Frothing Australian Bluefin Barrels on Stickbait

[Luke Wyrsta]

Well - the man made it happen...Winga called me Tuesday and a matter of hours later I was on a flight to Melbourne with stickbait and popping gear in stow!

Waited all day, competing with some 50 aggressive boats to find schools of barrel sized 100kg plus Bluefin Tuna...at 3 o'clock with barrels some 6 - 8ft long shotgunning and jumping everywhere Winga put me in for the trophy shot and we got the eat!

Never seen such a strike only some 15ft from the boat - whilst another 50 boats struggled for prime position with not one getting an eat during that period!

Unfortunately we did get a poor hook-up and she spat the hooks moments later.

We now have the opportunity to refine our techniques and rigging...if you have any thoughts on tuna stickbait rigging then please do share. Using Ocea BFT Specials and TH Shibuki's I'm not entirely convinced that trebles are the way to go and may instead look at larger singles or baker style rigging.

Here's hoping we can get to TAS in next few weeks or find some boiling south coast Yellowfin action!

[Robert Palcak]

Thought I saw you guys out there on Tues... well I recognised Winga anyway!
Shame about dropping the fish... and I also heard you guys got chopped off on another fish by the idiot brigade!
We had a popper rod on board, but never got a clean shot at a bust-up... we did however drop some jigs into bait schools... albeit without much luck.
Welcome to Victoria... and all the hero snapper fishermen that have no idea about game fishing.

BTW - I'd definately go singles for SBT's... even just a single 13/0 Shiden or similar off the tail if weight is an issue. A single hook is nearly always enough as these fish will engulf the entire lure deeply... we often have to use long nosed pliers to remove a hook that's lodged deep down their throat! My rule for these fish is big gaped hooks preferably in a heavy gauge. Sometimes you get lucky and pin the fish in a hard part of the mouth, but more often than not, you hit a soft spot and small hooks, even trebles, just get ripped out under heavy drags.

[Luke Wyrsta]

Thanks Rob....

Absolute mayhem yeah?!?!?

Desperately trying to get back within the week.

[Robert Palcak]

Same boat?
I'm out again next week... I'll give you a wave this time 

[Luke Wyrsta]

Same boat?
I'm out again next week... I'll give you a wave this time 

Most probably - and this time no trolling rigs at all 

[John Joubert]

Most probably - and this time no trolling rigs at all 

Should be popular stopping to work the patch

Which boat Luke? .Wingas Alufarm?

Im there for 5 days from Thursday.


JJ 

[Luke Wyrsta]

Most probably - and this time no trolling rigs at all 

Should be popular stopping to work the patch

Which boat Luke? .Wingas Alufarm?

Im there for 5 days from Thursday.


JJ

Hey John,

Stopping was minimal last trip as the boat was also trolling a spread.

In my opinion, having no spread and slowing/pausing on the EDGE makes us less obtrusive than being part of a dozen boats wrestling to drive through the centre of the frothing frenzy. We take up 10 square metres as opposed to a lot more with spread! I pick my opportunity and make a mindful cast - no point obstructing a boat with a cast as it will only mean lost lures and angry gestures!

[Luke Wyrsta]

Most probably - and this time no trolling rigs at all 

Should be popular stopping to work the patch

Which boat Luke? .Wingas Alufarm?

Im there for 5 days from Thursday.


JJ

Yeah Wingas rig mate.

I'm sure you will do well if the fish are still there!

Good Luck 

[John Joubert]

We did the same ,Luke , pinged a few lures on the way past (with troll gear out as well) only got a 3 second run and drop on a 130 bent butt

We also found 2 patches by ourselves that just refused to bite with kegs passing our spread by meters on a few occasions, sent the jigs over on one for 15 minutes but no joy either.

Keep trying with everything crossed for luck.

JJ

[Chuen Fan]

A mate got one in at 103kg and got spooled the next day. Had one on yesterday for an hour 40 mins yesterday before it spat the hooks! They're definately there... Just too bloody hard to get a cast in without getting chopped off by a prop!

[Cam Munro]

Hi Luke - what combo were you using on the Tuna? Keen to know about rod, reel and line capacity...cheers cam

[Stan Konstantaras]

Hi Luke,
I got into a bunch of SBT pups a few years ago way off Port Lincoln.
I started with singles on my stickbaits and missed a mile of fish, then changed to a big treble and started landing.
Using sinking stickbaits, the art is waiting until they turn and then striking.
Most fish will come up from behind, and most times you will pull a lure away on the strike, wait till it turns and then strike.
Having a SBT take a lure from the side gave an even better hook up rate, but having had many fish take the lure 15ft from the boat as well, thats when most fished were missed, you just go wide eyed and slack jawed.
Smith Runboh (sinking)worked for me.
And if you can get your hands on them,  Ocea Pencil PB1851 - 09T.

Smallish lures, but even elephants eat peanuts.
Cheers
stan

[Saltywater Tackle]

Hi Luke,
seems like it started to heat up on your end
most of the stick baits that i use are attached with a single teaser hook on the back and i have great success on triggering  strikes.
some of the lures have great action and darts very nicely on the twitch,
the Shimano Ocea Pencil is affordable and always been and still a favorite one,
if you can find the kind of bait they are feeding on, it is a plus.
i will only use treble on a swimmer and the longer the fight the higher the chances to loose the fish,
i try to use a heavy drag to keep the fight short and land the fish, in both cases it helps if you want to keep the fish or if you intend to release it the survival rate is higher.
if you need any help email us.
 Tight lines
   Sami

[Luke Wyrsta]

Hi Luke,
seems like it started to heat up on your end
most of the stick baits that i use are attached with a single teaser hook on the back and i have great success on triggering  strikes.
some of the lures have great action and darts very nicely on the twitch,
the Shimano Ocea Pencil is affordable and always been and still a favorite one,
if you can find the kind of bait they are feeding on, it is a plus.
i will only use treble on a swimmer and the longer the fight the higher the chances to loose the fish,
i try to use a heavy drag to keep the fight short and land the fish, in both cases it helps if you want to keep the fish or if you intend to release it the survival rate is higher.
if you need any help email us.
 Tight lines
   Sami

Hi Sami,

Do you drop many fish on the heavy drag? i.e. do the inherently smaller hooks for smaller lures pull more often?

[Saltywater Tackle]

Hi Sami,
Do you drop many fish on the heavy drag? i.e. do the inherently smaller hooks for smaller lures pull more often?
[/quote]

Hi Luke,
i personally use heavy drag to land the fishes and in some cases the hook opens, but i have been lucky to land most of them,
as for the smaller hooks such as the 1/0 and 2/0 i feel they are a bit stronger as they are smaller in diameter,
Paul just landed his fish on a 2/0 with no problem, it has to do with the way the hook is set on the jaw,
you lose fish due to line breakages more then hooks being pulled.
Sami
Tight lines