BAG A BLUEFIN
While a tuna fishery may develop again around the British Isles, there are many superb places near and far to target this largest of the sports fish
Add these top tuna to your bucketlist
Bluefin tuna are one of the world’s largest species of sports fish, reputedly growing in excess of 2,000lb and, remarkably, they are one species that, in certain areas, are actually becoming more prolific. The Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) is in the family Scombridae and is variously known as the northern bluefin tuna, giant bluefin tuna and tunny.
Atlantic bluefins are native to both the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean, as well
as the Mediterranean, and are a close relative of the Pacific bluefin tuna and the southern bluefin. The current IGFA all-tackle record is held with a colossal tuna that weighed 1,496lb, caught in October 1979 off Nova Scotia, Canada.
The Atlantic bluefin tuna has long been highly prized as a food fish, and mediumsized and large individuals are heavily targeted for the Japanese raw fish market where all bluefin species are highly prized for sushi and sashimi. And this, of course, is the reason why many stocks have declined due to considerable commercial pressure.
TACKLE CHOICE
Regardless of size, provided they are caught on suitable tackle, bluefin tuna provide superb sport. Anglers target smaller fish (less than 100lb) by spinning, popping, jigging or even using fly-fishing tackle. Larger fish, too, can also be taken on specialist spinning gear, but such fish have totally defeated more than an occasional angler who has been overly
ambitious and, consequently, forced to hand his rod over.
Mid-range fish of 100-600lb are usually targeted using bait or by boats trolling lures. Baits can be either dead or live and are invariably presented from a drifting boat, to which the tuna are attracted by a chum trail consisting of small chunks of fish introduced at a steady, little-and-often rate.
If you intend targeting truly giant tuna, fish in excess of 600lb, then you need to use the appropriate tackle, which is either 80lb or 130lb-class. Again, these fish are invariably caught using drifted baits or trolled lures, with the angler fighting the fish from the safety and security of a fighting chair. Unless you are experienced at fighting apex species of sport fish using stand-up tackle, taking on such fish while strapped into a fighting harness is not a great idea.
WHERE TO FISH
For some years now, seemingly everincreasing numbers of tuna have being turning up off the coast of the British Isles. Specifically targeting these has been illegal as, frustratingly and unfairly, neither the UK nor Ireland have any quota to fish for bluefin tuna.
However, from this year things look set to change as some Irish charter boats are being issued with licences to fish for tuna on a strictly catch, tag and release basis. In Cornwall, a tagging scheme is being repeated, this time with angler help being recruited.
Luckily, if you want to target bluefin tuna there are several destinations that are both quick and affordable to get to – destinations where there is an excellent chance you will hook up with the fish of your dreams.
I have caught bluefins when fishing off the mouth of the Ebro Estuary, in Spain, just a two-hour drive south of Barcelona, along with others off Beaulieu Sur Mer, in France, which is just half-an-hour from Nice airport.
Plenty of bluefin are caught elsewhere throughout the Mediterranean, with key destinations including Majorca, Gibraltar, Italy and Croatia.
Budget flights from many UK regional airports are available to all of these destinations, making short, two or three-day trips an affordable possibility.
Further afield, the Canary Islands, notably La Gomera, is another reliable location, notably during March and April when shoals of seriously big fish migrate through the area.
Bluefin tuna can be caught fishing off several of the mid-Atlantic states of the US, but the most reliable fishery is off the coast of New England, where huge numbers of fish arrive each summer, while the Cape Cod area is especially productive for small fish targeted using spinning outfits.
If you want to target a seriously big fish, then your ultimate destination is Prince Edward Island, in Canada. Here, fish average more than 500lb, and fish in excess of the magical 1,000lb are caught each year. Prince Edward Island is certainly one destination on my personal bucketlist. ■