Saltwater Fishing West Coast Style For Noobs

With the tuna season in full swing I was thinking it might be time for some tackle recomendations. This isn't intended for tackle ho's (you know who you are), but rather the guys and gals who are fairly new to this sport. The tackle used for the most part can be broken down into 2 groups, Bait fishing and trolling.

Let's start with bait fishing first. If you do not own fishing tackle, there is gear you can rent. The landings offer rental tackle that comes with a conventational reel such as a penn 500 and load it with 25lb test mono. The reason for this is a 2 fold trade off. 1st reason being lighter line tests such as 15# or 20# gets bit much better when the fish are being picky than 30# or 40# test. Also, for the most part the fish your going to catch are under 25lbs and can be handled with lighter line.
So why do they load the reels with 25#? Wouldn't it be better to just fill them with 20#? No, and the reasons are:

One, if the fish do decide to bite like crazy you don't want to be hindered by lighter line. You will be moving fast following your fish, under and over other angler's rods and they will likely have a fish of thier own on the line. Heavier line like 30 or 40lb holds up much better in tangles than lighter lines do and you will get into some tangles to be sure.

Second, there are BIG fish out there. There is always a chance of running into larger tunas like Bluefin in the 40 to 60lb class. These fish will just flat out kick your butt on light line and most of the time they get away. But with heavier test lines they can be caught. Hence to get a balance of power verses getting the fish to bite in the first place they load the reels with 25# test.

For those of you that do own or are planning to buy your own gear (if your budget allows for more than just 1 rod and reel setup) the most important two setups to get yourself well prepared for what your trip might encounter would be:

1) a 20lb setup. This will be your basic go to rod for almost everything. A good choice here might be a penn 535 or Diawa 30. Match that to a 7ft rod with a fairly light tip and a strong butt section, such as a Calstar 270.

2) A second setup which holds at least 300 yards of 40# test mono. A Shimano 20/40 is a good choice. You will want to put this reel on a rod with a stiffer tip section and a much stronger butt section. A Seeker 660H or a Calstar 700M would work nicely. This is the setup to use on the bigger fish or when the fish are eating every bait in sight.

3) Trolling gear. Most of the boats that I know will provide thier passengers with a trolling rod to use when its your turn in the rotation. Only 4 to 5 guys troll while everybody else is waiting for the trollers to get hooked up. This tackle most of the time will be something like a Penn 6/0 filled with 80lb test. The reason for this very heavy line is for 1, the shock to the gear when a 20 lb fish hits it going 20 miles per hour going in a different direction than the boat is trolling. Believe me, YOU KNOW when you get a bite trolling. Another great reason to use the boats gear is that feather the crew has tied on has been getting bit or it would be changed to one that will. The other reason for the 80lb test is to get that trolling fish to the boat as FAST as you can. The idea behind this is, the rest of the school of tuna will follow the hooked one to the boat and this in turn is how everybody else on the boat will get thier fish on bait.

Well, this is just the basics on tackle and there are other things to discuss, such as hook selection, what size sinkers to use, jig fishing, fishing the slide etc. The number 1 thing to remember out there is just simply RELAX! You went fishing to have fun and you can't if your all wound up. Listen to the crew and ASK QUESTIONS! It's their job to get you fish and believe me they want you to catch fish every bit as bad as you do!