VIDEO REPORT: Yellowfin Tuna South of Nantucket

By Matthew Czarnecki

August 17, 2015

Under a moonless sky full of stars, our crew of four aboard SeaCzar departed Allen Harbor at 3:30am on Monday August 17. Our destination was a temperature break about 20 miles northwest of Hydrographer Canyon where the water temperature abruptly changed from the mid 60s to 71 degrees, and then from 71 to 74 just a bit further south. We had decided to fish a blue-green edge, in which the cold, nutrient-rich waters of the Nantucket shoals mixed with the warm, cobalt blue waters of a finger of the Gulf Stream.

While crossing Nantucket Shoals, the water temperature dipped to a chilly 56 degrees, and although there was little wind, strong currents combined with the uneven shoals made for a bouncy ride out. As we traveled through this cold water, we were enveloped in a seemingly endless cloud of “pea soup fog” that limited our visibility to about 50 yards. However, as we neared our destination, the water temperature rose and the fog finally melted away.

As soon as we arrived at 6:30, we noticed dozens of shearwaters actively working the area, and the fish finder showed an abundant supply of bait beneath the boat. We decided to put out a wahoo spread and troll at about 9 knots for the first two hours. Although the area was fishy, we could not entice a wahoo to bite and decided to switch over to a tuna spread.

Our seven-rod tuna spread consisted of a mix of squid bars, bird daisy chains, and medium skirted ballyhoo. While trolling south, the water temperature rose several more degrees to 74, and we knew we were in the right place when we saw a pod of blitzing yellowfin tuna about 100 yards off of the bow. Just beyond where the yellowfin had surfaced, we spotted a whale, and not long after, our spread was “wolfpacked” by a hungry school of yellowfin, as captured in the video. All seven rods in the spread were crushed, and the drags on the 50 wide reels started singing.

Three of the fish managed to come tight, and we worked two 35- to 40-pound yellowfin to the boat in short order. The third fish, manned by 12-year-old Jake, was much more stubborn and took an entire half hour to bring to the boat. Just as Jake’s arms were about to give out, we sunk a gaff into a gorgeous 75-pound yellowfin – very respectable for a fish caught north of the canyons.

All three of the bellies were stuffed with hundreds of sand eels. After gutting the fish and placing them on ice, we reset the trolling spread and a ballyhoo/Jr. Ilander combo on the long-rigger immediately got crushed. The fourth member of our crew worked the fish to the boat, and with enough fish in the cooler already, we released the 40-pound yellowfin back into the depths.

Most of the life in the area dissipated around 10:30, and although we trolled for several more hours, we could not find the tuna again. We did manage to land four beautiful mahi on the troll during this time, and dozens of pods of dolphins flooded the area. At 2:30, we pulled our lines in and began the journey back to Allen Harbor, feeling the high of an amazing day of bluewater fishing. On the way in, we filleted the yellowfin, eating slivers of the mild, glistening pink meat right off the fillet knife. All I could think on the way home was, “It doesn’t get much better than this.”