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We have cancelled all our late summer and fall canyon over night tuna chunking trips the last two years mainly due to lack of Yellowfins in our local canyons. It has cost us thousands in revenues plus we refunded all deposits but some groups still have deposits holding dates for the 2010 season hoping the Yellowfins show up. That is all Mother Nature’s call and no one can predict what is in the future as far as Yellowfins off the Mid-Atlantic states in the coming years and all we can do is hope and pray that we just experienced a natural downturn in the numbers of them and they will reappear in decent numbers like in past years but that is very iffy and I personally am very concerned about what happened to the tuna. Even down in Morehead City, NC there has been no spring Yellowfns like in past years recently and no one has an answer what happened to them down there either. My gut tells me they may have been killed off in such large numbers by foreign purse seiners and possibly are not around anymore to be caught. I am aware that there was some caught way offshore on the far side of the Gulf Stream but no charter or recreational boats from my home port in Cape May, NJ is going to run 150 miles offshore to overnight tuna chunk or troll for that matter. I also know the we experienced some super hot water in our area the last few years that produced some outstanding fall White Marlin fishing and I do believe that 80 degree water is too warm for most tunas except Blackfins and that might be the reason why they have abandoned our local canyons but again that is Mother Nature at work and out of our control. Here is what I am proposing if things do not change for the better this coming season and in the future.
I think some of us that have always targeted tuna first and foremost might have to rethink the target species when canyon fishing and start to consider doing some trolling for Billfish if the tuna do not show up like the past few years. I know that some of the Ocean City, MD charter boats were running for Billfish since the tuna were not around and some did quite well with the great White Marlin bite we have seen lately. Tuna would still be my first choice as I am a meat guy at heart but the winds of change are upon us and we cannot stay in business by cancelling our trips due to lack of tuna in our local canyons. I honestly have little desire to sit out in the deep chunking all night waiting for a nonexistent tuna bite that just flat out has not happened the last two years in our local canyons. I feel that doing some billfishing along with Wahoo-Mahi trolling could provide a good day on the water with friends and family and far better than not fishing at all. If there are any tuna around you still can catch them using the small ballyhoo rigs used for the Whites. We would try to provide a nice mixed catch and some meat to take home for our customers but action is what we would try our best to offer those that would consider trying this type of fishing. I doubt we would ever come close to getting 15-20 White bites a day like the private boats that specialize in White Marlin fishing but even a few good bites a day should offer some action that many of our customers that meat fish only have never experienced in the past when night chunking was their main style of fishing. We have had plenty of customers that dreaded doing any trolling at all and only wanted to chunk at night and then go home. Lately many of our jigging customers feel the same way but if the tuna are not around then doing some Billfishing might just be of interest and worth giving it a try at least. It may not be many anglers first choice but unless you try it how do you really know if it can provide some enjoyment. I know last fall we hooked into a few really nice Whites in the 75-90 lb class on wire while Wahoo fishing along the 40-50 fathom lines and everyone on board did enjoy the experience as most of our customer base had never fished for billfish or had the opportunity to see one up close with the exception of a few that fished for sails down in Florida in the winter months.
I fully realize that trolling for any species will not replace night tuna chunking or swordfishing for so many anglers that were able to experience this type of fishing when it was really good. Chunking at night in the Northern Canyons has become a tradition for so many anglers over the years and I know it is not easy to change but if the tuna do not show again this season I think this might be something for at least a few to consider. This leads to the big question when charter fishing is it okay to kill one legal fish to smoke since the group is paying a couple of thousand dollars for the day to fish with us and legally we would be doing nothing wrong but in the past I have always released any billfish we caught by accident while tuna fishing.
I think some of us that have always targeted tuna first and foremost might have to rethink the target species when canyon fishing and start to consider doing some trolling for Billfish if the tuna do not show up like the past few years. I know that some of the Ocean City, MD charter boats were running for Billfish since the tuna were not around and some did quite well with the great White Marlin bite we have seen lately. Tuna would still be my first choice as I am a meat guy at heart but the winds of change are upon us and we cannot stay in business by cancelling our trips due to lack of tuna in our local canyons. I honestly have little desire to sit out in the deep chunking all night waiting for a nonexistent tuna bite that just flat out has not happened the last two years in our local canyons. I feel that doing some billfishing along with Wahoo-Mahi trolling could provide a good day on the water with friends and family and far better than not fishing at all. If there are any tuna around you still can catch them using the small ballyhoo rigs used for the Whites. We would try to provide a nice mixed catch and some meat to take home for our customers but action is what we would try our best to offer those that would consider trying this type of fishing. I doubt we would ever come close to getting 15-20 White bites a day like the private boats that specialize in White Marlin fishing but even a few good bites a day should offer some action that many of our customers that meat fish only have never experienced in the past when night chunking was their main style of fishing. We have had plenty of customers that dreaded doing any trolling at all and only wanted to chunk at night and then go home. Lately many of our jigging customers feel the same way but if the tuna are not around then doing some Billfishing might just be of interest and worth giving it a try at least. It may not be many anglers first choice but unless you try it how do you really know if it can provide some enjoyment. I know last fall we hooked into a few really nice Whites in the 75-90 lb class on wire while Wahoo fishing along the 40-50 fathom lines and everyone on board did enjoy the experience as most of our customer base had never fished for billfish or had the opportunity to see one up close with the exception of a few that fished for sails down in Florida in the winter months.
I fully realize that trolling for any species will not replace night tuna chunking or swordfishing for so many anglers that were able to experience this type of fishing when it was really good. Chunking at night in the Northern Canyons has become a tradition for so many anglers over the years and I know it is not easy to change but if the tuna do not show again this season I think this might be something for at least a few to consider. This leads to the big question when charter fishing is it okay to kill one legal fish to smoke since the group is paying a couple of thousand dollars for the day to fish with us and legally we would be doing nothing wrong but in the past I have always released any billfish we caught by accident while tuna fishing.
