One of Californias most prized pelagic species, the tuna! So many application and styles to fish for tuna its mind-blowing. From flying a kite to trolling and paddy hopping. Its always a blast especially when you come across a school that’s willing to bight. Below we will go over gear that works well with jigging and live bait fishing for tuna. 

Tuna Fishing Tackle & Gear

Rod & Reel Options!

    There are a few different species of tuna that prefer different methods and baits so we recommend a few different variety of rigs ready to go. Our top three rigs that we use, a 6ft medium-spinning rod paired with a spinning reel that has a large line capacity and strong drag system. A 7ft-8ft medium-heavy casting rod paired with a large line capacity conventional reel. Lastly a “jig stick”, a 9ft-10ft medium heavy rod with a large line capacity conventional reel with a strong drag system.

    We like having the lighter pound line on the spinning reel, mid range pound line on the 7ft-8ft rig and the heavy gear on the “jigstick”. As you get more experienced you’ll see what set ups work best for your style of tuna fishing. 

Click here for a list of rods we use! 

Click here for a list of reels we use!

Fishing Methods-   

    Many different factors come into play on what works best that day. Here are a few beginner methods we prefer when targeting Pacific Tuan. Jig fishing or live bait fishing is our preferred “simple” way of targeting tuna. Tie on a hook to your leader, pin on your live bait and cast out to boiling tuna. Boiling tuna aka foamers are when the tuna are chasing bait fish up to the surface. When they are in this feeding frenzy it makes the surface of the water look like its boiling. Cast out your live bait or jig into the feeding frenzy, wind back and hold on! 

What bait and lures work best?

    Tuna are very finicky and picky eaters, any little thing can make the bite shut off. This is why we recommend talking to fellow anglers, asking your local captains for advice and just getting out there and trying different baits. Other then live bait we like using butterfly jigs, sinking stickbaits or flatfall jigs.

    Relatively simple, tie on your jig directly to your leader line using the San Diego Jam Knott and cast out. Once your jig hits the water let it sink a bit and wind back. You can play with the retrieval rate, some tuna blow up the lure as soon as it hits the water. Other tuna prefer a chase, so a quick retrieval might be a better option. See what works best for you once you’re out on the water. When it comes to tuna fishing there really isn’t a bulletproof strategy that works every time…actually that’s true with most of fishing! More time on the water the more you will refine your skills and techniques.

Click here for a review on an old favorite plastic bait that’s making a come back! The hype is real! 

What fishing line works best? 

    Tuna are a tricky species of fish, highly intelligent and very cautios. If you can get away with it we recommend using light line. But if you come across a school of 60lb-200lb tuna ditch the light line and get a heavier outfit casted out.

    For smaller class tuna fishing we like using 25lb fluorocarbon line. Any tuna in the 30lb-60lb range we prefer using 30lb fluorocarbon. And any tuna in the 80lb+ range we use 100lb+ fluorocarbon or monofilament. 

Now See If You’re Up For Some Dorado Fishing!

Click here, to see what works best when fishing for dorado!