Hi
We have been wanting to have a look for the Yellowfin tuna out off the Tweed and Gold Coast for a few weeks now and were just waiting for the right window. The weather settled and we headed out. The plan was to keep looking until we found some signs of fish. The first signs came at about 9:30 and it was a small patch of birds with fish busting under it. On the first pass we had a triple hook up of yellowfin around the 40kg mark on lures. On the next pass we had a single strike and after clearing the lines I grabbed a popping rod and ran out onto the bow of the big stebber as there were still birds diving out the front of the boat. My first cast didnt raise anything and out of the corner of my eye I saw 2 flying fish get arborne on the other side of the boat. I made the cast and on the first pop 40kg of yellowfin jumped about 10ft out of the air with my popper firmly lodgeg in its mouth. I set the hooks hard and with steady pressure kept the fish on the surface. I yelled for my deckhand on the boat to get another popper going. He came out on the bow next to me and fired a cast in the same direction that I had hooked up. It was an identical bite to mine. One pop and 35kg of Fin launched out of the water. Double hook up on poppers on big fin. We landed all three fish and decided to put the troll gear away and target the fish with the popping outfits. This resulted in 3 double hook ups with just the two clients casting at the fish as they chopped up. We ended the day releasing three fish and keeping 8. We decided to see if we could catch them again the following day and landed another 4 fish and pulling hooks on a few more. All the fish were around 35kg to 42kg and I believe they are a very viable target species now on our charter boat out of the Tweed IF the weather will allow us to make the long run to where we found these fish. Cant wait to get out there again and have another crack at them. Here are some pics of the fish, I have some videos footage that I took on my I Phone and as soon as I get it edited will post it here.
Regards
Roderick
Ru4reel Charters
