Some tuna fishing purists snub their noses at the lowly blackfin, but on light tackle they are fun and they are good on the smoker, too.  You can catch them on diamond jigs and cedar plugs most of the time.  But most tuna fishermen target yellowfins, because they grow bigger and lend themselves to a wider variety of recipes for the table.  Yellowfins can be maddening.  One day it seems they will eat a tennis shoe tied to a rope and others you've got to go down to miniscule leaders and tiny baits to get them to bite.  They feed on all types of baits:  flying fish, ballyhoo, blue runners, scads of various types, sardines, squid...the list is endless.  Sometimes it is hard to get them to lose their "tunnel vision" on what they are feeding on to eat what you are offering.

Some techniques:  slow trolling live "butterbean"-sized hardtails on light fluorocarbon leaders, trolling small ballyhoo with small dusters on light leaders, casting big top-water poppers on spinning gear to busting fish, drifting chunks of cut menhaden (pogies) on light fluorocarbon leader while chumming with same, kite fishing with live baits.  There are so many ways to catch a yellowfin the list is almost endless, and there are so many tricks to employing all these methods.  My advice is to load your tackle box with any and every thing you might need to catch them, because the "code" varies from trip to trip and your success depends on your ability to crack the tunafish code that day.

I don't claim to be an expert on tuna fishing but I've fished with some great captains, mates, and anglers and I've learned a thing or two about it over the years.  I work at Sam's in Orange Beach and we carry darn near anything you might need to catch a tuna.  If you'll stop by and see us I'll walk you through the process and help you select some gear for your bag of tricks.  If you need any more detailed information, PM me or call us at Sam's at (251) 981-4245.  Good luck!