The coming season will be the year of the Blues, but you might need a bigger boat! because part of that is lousy weather :0

Im at this very moment sitting on the cliffs above Oia .... Santorini in the greek Islands watching Tuna  yellowfin/bluefin   ?.......smashing schools of baitfish about 400 metres off the coast and not one fishing boat is having a go at them .....are they protected here ?......nice size fish ...about 50kg models by the look of them through the binos .....Oh for a boat !..........

We sell a number () of lures around a few places to pro Yellowfin boats. Of the lures we sell to those places none are sold to NZ.

How many of you troll the Zucker small grass skirt things anymore?

I had this same 'talk' locally a few months ago. Told a few guys where to go, told some where to fish and what to use and for some unknown reason the Yellowfin seem to have appeared off the gold coast :) They had completely disappeared except for two or three a year since the last time someone went to where they were and used what they ate.

I reckon is possible that's the same scenario with NZ Yellowfin.

 

Blues must migrate  with the stripies but they are a deep water fish. There is nothing stopping them coming around the top to the west coast after coming to NZ at the start of the season from up nth.Trouble is 1000 meter line off Kawhia is I think about 60 miles off, not for the faint hearted in a small trailer boat with one motor. Did it once when we were out at the trench and trolled for big eye down that 1000 line. Got nothing and was pleased to get back to the trench where some commercial boys were working can tell you. I got a bit of a frosty reception as that was when we fished out there in Three "0" Eight. 5.93 meter stabie craft.

Back to the blues we need a good window of weather. About six good boats with even better fishermen,

Bigger lures and more speed while trolling. We need to spend about 3 solid days doing it. I can cart plenty of drums of fuel out there for refuelling. We should do this boys and I am sure we would strike the jack pot.

 

ANY ONE KEEN. 

In most places, and I'd imagine NZ is no different, the best grounds for different species as are not the same place, so if you are fishing striped marlin areas you aren't hunting Blue Marlin and if you are fishing for either you aren't targeting yellowfin. There are certainly crossovers where you get all species, but usually one species is concentrated in an area.

In my area for example, like anywhere else you can find any species anywhere at any time, but the bulk of an individual species are found in rather specific areas and times
Little Blacks shore to  36 fathoms Nov to April lures 4 to 6 inch line class 8kg
Stripes 75 to 90 fathoms March to July but can get them anywhere anytime in as close as 8 fathoms. lures 6 to 10 inch line class 15kg
Blues all year but most in Nov to March mainly 120 to 250 fathoms lures 12 to 16 inch 80lb gear
Yellowfin 300 fathom area September to October and March to April. The schools rarely work the surface, but can be found on the sounder and by bird species in the area. They are up on top at dawn and dusk, but those times are rarely fished in my area. lures 4 to 10 inch line class 15 and 24kg

In NSW this year the guys who did best used their sounders to find them and then jigged or cubed for them. The Yellowfin did show at times on the surface but most of the time there were no signs where the fish were caught. The fish were spread out over huge distances but because there were lots of boats out there they were found.

The lures / line classes / lure positions vary for each of these zones by the guys who do the best.

You can be as sceptical as you want, but you can also target the species that should be in various places at various times of the year.

Nowhere, absolutely nowhere in the Southern Pacific are any pelagic species extinct. There has always been poor years, and great years, and I think you are looking down the barrel of a great year. Every year of great Blue Marlin fishing seems to co-incide with great Yellowfin fishing in the same year with the Fin coming towards the end of the main Blue Marlin run.

Ps Blues don't migrate with Stripes. Check out 'The Great Marlin Race' info. Blues are highly random.

Stripes, Yellowfin, Bluefin and Albacore pretty much stick to rather defined migrations.