The Tuna are Here

The Tuna have arrived!!

“Reel Action Charters” – the first to find the tuna at Marion Bay Yorke Peninsula in 2011

We have just located the first tuna for the season from Marion Bay. Whilst on holidays over the Christmas break, We decided to have a look at the current sea surface temperature chart due to the amazing amount of baitfish that were present in and around Marion Bay. The Tuna were early last year turning up around mid February, so we were sceptical if they would be here so early but it was worth a try.

The temperatures looked promising and we picked a likely location with a good current line. With the weather on our side we invited a couple of friends from Marion Bay, who as soon as we told them we were looking for Tuna were in like a flash. Rods and tackle were loaded, lures came out of their wintery grave and we were off  looking for Tuna in the middle of January, who would have thought.

The seas were calm and it didn’t take us long to reach our destination. We were teased many times by birds working over large splashes only to be dolphins working on the vast amount of baitfish present. We had been trolling for a few hours with only a few stinky barracouta for our efforts so we decided to do a bit of bottom bouncing for a while hoping things may turn around during the afternoon as it often does with Tuna.

We were pulling in a few snapper and nannygai when I saw just two birds in the distance hovering and swooping only meters above the surface. Then I saw a large splash directly below the birds, this time there was no raise from a dolphin after. Bottom bouncing gear was quickly stowed away and the skirts were deployed as we headed over to these two birds. As we trolled over to where the birds were we saw a large tuna leap clear from the water, there was no mistaking this for a dolphin. Bang! two rods went of together with line screaming from the reels, we’re on, Tuna in the middle of January we were all blown away. After a few minutes we had a pair of tuna on the deck, the largest weighing in at 26 kilos. The skirts were quickly deployed again, the fish were still breaking the surface attacking the bait fish so it didn’t take long and we had another two hook ups. The fish were all of a good size ranging from 26 – 20 kilos.

After an hour we had our six fish. Greg and Hooksy, who we had invited out had never seen a tuna before let alone catch one, so needless to say the were absolutely pumped. We caught and released another four fish, all well over 20 kilos, then decided to make our way home celebrating over a couple of beers.

It goes to show that our tuna stocks are getting better and better each year. This year is shaping up to be a real cracker with good size fish in the middle of January and lots of bait fish around to.

Marion Bay is the only place where you can go for a short drive from Adelaide, jump on the boat and be hooked on to a 25 kilo tuna within the hour. If you are interested in coming out with us at Reelaction Charters and maybe catching your first tuna, please have a look at our packages available and make a booking, we would love to see you out there hooked up to one of these speedsters.

See you on the water

Gary with the first tuna for the season

Greg and “Hooksy” catch their first ever tuna

Double hook ups were the norm

Mark took time out from driving to join in on the action  

“Reelaction Charters” will put you on the fish