After several days in a row of having to stay home because of strong winds, Captain Damon McKnight with Super Strike Charters (800-318-1720) finally got to get out a couple days at the end of last week. He found the yellowfin tuna right where he thought he would – feeding on the cull from trawl boats.
“Last Friday was a really good day,” said McKnight. “We got out there a little bit late, but we were able to land one 100-pound yellowfin. While that was good, I can tell you that the boats that got there earlier were catching them from 170 to 200 pounds.”
As many off-shore anglers know, this is the time of year to find concentrations of shrimp trawl boats working depths that are favorable for tuna. McKnight says this depth is anywhere from 300 to 600 feet, and he added that anglers could find 300 foot water just 12 miles from the mouth of Southwest Pass.
“What happens is the tuna gang up behind these boats to eat the cull that the shrimpers throw overboard,” McKnight explained. “The pattern is pretty simple. Just follow the trawl boats and be ready to throw a bait in the water when they push the cull over. Competition behind the boats can be pretty fierce, though. The typical deal is to pull in behind a boat, hook up, then drift out to fight the fish.”
With the tuna near the surface and actively looking for the fresh cull, McKnight said that any number of baits would work well. He pointed out Frenzy and Tiger poppers as being excellent choices, and he mentioned that cut bait and dead pogies would work well, too. In fact, McKnight added that anglers could do just as well by grabbing some of the cull like white trout and croakers and getting it back out there quickly with a hook attached.
“The good thing about this kind of fishing right now is that there are several trawl boats working pretty close to each other,” McKnight concluded. “Last Friday, there were six or seven boats working within about a 10 square mile area. But, only one of those boats had fish behind it, so you’ve just got to hope you get behind the right boat.”
Before the tuna bite started at the end of last week, McKnight said that most of the fish coming aboard his boat were cobia. McKnight indicated that anglers that wanted to specifically target the yellowfin tuna should book within the next couple of months. Visit www.superstrikecharters.com for more information.