Will a push of yellowfin come blasting up the Mid-Atlantic coast on the early side this spring? We certainly hope so. But that’s a big “if” and the past few seasons spring has been well underway before they showed up. Even if the tuna do make an early appearance, finding them can be a challenge. These fish are on the move, usually oriented to temperature breaks and water barriers as opposed to structure. Mother nature will dictate when, where, and if they come withing striking distance.
Setting the Scene
If the Gulf Stream pushes far out and fails to send a warm-water eddy in towards the coast, the early spring season probably won’t happen at all to the latitudes above North Carolina, where the stream comes in close off the Outer Banks. Northern anglers will just have to wait to get in on the action. But if it sends a few swirls westward towards DelMarVa, anglers nearer the Mason-Dixon line will be jumping for joy. How they’ll know which way to react all comes down to studying the SST charts day after day and week after week.
While the presence and direction of travel of some eddies will be obvious, others can be harder to pick out. Using the tools on SatFish, however, you can often ID and track an eddy days before it approaches within fishing range. First off, be sure to start by checking out the full regional view—even though it can make picking out small details tough—to get a look at the big picture. Zooming will come later. And look at daily shots as opposed to composites. The composite shots will be great for identifying specific areas of interest despite clouding, but right now we’re worried about detecting water that’s initially headed our way.
When you see an anomaly of warmth departing the Gulf Stream, go back in time to watch its history and then try animating its progression; SatFish makes it possible to animate up to a week of daily shots so you can get a great feel for what that water is doing through time. (Look for where it says “5 secs” to the lower right and set the speed you want from one to 15 seconds, then click the play button). After doing so, zoom in on individual areas of interest as appropriate to determine break intensity as well as speed and direction of travel.
Of course, eddies wobble, disburse, and change direction, so there are no guarantees that trends you identify will continue. But if you can get an early heads-up when an eddy breaks off and starts spinning in a westerly direction you’ll be ready for action when the time comes.
Just how much warmth is warm enough to hold the fish? Anything from the upper 60s and above can be productive, but the water’s temperature is rarely as important as its concentration and the abruptness of the breaks it creates. A sharp 1.5-degree barrier that causes your temp gauge to spike in a matter of yards is much more likely to concentrate the fish than a three-degree break stretching over miles.
Tactical Advantage
Okay: you spotted an eddy heading inshore at the beginning of the week, it looks to be within striking distance as the weekend arrives, and you’re about to prep for action. Gearing up will be simple because there isn’t a huge amount of difference between the offerings for early-season yellowfin versus those arriving later in the summer.
In the southern parts of this range most traditionally minded sharpies will be pulling a spread of skirted ballyhoo with daisy chain teasers of differing colors (often capped off with a hookless horse ballyhoo) added to either side. If fish are in the area but won’t bite, kites dangling flying fish might be employed. Anglers up north will also be towing ballyhoo but are more likely to bracket the spread with a pair of spreader bars as opposed to teasers. Boats running from ports in the middle of the Mid-Atlantic can go either way. Tackle will mostly consist of 30s and 50s, and most anglers will keep their trolling speeds in the six- to seven-knot range.
Often eddy breaks will provide visual clues like rips or color changes, but not always, so when you reach the intended destination and put out the lines keep a sharp watch on the temp gauge. And when you locate a break but don’t have any action don’t forget to spend some time prospecting the cooler side, even when the water is marginal for yellowfin. A surprising amount of the time you’ll find that for whatever reason, the bites come in the chillier and/or dirtier water.
Whether the yellowfin show up early in the Mid-Atlantic region or not this spring is anyone’s guess. But the depths of winter have now passed, spring will soon be on its way, and we know one thing for sure: when the weather starts warming up and the boat is all prepped, we’ll be staring at the SatFish SST charts praying to see an eddy headed our way.
