Bluefin trolling is the bread and butter of the New England tuna fleet. When fish are spread across Stellwagen Bank or the offshore grounds and not showing on the surface, a well-set spread covers water, imitates a panicked school of bait, and raises fish to eat. It is also the best way to locate a body of fish you can then stop and jig or pop.
The spread
A bluefin spread is built to look like bait:
- Spreader bars (often rigged with green machines, shads or squids) are the primary teasers, they throw a whole school's worth of commotion.
- Green machines and cedar plugs are time-tested bluefin producers run in the pattern.
- Daisy chains and rigged ballyhoo add movement and hook baits behind the teasers.
- Stagger the lines short and long, and use the wake, bluefin ambush from the whitewater.
Tip Fish the ocean, not just the spread. Put your pattern over temperature breaks, bird life, whales and bait marks, bluefin are where the food is, and a spread in the right water outfishes a perfect spread in dead water every time.
The hookup
When a bluefin crashes the spread the reel screams, clear the other lines, get the angler settled, and drive the boat to help fight the fish. Bluefin are heavy, dogged fighters, so keep the drag right and let a big fish be a big fish. For the wider trolling picture across tuna species, see tuna trolling; for a spread tuned to yellowfin, see yellowfin trolling.
Gear
Bluefin trolling means stout conventional trolling outfits with heavy line, strong drags and the capacity for a long fight, matched to sturdy rods and quality bars, chains and lures. Dependable, high-drag Daiwa reels earn their place on the transom.