(Originally published in Sep/Oct 2015)
Night Trawling for Big Eyes
By Capt. Tred Barta
It surprises me greatly that one of the newest techniques in my beloved Northeast Canyons is trawling at night for Big Eye Tuna. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Captain Mike Foreman and Captain Jamie Humel, who were my crew on Makaira, must get credit for the initial development of this technique.
I am sure by now everyone realizes that in successful canyon fishing you are only as good as your crew. And I am sure everyone realizes by now that everyone in a crew has their strengths and their weaknesses. A great captain and a successful team realize this.
My biological clock allows me to be at my best between 5:00 in the morning until 6:00 p.m. After that I crash. However, Jamie and Mike seemed to be their best at night.
Back in the old days when the sun had its finally showing I would take a quick shower, put on my monogramed Captain Tred Barta pajamas and go to sleep. At night Makaira often took the Big Eye Highway, named by the Makaira, to the east which was the 43300 line.
I often woke the next morning in Atlantis, Hydrographers, or Oceanographer Canyon. Often during the night I heard thumping on the deck and thought it was just Jamie or Mike fooling around. When I awoke we had six more Big Eyes in the coffin than when I went to sleep!
In those days we knew nothing about night chunking and didn’t do it. We drifted huge double hook squid for swordfish.
The crew of Makaira would take three 16-ounce deep clones and place a cylume above the lure attached to the leader with electrical tape. We were straight line trawling at 4-5 knots. We fished the clones way back and were extremely successful.
The best bite seemed to be about sunset to about 1 am. In all of the years I fished with Jamie and Mike I always was too exhausted to partake in the fishery and take zero credit for developing it. Obviously tuna feed at night, we all know that, but at that time it was an incredible novelty.
In later times in our career when we discovered Big Eye Mountain in the hay day of canyon fishing, there were hundreds of boats in the canyon and at night it was a sea of lights. We shared this technique with everyone but nobody listened.
As the sun hit the horizon there was a panic amongst the fleet to get to a lobster pot to tie off with a successful evening of night chunking. No one wanted to trawl for Big Eye at night when they could fill the cockpit with yellowfin tuna, dolphin, and even swordfish.
Of course today, when I hear about the new technique of night trawling for Big Eye Tuna I chuckle and a smile comes to my face because it was some 30-35 years ago that I heard the thump on the deck while I was in my pajamas.
I leave it to the new guard to develop the night trawling legacy. I am sure there have been improvements from what we used to do. I also believe the following facts that may be true or may not be true. But I believe them to be true.
- Big Eye Tuna are most active feeders at night between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.
- Big Eye Tuna bite at night on a slow trawled bait. The best speed is 3.5 knots.
- On nights with very high phosphorus in the water the trawling speed should be reduced.
- The use of a cylume in front of a bait seemed to work much better than without it.
- Due to the large size of a 16-ounce deep clone and the slow trawling speed of 3-4 knots, trawling off the rod tip was much more success than in a rigger. This was due to the fact that the drop back was too much and the hook up ratio suffered.
I look forward in the future to discover from the new breed of canyon fishermen what is discovered and implemented on the art of night trawling of Big Eye Tuna. As I close my eyes just before nodding off to sleep I can hear the thumping on the deck of a Big Eye Tuna caught at night, and with this I put my pen aside and fall asleep. Good night!
Till Next Tide
Tred’n Water
Captain Tred Barta
