Targeting Bigeyes

Get In On The Fun

(Originally published January/February 2024)

By Capt. Ricky Wheeler

It is hard to compare the extreme excitement that comes over you when multiple massive explosions pop off in your trolling spread. This is especially true when you are in an area known to be holding bigeye tuna and you know exactly what created those bomb holes. All of that whitewater turns into screaming drags, and I sure hope you have a big game reel with a loud clicker because that has to be one of the best sounds in the world, a bigeye tuna just absolutely dumping line off of your reel! Plus you don’t want to find yourself undergunned when you are hooked into one of these brutes!

As abundant as bigeye tuna can be at times, they can be equally elusive, only showing themselves to the fortunate few from time to time throughout our fishing season here in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern canyons. Bigeye tuna can get up to more than 400 pounds, but the current all-tackle IGFA world record in the Atlantic Ocean is 392 pounds, 6 ounces, and was caught off Spain in 1996. While it seems our average bigeye in our region ranges from 120 to 200 pounds, there are certainly a few boomers caught every year that we get to see that exceed 300 pounds.