Chunking & Live Baiting for Bluefin Tuna
When bluefin tuna are keyed in on a specific area like a lump, hill, chunking with live and dead baits can produce impressive catches. Chunking for inshore bluefin can be deadly during the warm summer months, where they can be mixed in with yellowfin tuna in some areas.
An ideal rod and reel setup starts witha reel similar to a Talica 25II from Shimano, matched with a standup rod with all open guides in the 6’ range with a slick butt and aluminum gimbal for fish around 150lb and less. 60lb hollow core braid backing with a mono topshot is ideal in order to maximize line capacity and stealth for these lighter setups. If you are targeting giants, you are best off sticking with 80 and 130lb class gear designed to fight the fish directly out of a swivel based rod holder in the gunnel.
On the inshore lumps during the daytime, chunking is often predicated on being as stealthy as possible when dropping down to 40, 30, or 25lb fluorocarbon leader is often the difference between getting bit at all and your crew limiting out. Usually best to start off with long 40-60lb leaders to help keep the barrel swivel attaching to your mainline as far out of sight as possible, and continuing to drop down in lb test until you get bit if you are consistently marking fish beneath you or seeing the fleet around you on the meat. Again if you are after a larger class of fish, jump up your leader.
Usually best to use small Owner or Quick Rig ringed circle or j hooks on the light leader in order to give you a little leeway and protection from breaking off. Sardines are often top notch baits for fooling a bluefin, usually best right above the bottom on top of the lump. Butterfish are also widely used and will get the job done. Live baits are also great if you can get your hands on them, and should be hooked through the nose in order to preserve their lifespan out in your slick, while hooks in dead baits should be completely concealed inside the bait.
When deploying your chunking spread, it is best to stagger a few baits deep with weights and balloons so they fall directly into the chunks that are falling in the water column. These reels can sit in free spool with the clicker, while you should also have a few feeder setups going as well, where you are free lining them back into the spread without weight. Simply pull line off the rod tip and make sure your line is not resulting in a tangled mess or stuck on your boats engines or bracket in the water beneath you.
Once you hook up, make sure to keep light and even pressure on the fish if you are down to 40lb or lower leader to help prevent breaking off, and wasting time.