| During the steam out to the fishing grounds, you are | | | | are diving into the water, and they are coming up with |
| going to want everyone on the boat to be alert at all | | | | bait fish, then that is a great place to start. |
| times and trying to find signs of life. This is where the | | | | These are very common mistakes that people tend |
| binoculars can come in very handy. If you get out to a | | | | make and they end up getting skunked because they |
| fishing spot that has produced fish for you in the past | | | | were too anxious and didn't take the time to make |
| and you find that there is absolutely nothing there, this | | | | sure that there were tuna in the area they were |
| usually means that the bait fish have moved and as a | | | | fishing. If you see whales and birds that are extremely |
| result, the tuna have moved as well. So you are going | | | | active, there is a great chance that they are working a |
| to have to use your binoculars and look for signs of | | | | bait ball up to the surface of the water. If this is the |
| wildlife, namely whales and birds. The best way to | | | | case, that means that there is more likely than not tuna |
| spot these animals is to always keep your eyes on | | | | feeding as well and that you are in an excellent fishing |
| the horizon. This will provide enough contrast to allow | | | | spot. |
| you to spot black specks in the air as well as the | | | | Wildlife is the single greatest indicator that tuna are |
| spray from a whales blow hole. | | | | around and it can be truly amazing to watch these |
| The best piece of advice we can share with you | | | | feeding frenzies take place. You must be aware of |
| when attempting to locate tuna by finding whales and | | | | where Bluefin tuna have been caught before you go |
| birds, is to not stop at the first pod of whales you | | | | fishing though. Do some research and talk to tackle |
| come across. It is not uncommon for people to be | | | | shops in your area and find out some of the "hot |
| steaming out and run into a small pod of whales that | | | | spots" for catching Bluefin tuna. Once you know the |
| aren't even feeding and they will try and work the pod | | | | general location of where they are, then you can go |
| for tuna. This is going to fail 9 out of 10 times. | | | | about using the wildlife to pinpoint the exact location of |
| You need to look for a pod of whales that are feeding | | | | where the fish are feeding. |
| and are not simply swimming around aimlessly. You will | | | | In our experience, we have found Bluefin tuna in water |
| be able to tell if whales are feeding or hunting by | | | | between 200-300 feet. So keep that in mind, as well |
| spotting whales slapping their tails, jumping out of the | | | | as the wildlife, when you are trying to find Bluefin tuna! |
| water, and coming up with their mouths open. Whales | | | | We have seen everything from huge humpback |
| that are simply swimming around do not mean there | | | | whales jumping clear out of the water, to massive |
| are tuna in the area. The same rules apply for finding | | | | sharks prowling around our boat. You are guaranteed |
| birds. You don't want to stop as soon as you see birds | | | | to see some pretty amazing wildlife displays over your |
| in the area flying around. You want to look for diving | | | | Bluefin tuna fishing career and it really does add to the |
| (feeding) birds. If there is a large swarm of birds that | | | | overall experience. |