[ksong]

I haven't had much success on fast cranking to jig yellowfin, longfin and bluefin, but I found blackfin tuna loves fast moving jigs.
It does not mean slow jigging is better than fast cranking to catch them. I seldom tried fast cranking for tuna here because it is not possible for me phisically to crank fast for many hours nonstop.

I have been following the fishing reports from Big E and other overnight tuna boats in Gulf Coast curiously to know how they catch tuna on jigs.
I read they catch small yellowfin tuna on fast cranking.
One of the objectives on the Big E trip in late Oct is to observe how tuna respond to fast moving jigs as I know many guys on the boat are going to use Japanese style jigging.

 

[ksong]

I fished Baltimore Canyon out of Indian River, RE years ago.
I jigged for several hours for nothing. I went to bathroom while putting my rod in the rod holder. When I returned, I found my rod moved down violently.
That was the only yellowfin tuna we caught on the boat that day.
We sometimes use outriggers to jig itself and catch many tuna by doing this.

There is no doubt slow jigging can catch yellowfin as I caught close to 1000 tuna on slow jigging, but the question is whether fast jigging is better than
slow jigging or not. It might work better than slow jigging. You never know because very few guys have tried.

 

[ksong]

I was using a 60# flouro leader about 3 feet long tied to a SPRO power swivel, then 65# Spiderwire stealth. I caught a few blackfin before trying the method I listed above, so I SHOULD HAVE replaced the leader.... live and learn...

Is anyone having sucess using a larger leader- such as 100-125# flouro.?? I am thinking I will go up to 80# for the added abrasion resistance next time.
When tuna are in 50-100 lbs range, I use 80 lbs fluoro canbon leader line at night. IF I feel tuna are line shy during daytime, I go down to 60 lbs.

I usually attach a small bead above the swivel to prevent the swivel from going into the guides if I have to use a swivel. I had an experience guides were damaged by the swivel when tuna charged just before gaffing.