You'll never buy canned tuna again.
Late June - Late September
Most people are surprised to learn that in the Summer, Oregon has tropical blue waters far offshore teeming with schools of Albacore tuna. Fisherman anxiously await the warm currents that bring these highspeed swimmers within reach and once the first tuna hits the dock, word travels fast. Up and down the coast, fishing ports become abuzz with the news and boats are readied for Albacore season.
Once the gear is tied, boats are fueled, and fish holds are iced, your chartered tuna fishing trip is ready to head west from Newport. Water temps in the low sixties are what we are looking for, along with signs of life. Jumping tuna, crashing birds, tuna boils, chlorophyll breaks and marine mammals are all signs that tell us to pull the throttles back and start sport fishing one of the most fun fisheries off the Oregon Coast.
Jigging, trolling, and bait are all effective at different times.
Once we’ve reached the tuna, we slow the boat to six or seven knots and deploy the tackle to begin our tuna hunt. Some days it doesn’t take long before we hookup and with the yell of “fish on” we stop the boat. Most people keep trolling, hoping for multiple fish on the heavy troll rods. This is where we do things a little different than other operations. When you fish with On The Line Guide Service, you bring in all the troll gear and switch over to light tackle. We chum the water coaxing the tuna up and try to get them on the chew next to the boat. On a single stop we can load the deck with a pile of albacore forcing anglers to dance around them. Sometimes the Albacore will cross another fisher’s lines and you have to go over the person next to you and under the next. This is an adrenaline packed fishery with a lot going on. Sometimes they will eat your bait as soon as it hits the water! When the action dies down, there is blood spray all over the boat and you! In a daze you try to process what just happened. If the school leaves us, the troll gear goes back out and all eyes are once again fixed on the water searching for tell-tale signs of tuna. Once the reel starts screaming again, we repeat the process until the holds are full and the arms are sore.
These Albacore Tuna trips last the full day and when you return to the dock, be prepared to spend the night nearby. You will not have the energy to go home, and it takes quite a while to process the catch. We do not include fish cleaning in our trips, but we will make arrangements with fish cutting wizards onshore to provide you with the highest quality “pacific pork” loins.
