Tagging Bluefin Tuna South of Martha’s Vineyard

The action has been excellent with most boats choosing to head to the BC Buoy and Regal Sword rather than the offshore canyons. There have been a good number of fish in the 600 to 800-pound class hooked up and caught, with Christian Giardini reporting the larger fish this week topped the 1,050-pound mark dressed out. Meat has been the way to go for the larger fish, with skirted ballyhoo the top choice. There are also good numbers of smaller tuna falling to splasher bars and plugs or , but most everyone is jazzed up by the big fish. Should be an interesting weekend, with many shops warning that these fish are moving north to south and could leave town due to a front or bait migration

Proper handing and bleeding techniques will help you present the best quality tuna to your table. For school sized tuna,…

Tips and tricks for seeking out yellowfin tuna south of martha’s vineyard and what to look for when seeking out active fishing grounds.

Capt. Larry Backman and crew had a successful initial trip to Atlantis Canyon this week, including a pair of white marlin.

Capt. Larry Backman and the crew aboard FV Skipjack headed to West Atlantis Canyon this past weekend, successfully deep-dropping for 4 swordfish and landing this 350-pound blue marlin.

Captain Mike Hogan made it out on Wednesday with Capt. Cullen Lundholm from Cape Star Charters on his sweet new Conch 27 chasing the top water tuna feeds that where happening at the Dump.

In early August, Capt. Mike Hogan, Capt. Shaun Ruge of Riptide Charters and Willy Goldsmith of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science teamed up to conduct research for Willy’s PhD project regarding the post-release survival rate of bluefin tuna caught in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Equipped with Shimano Stella 14000W reels and Hogy Pro Tails, Capt. Cullen and Capt. Mike successfully pitched topwater baits into schools of crashing bluefin, hooking up with a BFT well into the 100-pound range.

On November 1st, Capt. Mike and John Burns headed out from Sandwich Marina to chase reports of aggressive schools of bluefin tuna feeding on small butterfish, a great opportunity to catch 100+ pound fish on topwater spinning gear. Armed with Stella 14000Ws and Hogy Pro Tails, the crew aboard the Relentless have no problem finding, hooking up with and successfully landing large bluefin.

This past summer, the Salty Cape crew and PhD researcher Willy Goldsmith headed south of Martha’s Vineyard to deploy satellite tags on spin-caught bluefin tuna as part of Willy’s research project for the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Each offseason, the Salty Cape team compiles the best footage from the prior year to release a sizzle reel of all things Cape & Islands fishing. Here’s our video for 2017. Enjoy!

Capt. Mike Hogan and the Salty Cape crew headed south of the Vineyard during the first week of July in search of offshore life, finding yellowfin on top for their first tuna of 2017.

In late July, the Salty Cape crew joined Jamie Simmons of Buzzards Bay Outfitters to tackle white marlin and bluefin tuna on Hogy Bird Bars and Epoxy Jigs.

Whether you’re casting, jigging, trolling or sticking, there’s nothing quite as exciting as tying into a bluefin tuna off the coast of Cape Cod & the Islands. As we look forward to the fall run, here are a few of our favorite highlights from summer 2017.

Capt. Terry Nugent of Riptide Charters targets bluefin tuna on spinning gear using the Hogy Slider, hooking up with a 200+ pound fish in early September 2018.