How to troll up a big tuna

So, the tuna are on. What do you do? The same thing any sane person would. You sit up all night tying knots and leaders, crimping traces, sharpening hooks and testing drags. You can forget about sleeping that night, your mind is racing at a million miles an hour, filled with anticipation and excitement.

While the sun is still hours from rising, you’re already at the ramp, reversing your boat into the water. The anticipation is killing you. But it’s not until you get to the grounds and put your lures out that the waiting game begins… then, slowly but surely, self-doubt creeps in.

Did your chose the right lures? Are your knots going to hold if you hook a monster? Have you done everything possible to maximise your chance of landing a fish of a lifetime? And which mate will you call first if you do land a barrel?

PAUL'S TOP 5 TUNA LURES
1. X-Rap 40: Wahoo
2. Strada Tracka 160: Blue/silver
3. Strada Firenze: Purple
4. Richter Soft Grassy: Hot Rod
5. Entice 6" Squirt: Vvil

I’ve been very lucky to have caught quite a few tuna in my time using lures. I have done so in many different places, aboard many different-sized boats and with many different people. Along the way, I have accumulated plenty of helpful hints that do increase your chance at landing a beauty.

Here are some top tuna trolling tips that work…

OUTRIGGERS MAXIMISE THE SPREAD
I like to run a minimum of five rods when trolling lures. Unless you’re fishing from a small tinny, this shouldn’t be an issue. If you don’t have outriggers then my advice is to buy some.

There is an amazing range of outriggers available today including rod riggers that simply slide into your rod holder or clip onto fixings on the side of your boat.

Outriggers are a massive benefit when trolling for tuna and are simple to use. Because your lures are further apart you have much less chance of getting your lines crossed and in a tangle, plus spreading your lures over a wider distance means you are covering more ground.

LURES ON THE WAVE FACES
Lure spreads are a personal thing, but I like to work on the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid). Spread the lures in such a way that you have the least chance of them tangling and try to run lures on the wave face. When you buy a trolling lure, ask where it’s best to run it, that is, one which wave.

Now when I say the wave, I am talking about how many waves behind the transom. Mix it up and try to run them on the face of the wave, not the back. This is irrelevant when using minnow lures or bibless, of course.

I like to keep deep divers running fairly close to the boat near the white water from the prop. This is exactly where the tuna will be looking when you drive past them!

THE SHOTGUN
The Shot Gun is one of my favourite tuna positions. I place the shotgun in the rocket launcher in the dead centre of the boat and I run it l-o-n-g. It is always the lure that is furthest from the boat.

The idea of the shotgun is simple. The tuna see your lure spread, get excited and then the shotgun dashes past them all alone… and BANG! The fish think: “you know what, I’m not missing out, I’m going to eat that. I just can’t help myself!”

(ED: Try a long straight runner with a heavy head in blue sauri pattern or a lumo Sprocket as your go-to tuna shotgun lures.)

KEEP TROLLING AFTER HOOKUP
So next time you hear the tuna are in town, make sure you have outriggers, run a full complement of lures, and mix it up for best results. After all you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket!

Oh, and one more thing, when you do hook up, don’t stop the boat. Tuna are a school fish, so keep driving for a while and you may hook tow, three, four or even five fish at once. This is known as organised chaos.

Hopefully, some hours after and epic fight, you’ll be picking up that phone and calling your mate to brag about the barrel on deck.