Bluefin Tuna Fishing Report – Tuesday, November 8, 2011

We went on a bluefin tuna fishing trip on November 8, 2011, travelling out of Hyannis, MA. We left the docks at 3 AM and we got to the fishing grounds at 6 AM. Within about 10 minutes from the first drop, my son was hooked on a tuna. We landed it in approx. 20 mins. and it turned out to be a nice 100 pounder, measuring about 47 inches. About an hour after the first catch, my son was hooked on a second tuna, but it was snagged on the side. This one was about 49 inches. My son was hot on this day!! Those 2 tunas turned out to be the only keepers on this trip, as the others did not meet the size regulations. However, we did hook on 4 more undersized tunas; 2 were on jigs, one each by me and Eric. The other 2 were on bait. We also had a good amount of cod, with Albert being the cod master! Overall, it was an amazing trip and beautiful weather. To make things even more exciting, we hooked on a whale at one point. The buzzing noise coming from the reel on the bait setup was so loud and powerful. It made everyone jump thinking it was a huge tuna!!

Bluefin Tuna Fishing Report - Sunday, November 6, 2011

We went bluefin tuna fishing on Sunday, November 6, 2011, travelling out of Hyannis, MA. We left the dock at approx. 2:30 AM, and we arrived at the fishing ground at 6 AM. We wanted to start the day off with some cod, so we dropped our jigs to the bottom. After about 1.5 hours, we landed approx. 40 cod weighing an average of 10 to 18 lbs. Needless to say, the cod fishing was terrific! The main equipment used was the Monster Jig. Also, while cod jigging, I hooked a nice 350 lbs. Mako Shark which I landed in about 40 mins. I was using the Monster Jig with a pink silicone skirt and glow B2 squid.

After a good amount of cod and Mako Shark action early on, we wanted to target what we came for, the bluefin tunas. At approx. 1 PM, I hooked on to a tuna. I fought it and got it about 10 to 15 feet below the surface. We were able to see the tuna and estimated it to be in the 120 to 150 lbs class. We were all excited but danger followed shortly afterwards. As the crew were getting the gaff and the harpoon ready, the line suddenly snapped and the rod went limp. We saw the bluish white shadow swim away. It felt as if the tuna was teasing us as it made its escape. After this disappointment, my son struck again! He hooked onto something but couldn't tell what it was at first. He stated that it felt like a dogfish. After about 20 reel turns, the line went taut and the fish charged out like rockets blasting. After only about 3-5 seconds, the line snapped again.

At this point, I was certain that the prime time for tuna had passed. Everyone on the boat agreed with this statement. With that, the captain decided to return home. We were about 10 mins on the way back when Nick, one of the fishermen on the trip, spotted heavy bird and whale activity off in the distance. We promptly stopped near this area and began tuna jigging. After about 10 mins of jigging, my son hooked on. We fought this fish for about 20 mins and it was another Mako Shark about the same size as the first one.

Overall, this trip was good. We didn't get any tuna but we still got 2 nice sized Mako Shark and many cod, which is better than nothing!!