Tag: Albacore Tuna

Tuna Fishing Tips for Catching Albacore Tuna

Tuna Fishing Tips for Catching Albacore Tuna

Catching Albacore Tuna Fishing
Catching Albacore Tuna

Albacore Tuna, also called thunnus alalunga or albies, is one of the smaller tuna species with metallic dark blue top and silver white belly. Its flesh is pink in color and will turn white when you cook it. Most of the Albacore tuna caught are young and weigh in between 10 – 30 pounds. Because they are young, there is a lower accumulation of mercury in their flesh. Albacore tuna is rich in omega 3 and they are often made into canned tuna.

Albacore tuna is an active fish typically found in tropical/temperate ocean so the best way to catch Albacore Tuna is trolling. It will be difficult to catch tuna from a boat that stands still in the water since they travel in large schools at high speed. When trolling for albacore, it is best to maintain at a boat speed of 6 – 10 knots.

Trolling is a tried and traditional technique for tuna. Visit this post for detailed Tuna Trolling Info

How to catch Albacore Tuna – Lures to use, methods, tips and tricks.

Glittery baits that are designed to troll at high speed can be used in the day time. In the late evening, you can use darker color lures. The ideal length of the lure for catching albacore tuna is 3″ – 4″. Different types of baits are hooked differently, for example, when you use a anchovies bait, you must hook it with the mouth closed. The hook must be strong and sharp, for example, the 4/0 hooks.

Catching Albacore Tuna
Catching Albacore Tuna

The bait is to be installed  in the correct position behind the boat. To get an idea of what bait to use, you can check out the stomach of the first tuna you caught. When you cut open its belly, you’ll be able to see what size and type of bait inside. The size of the bait you use must match the size of the hook. Many anglers have successfully used baits like hex head, yo zuri squid lip rupper, tuna ‘P’nut and mackerel maulers to catch tuna.

To get the tuna to swim up to the surface, you must stir up some commotion, for example dragging an old tire behind the boat. When they are stirred in excitement, they will come up and bite on any bait they see. You can mix 5 – 6 baits to create your own school of fish in order to attract the tuna up to the surface. Typically, it will take about 1 hour to get the tuna into the boat once it bite on the bait.

Check out other species of tuna.

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