# Blackfin Tuna trolling



## The Langeeee

I have never caught a Blackfin Tuna and I have been out alot the past two seasons. What can anyone suggest for a trolling spread or a good lure that works well? Any Blackfin Tuna advice would helpful.


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## MSViking

With the right lures, if the blackfin are in the area they are easy to catch. Most people that see them are offshore fishing for billfish and therefore pulling large traditional marlin type spread (Moldcrafts, Blackbarts, Islanders etc) and they are pulling them close. If you want to catch the blackfin, best lures are spreader bars of some sort, fished further back, way back. We use these with great success as they are cheap and bendable and offer little to no resistance in the water when trolling or fighting the fish unlike metal bars, if you order any tell Rick that Robert sent you! He is a great guy to work with! You can email him directly at [email protected]

Best of Big Game Spreader Bars

they will hit all sizes but the smaller 4.25 inch will slay the tuna! When the tuna hit the deck you almost always see them coughing up very small bait, but they will hit the large bars as well. We tend to keep some larger bars close in the event a billfish is passing by.

If you look in this YF mouth you will see a bar









Hope this helps.


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## Chris V

Spreader bars, cedar plugs, small skirts in the 5-7 inch range with or without ballyhoo as well as naked ballyhoo will all take blackfin. Putting small birds ahead of your baits helps too.

Like Robert said, if they are there they usually aren't picky but the size of the bait does matter. Blackfin feed on smaller baits and although they will occasionally hit large lures you'll find more action and better hookups with small ones.


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## marlinchaser

Thanks for the info. Wish I'd had it before we out yesterday!!


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## The Langeeee

Thank You for the help. Does color matter? I notice in that pic you are using blue and white. I have some jet head small blue and white skirts, would these work well. Also I have seen skirts similar to the ones on you spreader bar online for cheap. If made some in to daisy chains would they work just as well as a spreader bar?


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## Eastern Tackle

MSyellow,
Is that Fred's 6" squid?


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## MSViking

As Chris said size does matter especially for blackfin and sometimes for YF as well. The pic below shows a good size for blackfin and YF as well if there are not too many blackfin or bonito in the mix. You certainly can make your own, tricky parts are the bar itself. Rick sells them cheap so I just buy them from him. A daisy chain also works but the bars put so much more "bait" into the water. When we are trolling the deep rigs or trying to get tuna to bite, it is almost comical how many flying fish/squid we can pull! one off each corner and one each on the short and long rigger and one shotgun, ends up being something like 75 lures in the water, but it does work! and will raise the tuna with other lures will not!










My hand for perspective










As to color the way I look at it they are so ofen feeding on flying fish and they are blue and white (more or less) so 90% of my lures are some variety of blue/white. I frequently will upsize my bars to scare off the smaller tunas to 6, 9 and sometimes the monster 12"! Or more often larger ones up close and smaller further back, but if the blackfin are thick you will spend all your time winding in blackfin and never get to the YF.

As to whether they are Fred Archer's superbars or not, I am not sure as I own some of his and Rick's. They are both good guys and both are quality products, Rick has always been accessible and I rec. my bars 2-3 days after ordering.

On another note, once I started trolling superbars along with the new circle hook rules for billfish, I almost always troll 6" blue/white prosquids by themselves as opposed to ballyhoo. Sooo much easier and I have not been able to tell any diff yet, accept my cockpit is cleaner and my cooler does not smell like frozen ballyhoo!

Hope this helps!


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## Eastern Tackle

Thanks for the info.


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## The Langeeee

Thanks for the info. I tried to troll blue and white skirts today. I didn't end up with any Tuna but I did land a Wahoo and about a 25lb Mahi with my buddies.


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## Chris V

I'd take that wahoo over a blackfin anyday! Good job


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## MSViking

Yep, wahoo trumps a blackfin everyday!


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## bombtosser

Nice job man, wahoo is probably my favorite fish to cook,, its bubba gump style, you can grill it, fry it, bake it, skew it.......mmmm, mmm good!!! what did the fish eat? how did the water look?:notworthy:


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## The Langeeee

The Hoo jumped a Yo zuri bonito. The Mahi hit the blue and white skirt. The water was clear and flat. No oil from what I could see. It was a hot day for sure on the water. Trolling was good just to get the air flow.


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## Travis Gill

Thats alot of work to catch a blackfin. throw a couple naked bait sor dink ballyhoo with a small squid skirt on the long riggers and you shouldnt have a problem


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## how2fish

Is there anywhere local to P'cola/Orange Beach that sells the speader bar setups shown here? Thanks..


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## MSViking

Not that I know of, and the ones you do find have the metal bars and cost over $100 and do not work as well. The superbars are quite superior for tuna trolling in my opinion.


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## how2fish

MSYellowfin said:


> Not that I know of, and the ones you do find have the metal bars and cost over $100 and do not work as well. The superbars are quite superior for tuna trolling in my opinion.


Thanks MS I just found out I may have a chance to make it down to the coast this week but won't know for sure and have time to order one for this trip. Thanks for the info on that product, let me ask you this what would your second choice be for a all around mahi-mahi ,BFT lure ? I'm pretty new to the off-shore trolling game. Thanks Dan.


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## The Langeeee

MS is totally right about blue and white lures. Blue and white is the color of flying fish, and mahi and everything else eats flying fish. When we gutted the mahi in the picture I posted there was a huge flying fish in its stomach. I am new to trolling in deep water myself but I will always bring blue and white skirts from now on.


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## Chris V

Robert, I'm gonna have to disagree on some of the spreader bar stuff. I've been using those metal bars for years and am willing to bet that on any given day they catch just as much tuna as long as they are rigged with the right baits. The main purpose of a spreader bar is to add baits and make a buffet behind you boat. As long as the spreader isn't collapsing on itself which the stainless ones do not, then the sole factor in determining whether it will catch fish or not is not the bar, but what _you_ rig on it. The bar just keeps them seperated.


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## MSViking

(Good debate and dialogue) I continue to disagree with Chris on the bars for three reasons. First the metal bars are very expensive. I own a couple green machine bars from Tournament Cable that I paid close to $200 for, compared to $45-50 for the superbars of same size. Secondly the superbars do not get all tangled up for some reason like the metal bars do and thirdly (and most importantly) if and when a big fish hits the tail end lure and takes off the superbar collapses and has very little resistance or drag in the water allowing you to effectively fight the fish, on the other hand the metal bars create tons of drag. I have lost a couple white marlin due to a straightened out hook due to the drag caused by the fish pulling on the metal bar. I realize that I should have been using stronger hooks (I now do) but still they just create too much drag for my taste.

As to second choice lures: anything small and low profile like a cedar plug or tuna jet will work well.


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## Chris V

Ahhhhhhhh Robert, you assume I mean the expensive ones. I use the good 'ole cheap Sea Striker bars. They cost about 14 bucks and I can make a spreader bar that will stay untangled with over 20 baits on it for less than 50 bucks. I've got one with mold craft squid, one with small tsunami squid and one with plastic ballyhoo. How you stagger your baits on the bar is the key to keeping them untangled.


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## how2fish

Guys thanks for all the info looks like we won't get off-shore this weekend due to weather but will try and use some of your advice next trip...we are now planning to king/Spanish and redfish in close...unless NOAA is wrong with the forecast..thanks again. :thumbsup:


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