PlasticFantastic

Good to see plenty of people adding info to this topic and hopefully it spurs a few other members on to write up articles of a similar nature. Just thought i'd add a pic below of a few differnt plastics that seem to do the trick on Longies.

Cheers

Mark

OK... With the upcoming monthly social events the idea was thrown out there that an article be written up prior to the event that could be made into a FrontPage article for all to see detailing the species for that month and a sort of “How To” on catching them.  This would enable people that are keen on chasing the nominated species an insight on fishing for them and might offer them a few tips or point them in the right direction.



Now first up I’m not necessarily to best qualified nor have I caught the most Long tail Tuna in Moreton Bay but I have chased them in boats and a yaks with success and thought I could write up an article on chasing these speedsters that might help a few other people on the site.  Feel free to add to this anything that has helped you and nothing I put down is given law on catching Longies so please don’t shoot me down for having a go.

Longtail Tuna are a member of the Tuna family  (duh!) that extend from the tip of Cape York right down to south of Sydney and are a seasonal fish that start entering Moreton Bay around Easter every year.  The fish usually travel down the coast and the reports from the Hervey Bay are usually a good indicator on how our season will fare here.  Size can vary quite a bit from year to year with some years the average fish are only 8kg, other years the average size could be around 15kg it varies from season to season.  They are a fantastic sports fish that can be taken on a variety of methods and also fare well on the plate especially for those who enjoy Sushimi.  Below I’ll brake it down into different sections and also the main focus will be using plastics as I have no idea about catching them on bait so I'll leave that up to someone else to add if they so desire.

Time of Day and Tides

Put simply time of day doesn't really matter a whole lot for Tuna as they are more of a gentleman’s hours fish meaning you don’t have to be up at sparrows fart to catch them, the middle of the day in the bright sun is as good a time as any.  Tide is a different story as in the bay most people looking for Longies will opt to fish an outgoing tide and like most fish “no run means no fun” this applies to Tuna as well as the tide will help them ball the bait up.
 

Locations
 

First things first for Longies there's no spot x they can  turn up anywhere in the bay, right from the top end of Bribie and as far south as near Coochie.  Generally speaking fish in the northern part of the bay will of a bigger average size than those you encounter in the southern half of the bay but the odd bigger models can still turn up anywhere.  Some of the more well know spots for chasing them would be places like The Four Beacons, Mud Island, Curtin Reef, Pearl Channel, The Sand Hills,  Spitfire Channel, Harries, Rainbow Channel, Rous Channel and the waters all around Peel Island.  Also when they're thick in the bay you don’t have to travel far as they can be quite often found within close range of spots like Wello and Cleveland Point so don’t feel you need to travel to the other side of the bay to catch one. 
 

Finding The Fish
 

Birds, birds and birds are your best friend when locating fish also word of mouth on where they're being caught is not to be overlooked because if there's constant reports of fish coming in from north of Peel than chances are if you fish north of Peel for long enough you'll find them.  Longies can vary in the size of the school from solo fish through to bigger schools of thirty or more generally speaking they don’t hang in as large a schools as say Mac Tuna.  When driving around the bay keep a constant eye out for birds and try and see what they're seeing, if there's 50 birds diving in one spot with a lot of commotion going on chances are there's some Tuna there, but it's not always that obvious with sometimes a single bird being the only giveaway to the location of the fish.  Keep an eye on any bird that is constantly dipping in one spot if he flutters to maintain position in one spot chances are there's something below him whether it be the bait the bird is after or the Tuna you're after.  Also Tuna tend to chase the bait fish up onto the edges of sandbanks throughout the bay especially in the areas north of Peel up towards Harries, so if you do find them fire a cast there direction and see what happens.  Another thing to remember when trying to catch Tuna is DO NOT just drive up at speed cut the motor and try to catch them that way sure it might work on occasions but in the end most of the time the fish will shut down not to be seen again.  Instead the best approach although difficult is to try and watch the travelling direction of the fish and get in front of them allowing them to come to you.  It can be hard at times when they're always changing directions but this way the fish will stay up longer and multiple casts can be made at one school of fish.
 

Rods, Reels and Line
 

Rod and reel choice can vary quite a lot as they can be landed on anything from a 2-4kg Bream setup right through to heavier spin gear.  They don’t fight dirty and a good drag and plenty of line is all that's required to land one but bear in mind that fishing too light will result in you having to drive after the fish and increase your chances of getting sharked.  Being this article is geared more towards the plastics style of fish my preference for a Tuna rod would be something in the 7 foot 6-10kg range and a 4000 size reel to suit, brand is not important  and all companies make gear that cover these specs.  A rod with a softer tip to throw the lure is important to achieve a greater distance if the fish are easily spooked and a strong butt section on the rod to lift them when they circle below the boat is another vital quality to look for in a rod.  I personally use a LuckyCraft Light Drop Shot 3-10kg with a Stradic CI4 4000 and have found it more than capable on most bay Tuna.  Line wise 20lb braid would be the sweet spot for in the bay and if you used the combo offshore as well 30lb would also be suitable, 10lb would do the job most of the time also but it gets a bit tedious trying to lift the fish on lighter gear.  Leaders wise Flurocarbon is the go and generally speaking the shallower the water the fish are found in the lighter the leader needs to be.  In the southern bay you could go as low a 14lb leader and be alright but as you head towards the northern half of the bay 30lb would be a better choice as you're more likely to come across other fish like Cobia, Kingfish and Macs.

Lures
 

Now that you've found some fish and have the rod and reel in your hand you need something to actually throw at the fish and get a strike.  Match the hatch is what most people work by and the same goes for Longies, having said that Longies are nowhere near as fussier fish as Mac Tuna can be and as such they take a large variety of plastics and metals.  In the bay a lot of the fish are feeding on Hardy Heads and a small 3” plastics in the clearer to opaque varieties is a good place to start, most companies make plastics that suit with brands like Zooms and Bass Assassin through to Berkely and Squidgies all having suitable styles and colours.  Jerkbait/forktail minnow styles are probably the best as they represent the baitfish better but they can also be caught on other weird and wonderful styles as well so do be afraid to throw out what's in your tackle box.  Jigheads need to be strong and 3/8-1/2oz is probably the best weight as any lighter and you wont cast the distance any heavier and the lure will sink straight past the fishes mouth, hook size just needs to match the plastic you're using.  Also ensure the hooks are heavy wire in what ever brand you use aas light wire hooks wont last long on heavier drag settings.

Technique
 

I have to be honest I’ve not found any technique to be more successful than any other as most of the time when the lure lands in the right spot it's picked up without any retrieve necessary.  But unlike metals a fast wind isn't really needed as you want the lure in front of the fish for as long as possible and I tend to find a medium twitching retrieve on the lure seems to do the job.  In the end just mix it up as one thing works on one school of fish but not the other.  Also let it sink through the school and see what might be beneath it.  Another trick is whilst fishing have a lightly weighted plastic dead-sticking out the back of the boat as I know of one person using this technique and it has proven to be quite successful for him.
 

Landing The Fish

All that's required to land the fish is patience as they wont run for any reefs and they don’t have any teeth to bite you off, you just need to survive the initial run and take it from there, the hardest past of the fight is when the fish is below the boat and circling as they can prove to be quite difficult to lift from this position.  The trick here is to just motor off the fish and try and get it arching up on the surface also try and work against the fishes direction of travel say if he's swimming away from you try to work the rod the other way so that you're always trying to turn the fishes head.  All that’s needed now is to net or gaff the fish and you're done.

Summary
 

I hope this is of help to at least one person and that you're able to score your first Longie from it.  At the end of the day you just need to be on the water and watching what's going on as most people just drive past good fish not knowing they're there.  There will be days where none of the above works and other days where it all falls into place and that's the thing with Tuna as they are so unpredictable and for the yakkers out there Longies are certainly catch-able from a yak in the bay you just need to be a little smarter about chasing them and be prepared to paddle but they're worth it in the end.  Now the wait begins for them to start showing up in numbers
 

Cheers
 

Mark