Fished with Dave Trax on Oblivion today around the 000 in deep water. Temp was between 64 and 66 degrees in blended water. Water was green green. Ended the day with 10 BFT all between 43 and 46 inches...had over 20 fish on during the day. These fish are about 50 pound to 55 pound fish and fight hard but are just shy of being legal. Blue and White Islander and Deep running planer were the ticket today....Good night....Bob

Awesome job guys! Still alot of fun catchin nice fish like that and its a great sign for the future of bluefin,Bob can you give details of the planer what size, how far back behind planer was the bait and was the planer in lined on rod or tied off to a cleat. Thanks for a great report, M

It was a #12 Planer. THe rig was an in-line bridal system which is very effective..it allows you to remove the planer as you are fighting the fish. THE bait runs about 100 - 120 feet behind the planer...Bob

Pretty work Bob. Sounds like you boys had a hell of a workout. I would have bet a month's pay on the yft being there! Sorry they didn't show. That warmer water either moved (imagine that!) offshore or some cold water moved in over top of the warmer stuff. I looked at that Sat shot and it sure looked like 72 to 74 degree water to me. Congrats to Dave and crew on a fine day on the bft, and the yellows will be here soon enough! Tight lines.

Same story for us. Fished the same general area from 150 fathom to 500 fathom on Dog House Too. Found 68 degree water in a few places with some scattered weeds. Boated a bunch of schoolie BFT several right at 45 inches. It was as if we were catching the same fish over and over again. One fish that might have been over 50 broke off as we were trying to leader him through the tuna door. These guys make a death run as soon as you touch the leader. Todd (TBMTECH) tried to counsel us alll to back off on the drag once the leader man touched the leader to be prepared for the death run but this one broke the main line clean. Really thought we would find some YFT in that break but it was not for a lack of trying. The warm water was kind of sloppy fishing but once we got back in the cold, it was flat calm seas except for coming back in they bay, found more slop. Great day. Keeping my stuff ready for the next adventure.

Good job..those little guys (well 50 # little guys) are a hell of a workout....Here's a couple of shots I took yesterday....



This fish wore me out
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Typical size fish for the day
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The United States Navy was kind enough to spot fish for us. I had to call in some favors from my active duty Navy days
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Look closely...Helicopter lure is going to sweep the nation..offered by Get reel lures.com
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Great Job Bob

I was thinkin about making a run that day.
Next time

Tom

Great stuff Bob.

Bob thanks for the info i am very familiar with the bridal system as i use the same. Question for you! Yesterday i attended the Canyon runner offshore seminar in Annapolis Md actually met some guys from the board Don from GR Lures and Billable my question is for you or anyone else on the board during one of the break out sessions at the seminar one of the Caps explained they dont run a planer when they are keying in on YFT as they think the planer denies them multiple knock downs when they are running a number of top water baits bhoos,squid bars,plugs etc. Just trying to get everyones thoughts on this one. they also run a different planer system a no# 24 on a dedicated planer rod about 3.5 feet long and run a hoo back 150 feet on a separate rod attach a dbl swivel to the planer line and rubber band
the hoo line to the swivel and stop it 5 to 15 feet shy of the planer. He explained if they are getting hits on the planer way deep after hook up they put the hooked up rod in a corner with an angler and pull another rod over to the planer real quick and send it down again and try for another as a no# 24 planer typically is easy to set again and it doesnt always trip when it gets hit. Conch

Conch, I agree with that idea. When the tuna are biting, they will cover you up on top. Plainers tend to slow you down and get in the way. If you can see the fish marking down deep and cant get them to come up, break out the planer and it can save the day.

Couple of thoughts on this....

1. I don't normally start off with a planer down. depends on where I'm marking fish...if the fish are hitting on top or not...if they're hitting on top no need for a planer...if the bite is very slow and the fish are down 60 - 100 feet or so then out goes the planer....also if I"m targeting Wahoo I always run a planer with a dark colored skirted hoo on piano wire. I don't normally target wahoo...I've caught all my wahoo incidental to my primary target and have done very well on them last two years.....ask Felixthecat, steady24, John Hamilton...all big wahoo caught by accident. we had multiple hookups that started with the planer down yesterday...the planer would trip and then the longs would get hit....had one BFT trying to tear up the teasers yesterday !....

2. I'm undecided on how I'm going to run my planer this year...I normally have a two rod set up as you mentioned above but after fishing the bridal system it seems very effective and pretty easy to use...I"m still undecide at this moment. As far as pulling a #24 planer....that's a pulling mamjama for sure....will get you down deep....I don't know that I need to go any deeper for the fishing I do than with a #12....but you never know.....if you do pull a #24 you better have a least an 80, probably a 130 to handle the drag that sucker puts on your line....Bob

I agree with Bob. A planer is not part of my usual pattern. I'll put one down with a spoon if I'm marking fish deep with no topside hits. I feel the extra vibration and flash can bring fish up to investigate. They might not even bite the planer rod, they might see and like something else in your spread. And I use it targeting wahoo. Another wahoo trick is to use a high speed lure. I've caught wahoo while running at 25 knots from one set of rocks to another. And typically I cleat off the planer. I use a snap swivel on the planer line and a rubber band to slide the bait down to the planer. You don't have to keep pulling it up that way. With 400 lb test the planer comes up real quick hand over hand anyway.

Glad you got some tuna action. I'm sure looking forward to catching some YFT. We had to eat store bought yesterday! It tastes just as good, but it just can't be as healthy as catching your own.

i need a fix !!!!

Good workout Bob! Thanks for the report and ther tips.
Dave

Great job Bob!! That bucket looks nice when a tuna is tugging at it. Met Dennis Braid at the seminar...Dave gave him a sponosr package for the VBSFBC, so we might see him in August!!


As for the planners...I was glad to here they don't use them while chasing YFT cause I hate a planner. Saying that, they work and have boated many fish. Canyon Runner runs planners while Bluefin fishing. They've found that BFT are more bottom dwellers/feeders than YFT, thus the planner use. They did say the run Marauders(diving plugs) off the flats while chasing YFT. You can run a planner off the cleat, to. Learned some great tricks to disengage those suckers to get them in the boat easier.

Interesting Idea. Could you please describe your bridal rig components and how you attatch it to your main line? I have seen schematics using Dacron loops on the main line and stout clips from the planer. Have you any experience or advice about trying to rig the planer with longline( I know---dirty word) clips?
Do you bother to paint your planers black? Appreciate your thoughts . Bob B

I'll try and explain..kinda hard without pictures and I'm not good at drawing...

Make a spider hitch loop or bimini on your mainline (whatever it may be). Take about a 150# spro inline swivel and using an offshore knott connect this to the mainline.

for your bridal, cut a piece of 150# mono leader about 30 - 33 inches. Crimp one end of this to the spro inline but make a loop where you crimp so you can attach one end of the Planer. On the other end of the bridal, connect another 150# inline spro doing the same thing, leaving a loop to snap the bridal to. Now....crimp on about 150 feet of leader to the 2nd spro inline swivel this will be the business end of your rig.

You will bait up the business end with whatever you want to use...let this line out until your bridal rig comes through the guides and connect your Planer to the two loops you made while connecting your two inline spro swivels. When the fish hits and you get the planer up to the rod you simply unsnap it from the windon bridal and continue fighting the fish......

I dont believe longline clips would work because there is so much pressure on the planer it will slide down you line to where your bait is....

Good luck...kinda hard to explain.....Bob

[quote=bobdu11,Apr 2 2007, 11:57 AM]
I'll try and explain..kinda hard without pictures and I'm not good at drawing...

Make a spider hitch loop or bimini on your mainline (whatever it may be). Take about a 150# spro inline swivel and using an offshore knott connect this to the mainline.

for your bridal, cut a piece of 150# mono leader about 30 - 33 inches. Crimp one end of this to the spro inline but make a loop where you crimp so you can attach one end of the Planer. On the other end of the bridal, connect another 150# inline spro doing the same thing, leaving a loop to snap the bridal to. Now....crimp on about 150 feet of leader to the 2nd spro inline swivel this will be the business end of your rig.

You will bait up the business end with whatever you want to use...let this line out until your bridal rig comes through the guides and connect your Planer to the two loops you made while connecting your two inline spro swivels. When the fish hits and you get the planer up to the rod you simply unsnap it from the windon bridal and continue fighting the fish......

I dont believe longline clips would work because there is so much pressure on the planer it will slide down you line to where your bait is....


Thanks for the comeback,Bob.
How do you connect your clips to the planer and does the relative length of the attatchment fore and aft matter? What kind of clips do you use?
I ran across this link. Take a look at this rig www.thehulltruth.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=143012&posts=29&mid=1479032
Similar idea with a different bridal? Bob B

I use a metal ring and 200# snap swivels. That rig is pretty it with a few non-important differences. the length on the bridal is pretty important to ensure it runs correclty. and yes I blacken my planer when using it..cuts down on the hits it gets from toothy critters (the planer itself that is)....Bob

Thanks again for the info. Bob B