sport fishing for bluefin tuna?

[nick h]

top of my bucket list is to catch and release a Blue fin Tuna on rod and line

i've looked at worldwide venues and Ascension and the Azores seem to be among the best

if anybody has any experience i'd much appreciate your input/advice

thanks

[520Matt]

No advice here. I enjoyed watching the show Wicked Tuna on HGTV, have you seen it?

[azguy]

Georges Bank

[2ltdjorn]

On my list as well.

Also want a permit on the fly

[nick h]

Originally Posted by azguy

Georges Bank

any details please?

i'd not even consider going with the likes of the clowns on Wicked Tuna because they insist the fish is killed and sold by them

also their fishing set ups are hardly 'sporting' - they are commercial fish killing outfits!

[nick h]

Originally Posted by 2ltdjorn

On my list as well.

Also want a permit on the fly

have you thought where you might try?

i have heard through some sources that huge bluefins have in the last five years been caught off the west coast of Ireland - a hundred miles or so offshore

and i mean huge as in over 1000lbs

they were caught on rod and line by government fishery research vessels

but there is so little information as its not of interest to commercial fishermen as the UK and Ireland have no fishing quota for bluefins so any fish caught cannot be sold in the EU

so i looked into the possibility of fishing privately for catch and return - i knew it would be expensive but thats the least of the problems

there are NO suitable boats anywhere in the UK/Ireland - nothing close

and no captains/crew with anything like the experience needed to catch these huge fish - somebody would die

and last but not least there are no suitable rods/reels/lines/lures anywhere in Europe so all would have to be imported from the USA at massive cost

after some more research i found that some bluefins are found in the Mediterranean but the numbers are small - hell, great whites are found there as well!

the Azores still looks like the best option as they have some superb captains formerly from New Zealand and Aus