A longliner buddy of mine called me this morning and had a good yellowfin bite inshore of the 226 Hole right before he was going to run back to NC. 14 yellowfins,one wahoo,and one small mahi in about 4 hours. All the yellowfins were in the 40-50lb. range He called me not knowing I’m injured and can’t fish. He got his bites on blue/crystal and black/purple seawitches and med. ballyhoo. If any of you guys are free soon, you might want to give it a try. He also had a nice load of swords and a few bigeyes from his sets further offshore the past few days.
He won’t be back in Morehead until late tomorrow,but I’ll find out. All I know is inshore of the 226 Hole in 68.9 degree water. Edisto Banks is my guess.
captjohn86, do you realize what you just did? You have officially started the 2007 “Offshore Fishing Season” in Charleston. You wait until you see the next fair weather day…
Greg1 will be very disappointed that someone is catching tuna in Charleston…
A longliner using seawitches and medium ballyhoo? First I ever heard of that. Also, what area off of SC is closed to longlining this time of year? Is it just the Bump?
A longliner using seawitches and medium ballyhoo? First I ever heard of that. Also, what area off of SC is closed to longlining this time of year? Is it just the Bump?
He was way offshore of here on the East side of the stream longlining. He came inshore to head back to NC. Decided to fish a few hours before he steamed back. I worked on this boat for a few seasons. This guy follows all rules and regs. to a T.
I think the tuna are here year round. They just concentrate more when the water warms up and the bait congregates.
I think you can catch them in December and January when the stream pushes in close. I just can’t find a ride then.
So you mean that they "run through" in larger numbers at certain times of the year? Or maybe as you are saying, they just "run together in bigger concentrations" at certain times ofthe year. That's interesting. It's almost like a "run of tuna"... I wish there was a good name to describe that behavior like "tuna run" or something along those lines that aren't date specific but maybe a generalization of when one might decide to fish with the highest likelihood of catching a tuna... Nevermind... Greg 145, I am just messing with you...
I know you’re just messing with me, but you raise a good question, and my answer is still no. I don’t think they “run through” like ducks migrating south for the winter. I think they live offshore. I think they stay within 300 miles of charleston their whole lives.
Conditions dictate where the bait gets stacked and that’s where the fish go to eat. I think there’s tuna here in December and January if you’re willing to go find the bait.
That’s why I laugh at the term “tuna season”.
It’s just a lot easier to predict where the bait’s going to be for 7 weeks in April/May (hebce the “tuna season” idea). But the fish are still around June-March. You just got to be willing to go find them.
Remember…5 years ago nobody knew there were Sailfish here in the fall.
I know you’re just messing with me, but you raise a good question, and my answer is still no. I don’t think they “run through” like ducks migrating south for the winter. I think they live offshore. I think they stay within 300 miles of charleston their whole lives.
Conditions dictate where the bait gets stacked and that’s where the fish go to eat. I think there’s tuna here in December and January if you’re willing to go find the bait.
That’s why I laugh at the term “tuna season”.
It’s just a lot easier to predict where the bait’s going to be for 7 weeks in April/May (hebce the “tuna season” idea). But the fish are still around June-March. You just got to be willing to go find them.
Remember…5 years ago nobody knew there were Sailfish here in the fall.
Can you explain why nobody caught tuna July-December last year?
I could give 100’s of reasons, but right now I only have time for a few off the top of my head.
1st) I saw Special Lady bring in some very impressive tuna catches late in the Summer when stealing jugs off Les’s boat. I’m sure other boats caught fish too. Just maybe not the ones that post here.
I also don’t think anybody fishes for them after tourist season ends and all the charter boats stop posting reports.
I also think 90% of the YF caught here are cuaght by 10% of the boats. When those boats don’t get booked, those tuna don’t get caught
It may take different techniques during different times of the year. In La. we don’t catch our winter tuna on ballyhoo and we don’t anchor and chum during the summer.
Yes, I understand it’s easier to locate and find fish during certain times of the year, but I still don’t think the fish are migrating and only here for a few weeks a year. I don’t think the fish at the 226 on Tuesday are at the GTH on Saturday and then off Morehead City on Wednesday. I think they forage back and forth in the gulfstream their whole lives and when the warm waters comes close they get caught. They’d get caught in December too when the stream pushes in if anybody was there to meet them.
Been reading the posts and just so you guys know, there are fish being caught off of Morehead,NC and Wrightsville,NC the past few days. Same water temp.,etc. Tommy got his fish down here,so I’m sure they could be spread out everywhere. You just gotta drag your bait in front of them. I’ve been comm. and sportfishing for tuna since I was very young. I’ve caught yellowfins in every month of the year and in all types of weather. The only constant I’ve found is water temp. I seem to have more tuna between 68-72 degree water on the East Coast. Other places I’ve traveled I’ve caught them in warmer water. I’ve caught them in NC in warmer water. But 68-72 degree water seems to hold more tunas in my opinion.
