Yellowfin are the tuna most Northeast offshore trips are built around. They ride the warm water and the bait up onto the canyon edges in summer and fall, and when they are there they will eat a spread of trolled lures, a chunk slick, a jig or a popper. They are strong, fast, and they eat as well as anything in the sea.
How to identify them
Yellowfin are named for their brilliant yellow finlets and long, sickle-shaped yellow second dorsal and anal fins, which grow dramatically long on big fish. The body is dark blue above and silvery below, often with a golden stripe along the flank. Compare with the bluefin, which is stockier with shorter pectoral fins and a colder-water range.
Where and when
Yellowfin are a warm-water, offshore fish. From the Northeast that means a long run to the canyons and the temperature breaks along the edge, generally from summer into fall when the warm water and bait push up onto the structure. This is big-water, watch-the-weather, watch-the-water-temp fishing.
Tip Offshore, water is everything. Warm blue water pushed up against the edge, a temperature break, bird life and bait all stacked together is what turns a canyon on. Do your homework on temperature and chlorophyll charts before you burn the fuel.
How to catch them
Trolling
A spread of skirted trolling lures, spreader bars and daisy chains covers water and finds fish, this is how most yellowfin days start.
Chunking
Once you find them, setting up a chunk slick at anchor or on a drift and feeding baits back into it is deadly, especially at the canyon on an overnight.
Jigging and popping
When fish are marked or busting on top, vertical jigs and big surface poppers on heavy spinning gear are the most exciting way to catch them. This is where a proper tuna popping setup with a high-end Daiwa reel earns its keep.
Eating
Yellowfin is the definition of prime tuna: deep red, clean, and superb raw or seared. Bleed, gut and ice big fish properly offshore and the quality is world class.