Mach IV
By Larry Lockwood
Hearing reports of acres of Mac Tuna moving into Morton Bay Gets the casting arm twitching and the adrenalin out of hibernation.
As the weather heats up in SE QLD the warms currents are pushed south along the eastern sea board with a myriad of pelagic species in tow. At this time of year the bait congregate on mass on the inside of Morton Island doing whatever bait fish do, therefore, it is only natural that predatory fish such as Tuna start showing up looking for an easy meal.
Many people degrade the Mackerel Tuna, or Euthynnus Affinis (Cantor) for all you scientific buffs. But as a light tackle sport fish they are a power house with screaming runs of 200m or more that certainly test the anglers skill when using line class matched to the fish. These speedsters can grow up to 13kg, however, are more commonly caught from 4kg to 10kg.
My first trip for the season chasing Mackerel Tuna, or Mac Tuna was a ripper with conditions being close to perfect for this style of Sports Fishing. The week leading up to the trip was one of anticipation and great concern that the weather was not going to be in our favour after studying the 5 day forecast. My offsider, Bill Heenan or “Blue”, gave me a call on Friday night prior to the trip with hints that the winds looked like they were going to be blowing like a hair dryer in a beauty salon.
After checking the weather report myself I was convinced that the wind would not be a concern and we decided to have a crack anyway. 3.00 am rolls around and Blue rocks up at the door about as excited as a kid at Christmas time, as this was his first trip chasing tuna and the excitement and enthusiasm was unbearable at that hour of the morning.
With a couple of coffee’s under my belt we arrived at the boat ramp with a to find we were not the only nutters heading out for the day. There was not enough wind to blow out a match and the water was like a millpond, in the protection of Bribie Island passage anyway. We launched the boat and made way to Morton Island which was a good 30-45 minute trip.
With the sun was just starting to rise as we rounded Skirmish Point at the south eastern end of Bribie Island, the wind chill was bloody cold and there was a low cloud cover to keep the sun at bay. The trip across the top end of Morton Island was one of the quickest I have done as the swell was non-existent as was the wind. Everything was going to plan and the sun was just starting to rise as we approached the Venus banks, which is a large sand bar that has constant breaking waves and located North West of Morton Island.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
On arrival we motored around for a while scoping the place out and watching for bird activity and the if the weather conditions were likely to change within the next couple hours. The area between the Venus Banks down to the Bulwer wrecks was our Area of Operation (AO) which is located on the northern end of Morton Island.
As far as pelagic species go this area has a combination of deep water and shallow sand bars which give the tuna a perfect feeding ground. With the bait congregating in deeper water tuna or pelagic species in general have the perfect opportunity to push the bait into shallow water forcing the bait into a tight ball near the surface creating an easy meal.
Blue was biting at the bit waiting for the first pod to show, but there was no action as we motored around waiting and watching the birds, which were flying over head towards the main land. Waiting, Waiting, Waiting, the time is now 6.30 am and no sign of any fish. But wait, off in the distance a few birds were starting to congregate with the odd one diving, which is a good indication of surface feeding fish. Down went to throttle and 4 stroke mariner took off like a bunch of startled gazelles as I yelled out to Blue to hang on, who was up the front hanging on like a cowboy riding a bull.
TECHNIQUE
As we came within range we could see the classic signs of feeding tuna going ballistic on a bait ball with the birds over head picking up an easy meal. We had a couple of options when it came to chasing these fish as they were more interested in getting a feed than worrying about a couple of yahoo’s. With the lack of wind, and tide on the last hour of run in the option we chose was to manoeuvre the boat around the pod using the current to our advantage and drifting into range leaving the motor running in order to move position as required.
This technique worked well at this stage of the tide and time of day. Blue has positioned himself on the casting deck waiting with baited breath to launch a cast into the pod. Now, Blue is new to this type of fishing so I had to walk him through the casting side of things and how to successfully hook up on of these fish. Well, where do you think that first cast went, nowhere near the tuna, in fact the opposite direction. It was like watching a comedy sketch for next 20 minutes or so with line and lure going everywhere except into the pod of tuna.
I had to re-position the boat a couple more times before Blue finally made the grade and landed the chrome lure within striking distance of the pod. “Wind like a mother”, I told him as the lure hit the water. Within seconds Blue was screaming, “I’m on, I’m on”, and the sound of 6kg braid ripping through the guides of the custom built rod was music to my ears. The look on Blue’s face was that of a child who just found the biggest lolly jar in the world producing a smile that stretched from ear to ear and a look of shear amazement that he actually hooked onto on of these torpedoes.
The first run was a blinder and stripped 200m of line before slowing down allowing Blue to gain some much needed line back on the reel. After a bit of coaching Blue had the fish to the side of the boat in approx 20 minutes which pulled the scales down to 5.8kg which is not is not bad your first effort in any body’s books. For the next hour we took it in turns using the same technique and produced three more tuna in the 5kg to 8kg range with only one fish ending up in the ice box.
The time was just after 7.30 am and the pods were starting to spread out becoming more difficult to approach. We had to rethink and modify our tactics, using the 4 stroke to our advantage. Even with the 4 stroke we had to be very cautious and cut the motor once we got in range using the tide and the small amount of wind to push us into the pod before firing off a cast.
THE PINNACLE
I hooked the next fish which hit the afterburners and produced an amazing 200m plus run. Blue could NOT resist a cast as the pod stayed within range and before long we had double hook up with Mac Tuna disappearing in the opposite direction. What a dilemma, line was disappearing at a great rate of knots from my reel and Blue was having the same problem.
After the initial run my fish was starting to slow and the tug of war began as it went deep. At the other end of the boat Blue had his fish under control and was able to release his Mac in good health. My fish on the other hand were circling deep under the boat with no intention of coming to the surface.
I eventually persuaded the Mac Tuna to come up by stretching the 6kg braid to it’s limit and constantly changing the angle of the line which forced the fish out of the circling routine. By the time the fish was beside the boat waiting for the net it was pretty well buggered and was lifted into the boat and weighed in at 7.4kg on the lie detector.
This fish was my personal best on 6 kg, but unfortunately could not be revived and ended up in the ice box. When using light tackle chasing tuna there is a very high chance that the fish will not survive, especially Mackerel Tuna as they expend up to 90% of their energy on that first run and lactic acid builds up in their blood very quickly resulting in a poor recovery rate.
With a couple of fish in the ice box which will be used for bait and a Tuna casserole, we landed a total of seven fish for the morning’s effort and were fairly happy with our result. You could not wipe the smile from Blue’s face as he talked about the morning proceedings and the tackle he used.
TACKLE
As I mentioned at the beginning of the article this was Blue’s first trip chasing tuna or any pelagic species on lures. New to this style of fishing he was introduced to the specialised tackle required to achieve the end result. The rods we used were 7’6” moderate to fast action graphite blanks, designed and custom built to give the best casting and performance possible. 
Every angler has a different idea about what makes the perfect spin stick for pelagic such as Tuna, therefore, the custom built rod provides the angler with the ability to have a rod designed to suit their fishing style. The reels used were high speed spin reels with gear ratios in the vicinity of 5:8 to 6:2 matched to suit the rods so that the whole outfit is in perfect balance.
Having an outfit that balances and is comfortable to use played a big part in our success and the ability to use a line class that matches the size of the fish, which is what sports fishing is all about. As for the lures we used chrome slugs between 20 grams and 40 grams depending on the effect of the wind. In the early hours of the morning size of the lure did not seem to pose much of a problem, however, as the day progressed we were getting more strikes using the smaller 20 grams slugs.
We did not have preference for any particular brand of lure as long as it was the right size and had plenty of reflection. Attaching the lure to the leader was done using a barrel swivel to help stop line twist which can cause all problems, especially when using braid. As for the leader material we used Fluorocarbon which is the bee’s knee’s allowing us to use slightly heavier leader in case of much larger fish liking our offering.
THE END OF THE SHOW
The time was now 10.00 am with the wind blowing a good 10-15 knots the Mac Tuna were all but gone with a couple small pods still remaining. Both Blue and I were starting to feel the effects of that 3.30 am wake up and were ready to make the run home. The run back to Bribie Island ended up a wet one and by the time we reached the boat ramp there was not a dry spot anywhere.
Not much was said on the trip back home, as we were both pretty well shagged but the expression on Blue’s face pretty well summed up the mornings efforts. That first trip set the precedence for remaining season and have know been commissioned to built Blue his spin outfit. Unfortunately, I have not being able get back out due to work, but I get the same question every time Blue rings up, when are we going Tuna fishing?