Mungkin judulnya bisa diganti Gombong`s Wet Tuna... he-he.... Soni --------------------------------- North Carolina's Fall Tuna "Any bass fisherman who enjoys seeing a bass hit a topwater plug would pass out if they saw how a tuna goes after one, especially if two or three of them are fighting over it, which happens a lot." By Dan Kibler No fishermen who has missed the opportunity to tangle with a big yellowfin tuna off the North Carolina coast will know the joy, and relief you feel when- back bowed, arms exhausted, hands and fingers cramping- you look over the wide stern of a sportfishing boat and see the snap swivel come out of the water. The struggle is basically over. After another wind or two on the huge Penn reel; the mate will reach out and grab the leader, then gaff and lift a 50 pound chunk of muscle over the transom and into the fish box. "Another fish on? Oh, no, let me rest a minute." Heavyweight yellowfins are one of the toughest of all bluewater battlers, and in the fall, thousands of the 30 to 50 pound fish- and some are much bigger- show up within range of most of North Carolina's coastal fishing ports. Many saltwater fishermen often ignore the fall run of tuna because it usually coincides with the appearance of big, smoker king mackerel inshore. But it may be equal to the May-June appearance of yellowfin and, depending on the weather, it can last a lot longer. "In the last few years, we've had some real good tuna fishing in the fall," said Capt. Arch Bracher, who runs The Pelican, a charter boat out of Oregon Inlet FishingCenter. "You can get the most in October and November, but December can be fabulous for tuna, even though the weather can be terrible. You can get schooling yellowfin at that time of year, and if you're real lucky, you'll find a few bigeyes." Bracher and the Oregon Inlet fleet along with boats from other marinas along the northern Outer Banks -- run 40 miles southeast of the inlet to the "Point," a ledge inshore of the Gulf Stream, and north of the Diamond Shoals where the bottom drops off abruptly. The currents caused by the depth change move baitfish into a relatively small area of ocean, and the tuna follow. "You have days when you pick off singles here and there, and you have days when all your rods go down at once," Bracher said. "Usually, when we get them in good numbers, it's around the Point" he says. "The last few years, we've had some real good tuna fishing in the fall." The charter fleets out of Hatteras and Morehead City are often so involved with excellent inshore fishing for king mackerel, often within sight of the beach, that not as many boats head offshore for tuna and other bluewater species. However, in the fall, heading out from Hatteras, the Triple Zeros is an excellent location for tuna or Wahoo; it's location is approximately 25 miles south of the sea buoy at the Hatteras Inlet. The Morehead City fleet tends to key its efforts on the Big Rock, an underwater mountain approximately 42 miles offshore from the Beaufort Inlet sea buoy. Ports at the opposite end of the coast (from Bracher and Oregon Inlet) include charter fleets from Carolina Beach and Wrightsville Beach, along with a few boats that run out of Shallotte and Lockwood Folly inlets. "Our tuna tend to show up in October, and our biggest catches in October, November and December are both tuna and Wahoo," said Lloyd Eastlack, a retired charter boat captain who runs Bug Em Bait Co., a wholesale/retail tackle shop in Wilmington. "It's tit-for-tat, one here and one there; tuna don't seem to school down here in the fall the way they do off Oregon Inlet. But most of the tuna we catch are big ones, from 50 to 70 pounds, and we get Wahoo in the 60 pound class along with them" Eastlack said. Most of the charter boats from Eastlack's area that are running past those scads of inshore king mackerel are looking for current rips around a ledge where the water drops from 30 to 50 fathoms. The early-morning run is a solid 2-1/2 to 3 hours, but concentrations of fish can pop up 10 or 20 miles apart on consecutive days, depending on water temperatures. "You've got to find a rip to find tuna out there," he said. "We use NOAA (satellite photos) to find rips where there is a current or temperature change. A temperature change can be a color change, and you'll often get a 2- or 3-degree difference on a color change. Usually, the two go together." A lot of rips occur between 50 and 60 miles offshore on the 30-fathom drop. "You hear about the Steeples' (two underwater rock formations) all the time, but really, we only fish them once or twice a year," Eastlack said. "We're looking for those current rips and temperature changes rather than some underwater structure." Heavy trolling gear is common for most tuna fishermen. Yellowfin aren't classic surface battlers; once hooked, they often point their considerable bulk at the ocean floor and head in that direction. Winching them to the surface is backbreaking work, even with 50 to 80 pound class tackle and a fighting chair. Ballyhoo, trolled behind sea witches, trolling feathers or Eastlack's "Ugly Bug" lures is the top bait for tuna. Bracher opts for dark-colored feathers in the fall, but he'll adjust depending on the water clarity. "You have bluewater colors and greenwater colors," he said. "We use a variety of colors for tuna. Black/purple, blue/white and white/purple seem to be the most productive" Eastlack said. When Eastlack heads offshore on "fun" trips with friends, he presents a mixed spread of baits, hoping that Wahoo won't turn their noses up at tuna offerings if they happen to be in the same areas. "Generally, we'll go with two teasers, a couple of drone spoons down on rods with No. 3 planers, ballyhoo and natural squid," said Eastlack. "We fish the ballyhoo and squid behind 2 ounce Ugly Bugs; primarily sticking to darker colors in the fall like pinks and reds. You can really catch tuna on drone spoons, with silver and white being the best colors." Bracher said that tuna would often ignore trolled baits, either because they're feeding under huge rafts of grass and seaweed, or because they're mixed in with Bonita, feeding on them. "When tuna are schooling with Bonita, they'll stop eating trolled baits," he said. In those situations, Bracher breaks out a stubby, heavy spinning rod and casts huge topwater popping plugs into the feeding fish. Bracher's weapon of choice is a heavy, 7-foot spinning rod with a Penn 850 plugging reel and a Rebel Wind Cheater, a huge, cup-faced popping plug often used by striper fishermen. The hooks it came with are replaced with heavier trebles that tuna can't straighten out, and it's worked in a popping motion, with the plug sending a spray of water out in front of it with every movement. Resembling a fleeing baitfish, it's killer bait for tuna. "Any kind of surface popper will work if you replace the hooks with heavier ones," Bracher said. "You can't believe how far they'll knock it out of the water or come out of the water to get it. "Any bass fisherman who enjoys seeing a bass hit a topwater plug would pass out if they saw how a tuna goes after one, especially if two or three of them are fighting over it, which happens a lot."
