# Destin Bluewater Tips



## FishFighter92 (Jul 10, 2012)

Hey All!

I know I'm new here but usually I'm over on THT, and I wanted to try some people more local, and I posted it over there also, but I'm sure many will direct me to this forum! :thumbup:

We are planning our first trip out on Wednesday and I'm looking for any advice for trolling and catching blackfin/yellowfin tuna out of Destin. We have always been offshore with a guide that helps us get to know how to do these types of things better and get to know our boat, but we think we are ready to give it a shot by ourselves. The guide we always go with is mainly a bottom fishing guy, and I don't think he's the most comfortable pulling baits! 

We are planning on running 5 lines... Two ballyhoo tipped ilanders off of the sides, with two yo-zuri bonitas in the middle wake close to the boat and one long shotgun... which I was thinking of just putting a naked ballyhoo or something similar. We are really trying to target Wahoo, Tuna, and if we get a shot at a billfish. And what is the preference of line... wire leader or mono? 

That brings me to one more question... if you see a school of bustling tuna somewhere in the distance, what do you throw at them to get them to bite? I've always read reporst of people chunking for tuna, but we don't really know anything about how to catch them. And we've always seen a couple of schools each time we go out but never know what to throw at them!

Any other tips and suggestions would be great!


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## missprint (Oct 4, 2007)

Drop ballyhoo way back and troll through them


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## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

Nothing like casting a popper into the middle of a school of busting Tuna!


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## Starlifter (Feb 24, 2011)

*2012 ATLANTIC HMS ANGLING PERMIT(Recreational)*

If you haven't already done so, make sure you purchase a *2012 ATLANTIC HMS ANGLING PERMIT(Recreational)* for your vessel which goes for $20 this year. Once the vessel is permitted, whoever fishes from that boat is covered while the permit is valid. This permit also covers the Gulf of Mexico.

Permits
https://hmspermits.noaa.gov/initialapp.asp

FAQS
https://hmspermits.noaa.gov/faqs.asp

*note: make certain you select a *2012 ATLANTIC HMS ANGLING PERMIT(Recreational)*, and not a Commercial or Charter/Headboat Permit; I have read posts before where some people have accidentally did this when purchasing their permit for their vessel.


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## FishFighter92 (Jul 10, 2012)

Starlifter said:


> If you haven't already done so, make sure you purchase a *2012 ATLANTIC HMS ANGLING PERMIT(Recreational)* for your vessel which goes for $20 this year. Once the vessel is permitted, whoever fishes from that boat is covered while the permit is valid. This permit also covers the Gulf of Mexico.
> 
> Permits
> https://hmspermits.noaa.gov/initialapp.asp
> ...


Thanks for the heads up! Had no idea at all... Since we are usually bottom fishing and haven't really tried for any of those type of fish, but will be sure to get one before we go out this week!


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## LRAD (Aug 13, 2009)

We got molested by a school of yellowfin between the elbow and the nipple on Saturday. Had five ballyhoo out and every one got smacked within about two seconds of each other. We were fishing in a tournament so we were using circle hooks, and only got one solid hookup on a 48 lb fish. Lots of open water tuna bites this year, and if our experience is any guide, they like ballyhoo, either naked or with small dusters / skirts. Casting to them is a different story, of course.


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## FishFighter92 (Jul 10, 2012)

LRAD said:


> We got molested by a school of yellowfin between the elbow and the nipple on Saturday. Had five ballyhoo out and every one got smacked within about two seconds of each other. We were fishing in a tournament so we were using circle hooks, and only got one solid hookup on a 48 lb fish. Lots of open water tuna bites this year, and if our experience is any guide, they like ballyhoo, either naked or with small dusters / skirts. Casting to them is a different story, of course.


 Yeah, we are going to rig up the ilanders and the shot gun with mono so that it doesn't spook the tuna. And we'll try some jigs and poppers on the top and see if that works. 

And about the HMS permit, I have honestly never heard of it... is it something that everyone needs? I thought that I would have heard of it by now... Just trying to get the right idea.


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## jplvr (Mar 7, 2011)

FishFighter92 said:


> Yeah, we are going to rig up the ilanders and the shot gun with mono so that it doesn't spook the tuna. And we'll try some jigs and poppers on the top and see if that works.
> 
> And about the HMS permit, I have honestly never heard of it... is it something that everyone needs? I thought that I would have heard of it by now... Just trying to get the right idea.


 It's a permit for the boat, and yes, you need it if you're want to bring back tuna, swords, and some other stuff.


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## Aquahollic (Sep 24, 2009)

It's not needed for blackfin. It is required for pretty much every other species of tuna though.


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## FishFighter92 (Jul 10, 2012)

Got our permit today! Thanks for the heads up! Will post up how we did when I get back!


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## jplvr (Mar 7, 2011)

I do have a question though. We don't have a permit on any boat I fish because we don't target those fish currently. With reports about open water tuna and the fact we plan on us trolling from the Elbow to the Nipple soon, I kind of think we should get that permit before we go. I mean, I know we'd need to get it unless we're going swordfishing or hitting the rigs, but I think it's a crapshoot for us to catch some this weekend. If we didn't get a permit prior to the trip, caught/kept some yellowfin, didn't get stopped before being in cell range, and purchased a permit before getting stopped, would the permit be valid for the fish on board that day?

It's not like $20 is a huge deal, so I understand why we should just go ahead and do it, but it's only human to wonder about that other scenario and the legalities. I'll probably just do it anyway, and it's probably better off if I don't know that scenario would work. I don't mind dumping money on the permit and coming home without yellowfin.


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## jplvr (Mar 7, 2011)

I've already answered my question as far as it concerns me, but I'd still like to know the answer. There's no doubt in my mind we're going to bring home any legal yellowfin that hits the deck on the trip I mentioned, so we might as well spend the $10 a piece to buy the permit. I doubt we catch any, but we need to be ready just in case we get lucky.


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## FishFighter92 (Jul 10, 2012)

The tuna trip was a bust... I dot think we committed to it enough... But we ended up trolling around the elbow for an hour then we went and bottom fished. This was my dads call since he's more of a bottom fisher and likes to put fish in the boat. Well we went even more west of the elbow and caught alot of
Scamp 2 gags and 1 red grouper... All before we had both engines go down 32 nm away from shore. We switched to the saddle tanks and there was water in the saddle tanks and so the engines failed due to water in the fuel. We have never use the saddle tanks because its a pretty new boat and haven't had to use them yet. I'll post the whole story later!


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