The albacore tuna fishery of the pacific northwest is a special deal that provides anglers the opportunity to hook into these fast swimming hard fighting fish in good numbers all within the a reasonable distance for the sport fishing boats. The ports up and down the coast from Ilwaco across the boarder in Washington down to Southern Oregon are called home by the tuna fleet. Tuna begin to show up in very limited numbers near the end of June beginning of July and will be caught through the summer into the fall. Albacore can be caught in a variety of ways, most anglers will troll a combination of different lures such as cedar plugs, clones, diving baits like Rapala X-Raps, and swimbaits. After finding the fish on the troll, getting a bait stop going by chumming with anchovies can keep the school of fish close by that it is possible to then catch more fish on live bait, large iron baits similar to spoons, and casting lures like swimbaits. It is possible to get into large numbers of fish and catch many fish from a single stop and it is this lights out fishing that makes fishing for TUNA! so much fun.
There are many excellent tuna fishing charters available for scheduling trips if you are looking for someone to teach you how to fish offshore.
Keep tabs on how the fishing season is progressing by checking on the salty dogs forum. Learn more about catching these fish from anglers that have been fishing the salt for years.
2013 brings a new adjustment to the regulations regarding tuna fishing and how anglers can prepare their catch prior to landing. It is possible to partially cark the tuna in order to reduce some of the fish remains that need to be retained. Anglers with smaller boats with less space for holding fish catches will be able to gain room in their fish holds. If you plan on partially carking fish at sea make sure you read the full details here so you do not get in trouble with breaking the fishing regulations.
The Oregon Tuna Classic will be held this year in two locations: Ilwaco on July 26 and 27 and Garibaldi on August 16 and 17. All of the details about these excellent fishing tournaments can be found on the official website: http://www.oregontunaclassic.org/
