Trolling Yellowfin Bluewater trolling has made significant advances over the past few years with better lures, or seemingly better lures, better trace making systems and new ways of attacking what can be a complex subject.

by Lawrie and Julie McEnally

Much recent trolling development has been aimed at billfish, but there has also been a significant spin-off of ideas for catching all types of surface fish, including yellowfin tuna.

Where to Find Them

Yellowfin tuna are great travellers and tend to turn up in certain areas at different times of the year. On the mid north coast of NSW they are thick from July to October with only odd fish turning up during summer.

Further south, Sydney seems to have some yellowfin on the continental shelf all year round with fish coming almost into the rocks from November to May. Further south, the Banks and Bermagui have yellowfin from October to June and this run of fish also travels down to Tasmania at times. There are also good runs of yellowfin in Western Australia and along the outer Barrier Reef during June, July and August.

By listening to the fishing reports anglers can usually work out if the yellowfin are around and whether it is worth putting in a bit of time to catch them. It also pays to note what depth of water the fish are coming from, as this can be important for small boat anglers.

Sometimes They Don't Eat

While some of the smaller tuna species get incredibly fussy about the lures they will or won't eat, yellowfin will eat just about any lure. The problem with yellowfin is that they spend a lot of their time cruising down deep and sometimes just won't come up for a lure or just show no interest in lures at all.

Throw a live slimy mackerel into the same situation and it will be instantly nailed. It is just a peculiarity of the fish. As a rule though, small to medium sized yellowfin show a great interest in eating lures while the big fish over 50 kg only occasionally get worked up over artificials. Again this is just a peculiarity of the fish.

Tackle

For the average angler who just wants to put a yellowfin on the deck all sorts of gear can be used. The best option is genuine game tackle with a lever drag reel and stroker type rod. Line class is a matter for the angler and it really depends on what other fish might be mixed in with the yellowfin. Our standard tackle is 15 kg with a couple of 24's and a couple of 10 kg outfits. If the anglers don't have a wide choice of tackle, a standard jig/live bait rod with a large overhead reel full of 15 or 10 kg line is perfectly functional. Lighter gear down to 6 kg is also useful. It just depends on what eats the lure and how much line and time the angler wants to invest in the fish.

Trolling lure selection for yellowfin. Right to left: Top Gun. Fenwick Psycho-Speed. Pakula Cockroach, Pakula Hornet, Pakula Mosquito, Wilson No 2 Sea Jet and Zuker red and white feather.

Boat Set Up

Any vessel trolling offshore needs to be able to set at least four outfits without tangling the lures as the boat moves around. This is usually achieved with two rods set at 45 degrees or more and two rods set straight in line with the sides of the boat. Trolling one or two lures is not nearly as effec­tive as trolling a pattern of four or more lures. So if one lure goes out it is much better if four or more go out. If the boat can troll six, eight or ten lures all the better, as the more lures that are set the better the overall result.

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