There are several steps you should take to prepare for tuna fishing trips before heading out to the coastline. If you carry through with the correct steps, you can easily guarantee a successful trip with lots of large specimens biting your hook and joining the collection in your boat. Prior to hitting the waters, you should gather the recent fish counts in various locations, determine the best location for tuna fishing right now, and evaluate the statistics of that area.



You'll want to know the current surface temperatures of the waters you intend to visit for your tuna fishing, and you should also check the overall weather conditions, since this will affect the temperament of the water. The internet can be a quick, unlimited source of divulged information that will assist you in making your tuna fishing decisions. However, you can also get some general information from a phone call to a sportfishing location, though not nearly as much as you would on the web.

When you head out on your tuna fishing excursion, you should be sure to pay attention to what others on the water are doing. If you notice that there is a general area where several anglers have congregated, chances are you'll find a large school there and have a great return upon casting your line within the same general area. Tuna fishing involves a lot of trolling, and some anglers will opt for a W pattern. This would include the use of 2 long on each outrigger, 2 short on the flat lines, and the longest line down the center. You may want to try tuna fishing with a diving plug on at least one of the short lines, maybe in a flatline clip. Cedar plugs and swimbaits are great for the long center line, while the rest of the lines can be rigged with feathers.

The rigging of the swimbait is a critical part of tuna fishing because, in order to have it track correctly with the rest of the lines at the required 7-9 miles per hour to make the rest of the lines work, you have to have it set up properly. Try using a 2.5 ounce jig had with an ultra-sharp hook. Add a 5-6 inch swimbait, running your jig head through it with care. If you are tuna fishing in low light, try a dark bait, switching to a lighter color in daylight. Use 4-5 feet of 60 pound leader line that is topped with a barrel swivel. Once you've set this up, it will perform properly at your trolling speed with the rest of the lines you've rigged.