Well i think i would like to start this going actually. I have been unable to find any DOCUMENTED proof of what is the largest (in weight) by a sports fisherman performing the stand up technique in catching big game fish around Malta. I have heard many rumours but we all know that these get amplified before they reach land. I would like to know if anyone has any info regarding this and i think i will start with an entry mark of 35kg equivalent of 77lbs.
Post in this forum pictures of your catches if bigger with your rod and lure.
Remember stand up mean fighting this fish with rod without the use of a fighting chair and the fish must have been landed or tagged.
Lets start this record together!
Just to add to this one, harnesses can be used (the big ones demand it!), assistance in gaffing is allowed as is the use of a leader man. No assistance from a boat mounted winch or otherwise is permitted in the fighting of the fish, except once the fish has been gaffed and need to be brought on board.
Quote from: fin on April 26, 2006, 12:47:27 CET
Well i think i would like to start this going actually. I have been unable to find any DOCUMENTED proof of what is the largest (in weight) by a sports fisherman performing the stand up technique in catching big game fish around Malta. I have heard many rumours but we all know that these get amplified before they reach land. I would like to know if anyone has any info regarding this and i think i will start with an entry mark of 35kg equivalent of 77lbs.
Post in this forum pictures of your catches if bigger with your rod and lure.
Remember stand up mean fighting this fish with rod without the use of a fighting chair and the fish must have been landed or tagged.
Lets start this record together!
Some of the captains in the cosal fishery for bluefin tuna along the Carolina coast are allowing some clients to use stand-up gear. Those bluefin that are being taken in the winter are 200-400 pounds.
The yellowfin that are the target of the Long Range sportfishing boats are all in the 150 to 300 pound range. And those guys are fishing stand up style and from an anchored or drifting boat with 20 - 30 other guys....when the fish goes you go. It has proven that stand up tackle is extremely helpful to whipping those large tuna,,,without the aid of the boat. Even small framed folks can rumble with the biggest of the tuna.
How large are the bluefin your targeting there in Malta?
Capt. Mike Fisher
On average we are looking during peak season june july around the 200 to 400 pound mark, however commercial boats have returned to port with the occasional half a dozen weighing in an average of 800 pounds, monsters.
FIN
Quote from: fin on April 29, 2006, 21:53:09 CET
On average we are looking during peak season june july around the 200 to 400 pound mark, however commercial boats have returned to port with the occasional have a dozern weighing in an average of 800 pounds, monsters.
FIN
Fin,
Important to point out that the 200-400 Bluefin are not found close to our shores at all, and you're talking getting out 50 miles + in the right spot to get them. With that comes having the type of boat that can do that, and of course adequate means to preseve the fish once out so far as well as the means to bring those monsters into the boat. Here a tuna door is a must and I can only think of 1 or 2 rec boats here that have one and they are made in the US.
I would say expect 45lbs or thereabouts for a good catch, and there are a couple of exceptions to the above where you can find 100lbs fish relatively close by.
Skip
SKIP,
Just keep in mind that 450 lbs tuna are located just around the tuna farming areas during July - August, so although i agree very hard to land these fish in an unappropriate boat not impossible if you are a team of crew on board. Plus from experience i have seen on regular basis 200 - 400 lbs tuna just as close as 15 miles to our shores always travelling in SW directions.
So not necessary to be that far, its all about the feeding process and sea temp.
YOURS FIN
200 - 400 pound tuna only 15 -20 miles off your shores is FANTASTIC! Our tuna grounds are farther by sixty miles most years, and the fish aren't that big!!
To preserve those monsters, (if you can get into the boat) a good quality fish bag is a must. They're insulated and after killing, gilling and gutting the tuna, you can slide him in the bag, and pack him with ice.....
Best to all,
Capt. Mike Fisher
Mike,
I still can't understand why those fish bags are so damn expensive. A few hundred bucks isn't cheap for an insulated bag, though I think the key phase is if you can get them on board! We're fishing a similar sized platform to you.
Skip
Talking about bags, how important is a drift bag or known also as a sea anchor when drifting for swords at night for example?
And for one who does not have a sea anchor is he very much at a disadvantage?
NIGEL
Hey guys,
Has anyone this year yet caught anything over the 20 kg mark?
I would like to know and if so please contact us!
FIN
i know of a couple of ppl who caught 40kg + ambies on hand lines
i will try get names weight and pics.
Dear all,
this seems to have died here.....
any new big catches to go beyond 40 kgs on a rod?
FIN
Hi
First of all i don t have any experiance fishing with a rod, hopefully i will try this year.i dont know why every body say that to catch big tuna have to go 50 to 80 miles out. if you guys watch you tube all the mediteranian tuna fishing is close to land. In the US alot of captians bait for a long time and use live bait . Very few that they troll for tuna.
Jessi,
Unfortunately Malta is not the rest of the Med and you have to always bear that in mind, worst still we have more commercial tuna purse seiners around Malta and fishing the waters then most equivalent sized fishing zones for sure.
In theory you should be able to catch them from near shore, definately not land! BUT if they get past the purse seiners you then have the long liners something that is still VERY popular in Malta and not that popular/allowed in other parts of the Med.
This means that BIG tuna simply aren't found easily within 10-20 miles of our shore. Trust me I've been out countless times and The Gaffer and others have been fishing half of their life trolling with rods and nada.
What we tend to get around Malta that people catch are the 10-20kgs Bluefin especially around late August early September. During what was the peak big bluefin season of June/early July I personally have never caught a Bluefin only Alungi.
The commercial guys tend to sit 80 miles offshore near Medina bank and towards Lampedusa. Given their commercial operation they must do this for a reason as that's where the fish are. If not they could save lots of hassle and serious money and fish alot closer.
The fishing in the US is very different I'm afraid. They have known Tuna grounds but as you can see from Capt Mike Fisher they sometimes go out 60-100 miles to get there on a bank and then yes you can chum, chunk and live bait with success.
One has to always adapt techniques to the local environment. That's my two cents/view anyways, could be wrong of course.
Hi skip
Thanks for the info.
Just to add to this, we tried to drift, chum and present bait (not live though) to these smaller bluefin which they call Schoolies over in the US and they weren't interested! Too much small live bait running around meant ours wasn't very interesting to them! We also tried chunking on the same occassion with no luck.
But it's something worth trying again for sure. That and jigging and popping.
I have seen Monster tuns cruising by and tried trolling chumming and whatever i could think of but they just ignored everything I trolled (I didnt have live bait). Dont know about this behaviour. We were about 25 miles out. Have seen Monster tuna near the fish farms of bugibba and again they chase fish but ignore the lures, they even seem to ignore the mackerel that is dropped down on lines. the ones that bite usually run in the 120Kg mark. I was lucky to catch one but unfortunately not on rod but with hand line it was still fun and a fantastic experience but imagine with a standup rod. I hope that all the forum members have the experience of catching one......by whichever method
Hi Tony, thanks for your insight as you've been out there trolling alot longer than most of us. I'm curious, the big ones you saw 25 miles out, what time of year was that?
I heard that the big ones are at the SPB fish farms but never seen one myself though there are two guys who have permission to go in on their small boats and catch them, I think one is of Connie's fish shop. Apparently the saying goes that the other one is of Italian descent and has much more luck as he uses some secret bait which he does a very good job of hiding even when he deploys.
Fin got us permission last year to go into the inner pen area but we were too big with a 32 foot boat but will be interesting to try and get permission again with a small boat. If I can visually plot a safe course and store it in the GPS I would like to use a Z-Wing to drop the lures down towards the bottom where they are lurking.
Also intend this year to try and drift just outside with live mackeral and a sword light and see what happens.
Envious of your catching such a monster, any pics for the forum ?
The sicilian guy is there every day in the tuna season, morning till evening. However I have seen another Maltese guy catch 2 in the space of half an hour once. Massive Tunas, well over the 100Kg range. I also saw him catch another one a few weeks later. Quite impressive.
Must be very nice to witness yes. I beleive they use thick mono with various jerry cans to tire the fish out. Plus within the inner perimeter there isn't much space to be fighting a big tuna from a rod though it could be alot of fun!!
We'll have to see if we can get permission for this year!
I was out of the tuna pens when I caught mine.Mario the Italian guy uses very light double lines last I noticed were .8mm (80). There is no way to play a tuna near the farms as u will get tangled.
Big tunas pass close to shore in Mid Alungi season thats around mid July
I heard that a few years back, someone was in that vicinity with a small fregatina fishing for tuna. He hooked up a big BFT, over 200kgs, and the tuna shoot straight for SP islands, with the fregatina in tow!!. The scene caused quite a commotion, as the fregatina had lost all the ability to steer, and was zig-zagging in a dangerous fashion towards the islands!!
This year if nothing happens im going to give it a try out there at the SPB fishfarms and try out my luck. I think i wil lgo with the big boat because im scared that my 13 foot boat will not withstand all that pressure done by the tuna. It is my dream to land a monster with my small boat though.
Largest fish caught with it till now was a 45kg swordie.
I am now aiming bigger though lol. Today i was havin a chat with a friend of mine and we brought up the discussion. We planned to give it a try for tuna this year. Any suggestions about the techniques used next to the fish farms??? As bait i was planning to use kavalli and as for hooks the tuna hooks which they use on longlines. Any suggestions?
Any suugestions pls as im gettin the gear ready from beforehand as i start end of year exams at junior college in 2 weeks time so i have to get on with my studying :S
Hi bigboy
Well u need a good line say 120Lb and a good sharp strong hook, 2 containers filled with jabloo, a small lead weight and a balloon. U need a good strong gaff or a flying gaff (gaff with rope). if u can do a tail noose its better than a gaff in my opinion.
I use kavalli hooked from their back with the line tied near the tail with an elastic band or electrical tieback. I go down two thirds of the way to the bottom (darker down there so line is a bit obscured), i use the balloon not fully blown up to act signal as well give time for tuna to swollow then the tanks. When the bait is taken I drive off from the tuna pens realeasing line letting the 2 tanks take the weight and tiring the fish. when I am 200 mtres off I start pulling in the line IF its a big one its the boat that moves and mine did (18ft kaptan). When and only when the second tank is halfway out of water I start pulling in the fish. One word of advice rest while the tanks are working because once u start pulling on the fish u must not rest, but u have ot keep continuous pressure. Dont forget if for a person to catch his breath and rest a bit, takes 2 minute for a tuna it takes 45seconds.
I hope i have helped a bit if not ask
Thanks shanook you are of great help. i was planning to have at least two lines out or is thins too much? should i chum the area with kavalli or not? when sayaing 120LB what diameter of line are you mentioning?? ur getting me more into this and this summer its gonna have a go. it is productive though jew nispicca nirroffa l petrol u l liska ? :p
re petrol if by the fishfarms its quite cheap as u go there and anchor with the tuna pens lines. Regarding productivity: fishing is never a sure thing, as long as u enjoy urself thats all that matters. U can have two lines or multiple lines out its up to u and how cool u stay when u catch a fish. regarding chumming well its a good idea but then i would suggest that u move away from the pens as once u start chumming u are attracting the tuna, for yourself and for others. the diameter of the line depends on the make but a 120Lb might run in the 2mm daimeter, I always go by the poundage.
i was going to try with a double line of 0.90mm maybe having a 6m leader and then going on to 1.2mm line goined with a swivel all the way up to the tanks. another 8m of line and then the rest would be korlin which i have a whole tank full. What is the approx time i t takes you to bring in the fish ? and as for nthe tanks are 2 10ltr yellow oil tanks good?
Double .9mm should be enough as long as its of equal length. From tank to boat i have korlin as well. By the way always have things out of the way as its dangerous once the tuna takes the hook. I saw one going overboard because the line tanglesd in his hand. Lucky for him it came off otherwise.....since u are using .9mm have a pair of gloves as the thin diameter will hurt you. it took me about 45 minutes of hard hauling to bring it in. Once u start pulling it in take note when the fish pulls down and when it just holds it tight. Dont forget that tuna start a circling movement and its half circle pulling down and half just tight. So go with the fish when its downward just keep tight and when it up u pull hard. Its more difficult to explain then to do. Always feel the fish as a tight line transmitts information. I use 10ltr tanks. expect to see then diving in deep its amazing what strength a tuna has.
Thanks shanook ur great for giving out explanations. Hope i will be successful in catching at least 1 hehe. yep i do have gloves as i always use them when we are fishing for swordfish. Ejja forsi naqbdu wahda imqar u tkun bizzejjed as sajf kollu:) Thanks very much m8 ;) And goodluck to you aswell maybe you will have some luck aswell to catch a monster aswell.
Will see u there either go early or around 4 in evening both good. As usual better in morning. By the way the stray tuna get used to the time of feeding at fish farm as they come closer to surface when its feeding time for the tuna in pens.
Im planning to go there from before sunrise and if need be stay there till sunset. but i am not greedy so as soon as i hook the first fish im gonna leave and then you can have all the tuna for yourelf :p a 100kg tuna is more than enough for me lol
no dont bother to stay there as the tuna stay there for the night and then go hunting, they then return later in the afternoon for the night. I leave because i dont have a cooler big enough to place a large tuna in..... good luck see u there.
How often do you go Tony? So you reckon the tuna are there overnight?
thats what it looks like nick. Once I get the tip that the tuna are there i start going. I go whenever i feel like nothing in particular. I start my holidays on the 6th July before that I go in the evenings and weekends.
Interesting, would be fun to try a bit more as we didn't get much of a chance last year though the fish finder was going crazy at various points so something big were lurking around!
When do you reckon the Alungi season will start this year given the current unsettled weather?
Hard to say BUT the water is way toooooo cold.If it stays cold that means we will have to go further out to get alungi and with diesel being so cheap I dont think I will bother. Thats why i got the electric reel this year as I was expecting the price of diesel to go sky high. This year if we dont get a sudden change in weather it will probably be round the last week of June to get Alungi. I HOPE TO BE PROVEN WRONG.
In fact the weather is continuing to be rather unpredictable. You mention going further out to catch Alungi if the water stays close, what's the reasoning behind that?
I think the Electric reel was a good idea!
Alungi season will start late this year if the water does not warm up. If this happens we will have to fish for alungi on the 3rd dropp off saying 40nmiles offshore and as shanook said as diesel is so cheap it is really not worth it spending all that diesel to catch a couple of alungi. I'd rather stay by the fishfarms waiting for my dream to strike ;)
Looks like it bigboy, probably we end up moaning and grumbling near the tuna pens, get a pack of cards with u bigboy and maybe a monopoly or something. skip if the weather worms up Alungi get close to shore otherwise they stay way offshore.
Okay if it warms up they come close to shore, presumably to feed. But then I don't think it tends to be warmer offshore does it? So the temp issue is not a question of they can't be caught, but rather how close they come in towards shore?
OK guys, this is what I reckon:
As the atmosphere warms up, the sea currents take a different direction, and the sea temp warms up also. We know that alungi are predators, and bait fish usually congregate around temp breaks. As the sea warms up, the bait fish come closer to shore in search of food, and hence, stick around the temp breaks....bait fish are followed by the predators, and hence, we get alungi closeR to shore!!
Interesting, so looking like we're going to have a very late season then?
Still early days to predict anything yet. My wife saw alungi for sale at a fishmonger last week. So, they must be here, where...well, thats a different story. Usually I hear reports from B'Bugia fishermen that late May, 1week of June Alungi start appearing closer to shore, i.e. within the 12 mile zone. But the weather is warming up guys as well, along with the sea temp. I'll probably launch the_gaffer sometime during the 1st week of June, and as soon as I do the usual sea tests, I'll be off in search of alungi!!
Trying to decide what to do with my leave, as I had booked 6,13 and 16 June for fishing weekends! I think I will definately remove the 6th as I reckon it will be too early and I'm not even sure I will be ready. Then the question is do I go with the 13th and 16 or 'trade' them in favour for dates later on at the end of June and early July!
Well, from experience, end of June - early July is the best time of the year for Alungi. All conditions are favourable. Sea temp is high, the migratory rate is at its highest, weather conditions are generally stable. But by mid June, Alungi landings start picking up...peaking around the the 1st week of July, and gradually coming down towards the end of July beginning of August, when the 1st sign of Lampuki starts.
Hmm mela looks like I will re-arrange my leave days! Especially with the current weather not looking very favourable for the next 16 days or so.
The problem is that it is always going to be a touch and go, as last year we had about 2 weeks fantastic Alungi then the weather turned windy and rough for about 8 days and PUFF all alungi were gone. we were only getting the one off. But as The gaffer said the best bet is from the 15th June to 15th July anywhere during that month is favourable to produce some kind of catch. You work weekends as well Nick!!!!!!!!!!! my oh my
i'm not even gonna bother goin for alungi before mid july.
Bigboy mid july would be late as then we start seeing small Lampuki....and Alungi will have a lot what to eat..... I am hoping that the weather heats up a bit.
hello guys i am new to this forum.any denci cathcing by trolling this year?
Shanook i always fish for alungi from the 10th july onwards and always had good catches.
do u go birzebbugia or gnejna side....
I usually go out from the filfla side. i head to filfla and then head out to the second xifer. Last year we even did it to the 3rd xifer which was very successful. Surprisingly we also caught a 10kg skipjack tuna which we had never seen one
Ant BFT spotted next to the fishfarms yet people ????
was out by fishfarms couple days ago lots bait fish no bft
Think with all the baitfish around those big tuna's lurking at the bottom aren't interested in biting! They have a food source from the farms and lots of baitfish hanging around!
All i need to know is if there is any bft bacause then there wont be any problems. Live bait is the sollution and some good chumming ;)
guys i am going to try out for the tuna tomorrow. Any help about what depth to fish in? i made my lines in the 10fa range
If you can bring them up surface lures are fine, but the larger tuna tend to hang around at between 40-60 feet from what I've seen visually. The only way you can get your lures down there is to use a downrigger or a Z-Wing.
If you stop and chum, you might have some luck jigging for them or ideally using small live bait.
i will be using mackerel (kavalli)
Are you going to the tuna pens Bigboy or trolling?
Was there today by the tuna pens. got a strike at 8am it took out around 100m nilon rope from the tank and after a 20min fight it gave another good run to the bottom and the double 100lb line broke. Better luck next time but the thrill was great as soon as the 5ltr jerrycan vanished and the big 20ltr jerrycan flew out of the boat i was gonna die with excitement.
Wow what a thrill bigboy! Go down to Misterfish and buy some Grauvell Killer Tuna shock cord, he had 300lbs stuff there as well so pretty heavy duty. I would also make sure you are crimping the line and not tying it with knots if you want it to hold up.
Skip i was using crimps offcors. There is no way you can tie double thick line by a knot.
Will give it another try next wednesday :) Last sunday 2 were caught one of 30kg and another of 70kg. Thay also caught 2 huge AJ's.
St. Pauls Bay or B'Bugia farms bigboy?
St. Pauls bay skip