Into the Deep Blue for Tuna!

We've been wanting to chase Tuna for a long time. August was so busy, we put it off into mid-September hoping for summer weather that we didn't get all summer.

The forecast was iffy, but we went for it.

We headed out early to meet in Garibaldi... and the truck wouldn't start!

Not a good sign, but no big deal. Go, go, go!






The weather and water turned out really nice in the morning!

Water was flat, and we hit good temperature and color after motoring out ~26 miles.

The 30' custom boat we were in was awesome - very tough and very comfortable to ride and fish in.



We never saw many "jumpers" or birds, but we did manage to scratch out 4 nice fish in the morning.

We motored out another 10-15 miles farther looking for fish, but never saw them, so we headed back closer to land.

Back at our original spot, we found 4 more.



These were great fish - very feisty and fast, and good size.

Never found a big school, but trolling here and there we picked up 8 by 3pm. All of the fish were caught trolling plugs, and in singles.

The weather started darkening to mixed squalls, but never got tough to fish in.

We started trolling back to land, and hit a decent school for a double-take down! While fighting these fish we got a 3rd fish on a swim-bait - a triple!

Now it felt like tuna fishing!

Alot of nice 20+ lbs fish made us grunt... and smile!

This was a dandy - about 25lbs.

We made another pass through the spot we scored the 3 fish, and got another double! Two more fish in the basket.

Just after boating them, we caught another fish on the swim-bait.

"Lets do another pass!" was the cry after all the fish were boated...

Bam! A third double and both fish in the boat. We were up to 17 fish now - a great day!

It was starting to get late - later than we planned. The Captain worked really hard to get us fish and was alot of fun.

We are already planning to fish with him every time next year - send an email and we'll give you his contact information.

The seas got bigger and rougher as we raced back into Garibaldi - but the boat was fast and comfortable, so we didn't mind.


We were wet and tired - a good thing after pulling on fish all day!

We had to cross into the bay in the dark - very weird with the poor lighting and markings on the Tillamook Bay enterance.

We never were worried, though - Captain Ron did a great job piloting us in safely and the seas settled down near the mouth.

17 fish averaging 22 lbs was a pretty good haul, especially after having to work so hard to find them.

Oh no - another jumpstart needed on the truck!


None of us had ever caught a tuna, and we didn't loose a single hooked fish. A couple of tangles and near misses, but everyone did great!

It was late, so we loaded up at BK.

Not the fanciest feast, but it was hearty after a day in the open ocean.

Tuna fishing is definitely the best fishing the Pacific NorthWest has to offer - bar none!