Let the bluefin games begin by Lee Rayner

There has already been southern bluefin tuna caught on the west coast as early as late January. In fact some anglers found and caught fish not long after Christmas. Incredible, my mate and well-known west coast angler Scott Gray saw and hooked tuna as far back as November!

So what does this say about the fishery, is it getting better? You would have to think so, however it's also got other factors attributed to it. Anglers are spending more time on the water and definitely venturing further offshore, which has come about through more capable.

Either way you have got to love it, as nowadays the autumn tuna run is as much an anticipated part of the angler's calendar as the snapper each spring. By all the reports coming from the west and what has been seen so far, it looks like the 2014 season will be a great one.

WHERE TO FIND 'EM

The answer to this is, 'how long is a piece of string?'

For the most part bluefin love to congregate along the edge of the continental shelf along the west coast of Victoria and SA. The closest points for anglers to reach them are well known locations such as Port MacDonnell, Portland, Port Fairy Warrnambool and Apollo Bay. However the one interesting thing about bluefin is that they also make their own rules with the depth of water being lees important than other pelagic species. In fact in many cases the truly giant tuna are often found in less than 50m of water.

For the most part however the edge of the shelf and beyond hold the bulk of the fish with nutrient rich water and plenty of food, but when conditions are right and the bait moves inshore some great fishing can be had much closer to port.

Areas to begin looking for tuna out wide are the smaller sections of the shelf where there may be a steep drop-off, a canyon or a kink in the shelf line, such as the Horseshoe off Portland. These areas cause changes in the current creating upwellings and congregating the baitfish.

While in the shallower waters look for drop-offs and reef systems as these will also congregate the food source.

GEAR OF CHOICE

The great thing about the bluefin schools of similar sized fish is that it allows you to target them with the according tackle. This however can at times become badly unstuck, as the next monster that decides to get in on the action among a bunch of small fish wont be the last.

The majority of anglers run 24kg gear, which you will need for the really big fish. For the most part, I find that 15kg tackle is perfect for the average fish, which in reality are in the 12-20kg size, but still offers enough grunt on the bigger tuna as well.

If you are really keen then some of the lighter end 6, 8 and 10kg outfits are a ball to use on the same sized fish.

As for spinning reels versus overhead tackle, I still like my big shiny gold reels. However, spin gear does well and are easier for kids and beginners to use rather than a big game reel. Best of all these days you don't even need to spend huge bucks on a spin reel for it to be any good, with perfect choices being the new Salina 3 from Okuma and the Saragosa from Shimano.

If I could give you a few tips on the spin gear. They are perfect for trolling diving minnows in close to the boat as nearly every reel will have braid, which being thin in diameter helps the minnows to dive deeper and run better.

Additionally, don't run the spin reel as your shotgun 'longest lure back in the spread' as in most cases the spin reels hold far less line than the game reels so you can find yourself easily getting spooled by slightly bigger fish.

LURES OF CHOICE

I hate choosing lures as they all work on their day, however it's fair to say some catch more fish than others. Some catch small tuna, while there are definitely a few lures that catch huge bluefin on more than the odd occasion for it to be coincidence.

One thing I love about having a tackle shop is that you get to speak to a lot of anglers and find out what is working.

Minnows

Theses are an essential part of your tuna kit, and really do help to pull the school of fish up into the lure spread. At the top of the tree in popularity would be the Rapala X-Rap Magnum 20 and 30. Their colours are amazing and this year the new Aussie patterns that have arrived are sure to smash the tuna, especially the new Real Redbait that was designed for the west coast.

While all the colours work there are some definite standouts, with the silver blue, purple mackerel and the green mackerel always being popular, however the silver blue mackerel has a