Episode 60: Gascoyne Longtail Tuna With Nicki Hunt

Nicki’s Top Tips For Longtail Tuna

• Birds are the strongest indication of where to fish. Birds hovering and circling up high above the water indicate fish are down deep, birds circling close to the surface indicate fish are pushing bait to the top. Birds working and diving indicate actively feeding fish.
• Most of Nicki’s longtail tuna fishing takes place in water of 10m or less depth. Sandbars allow tuna to push bait into tightly packed balls and are a great spot to fish. Areas with currents fish better than areas of still water.
• Weather generally is the main determinant as to when to fish, but periods around a full moon tend to create better bites.
• Be prepared to try different things. Nicki has found that when tuna are feeding on very small baitfish she often gets better results by not matching the hatch, opting instead for larger stickbaits that catch the fish’s attention.

Nicki’s Preferred Tackle For Longtail Tuna

• Nicki prefers a 7ft Penn Ocean Assassin with a Shimano Stella 4000 spinning reel with 30lb braided line and 60lb Black Magic Tough monofilament leader.

Nicki’s Best Longtail Tuna Lures

• A Halco Twisty in the 40g size and silver colour is a solid performer on Longtail Tuna. Cats these into the bust up. let them sink for a second or two and then work them back at a steady speed. It’s not necessary to crank them flat out.
• Rapala X-Rap long cast 140mm. This is cast over the school, allowed to sink a second or two and then cranked back at constant speed. Fish tend to peel off the school and attack the stickbait
• Shimano Rockdive 160mm is fished the same way as the X-Rap. This lure seems to entice even more fish to peel off the school than the X-Rap.