Jumbo Tuna — Kelly ‘Hooch’ Hunt

The author loves Australian Zacatak lures.

The lures I favour are Zacatak Lures from NSW and I make no qualms about that. They have fabulous heritage and I know the man himself who started the business. Mario is a special man who lives in the game fishing Mecca of Port Stephens. Very early on we struck a friendship based on his lures, the colours that were available and how well they held the water in our rougher conditions. The company has been sold to a family in Port Stephens and they have given it a massive modern lift. You would be well advised to check their website and also ask your local tackle shop to get some for you. Don’t have them tell you other lures are just as good and sell you something that is on the shelf. Ask for Zacatak lures

If the weather cuts up rough and its tough to keep a 5 lure spread from tangling and causing issue, 1. You should be thinking pretty long and hard about if you need to be out there and 2. You need some Tsutomu lures as these lures are weighted and hold the water in extreme conditions. Their fish headed bullet style lures are keel weighted and encapsulated in resin. They also have as an option on all of their skirt colour combinations, some metallic wings for added flash.

Diving lures are also very popular and for good reason. They work really well. If you want the best no fuss, no frills, just get the job done type lures then look no further than the Halco range. They have two diving lures that are dead set killers in Tasmanian waters. The Laser Pro and the MAX are lures that behave and don’t give any trouble. You will hear a lot of people call them deep divers, but being towed in a skirted lures spread at 6-8 knots they aint diving deep any time soon. Sure, they are deeper than the skirts but they are surface lures so that shouldn’t be too hard. If you want your bibbed lure or the bibless MAX to dive a little deeper at skirt pace, then rubber band the line down from the rod tip. Reach out and grab the line with your hand and have a rubber band in your other hand or over your hand around your wrist. Find a low point on the boat you can attach the rubber band to. You can loop it or tie it with the rubber band, it doesn’t matter. What you must look out for is any issue the line may have while being trolled or if a fish strikes. You don’t want a fish to hit your lure and then contact something on the boat and bust off. Make sure you take into account the line length you lose in the process. You may have to run your lure out a bit further to compensate. The other way to have you lures dive deeper, much deeper, is to slow down and let some line out. This can be a great technique when you have had no luck, yet the sounder says there is some bait about. Send your sneaky offerings down to them. This will mess with your mind as you will be going much slower than you normally would. Don’t worry about it. If anything, pull your skirted lures in and slow down even further. Have 4 divers in the water down way deeper than anyone else and you never know what might happen.

OR..... you could just keep doing what you always do and troll surface lures around hoping that something might miraculously change from the last 4 hours that this didn’t work. Slow down. Dive deep. Try something different.

Rods And Reels

50lb is the minimum tackle you should be thinking when tackling the big jumbos. That’s 24kg line class and if you have some quality braid and a good quality mono top shot you can fish 37kg or 80lb stand up no problem at all. This is the domain of overhead reels, but there are a heap of spinning reels that will handle the job. You all know I am a PENN man and I love the range so my personal eggbeater or spinning reel at the moment is the SPINFISHER III. Its big, got plenty of engine room has an awesome drag. The reel also has a good handle design allowing good line return and is very comfortable. The good news is they don’t cost the earth in their class. The line retention lines on the spool are also handy for gauging how much line is out. Although this can also allude to how much pain there is to suffer as well.

Jonah Yick with a 92kg bluefin tuna in June 2016 while fishing at Eaglehawk Neck onboard Mustang Sally. This was hooked just metres away from the cliffs at the landmark known as the Lanterns.

The rod to match up with this beast of a reel is the Ocean Assassin range again from PENN. You can either go the short stroker or something a bit longer to get a cast off at times. This is personal choice. This combo won’t break the bank and in the 8500 – 9500 reel size range will also make a formidable Striped Trumpeter set up. They pull two horse stripeys out of 120 plus metres like no bodies business.

Where To Go

Well I know where I am keen to go and that’s down ‘the neck’. Eagle hawk neck is the place to catch tuna in Tasmania and there will be petty fights between factions about that for ever, but it is what it is. The boat ramp offers great shelter from most weather angles, the cliffs supply good coverage and safety from a lot of wind and swell directions. The bait holding grounds, drop offs and clefts are endless and the tuna love the place. Accommodation is varied and in good supply and you don’t have to drive far in your boat to find good fish holding grounds. I am afraid all other areas while still being great fishing spots don’t have the characteristics of ease and fishability that The Neck possess. My most admired and appreciated perk of fishing Eagle hawk Neck is if the weather does get up there is nearly always a plan of attack the reduces its effect or there is somewhere you can go to get out of it for a rest or some lunch. Then you can pop back out into the slop and the swell and the stiff breeze and attack the elements once more and match your skill and wits against the big JUMBO Bluefin.

Pedra Branca is still a much-loved destination but I was leaning towards ease and a quick trip after we had been in lockdown and not fishing. Pedra is a grand and remarkable trip as well as a fine Jumbo destination. This time of year, the water movements and current in and around Schouten Island and the passage itself is also well worth a look. There are some really big schools of tuna and jumbo fish out off there for sure. The water and current off the shelf due east and to the north is also worth close inspection should the weather allow.

Bicheno is a fave destination of mine, but to be fair I don’t have enough personal experience of what the fishing is like at this time of year, but I doubt it would differ too much from further south. Fishing the shelf is a bit harder than the bait holding points of the Neck and surrounds. You need a good sounder and a good understanding of how it works to find some bait and lock onto them.

Finding the bait will have you halfway there in finding a school of large jumbo tuna. They swim. They eat. REPEAT. That’s it.

SIMRAD have a new tool for us to all try and it is a cracker. They have a new SD card-based map that has some exciting detail. That detail is by way of 3D sonar imaging and it is available from all the Tasmanian stockists. We got ours from Deegan Marine and have been taken aback by the quality detail at our finger tips. No more will you have to worry about squeezing a “mark” out of anyone. You can see right in front of you the bottom in glorious 3D magnificence. If you have even the smallest idea of what makes a good spot for the species, you are chasing. You now have thousands of new adventures ahead of you heading to the treasure of information at your disposal.

Tasmania often misses out on the tech front but not this time. Tasmania has the lion share of all the maritime seafloor scan detail. Check them out and get one in your SIMRAD or LOWRANCE sounder as quick as you can.

Get The Spread Out

Doesn’t matter what stretch of water you have chosen now you have to put some lures in the ocean. Set the longest lure first and once that is in position work your way to the boat finishing at short corner. This will save tangles. In the same tangle free plan of attack, should you get a strike quickly bring in the shortest line first and so forth. This will again minimise a tangle of dragging a lure through a hooked fish and all your lures in short. Run two lures, run three or maybe run four, but make sure they are running nice in the water and looking good. Don’t have them hopping out of the water. If they do this run some more line out and watch it again. If it’s out long enough but still surface hopping, you didn’t listen. You may hear the evil voice in your head speak because you purchased a lure from eBay. It’s made out of low qual resin or even just a clear plastic. Its not keel weighted and the skirt length is possibly too short and made out of rubbish rubber. Try and settle it down and rubber band it. You may catch a fish with it, but if it gets a little windy or a swell and

chop gets up it’s going to be tough. You spend hundreds of dollars on fuel and possibly accommodation and this crap lure is going to burn you hard. You need to spend your hard earned dough on 5 or 6 lures of good quality, such as Zacatak Lures. You are going to buy a nice lure wrap to look after then, keep em in one spot and flush them in freshwater when finished for the day. Then you are going to take great care in rigging them with good hooks and you should never loose them. Well that’s how it is meant to happen.

Stay calm once a fish is hooked

Once you have hooked a fish stay cool and stay calm. Its hooked. It is not going anywhere, just play the fish out. Keep a constant bend in the rod. Be smooth and don’t lift the rod tip and drop the rod tip faster than your hands can retain line. This jerking action makes everyone furious and is the best way to pull a big hole in the tuna’s mouth and the hook will fall out.

I have a tip for you if you are having trouble getting fish into the boat. The key here is to keep the boat in gear and traveling forward. A lot of times once the fish is at the boat the thought is to pull the boat out of gear. This gives a tired fish a full 360 degrees to try and make its escape. If you keep the boat in gear and a few revs on the water pressure of moving forward will help you out. It will take away one of the avenues the fish will try and use to escape. The angler should be up near the skipper and the leader and gaff man will be at the rear corner of the boat as this is where the forward motion of the boat going forward will have the fish ... hopefully

The fish may have some life left in it and will be doing some slow circles at the aft of the boat. Use these to your advantage and time your gaff shot as the fish comes around again. Don’t rush it and if it has to go around again to get a better shot then so be it. Good firm even pressure on the leader is all you need. Tugging and pulling like some rough house nut is by no means useful. Tact and finesse will win the day.

Hit the fish with the gaff and if it’s a jumbo call for another gaff and hit it again. Once you have a solid gaff shot in the fish have the angler drop out of the harness, put the rod somewhere safe, and come to your help. Don’t panic and freak out about what you need to do next. Be calm and work through it. Two people can lift a 100kg fish into a boat if you slow down and think about it.

Firstly, you don’t have to lift the full weight of the fish up and over the gunnel. It’s a fish. Its slippery and shaped like a torpedo get a little over half the weight on or just over the gunnel and that bad boy is coming onboard thanks to science ... Hello gravity. A cool calm voice and “On 3 - One - two - THREE!”

What you now have on the deck of your boat is a massive JUMBO Bluefin that some cultures pay crazy stupid money for. Take a breather and then treat it with some respect. Get a wet towel on it because when everyone gets some wind in their lungs you are going to want to take some nice pictures. Don’t waste a second in bleeding the fish. A small incision just behind the pectoral fin and you will have blood everywhere. Keep washing the boat and fish with a bucket or deck wash. Remember - good pictures are better without blood everywhere.

If you get a chance have a look on the Tuna Champions website for the traditional Japanese way to kill and look after pelagic tuna. You can buy a kit or make your own and in this world we live in I suggest you do that. Maximising the meat yield is what it is all about and a challenge I lay down to all anglers. This goes with all species. There are some very good YouTube videos online showing how to get the best and most out of a fish. This is a very good habit to get into as not knowing how to cut up a certain fish leads to terrible waste. The aim of the game here is to fill your freezer and fill the crews freezer, give some to the family next door or your mechanic you have been promising fish for ages. Well cut and prepared fish in zip logs is a nice surprise for everyone and much appreciated.

So there you have a brief outline of how you may go getting a JUMBO on the decks when we are allowed to fish and fish hard. The items I mentioned like Zacatak and quality PENN reels comes with an added bonus. I am available through my personal Facebook page for any and all questions around this gear. More than happy to help with anything that has you finding and catching fish easier and safer.

Until next time TIGHT lines and stay SAFE Kelly Hooch Hunt

THE 1450 Stabicraft Series is here

After months of research, prototyping and on the water testing we are excited to announce the up and coming launch of the new Stabicraft 1450 Series. Stabicraft was not only founded on rigid aluminium pontoons, it was founded through a compact sized, tiller steer vessel. The 3.5m - 4.5m size range has been with Stabicraft since its inception and we have customers to this day still using these early models, such is their versatility. The 1450 Series is an important step in the small Stabi evolution. Our approach needed to recognise and appreciate what makes these compact vessels so widely accepted. The feeling of safety, easy maneuverability and affordability are features all found on previous Stabicraft models in this class. The new 1450 Series acknowledges these aspects in addition to features never seen before on a 4.5m vessel, making the 1450 Series the best compact Stabi we have ever produced. Developing the new 1450 series involved taking on one of the most successful and versatile boats in Stabicraft’s history – the 1410. Not only has the widely accepted 1410 been a proven model across the globe, it is a size class that Stabicraft have been innovating in since 1987. The ‘Ally duck’ was the very first Stabicraft model ever produced. This legendary model revolutionised the safety of small diving boats, and was the foundation of the ‘Adventure with Confidence’ mantra. Stabicraft founder, Paul Adams believes it is important to keep evolving the boats, regardless of if the current model is a commercial success achieving record high sales. Paul Adams, Stabicraft founder says; “If you just keep building something because you’ve always done it that way, then chances are it could be done better. We want to be the best. You have to watch how people use the boat and find things that could be done better, smarter, and safer. This new 1450 model is going to redefine the compact boat market”. The 1450 project has been about understanding how people use boats this size, pushing them to the limits, and then packaging it into 4.5 metres. The 1450 will be offered in 3 different packages allowing it to suit more people and types of boating across more markets. This has meant rethinking the layout, use of space and ergonomics within the boat. It goes without saying the 1450 has some big shoes to fill, but this new model is the best compact boat we have ever produced, hands down. All the details of the new 1450 Series will be revealed when launched via social channels after Friday 17th April. More details from Deegan Marine.

Canvas, Clears, Covers and more .........

A towing mishap in early January saw the bimini cover on our boat fly off the back like it had taken up parasailing. Luckily there were no cars behind us as it became airborne not far from the Epping Forest shop. What to do? Should we salvage what was left and seek a repair with the debris I collected on my 400 metre ‘walk of shame’ or should we just bite the bullet and get a new one built? Eventually it was decided to go the new option, along with the addition of some clears and sidewalls which was my wife Janet’s suggestion as apparently she likes staying dry when fishing - who knew? Anyway, did the due diligence thing and settled on a quote by a young fellow who runs a business called Mick’s Canvas, out at Mt Direction on the Tamar River. We were very pleased with the quality of the job, his professionalism and the price. Above are a couple of pictures of the new bimini. If you’re in the market for this kind of service, give Mick a call. Shop local, support local. Todd and Janet Lambert Mick’s Canvas 0447 590 797