The Local Fisherman » VA http://www.thelocalfisherman.com Everything You Need to Catch Fish Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:23:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Virginia Coast Bluefins and Bluefish? http://www.thelocalfisherman.com/2009/01/14/virginia-coast-bluefins-and-bluefish/ http://www.thelocalfisherman.com/2009/01/14/virginia-coast-bluefins-and-bluefish/#comments Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:08:59 +0000 msuler http://thelocalfisherman.com/?p=7 Anglers were surprised when sizable schools of small bluefin appeared along the canyon edges at the beginning of the season. Meanwhile yellowfin were absent, at least in the first weeks. Inshore, where bluefin were supposed to be, anglers found hordes of enormous bluefish which destroyed nearly any lure fished. Setting four lines would not be Read More]]> Anglers were surprised when sizable schools of small bluefin appeared along the canyon edges at the beginning of the season. Meanwhile yellowfin were absent, at least in the first weeks. Inshore, where bluefin were supposed to be, anglers found hordes of enormous bluefish which destroyed nearly any lure fished. Setting four lines would not be possible before all rods would go down.

Just 3 to 4 miles away, lucky boaters could be in small bluefin, while those inshore were facing the monster blues. Eventually the bluefish invaded even the canyon waters, something that simply does not happen, ever. Tournament anglers in search of the season’s first marlin suffered horrific tackle losses as the hungry bluefish bit thru hundreds of ballyhoo rigged on mono leaders.

Eventually, the bluefish subsided, and anglers began to key on the tuna. Most experienced boats enjoyed excellent catches in the troll using a variety of daisy chains and spreader bars. Initially the bluefin were small, and their behavior was quite odd. They would eagerly attack 6-inch squid daisy chains while 9-inch lures were ignored.
Small squids rigged on a spreader bar were equally effective. Many of the normally effective lures went untouched.

]]> http://www.thelocalfisherman.com/2009/01/14/virginia-coast-bluefins-and-bluefish/feed/ 0 Virginia Coast Tuna http://www.thelocalfisherman.com/2009/01/14/virginia-coast-tuna/ http://www.thelocalfisherman.com/2009/01/14/virginia-coast-tuna/#comments Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:07:56 +0000 msuler http://thelocalfisherman.com/?p=5 We had pushed hard to be among the first boats to set lines off the Virginia coast on this overcast July morning. We had set the center line, locally known as the way-way back or simply WWB. The rig consists of a bird, daisy chain of artificial squid and green machine. Within seconds of placing Read More]]> We had pushed hard to be among the first boats to set lines off the Virginia coast on this overcast July morning. We had set the center line, locally known as the way-way back or simply WWB. The rig consists of a bird, daisy chain of artificial squid and green machine. Within seconds of placing the rod in the rod holder, and before we could set the second line, we were hooked up to a nice bluefin tuna.

Moments later we boated our second fish, a 40-pound class yellowfin on another daisy chain as the bulk of the fleet were about to throttle back and begin setting lines. This was tuna fishing – Virginia style.
While this day we were successful, the season saw much of traditional tuna fishing knowledge proved worthless. Things that were not supposed to happen, did. Any seasoned Virginia angler will tell you that bluefin arrive first, eating cedar plugs in 20 fathoms. Farther offshore, yellowfin might appear, along the canyon edges.

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