The BeaR
02-04-2010, 01:27 PM
Hi All...
Finally after a very long period of bad weather, a window of opportunity presented itself, not the perfect day, but good enough to get out. One can only go so long without a day fishing and this was going to be that day no matter what.
Left the Urangan boat ramp at 6:30am and headed out in the bay to chase some Longtail Tuna on Soft Plastics. The trip across was good, light winds and reasonably calm water but we were a little worried at the lack of bird or surface activity.
We travelled along the island for quite some time and at around 8:30am, we finally started seeing some surface action. In no time at all schools of Longtail were popping up all around us. First cast into a school saw our first Longtail in the boat at around 7-8kg, followed by another and another. On a couple of occasions Deb and I experienced the adrenaline of double hook-ups. Between us we boated a dozen Longtail as well as 3 self releasing ones.
We headed home around 1:30pm as it was pouring rain all around us by this time and we figured we had more than broken our fishing drought with enough enjoyment to get us through until our next trip.
All fish were caught on Soft plastics. Deb was using her Egrell S10 matched to her Daiwa 4000 hypercustom spooled with 50lb Braid and 40lb wind-on leader. Her plastic of choice was a 5” snapback retrieved slowly back through the water while constantly twitching the rod, not big movements, just constantly during the retrieve.
My choice of Soft plastic was also a 5” snapback. On this particular occasion, rather than my Egrell S10, I was actually testing out a new prototype rod matched to my Daiwa Saltiga Maverick 4500, spooled with 50lb braid and 40lb wind-on leader. My technique is one I have always used when catching LT on SP, and that is to rotate the rod tip while at the same time winding the reel handle (creating a synchronized movement). This movement imparts a very erratic action into the lure, causing it to dart back and forth just below the surface of the water, and because it is a much slower retrieve than normal, it keeps the lure in the path of the tuna for a longer period time, increasing the chances of a hook-up.
I have used this method for many years now because before SP, I caught all my tuna high speed spinning and although I have caught more than my share of LT using this method, in my opinion the effort far outweighs the reward. Soft plastics are so much easier, especially when you are getting a little older and recovery takes a little longer, I just find that nowadays a little less effort enables me to fish all day without fatigue and I achieve better results than the old days.
Eric&Deb…
P.S. Link to Longtail on the flats, cast to capture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSi6TBxzWu8
Finally after a very long period of bad weather, a window of opportunity presented itself, not the perfect day, but good enough to get out. One can only go so long without a day fishing and this was going to be that day no matter what.
Left the Urangan boat ramp at 6:30am and headed out in the bay to chase some Longtail Tuna on Soft Plastics. The trip across was good, light winds and reasonably calm water but we were a little worried at the lack of bird or surface activity.
We travelled along the island for quite some time and at around 8:30am, we finally started seeing some surface action. In no time at all schools of Longtail were popping up all around us. First cast into a school saw our first Longtail in the boat at around 7-8kg, followed by another and another. On a couple of occasions Deb and I experienced the adrenaline of double hook-ups. Between us we boated a dozen Longtail as well as 3 self releasing ones.
We headed home around 1:30pm as it was pouring rain all around us by this time and we figured we had more than broken our fishing drought with enough enjoyment to get us through until our next trip.
All fish were caught on Soft plastics. Deb was using her Egrell S10 matched to her Daiwa 4000 hypercustom spooled with 50lb Braid and 40lb wind-on leader. Her plastic of choice was a 5” snapback retrieved slowly back through the water while constantly twitching the rod, not big movements, just constantly during the retrieve.
My choice of Soft plastic was also a 5” snapback. On this particular occasion, rather than my Egrell S10, I was actually testing out a new prototype rod matched to my Daiwa Saltiga Maverick 4500, spooled with 50lb braid and 40lb wind-on leader. My technique is one I have always used when catching LT on SP, and that is to rotate the rod tip while at the same time winding the reel handle (creating a synchronized movement). This movement imparts a very erratic action into the lure, causing it to dart back and forth just below the surface of the water, and because it is a much slower retrieve than normal, it keeps the lure in the path of the tuna for a longer period time, increasing the chances of a hook-up.
I have used this method for many years now because before SP, I caught all my tuna high speed spinning and although I have caught more than my share of LT using this method, in my opinion the effort far outweighs the reward. Soft plastics are so much easier, especially when you are getting a little older and recovery takes a little longer, I just find that nowadays a little less effort enables me to fish all day without fatigue and I achieve better results than the old days.
Eric&Deb…
P.S. Link to Longtail on the flats, cast to capture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSi6TBxzWu8