YELLOWFIN TUNA

 

Latin Name: Thunnus albacares

 

OTHER NAMES: Tunny, Johadiri (Swahili), Jodari (Kenya) Ahi (Hawaii)

 

A true pelagic migrant, Yellowfin tuna are one of the world’s most widespread species. These incredibly hard fighting fish can be found in warm offshore currents right around Africa. Tuna are one of the only fish that have a warmer body temperature than the water they swim in, Yellowfin have an extremely high metabolism, which accounts for their powerful fights on rod and line.

 

DESCRIPTION:

With an oblong barrel shaped body, canary yellow fins, finlets and tail and large eye these are one of the ocean’s handsomest fish. The head and body are dark blue dorsally, brassy yellow down the sides and silver below. They have a series of white bars and spots down the sides. The mouth is quite large, with small conical teeth in neat rows. As Yellowfin tuna become larger their anal and dorsal fins grow longer in a sickle shape, on really big specimens these reach almost back to the tail.

 

WHERE FOUND:

Yellowfin tuna are found worldwide in both tropical and temperate waters, their preferred temperature range is between 18 and 27 degrees Celsius. They seem to favour areas where two currents of different temperatures meet. They will also hunt deep down on the thermocline at times, but generally are closer to the surfaced when feeding.

 

SEASONS:

Although there are peaks in certain areas Yellowfin tuna can be caught year round off our coast. Kenya and Tanzania the peak season for big Yellowfin is August to October. Off Cape Town the Yellowfin run from March to May and October to December.

 

SIZE:

Yellowfin tuna grow to 190 kilo’s, the biggest I have heard of caught in our waters was a fish of 115kg’s caught off Cape Town.

 

NATURAL HISTORY:

Yellowfin tuna are a pelagic gamefish of the open ocean. They are specially designed for speed and are one of the oceans’ fastest fish. They undertake massive migrations, depending upon current movements. They feed both near the surface and very deep, depending on the movements of their food sources. Tuna feed voraciously on shoaling bait fish, as well as shrimps, squid and larval forms of other marine life. Hunting in shoals, Yellowfin are expert at balling up schools of baitfish and decimating them from below. When feeding near or on the surface shoals are often identified by the flocks of terns hovering and diving above the school, while the tuna raise fountains of white water as they rip into the shoals of bait fish. Because of their incredible speed Yellowfin often leap high into the air while feeding, after zooming up on baitfish from below.

Yellowfin tuna are often in the company of schools of dolphins, as they will work in tandem to ball up bait and feed on it.

 

 

HOW TO CATCH TUNA:

In my opinion Yellowfin tuna are pound for pound one of the strongest, hardest fighting fish in the sea. Catching them on spinning tackle is always a challenge and is an excellent test of strength of both the tackle and the fisherman. Thankfully these fish fight cleanly, so it is a straight slugging match with no dirty tricks involved.

 

Ideal water temperature for Yellowfin tuna is 22 to 23 degrees. This is the temperature at which they are most likely to be feeding freely.

 

Chumming or chunking is a good way to bring tuna around the boat and into casting range. Off Cape point the boats have learnt to trail along behind a longliner or trawler when they are bringing their catch in. Yellowfin follow these boats too as a huge amount of bycatch and lost fish form a slick of easy meals behind these boats. The skipper or crew of the tuna boat then throws chunks of pilchards into the water at regular intervals and before long big Yellowfin can be seen cruising in the water below, picking up the chunks of pilchard.

 

Most times, though, a shoal of feeding tuna is spotted on the way to or from a fishing spot, by the birds diving and the splashes of water below and should be careful about approaching them without putting the shoal down.

 

Upon locating a school of tuna feeding near or on the surface one can try various options. Surface poppers and stick baits, particularly those with a realistic finish, can be deadly. Tuna have excellent eyesight and are normally found in clean water so that they can get a good look at the lure. Therefore the more realistic the lure, the better the angler’s chances of hooking up. Spoons can also produce good fishing. Tuna can be very selective when feeding, especially when it comes to size. Big tuna will often feed on very small baitfish and it can be necessary to imitate these when targeting them. The best way to do this is to use spoons that are small but heavy for their size, such as bullet spoons, rigged with a strong hook and attached to the lure by a strong split ring. Whether spoons or poppers are used it is best to cast the lure to the side of the shoal and work it along the edge of the feeding fish, normally quite fast. A couple of fish will often peel away from the shoal and chase down the lure with spectacular eagerness.

With Poppers it is often a good thing to allow the popper to lie floating at rest for some time between pops. Yellowfin appear to like smashing the popper while it is lying still. Cast the popper in the direction of feeding fish, give it a hard pop or two, then leave it on the surface for a while, before popping it again and leaving it. The water will often explode on a floating popper and the fish will be on.

 

Tuna can also be fished for with jigs when they are holding deep. Heavy bucktail jigs, dropshots or heavy metal jigs are productive when fished this way. The secret is to find the depth that the fish are feeding at, and then work that depth with the jigs.

Spinning tackle for tuna needs to be robust and strong and have the ability to cast light lures. A large fixed spool reel, loaded with braid and fitted onto a short stout spinning rod is probably the best option. The reel needs plenty of line capacity and the rod needs good lifting power, especially if tuna are being targeted in deep water. These fish tend to dive very deep when hooked and can be hard to lift. Leaders for tuna should be made of strong, low visibility material such as fluorocarbon, as these fish can be frustratingly fussy and leader shy.

 

YellowfinTuna are occasionally taken from rocky points and beaches on our coast where anglers fish spoons into deep water.

 

Recommended Tackle for spinning for Yellowfin:

 

Rod: Shimano Ocea Bluefin Series

Reel: Shimano Stella 20 000 to 30 000

Line: Power Pro Maxcuatro 100lb

Leader: Double X Fluorocarbon 150lb

 

Look under the species section in the Inside Angling online store to see a variety of options for tackle to target yellowfin in different price ranges.