There is nothing in Northeast fishing quite like tuna on top. When bluefin herd bait to the surface and start crashing, casting a big popper or stickbait into the chaos and watching a hundred-pound fish detonate on it is pure adrenaline. It is demanding, gear-intensive fishing, and it is worth every bit of the effort.
Reading the feed
Popping is a hunt. You are looking for surface-feeding fish: bait showering, tuna crashing, birds working over the top. Approach a feed carefully, tuna spook, so ease into casting range up-wind or up-drift rather than running straight over the school, and put your cast to the edge or ahead of the feeding fish.
How to work the lure
- Poppers: a sharp sweep of the rod makes the cupped face throw water and chug, pause, then pop again, and be ready, tuna often hit on the pause.
- Stickbaits: a sweeping retrieve makes them dart and slide subsurface, deadly when fish are feeding but shy of a noisy popper.
- When it eats, come tight and hold on. Do not trout-set, let the fish turn with the lure, lean into it, and let a big drag and a strong rod do their job.
Tip Match the lure to the bait and the mood. If fish are crashing big bait, throw a big loud popper; if they are picking at small bait and refusing the popper, switch to a stickbait worked just under the surface.
Gear
Popping tuna demands purpose-built tackle, see the full tuna popping setup. In short: a heavy popping rod, a high-capacity, high-drag Daiwa spinning reel (Saltiga class), heavy braid and a strong leader, and quality poppers and stickbaits with upgraded hooks and split rings. Everything has to be strong enough to fight a tuna to the boat.