trolling around that speed and when you hook one up you keep going trying for multiple albacore. They put up a good fight on the rod and reel (some use handlines but I don't find it as fun) and yes your arms will be tired if you get into them.

Feel free to ask any questions here or via PM.

[KevB]

As mentioned above it can be a bit tough to plan as a day trip unless you can be somewhat flexible as several things have to line up for it to be an enjoyable day on the water. We've had days cancelled or pivoted to salmon fishing because of bad conditions offshore. Very cool experience though and you should absolutely go for it if you have the opportunity

[whognu]

it's an absolute gas

30 -50 miles offshore the pelagic life is amazing

the aqua blue water is stunning

when youre on fish, it is indeed a meat fishery

yet, they bit my hook, i didn't snag them (unlike flossing in the fraser)

blood everywhere

a crazy kinda fun

and it's not cheap

good luck

[stoneramhunter]

it's an absolute gas

30 -50 miles offshore the pelagic life is amazing

the aqua blue water is stunning

when youre on fish, it is indeed a meat fishery

yet, they bit my hook, i didn't snag them (unlike flossing in the fraser)

blood everywhere

a crazy kinda fun

and it's not cheap

good luck

wow thanks i think ill take a crack at it! Cheers

[ryanb]

I do it on my own boat, it's plenty of fun for the chaos of multiple hook ups. You are generally trolling with anywhere from 6-10 lines, some on rods, some on handlines. Even if you hook up 4-5 lines the chaos and excitement are hard to describe. The tuna pull very hard so depending on your gear they can be a good fight, but nothing like the fight of a big spring. Tuna is great eating, sashimi, poke, etc...Living on the island and having my own boat it's easy to organize a trip when conditions are right. Booking a charter on short notice is much harder, but if you're willing to salmon or bottom fish if conditions aren't right then it's doable.

It's a day trip for me, 1.5 hour run out, troll for 8 hours or so or until I'm out of room for fish, then 1.5 hours back in. It's a long day, then usually another long day the next day cutting up tuna that have been on ice overnight.

[srthomas75]

I do it on my own boat, it's plenty of fun for the chaos of multiple hook ups. You are generally trolling with anywhere from 6-10 lines, some on rods, some on handlines. Even if you hook up 4-5 lines the chaos and excitement are hard to describe. The tuna pull very hard so depending on your gear they can be a good fight, but nothing like the fight of a big spring. Tuna is great eating, sashimi, poke, etc...Living on the island and having my own boat it's easy to organize a trip when conditions are right. Booking a charter on short notice is much harder, but if you're willing to salmon or bottom fish if conditions aren't right then it's doable.

It's a day trip for me, 1.5 hour run out, troll for 8 hours or so or until I'm out of room for fish, then 1.5 hours back in. It's a long day, then usually another long day the next day cutting up tuna that have been on ice overnight.

Do you launch at Renfrew or further north? [ I'm assuming that you trailer from the peninsula ]

[ryanb]

I typically fish from Ucluelet for Tuna. They have commercial salt ice plants where you can load up your boat with ice on the water. Renfrew is a much longer run to the tuna grounds and no salt ice available in bulk. Tofino is a similar run to Ukee, and I'm pretty sure they have salt ice available there, but never actually fished from there. Central and North Island are a bit shorter run offshore due to the narrower continental shelf, but farther for me to trailer to coming from South Island.