# Tuna on Violator 1/4



## jmh41190 (Apr 8, 2010)

Four of us left Sportsman's around 1:30 am on the Violator and headed straight to the rigs. Started at the Marlin where we could have caught blackfin for days. After putting about 20 of them in the boat we headed to the Ram Powell right before daybreak. Caught 5 yellowfin there, 2 on the troll and 3 chunking, and could have caught more but had no more room in the box. Only saw one other boat out there (Contender named Lucky 31) and they were loading the boat with yellows along with us. It was pretty ugly out there with seas around 2-4's and a constant mist and sometimes rain in the air. All in all it was a great day on the water. Here are some pictures for now and there is underwater video to come. 

John


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## orca3 (Oct 4, 2007)

wheres the video nancy?


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Good report. Sorry I missed you in the shop yesterday.


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

Very nice! I was anxiously awaiting reports from this week. Glad to see the tuna are still there and active! Hoping to get out there as soon as the weather/seas lay down.


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## sealegs (Jan 11, 2010)

*rig trip*

Wow what a catch! Yall need to take me along just to haul the fish back.Ive got huge fish boxes and no knowledge of fishing for tuna but im gonna learn soon meanwhile im just jealous Sealegs


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## orca3 (Oct 4, 2007)

Name a time and date sealegs and we will come alongfor the ride


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## ateupwitit (May 26, 2008)

man that's some nice fish, wish I was there..........work sucks when the fish are biting, glad to see someone is catching 'em


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## jmh41190 (Apr 8, 2010)

sealegs said:


> Wow what a catch! Yall need to take me along just to haul the fish back.Ive got huge fish boxes and no knowledge of fishing for tuna but im gonna learn soon meanwhile im just jealous Sealegs


Let us know when you want to go and we will bring the gear if you bring the boat!


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## jmh41190 (Apr 8, 2010)

MSYellowfin said:


> Very nice! I was anxiously awaiting reports from this week. Glad to see the tuna are still there and active! Hoping to get out there as soon as the weather/seas lay down.


Yeah they were killing the chunk lines at ram powell. I was suprised when I saw your boat on the rack


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## bonita dan (Oct 3, 2007)

Some quality yellowfin right there. Have yall considered getting a fish bag or 2 to increase your take? We keep 2 behind the 270 yeti for such an emergency or just to store the blackfin so as not to bloody the fresh ice.


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## jmh41190 (Apr 8, 2010)

We have talked about it a little bit but probably should get one. Does it come in handy for yall?


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## bonita dan (Oct 3, 2007)

POS site timed me out while replying. WTF! Anyhow,yes we use the bags a lot. We keep the blacks iced down in them to tuffin up the meat for chunking. They also come in handy for a green dolphin or a large wahoo so as not to have to deal with a cooler full of ice while the business end is thrashing on the deck. Plus extra capacity is never a bad thing and they don't take up any room at all when folded.


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## younghooker (Oct 7, 2007)

black fin limit is 2 / person


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## lingfisher1 (Oct 9, 2007)

younghooker said:


> black fin limit is 2 / person


:blink: 
Where did you read that and when did it change? Last I checked there was no limit.


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

According to Alabama's website for HMS fish, blackfin has no size limit or bag limit. You may keep as many as you wish. (see page 17)
http://www.outdooralabama.com/images/file/fed-rec-regs-2010.pdf


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## jmh41190 (Apr 8, 2010)

Blackfin has no limit and yeah we used them for chunking but ill have to look into the bag for sure


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## devndeb (Mar 16, 2008)

OK...I'll admit...novice at the boat fishing stuff...have been deep a few times but on others boats...and my little 18 footer I'm not even pretending it'll go out there...buuutttt...I've had Blackfin ad it wasn't bad...although not near as good as YFT...Do you guys pretty much use them for bait only? Just wondering as I WILL go out to 10 miles this winter on a calm day and hopefully catch the hell out of them...thoughts?


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## jmh41190 (Apr 8, 2010)

If we had room to keep some blackfin we would have but we didnt so we just used them to chunk. We did keep a bunch of them last trip though and ate them and they were pretty good I thought.


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## sniper (Oct 3, 2007)

WOW!!! I bet it was a great day despite the weather.


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

In my opinion regarding eating blackfin, if you bleed them well, keep them well iced down and do not freeze them, they can be quite good. In my experience if we ever freeze them, much like king mackerel they taste horrible. Over the years I have become jaded to where we do not keep them anymore other than to chunk with.

Here is a tip I learned last year that has been great on tuna cleaning. If you will clean the exterior of the tuna with lots of fresh water and clean rags before you start cleaning it, then NEVER let fresh water touch any meat, the meat will look soooo much better and freeze better. Something about the chlorine in fresh water that turns the mean an ugly color. To get that nice bloomed look on YFT, never let tap water touch the meat! Works great.

Robert


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## jdhkingfisher (Aug 6, 2010)

dang, sweet.


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## big blue (Jun 28, 2008)

Pretty work guys!


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## Lucky31 (Jan 11, 2011)

Glad to hear you had a good haul for the day. We ran out of space for fish too.

We launched in Ocean Springs and ran out to get live bait first. Fortunately we did get some perfect hardtails and it was game on...

Once we got set, the current was just right, we dropped them back one at a time and the Tuna annihilated them. 2-3 pulled the hook/stole the bait right after the initial bite. All in all we ended up with 7 YFT between 80-100 Lbs.

I use fish bags out of necessity. My Contender is a fisharound...no big box up front. I use a 40x80 and a 30x48. The big bag will hold 5 YF and ice. The smaller one would only hold two with their tails sticking out...lol.

It was kinda snotty out there, but very fishable and it slicked out for the ride home.


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## Wingman1 (Jun 5, 2010)

Glad to hear that Lucky 31...We noticed yall were hooked up everytime we were! Did yall catch any big ones on that popper yall were throwing?


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## Lucky31 (Jan 11, 2011)

Nothing on that popper...I had one explode on it right when it hit the water...but he missed it. We were having so much success with the live baits I gave up throwing the popper and just drove the boat. I use one of those Shimano Saragosa spinning reels. Tons of power. It will handle big fish just like a Stella at half the price.

I just ate the last of the tuna I kept. We had quite a bit so we ended up giving out some late Christmas presents. Everyone likes a bag of YFT.:thumbup:


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## samoajoe (Dec 28, 2010)

What lures did they hit when you were trolling? Hell of a catch!!!!


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## BBreeze (Aug 26, 2009)

all small naked ballyhoo on #60 florocarbon


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