How local fishermen found a group of blackfin tuna while fishing in Gulf of Mexico
Over the past few weeks, the Gulf of Mexico has come alive.
Every spring as water temperatures warm and winds switch to an easterly pattern, schools of bait begin a seasonal trek north, and with it, pelagic fish follow close.
Travis Redder had a good feeling as he looked west last weekend. Along with three other anglers, Redder and crew had a live well full of whitebait anticipating a variety of fish potential. Stopping at a wreck in 55 feet, Redder noticed another nearby boat catching plenty of fish.
“We fished the wreck a few weeks ago and there were fish everywhere,” said Redder, who tries to fish multiple times a month offshore. “There was a boat that looked like a commercial boat and they were pulling in fish left and right so we knew we were in the right area.”
After a few times trolling around the wreck, they were able to land a small kingfish and a bonita. They spot-locked on the wreck and the fish immediately started biting live bait on light tackle.
“We were using long shank hooks and white baits, throwing a handful out for chum. Just about every drop back with whitebait was getting hit. It was mostly kingfish and some Spanish (mackerel) mixed in. No tournament winners with the biggest at 32- or 33-inches to the fork, but it was a lot of action!”
Using long shank hooks helped keep the toothy kingfish and mackerel at bay, but Redder said they lost plenty of tackle.
After a few hours of constant action and boxing enough fish for the fryer, Redder suggested they head a little deeper to bottom fish for snapper and grouper. By that point of the day, the seas calmed down, so they ran out to 115 feet quickly aboard the 25-foot Century.
Unfortunately, the bottom fishing wasn’t great, but Redder noticed action off in the distance and acted quickly.
“We got a few short red grouper, and the snapper bite was pretty bad. There were fish busting about 150 yards in front of the boat and they looked like bigger fish. That’s when we saw they were blackfin tuna!” Redder recalled.
“We had the two trolling rods ready and put them out. That’s when we picked up a tuna pretty quickly on an XRap-25 diving plug when we trolled through the busting fish.”
Excited as the other anglers had never caught a tuna, Redder headed to some nearby wrecks in an attempt to duplicate the feat. Unfortunately, the tuna moved along quickly.
Springtime is definitely the best time of year to catch blackfin tuna in the shallower waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This usually lasts until the rainy season kicks in as bait stays close to shore and the waters are clean.
Kingfish have arrived later than normal, and seem to be at their peak right now. If you want to get into Gulf pelagic action, right now is probably the best of the year. With good weather on the horizon, it should be smooth sailing for anglers heading west along the Gulf Coast.
From 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 21, at The Center of Anna Maria Island, 407 Magnolia Ave., Full Send Reef Habitat is hosting a Fish Fry Soiree. Proceeds will go toward Full Send Artificial Reef building. The event will have family fun, local food, live music and speakers.
