YFT popping , I am at a loss !

[Jon Li]

 

Went fishing yesterday for YFT  ,  3 of us tried lures from poppers  ,  stickbaits , spoons , metal jigs and even tried bare trebles casting into the boiling YFTs eating small anchovies . Our lures were completely ignored by thousands if not ten of thousands of YFTs , some of them are medium sized around 30+ kg .

We were alerted by friends who fished there earlier to bring " all options " as far as lures are concerned but still zero strike let alone hook up .

Anyone have idea as one of the participants are eager to try again .

Jon . 

 

[Graham Scott]

Hi Jon,
I know its a bit obvious, but have you tried really small metal slugs to "match the hatch". We often have to go down to tiny slugs to catch Mackerel Tuna and longtail tuna.
maybe 50mm long and 20gms

[Jon Li]

Hi Graham ,

We tried using that , still being ignored . Lots of whalesharks around too , they are eating these small anchovies .

In the past , downsizing our lures worked and we were well prepared for that eventualities but not this time .

The commercial fishermen trolling feathers met the same fate with us , the only one that were successfull are those purse seiners !

Jon .

[Nathan Cefai]

  where about were u fishing for these tuna ??
i guess times can be tough for the buggers at times!!!

[Luke Wyrsta]

Off your normal lure, run another piece of FC shock leader to a Surf Candy or "Eye" fly imitating micro baitfish. May trigger a strike not only on the fl but may cause frenzy of the lure (Which would be more favourable!)

[Andrew Poulos]

As Luke said, the good 'ol Islander trick. Works well off the rocks here in different forms, but have a small fly trailing something that creates a splash and that may do the trick. Ive seen that work on all kinds of fish here.

[Andy Rowe]

Jon,

Interestingly the morning previous to when we fished together, the YFT were eager to take other offerings for a short period. I had a strike on a 'Tailwalk'- Gunz stickbait and a  halco metal slug.  unfortunately a whale shark swallowed my gunz on a later cast and the halco slug broke off during a fight due to a wind knot.

Following this I had nothing to match the small bait and it appeared as the morning wore on the Tuna became fussy and completely focused on the 'real' bait.

The next morning as you know, though the YFT were still abundant but there was zero interest in anything apart from the real bait again regardless of the fact that we were using very small metals and landing them right on the money.

I'd certainly like to try again.

Andy

[Jon Li]

Guys ,

Thanks for the suggestions , everyone .

Andy , I guess must try again ! Let's wait for Ky to respond , already told him you are keen to go again .

Jon .

[Andy Rowe]

A small, un-weighted imitating soft-plastic trailed off the back might work as well. Unfortunately I've not seen any sold locally.

[Andrew Poulos]

How did you manage to get your Gunz taken by a whale shark...cast too close to it?

Wish we had thousands of YFT around here 

[Robert Palcak]

Hi Jon... another obvious point, but what sized leader were you using?
The bigger the YFT, the better their eye-sight.
I would consider going right down to 40lb leader in cases like you described above.

[Jon Li]

How did you manage to get your Gunz taken by a whale shark...cast too close to it?

Wish we had thousands of YFT around here 

Andrew ,

At times we were practically " face to face " with the whale sharks ! They were so close , we could touch them with the tip of our rods .

Jon .

[Jon Li]

Hi Jon... another obvious point, but what sized leader were you using?
The bigger the YFT, the better their eye-sight.
I would consider going right down to 40lb leader in cases like you described above.

I was using 100 lbs. mono but Andy was using , if not mistaken , 80 lbs. fluorocarbon leader . We will try the thin fluorocarbon leader the next time I encounter YFTs again , hope those YFT schools stay for a couple more weeks in the bay of Pelabuhan Ratu , south of West Java .

Jon . 

[Chris Young]

Hi Jon
Just a thought..If the tuna are that thick a obviously focussed on the bait I'm guessing you can get fairly close to them. If so try a plastic as Andy suggested, if they don't take an imitation colour try something in bubble gum pink, Don't know what it is about this colour but it works on our fish when they are fussy

[Jon Li]

Hi Chris ,

If the schools are staying in the bay , we will try catching them again this weekend , hope the baitfishes have become thin so those tunas can be enticed to strike our lures , definitely will try new technique !

Jon .