Targeting Monster Tuna on the Gulf Coast and the West Coast

One of the most prized saltwater targets are the various tuna species, which can be found in various saltwater environments. These pelagic fish fight incredibly hard and taste amazing, which is why they have countless loyal fans worldwide. Among them is Captain Kevin Beach of Mexican Gulf Fishing Company out of Venice, Louisiana, and San Diego, California's Captain Ali Hussainy of the Local Knowledge show.

Both captains fish for other species, but tuna hold a special place in their hearts. Each has adapted to their unique fisheries and found a way to catch the biggest tuna around.

West Coast Vs. Gulf Coast Tuna Fisheries

Captain Hussainy is blessed with great fishing out of Mission Bay Harbor, but the past decade or so have been truly special for tuna fishing. Their waters primarily have bluefin, with some yellowfin mixed in, but the size increase has been substantial in recent years.

"We haven’t had fish in the triple-digit weights for bluefin in 100 years until El Niño in 2015 changed the currents and flipped the fishery on its side for the better," he said. "For a guy like me, who grew up tuna fishing and never caught one over 100 pounds in my backyard, this is a magical time to be fishing for tuna in Southern California. Now we catch them over 100 pounds and up to around 300 pounds with regularity."

Summer is the typical season for this California fishery, and Hussainy says there are many different ways to target them. He's typically after big fish, and one of the best ways to target them is kite fishing, as it keeps the bait away from the boat and offers a fantastic surface strike.

"Our average fish this year was between 130 and 180 pounds, with some standout bigger fish," he said. "This is the 'good old days' right now, and you can catch them with a variety of techniques, but our primary method is with a kite and flying fish, which is what we live for. Fishing this way filters out most of the smaller fish, and almost everything you catch is in the triple digits."

On the other hand, Beach has been blessed with excellent yellowfin tuna fishing for several years around Venice, Louisiana. They live there year-round, but the fall of the year is special.

"We are lucky that there is no 'run' or 'tuna season' in Venice, and you can catch them 12 months of the year," he explained. "But starting in October and running into the winter is our big fish season, where the average fish goes from around 60 pounds to averaging 160 pounds, and we catch plenty over 200 pounds. This is by far my favorite time of the year to fish."

The reason for the bigger fish is the baitfish. "All of the predator fish come to the mouth of the Mississippi River because the menhaden and mullet come offshore to spawn. You will have numerous 150- to 200-pound tuna stacked up. The only issue is that every fish knows this, and the sharks know it too, so this is a time when heavy gear is a must."

Kite Fishing for Monster Tuna in SoCal

Given the choice, Hussainy will always prefer to catch them by kite fishing with a flying fish simply because of the excitement of a giant fish striking bait on the surface.

"You see a monster tuna come from out of the deep to hit on the surface, and you're winding as fast as you can to get in a hook in them. It's an incredible experience," he said. "There's no better way to catch some tuna, in my mind."

Using a dead flying fish, skewered and with the wings spread out, Hussainy uses a 9/O VMC J-Hook in the mouth and a 5/O VMC treble hook in the tail. Both hooks are crimped together with 400 lb Seaguar Big Game Blue Label fluorocarbon leader material.

"We crimp them with a leader to the J-Hook and another crimp for the treble and put the treble in the tail for short bites," he said. "The biggest thing about using 400 lb Blue Label is the abrasion resistance because sometimes you pull on those big fish for over an hour, and you don't have to worry about the fish chewing you off."

From the rigged flying fish, Capt. Hussainy connects to a custom wind-on leader with 30 feet of 200 lb Blue Label, then spliced to 130 lb Seaguar Threadlock braid on a Penn 50 VISX reel mounted on Penn rod locked onto the rail. For the kite itself, they will fly a California Flyer brand kite on a Penn Fathom Electric reel spooled with 60 lb Seaguar Threadlock braid with an AFTCO release clip.

Hussainy and his crew commend the 16-strand hollow-core Threadlock braid for its strength and ease of use. "It's effortless to work with; the line is strong and reliable," he said. "It's also great when splicing or using it for wind-ons, and the 16 carriers open up well and make it fast and easy to splice."

While the basics of kite fishing for tuna are straightforward, doing it in the right areas is much more nuanced. Flying in the right places requires understanding the currents and fishery while staying observant.

"We always try to visually locate fish whenever possible, either seeing fish jumping out of the water or 'foaming' on the surface on anchovies, but sometimes we see what we call 'breezing,' which is tuna just under the surface that looks like a breeze over the water but against the current," he said. "Those are the hardest to find and require good eyes, binoculars, and a tall tower to give you an advantage. Once we see that, we'll position upwind of them and feed a bait to them with the kite."

If no visible clues exist, currents, water temperatures, and good old-fashioned networking come into play. "We're always looking for currents where they push baitfish to the edges but also spread out from where we last caught them when looking for fish and work with other boats out there," he said. "If that's not working, we look at sea surface temps to locate the currents."

Live Bait in the Gulf

Like tuna in California, there are different ways to target them in the Gulf of Mexico, but Capt. Beach says it's hard to beat live bait. This is especially true in the fall and winter months when giant tuna gets zeroed in on the influx of bait.

"We are primarily a live bait fishery, and during the fall, we match the hatch like everywhere else in the world," said Beach. "We fill our bait wells with menhaden or mullet; the bigger, the better. Another great thing about this time of year is that you don't have to make long runs, and we generally don't have to go more than 15 miles offshore. We'll cast net for mullet on our way out and keep our eyes open on the main channel and passes for tuna as we head out."

Once they have secured the bait, Capt. Beach and crew will head towards the oil rigs in open water. "These are feed stations for these fish, so we'll start on the rigs and work the open water around them," he said. "The mullet are on a straight suicide mission, and their instinct is to spawn, and you'll see rafts of them swimming in open water. When you find that and see the tuna eating them on the surface, it's a feeling unlike anything else."

They free-line large mullet on a 10/O TroKar 3X strong hook. "The great thing about mullet is they are almost pre-rigged for you, and you can hook them in the channel through the nose," he said. "This is a very fishy area with sharks and tuna, and those fish need to hide, so if you don't free spool and drive away from them 50 or 60 yards, they will run and hide under your propeller every single time. Every day is different with the wind and currents, and some days you can drift with the current or wind, and sometimes you have to use your engine to pull the bait."

Next comes the exciting part: watching a tuna explode. "We drift the baits around and wait for them, but a tuna never gets it on the first blow-up. I don't get it, don't understand it, but I love it," said Beach. "Watching five 150 lb tuna blowing up and your mullet jumping out of the white water is amazing. The bite on the surface is where it's at. It's everything."

Once tuna is hooked, the race is on to get it to the boat because sharks want your tuna as much as you do.

"Once you have one hooked, you have four to six minutes to land that fish, or those 'megalodon' sharks will get them. You have to use much heavier gear this time of year to have a chance," he said. "We use Accurate 80 reels with 65 pounds of drag, seven and a half feet chair rods, and a much heavier line, 200 lb Seaguar Threadlock internally spliced to an entire coil of 200 lb Big Game Fluoro Premier. You won't get nearly as many bites as you would with thinner leader material, but you will land so much more of the fish because you can horse them in."

When putting such strain on your line as you race to beat the sharks, Beach said everything needs to hold up. "Premier is very durable, and Threadlock makes it easy to splice and make a perfect strong connection," he said. "The problem with most hollow-core lines is what happens once the line gets stretched. They are all easy to splice the first time, but where it really counts is the second, third, or even tenth time you splice them. Threadlock is still very good after you've done it multiple times, and you never have a weak link."

Targeting the biggest tuna requires the right gear, approach, and mindset to locate and, more importantly, get them boatside. Captain Beach in Louisiana and California's Captain Hussainy have learned how to succeed while still finding a way to experience the incredible surface action that keeps them coming back for more.

Seaguar Threadlock 16 strand hollow-core braid is available from 50 to 200 lb tests in white or blue in 600- and 2500-yard spools.

Seaguar Big Game Fluoro Premier Leader is available in 100 to 200 lb tests in 25-, 50-, and 110-yard coil bags.

Seaguar Big Game Blue Label Leader is available in 90 to 400 lb tests in 30-meter and 110-yard coil bags.