Tuna fishing!

[mlc20]

so im thinking of trying my luck at tuna fishing next year. This winter i plan on trying to get as much gear as i can to get me started. So i was wondering what sites sell quality gear at a good price. I have been looking around but im not sure what good prices are for tuna gear. Thanks mlc20

 

[Bryan 2530]

What are you planning to do???

Troll, chunk, Jig???

Craigslist has gear believe it or not, just got to check it out.

What area??? Put it in your profile so we can help you better.

 

[Megabyte]

What area??? Put it in your profile so we can help you better.

Bryan is correct. It is hard for us to help you if you don't help us.
Go to your profile and at least enter something in the "Location" field.
That way folks in your area can give you gear tips as well as a spot or two to fish. :wink:

Good luck!

 

[mlc20]

What are you planning to do???

Troll, chunk, Jig???

Craigslist has gear believe it or not, just got to check it out.

What area??? Put it in your profile so we can help you better.

Sry I live near boston. I usually fish p-town with my boat and i probably will be trolling and i want to try kite fishing too.

 

[Megabyte]

What are you planning to do???

Troll, chunk, Jig???

Craigslist has gear believe it or not, just got to check it out.

What area??? Put it in your profile so we can help you better.

Sry I live near boston. I usually fish p-town with my boat and i probably will be trolling and i want to try kite fishing too.

Excellent!
OK you northern guys... help a brother out!

 

[DaleH]

For the class of fish we had up here this year, 50W reels were the norm. You don't need all braid or even hollow braid, as I use Momoi Diamond, which breaks higher than the # rating. For budget to start out with, the Shimano TLD50 LSRA @ $320 per is a deal, but I forget where I saw that sale! I've used Pinnacle rods with good success, another really good entry-level rod to at least get fish on the boat.

For kite fishing, you might want 80s. Check local SW fishing forums, like Reel-Time and First Light Anglers, for used stuff. Nat & Derek @ 1st Light are 1st class, as are Joe & John @ Fishermen's Outfitters in Glostah.

 

[pmeggers]

I agree with DaleH...50's are the norm but 30 2 speeds are fine as well.

We caught many big sharks and larger BFTs on 30 2 speeds this summer and they handled the fish fine...actually maybe better as the fight gets more intense

I'd like to get into kite fishing too. I've heard if you can get the mackeral poppin inand out of the water, Makos just cant resist

 

[Maguro]

Well for rods, I had mine custom made at CMS in New Bedford. Great price and I got the name from the comerical tuna guys out of Nanucket, you can't beat there rods.

Kevin

 

[dave-j]

I secon Dale. Fisherman's outfitter sells a nice spinning gear package at a reasonable price. Not the fanciest, but it has landed fish for us plenty!

First Light is also top notch. I would recommend a charter with those guys relatively early in the season. You will learn a ton and short circuit you learning curve. Well worth the considerable price!!!

I got my trolling gear in the classified section of Hull Truth. Many guys give up on it each year and empty their garage of accumulated rods, bars, daisy chains, etc. A lot of it is fairly local to Boston, so you can pick it up or at least see it. Take your time and shop carefully.

I would NOT go with 30's for your trolling setup. The fish are getting too big. 50's are fine for most, however.

I differ from Dale on line. I like to use braid with 100yds or so of mono top shot. The top shot gets replaced each year and the braid every third year or so. Just an individual choice.

Good luck! As a buddy of mine says, "it's like hooking a motorcycle"!

 

[pmeggers]

Anyone familiar with kite fishing for sharks?

 

[jjjansk]

What size tuna do you guys catch up there? We use Avet PRO EX30/2 speeds down here in Texas. They will easily handle tuna over 100lbs and are much more balanced (less top heavy) on the rod due to their smaller size than a 50W. We run 500 yards 80lb powerpro with a 80lb top shot and then 25yds of 60lb floro. We have yet to have any issues with line capacity or breakage. You should be able to pick these up for ~450 new if you look around.

As far as rods go we use tsunami standup rods ~$100. We have 4 years on ours and have not had any issues, they are not custom rods but they are great rods for the price. If they do break, or I have any issues I can take them back to academy and they will replace them. You can spend alot of money on a good custom rod if you want or you can get a good off the shelf rod for a decent price, its up to you.

If your looking for a good spinning reel get at Shimano Spheros 14000 we have 4 and they are great for the price and will handle tuna without any issues. Digitaldagger.com has the cheapest price I have found and free shipping.

Jason

 

[jjjansk]

What size tuna do you guys catch up there? We use Avet PRO EX30/2 speeds down here in Texas. They will easily handle tuna over 100lbs and are much more balanced (less top heavy) on the rod due to their smaller size than a 50W. We run 500 yards 80lb powerpro with a 80lb top shot and then 25yds of 60lb floro. We have yet to have any issues with line capacity or breakage. You should be able to pick these up for ~450 new if you look around.

As far as rods go we use tsunami standup rods ~$100. We have 4 years on ours and have not had any issues, they are not custom rods but they are great rods for the price. If they do break, or I have any issues I can take them back to academy and they will replace them. You can spend alot of money on a good custom rod if you want or you can get a good off the shelf rod for a decent price, its up to you.

If your looking for a good spinning reel get at Shimano Spheros 14000 we have 4 and they are great for the price and will handle tuna without any issues. Digitaldagger.com has the cheapest price I have found and free shipping.

Jason

 

[Capt. Ronnie]

This year most of the fish we got were 60 - 70 inch
Later in the season (oct & nov) we saw a lot of the smaller 40 in fish show up in the mix.
Early season on Stellwagen was the trolling squid bars thing as the fish were feeding on sand eels.
50 class internationals & Tiagras are the norm for these fish.
July & aug the hot thing was live pogies on kites or baloons (we took 2 sellable fish during our charters doing this on stand up)
Oct & nov the smaller fish showed up and guys were getting them on the troll with squid bars & sluggos.
Nov some much larger fish showed up off the Cape, most of the commercial guys were chunking for them.
For rods, CMS make some nice affordable rods. Fisherman's outfitters you can get some good deals on rods/reels and squid bars. They warranty their rods when they break also.
Plenty of good local squid bar builders around also. (Fisherman outfitters, Green Harbor B&T,Taylor Sears of Mass Bay guides, Skip Cornell - Hot Jigs) to name a few.
A pic of one of our bigger ones taken on stand up during a charter

 

[Parker23]

Avet 30pro/ex has a 42lb drag, you can fish it up to 80lb class with no problems.