TUNA

The 2 types of tuna that we catch in Miami are black fin and yellow fin, and unfortunately we don’t catch too many yellow fins. In February and March there are usually some blue fin sightings, but they are not usually targeted. The black fin are the most common and we find them throughout the year. Late April through mid July is when we catch the most and biggest black fins. We generally can get black fin bites throughout the day; since tunas are low light feeders, early in the morning and then late in the afternoon up til dark are the best times to target them, as well as on overcast days. In the past week we have been catching 15-35 pound black fins pretty much everyday fishing live herring, pilchards, and sardines under the kite and on flat lines in the 100-200 foot range. On the Thomas Flyer we use 20 pound tackle with 30-40 pound flouro leaders and 5-0 to 6-0 circle hooks. If you can catch enough bait, live chumming will usually get them up. There have also been a few black fins caught on the troll with rigged baits, small feathers, and lures. The fish on the live baits are generally much larger.