Setting up for a Tuna run at westport/ilwaco

J

joechiro30

New member
I just did a tuna run with some of my fishing buddies on his boat. We fished Westport and ran about 2 to 3 hours to our destination in rough sees. When we got to our spot we saw a few other boats fishing there as well and saw that the water was a change in color. A purplish blue. We heard through the radio chat that everyone was having a tough day of fishing. The charters may have caught a few that day too. We were trolling about 7 miles an hour with some rapala lure and a cedar plug hoping to get a bite, then switch over to swim baits and through out some live bait. The live bait we got from Westport on our way out.
This was our first trip and we got no tuna. We heard that you can catch a lot if you are on them.
Anyway, I want to try for them again and would appreciate any tips on what to look for. I would like to avoid going out if there is a poor chance of catching. Maybe just unlucky. But a full moon cycle I heard can keep the fish deep or off the bite which we did fish during a full moon cycle.
What do we need to do to set a live well in a tomcat 255?
What lures should we use to troll
and when we want to use metal jigs what jigs do you recommend and what swim baits?

Thanks for any tips and advice

Would be good to buddy boat with a few boats second weekend of August

Joe
 
I only know Southern California style Albie fishing, but it may help. We use smallish 5" swimbaits in a dark purple or black sardine color with a 1 oz head. The large head keeps it down while trolling in rough seas at 7-9 knots. Use a drop of super glue to hold the body on the head. A dislodged swimbait can make a mess of your line if you are not watching. I like the swimbait system because if you do get into them you want to limit your time unhooking fish to a minimum. I even pinch the barb if the fishing is hot. Good luck , remember to bleed and throw them in a saltwater ice slurry ASAP. It's usually just my wife and I, so we tend to "forget" the fish in all of the excitement. I wish I was there.
 
Just got 8 tuna out of garibaldi. I learned everything i know about tuna at ifish.net. You will find everything you need to know there...

I trolled 2 5" swim baits, 2 cedar plugs, and 2 clones behind yo zuri divers, connected to handlines.
 
Sunday (and Saturday) were tough days for everyone fishing tuna off of the Columbia river and areas slightly north. I was a on live bait charter out of Ilwaco on Sunday and we only got 5 (for 10 people fishing). From what I could overhear on the radio chatter, we were one of the "top boats" on a very tough day. When our fish went to the processor, there were very few other fish being presented and at least one fisherman was buying fish since his charter boat caught none.

As for what to troll, many things work. X-raps in the purple and black combo are good but they can get easily detuned and create tangles. Tuna clones in the green/yellow/orange combo do well also. I've had better luck with those than with X-raps but have caught plenty on both. I can run about 8-9 lines off of my tomcat. 4-5 off the stern and another 4 over the top of those from rod holders mounted on the cabin roof and handholds on either side of the door. Just stagger the lengths so that the lines cross over each other in turns without tangling. E.g. run the ones of the stern in a W pattern. Long/short/long/short/long.

Swim baits are also great and as suggested the purple/black combo works well. The great thing about swim baits is that they fish well at slow speeds and drop down as you come to a stop to reel in other fish. They still fish well even as you're drifting so if you can leave them in the water without getting too many tangles, you often pick up extra fish on them.

I bought a 32 gal. Kodiak tank (the West Marine re-branded one) to install on my tomcat. I'll put it on 2 weekends from now. We'll see which location works best but it is either going on the aft seat or just in front of that on the floor.
 
Thanks everyone for the tips. I may also get the 32 gal Kodiak and install that near the aft seat as well. Would that be permanent location or would you be able to take it out with ease when not in use? Can you troll your swim baits with the x raps and the clones? Great ideas on trolling. We launched from Westport because of the ease to get live bait there. Can you also get live bait from ilwaco?

Also what is the best way to plumb the live well. Do you need to buy a bilge pump for it or does it come with?
 
Roger: At what speed do you typically travel to reach the tuna grounds? How long does it take each way? What are the typical water conditions on your fishing days (I know from other posts that you try to choose favorable weather). What is your preferred source for weather forecasts? Do you have continuous contact with other boats over VHF? I assume you lose cell reception at some point offshore. I no longer have a C-Dory but instead a Stabicraft 2050 SC and I'm wondering about the feasibility of tuna fishing in my boat. Thanks, Mike.
 
joechiro30":3uibhdpy said:
Thanks everyone for the tips. I may also get the 32 gal Kodiak and install that near the aft seat as well. Would that be permanent location or would you be able to take it out with ease when not in use?
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That all depends on how one installs it. I plan to install it so it can be removed. That's one of the motivations for putting it on the seat as opposed to in front of it. On the seat I can use hidden fasteners in the starboard lid and then install the mounting brackets only when needed. I can do that also on the floor but it's a bit tougher to do in fiberglass and then I have some threaded inserts that will collect garbage on the floor.

joechiro30":3uibhdpy said:
Can you troll your swim baits with the x raps and the clones? Great ideas on trolling. We launched from Westport because of the ease to get live bait there. Can you also get live bait from ilwaco?
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Yes you can troll swim baits with the X-raps. Since the X-raps run below the surface, they really don't need to be that far behind the boat 40-60' of line out is probably plenty. Then put the swim baits out at say 60-80' and they will stay in the top few inches of water.

joechiro30":3uibhdpy said:
Also what is the best way to plumb the live well. Do you need to buy a bilge pump for it or does it come with?
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You have to buy a separate pump and a bait pump is different than a standard bilge pump as the flow rate is lower and most are designed to pick up water when the boat is moving (even with the pump off). I have made a bracket that I will mount to the hand rails that attach to the bracket (near the dive ladder) that will allow me to add and remove and raise/lower the pump as needed. I plan to wire it with a Scotty down rigger plug so I can just plug it in as needed. I don't know if the bracket I made will work well - I think it will but that's still to be tested. The pump will feed the tank from the bottom inlet and then a hose will run out the back of the boat to drain the overflow. I'll probably have to put a valve or tee in line to all for adjustment of the flow. I don't know if this will be the "best way" to plumb the live well but it's unlikely as usually my first through my third attempt at doing anything on the boat at less than optimal and I start to get thing right around the 4th time. :lol:
 
One thing I am thinking about is installing a raw water pickup that is fed through the bracket. I'm thinking of a device like this one. My thought is that if I install it in the bottom of the bracket and weld in a pipe that runs through and above the bracket, I can get my water picked up while running without having a true through hull. I may have one made out of aluminum so that it can be welded directly to the bracket and so that I don't have to worry about contact between dissimilar metals.
 
westward":lv1r72jx said:
Roger: At what speed do you typically travel to reach the tuna grounds? How long does it take each way? What are the typical water conditions on your fishing days (I know from other posts that you try to choose favorable weather). What is your preferred source for weather forecasts? Do you have continuous contact with other boats over VHF? I assume you lose cell reception at some point offshore. I no longer have a C-Dory but instead a Stabicraft 2050 SC and I'm wondering about the feasibility of tuna fishing in my boat. Thanks, Mike.
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Mike - usually on a good calm day we can hit 20-25 kts on the way out (against the swells) and 30-35kts on the way in. Out of Neah Bay, we have to go 45-80 miles out (typically 55). Out of Westport or Ilwaco, its more like 35 typical. So a 2 hour run out with a 90 minute (or less) run back in. With Verizon, I get good service out to about 35 miles offshore and often can get service as far as 50 miles offshore. Occasionally I have contact with other boats over VHF but unless I know them, we're not generally talking. There are almost always multiple other boats within a few miles - especially on calm days when the tuna are around. Charter, commercial and recreational tuna boats will all be in the same general area once schools are located.

On the correct days almost any boat can operate for tuna. The big limitations are fuel (1/3 out, 1/3 back and 1/3 in reserve) and the ability to carry enough ice to manage the fish. If I had sufficient fuel capacity, I would have been fine taking my 22 tuna fishing on the good days. One could do that out of Ilwaco, not so much out of Neah Bay. I did operate my 22 at Blue Dot out of Neah Bay on several occasions and that's about 35 miles offshore.

For weather/swell/wind and wind wave predictions, I use Swellwatch, a site designed for surfers. If I see 3 days in a row with predicted flat seas, the middle day will almost certainly be flat. Of course, I listen to the weather radio predictions prior to leaving the dock also and (depending on the day) will get updates via radio during the course of the day.
 
Discovery":1sd84sr8 said:
Roger, http://www.westmarine.com/buy/aquaworld--superbait-live-replacement-bait-bags--P019_570_003_506

I have used a bait bag similar to this one many times. It works well for a scoop of sardinas or 15 mackerels. I mounted it on the starboard side in front of the engine.

TomCat_3_06_006.sized.jpg

I have the 15 gallon size. Easy on, and when off, the mounts are small and out of the way. Empty it can be tipped up to raise the engine fully up. Nothing in the cockpit to fish around.
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Brent, I looked at those based on a previous thread where we had a similar discussion. I decided to go with the larger oval bait tank for a couple of reasons. We have to do fairly long runs in rough water to get to the tuna and the larger, oval tank is gentler on the bait. Also, we are almost always getting anchovies for bait and I think they are more fragile than sardines and certainly more than mackerel. Also, if one has 3-4 people fishing, I think having the tank in more central location is better as it's a bit easier for access. But regardless, the bait bag is also a great solution. I forget - how did you rig your pump/water pickup?
 
TomCat_3_06_008.jpg

It's hard to see, but the pump is mounted to the back of the port sponson. The hose comes up through the Armstrong bracket via fittings. the pump and hose are there all the time. It disconnects from the bait bag. The pump is also useful as a wash down on the Armstrong bracket. I carry the bait bag on the flat deck under the berth between the sponsons. It's out of the way and always there if I decide to fish live bait.

For your fishing situation, offshore for Tuna, the hard sided baitwell is probably best. I wish we could make it to fish a trip with you.
 
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