Yellow Fin Tuna

YELLOW-FIN TUNA

Thunnus albacares

RECORD:  (NZ) 48.2kg,  D Shields, Whale Island, 1999

                (World) 141kg, S Kostopoulos, Costa Rica, 2005

DESCRIPTION:

A true open-water, pelagic yellow-fins are one of the pinnacle species targeted by top blue-water spearos.  As with all tuna, yellow-fins are torpedo shaped, swim a hundred miles an hour and go absolutely ballistic when speared.  Yellow-fins can be easily distinguished from other tuna, funnily enough, by their yellow fins.  In large specimens the yellow, second dorsal fin and anal fin may grow long enough to reach the tail.  Yellow-fins grow up to 2 metres long and nearly 200kg but are mostly taken around the 30-100kg range.

MoF REGULATIONS:

Size:                                           -

Bag limit:                                   Part of 20 finfish limit

FEEDING HABITS & HABITAT:

Yellow-fin tuna are true pelagic fish found in deep, off-shore waters all over the world as far south as 40 degrees (Cape Egmont-Hawkes Bay).  They are very seasonal in NZ waters and are only around during the peak game-fishing season when the waters at its warmest from mid to late summer.  They are a predatory fish that eats any fish smaller than itself including other yellow-fins which they herd and attack in schools creating spectacular boil-ups.  Because they hunt similar prey, yellow-fin are usually found with other predators such as dolphins and other large gamefish.

HUNTING TECHNIQUES:

There are several ways of finding tuna.  The simplest is to simply go out on a clear day and look for boil-ups.  These can be spotted from a great distance and are characterized by birds working and lots of surface disturbance.  Anywhere that you are likely to find baitfish such as pinnacles or floating debris are good places to start.  Most tuna shot in NZ have been located in this manner.

The other way is to try to bring the fish to you with flashers and burley.  When employing this technique you need three divers: one to cut berley, one to jiggle the flasher and the other to dive.  It is worth noting that if you're hoping to claim a world record there are strict rules surrounding the use of flashers and burley that can be found on the IBSRC site.

As with all gamefish, but especially tuna, your gear needs to be big, powerful and absolutely bulletproof.  Your gun needs to be powerful enough to shoot a big, heavy spear a relatively long distance and get it right through a very round fish.  A slip-tip is also considered a necessity when hunting tuna as they will either tear a flopper through themselves or break it off altogether.  For these reasons modified euro guns such as the Rob Allen Tuna or Saracen Platinum Edition in longer lengths equipped with a slip-tip and breakaway rig are used.

Your rigging also needs to be beefed up.  Because yellow fin aren't shot around reefs bungies are useful and a high capacity float is essential.  The ideal rig would be a 75ft bungy attatched to an 11ltr Rob Allen float, then a 25ft bungy attatched to a 35ltr Hippo float.  You may use up to 150lb/68kg of buoys to claim a record.

Whakatane yellow-fins (John Anderson)

World record yellow-fin