1993. Fishing for giants: tuna

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Fishing for giants

From Motor Boats 1993, no. 1, February, pp. 88-92.

Voracious, cunning and extremely fast: this is the giant tuna living in the Adriatic Sea, a difficult and highly coveted prey for all fishermen. All the techniques and equipment for record-breaking fishing.

Have you ever experienced having your boat towed by a 90-horsepower thruster underwater? Or being serenely seated toasting sardines and finding just inches away an immense gaping mouth begging for food from your hands? These are possible experiences on an exciting giant tuna fishing trip. Those who are “initiated” into this type of fishing say it is like a drug and they would find it difficult to give it up. Let us first dispel the common saying “you are a tuna” to mean a somewhat stupid gullible person who will “take the bait” from any “lure”: in fact, the tuna is a predator with very specific food tastes and, especially in clear waters, is endowed with keen eyesight and an exceptional sixth sense that enable it to refuse a delicious morsel if inlaminated on a line. An almost human-like behavior of the animal has been reported by some fishermen: once it reaches the morsel at the surface of the water and realizes the deadly insidiousness contained therein, the tuna changes course with a movement similar to a shrug of the shoulder, sinking. Clearly, the murkier water, its predatory instincts, and skillful frothing can mislead it: this is where the skill of the fisherman, the hull pilot, and his staff take over.

Tuna fishing in the Adriatic Sea

An excellent prey of big game fishing, the offshore sport fishing of large fish, along with sailfish, swordfish and thresher and mako sharks, the tuna is considered a giant when it weighs at least 100 kg. Grouped in formations of about twenty, giant tunas populate our seas especially on the Adriatic coastal strip near the Po delta. Here the meeting of the fresh water of the river with the salt water of the sea has created an ideal habitat for the ‘settlement and reproduction of this species; many sports clubs full of trophies have also sprung up here, organizing social fishing competitions, often valid for the national championship. Prey can also be spotted with the naked eye both offshore, 18 to 24 nautical miles, and very close to the coast, as they surface and raise splashes with their shiny, massive bodies. When tuna attack the surface feeding, then, seagulls usually join the feast in a noisy frenzy. In most cases the capture of the giant tuna is linked precisely to its sighting, since it rarely happens that an individual follows the boat engaged in a trolling trip as is the case with smaller schooling tuna. Once spotted, the giant tuna must be approached and attracted to the hull by frothing or by a direct bait presentation. There are basically six types of giant tuna fishing: slow trolling at a maximum of 1 to 2 knots; medium-fast trolling from 3 to 5 knots; fast trolling; slow trolling by the jigging method, that is, by making the natural bait rise and fall rapidly from the bottom to the surface while working with the rod; drifting, an ideal method for catching large fish, practiced from the drifting boat; and fixed gear (stil fishing), similar to drifting but practiced from anchored boats. On the Adriatic, which has a shallow seabed (maximum 40 meters at 22 miles from the coast), fixed-gill fishing is more widely used because there are no problems with anchoring. Once the sighting area is reached, the boat is anchored, taking care to attach a buoy to the top of the anchor, which, in the event of the fish being shackled, serves as a reference point for finding the temporarily abandoned anchor and chain for a quicker departure in pursuit of the prey, which can reach a speed of more than 50 knots. Such a buoy, moreover, marks the “good” area that has already been brumated previously where other sightings and catches are possible. In the Adriatic, brumeggio is carried out almost exclusively with fresh or frozen sardines, which are continually thrown overboard to attract the most ravenous specimens; brumeggio also has the function of gathering a large number of mackerel under the boat, a very welcome food for the predator. More sardines are then inlaid to mislead the tuna. The favorable period for giant tuna fishing in this area is from the beginning of July until the end of October. Three factors determine the success of this fishery: the type of bait, the brumage, and the method used. Each location has its own characteristics that must be weighed when choosing these three variables. Giant tuna fishing is also widely practiced in the central Atlantic Ocean near the Bahamas, in the northern Atlantic Ocean in the United States, in Canada, in Labrador, in the Bay of Biscay, in the North Sea in England, and in the Mediterranean near Port Bouc at the Rhone estuary.

Equipment and technique

Some basic equipment is needed to undertake giant tuna fishing. Fundamental is the fighting chair, recommended already for prey over 50 kg in weight. This allows the fisherman to better employ his strength by safeguarding him from jolts and vibrations, which, as they affect the rod, make it difficult to control, especially if the fight is carried out standing with only the aid of the rod holder belt. The best fighting chairs are the simplest, backless chairs made of wood or ABS, which allow the angler to lie backward by working his or her kidneys. There are various types of chairs on the market, attached to bases firmly anchored to dunnage in the cockpit or bow. The footboard should be adjustable to allow the angler to spread his legs and point his feet for support; if provided with armrests, it can be equipped with sturdy rod holders. A good tuna fishing outfit should include 2 or 3 heavy equipment. In fact, the most suitable rods belong to the heavy, ultra-heavy, or unlimited classes, with loads between 80 and 180 pounds, and should have strong handles and reel holders, reinforced fiberglass tubular tops, line guides, and pulley-tip line guides. The most commonly used reels are rotating drum with lever brake in sizes 9/0 to 12/0, or star brake in sizes 12/0 to 16/0. The line generally is monofilament nylon, invisible in water; for more reinforcement, the nylon is doubled for a length of 5 to 7 meters before the connection with the monel terminal, a line made of special alloy of steel and nickel. The hook should have: forged section, short shank, coarse diameter, wide curvature, straight neck and curved tip, reduced eyelet cut into the shank, size between 10/0 and 13/0. Sardines are still used as bait in set and drift fishing, while for trolling it is possible to bait small live fish caught on the spot with ultralight casting and trolling rigs or with bottom fishing gear. If you prefer a ‘dead bait, then, you can find on the market a tool called a deboner (boner) that allows you to remove the spine of the fish to be used as bait to make it more supple, without damaging it: however, you will have to carefully sew up the belly to make the movement similar to that of a live bait. In our seas, the artificial bait that offers the least chance of capture is rarely used. Essential, in addition to good fishing equipment, is a close-knit staff that is able to back up the busy angler in the fight. Ferreting the fish occurs under the combined action of the elasticity of the nylon and rod and the precise calibration of the reel clutch. Once the tuna has been shod, the skipper reaches the steering position and starts the engines, ready to leave as soon as another crew member, in the case of fixed-gill fishing, loosens the line connecting the boat to the anchor buoy: this phase must be very fast because the fish, when it senses the hook in its mouth, moves away at full speed from the boat, which must be ready to follow it in the same direction to prevent it from completely unwinding the line from the reel. Especially with inboard or inboard engines, care must be taken not to intercept the line with the propellers. The angler, who in the meantime has positioned himself in the fighting chair, tries to retrieve as much line as possible assisted by the skipper, who, following the prey, goes along with its movements, and by a companion who orients the fighting chair in the direction of the fish. When he is able to retrieve line, he operates the reel crank with his right hand while with his left hand, protected by a sturdy leather glove, he guides the line in ‘spooling up on the reel drum. If in its escapes the tuna picks up speed, it is not necessary to fight it off but simply support the rod by letting the clutch work by giving up line so that the big tuna dissipates its energy. Once exhausted, the fish uses its remaining strength to swim deep under the boat: this is the moment when, having stopped the boat, the fisherman, adjusting the clutch to the breaking load limit, begins pumping to bring the tuna back to the surface. Once the prey has surfaced, a companion prepares with the halyard to retrieve the fish. Securing a strong line around the tuna’s tail will serve to secure it outboard for the return to the base.

The ideal boats

Giant tuna fishing boats are fishermen with a hull capable of withstanding the stresses due to the high speeds reached in transfers and fishing and the stress due to fighting the big catch. The typical boat, planing or semi-planing, ranges in size from i6 to 10 meters, can be totally open or feature a small or medium-sized cabin, and have outboard, inboard, or inboard engines. Open boats are ideal for daily fishing trips in warm weather, when the weather and sea conditions are favorable. Cabin fishermen can be used successfully in all seasons as they provide valuable interior shelter. An indispensable feature of these fishing boats, known as walkarounds, is the wide walkway around the deckhouse that allows them to gain the bow safely, even with bulky equipment. Not only Americans, the creators and long-time producers of these boats, but also Italian shipyards have now reached a high level of quality in the construction of fisherman boats, offering the user a structurally and functionally sound product at competitive prices.

The boat employed

For our fishing trip we used an Italian boat made by the Poly Form shipyard in Panarella (Rovigo), the fisherman Triakis C29 Cabin with inboard diesel engine. Here are the characteristics: f.t. length m 9.60, hull length m 8.70, f.t. width m 3.10, cabin height m 1.90, weight kg 3200, pers. capacity 8, beds 5, max.2×220hpF.B./E.F.B./ E.B. motorization, homologation over 6 miles.

Tuna identity card

The tuna (Thunnus) has a robust, semifusiform body with the most prominent part just below the first dorsal fin. It has two dorsal fins with rays and several small fins. Fairings are visible on both sides of the caudal peduncle. The tail is broad in a crescent shape. The anal fin also has rays and several fins. The coloration of the back is bluish with lighter, silver-gray flanks that fade to a silvery belly; the dorsal fins recall the bluish coat while the others vary from a silvery-gray hue to the lemon yellow of the short pectoral and anal fins. Coloration, however, varies considerably depending on geographic areas. Some display a lateral line. Scales are small and reach a larger size in the torso region.
Size: they can reach 450 kilograms in weight with sizes over two and a half meters; individuals over 4.50 meters in length by 820 kg in weight have been reported in some areas of the Mediterranean.
Habitat: lives in cool temperate to subtropical waters, prefers clear waters but adapts well to murkier ones; for hunting it prefers areas where there are encounters of different currents. It is a migratory species that moves over long distances following the movements of the fish on which it feeds and according to the water temperature (in fact, tuna cannot tolerate temperatures below 10 degrees). It gathers in schools generally consisting of individuals all of the same size: the larger the fish, the smaller the number of individuals that make up the school. It feeds on crustaceans and small gregarious fish.
Notes: the largest member of the mackerel family, tuna represents a foodstuff of great commercial importance as its meat is particularly prized in the gastronomy of Scandinavian countries, the Mediterranean and throughout the Far East. An ideal fish for sporting competitions, it is renowned for its mighty strength, impressive speed, and gifts of combativeness and endurance.

text and photos by Roberta Limardo

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