Leaders for Yellowfin Tuna

When it comes to catching yellowfin tuna, many anglers use heavy leaders of two hundred pound test or more. Others use barely-visible 30-pound test. Obviously, different sizes are appropriate for different rigs and different styles of fishing. But traditional theory doesn’t always translate between tactics. One example: most anglers will rig a trolling lure that swims, like a Green Machine or Tuna Dart, with a heavy 150- to 250-pound leader. And sure, it will still get hit. But if you downsize to 80-pound test the lure has a LOT more freedom to move, and will zig and zag literally twice as much. Net result? You get a lot more hits.

Here are some other examples of when modifying your leader in a way that goes against the traditional grain can help you catch more fish.

• When offering up a static bait it may be necessary to go all the way down to 30-pound test to get bites. If the fish are too big to land on gear this light, rig up one with an even smaller leader – 15- or 20-pound. Have two other rigs with 50-pound test rigged and ready, but not in the water. As soon as you hook up on the light leader crank down the drag and break the fish off. Then immediately toss out the baits on 50-pound test. The first tuna will attack that super-light leader with abandon, which gets other fish in the school fired up – and a bit more careless. Get out the 50s fast enough, and they’ll often get attacked.
• Any time you use leader of less than 100 pounds, rig it with a wind-on. Lighter stuff is just too dicey to wire fish to the boat, but if you can fight the tuna all the way in using the rod, reel, and drag, you can beat fish of 60, 80, or even up to 100 pounds.
• When rigging a gang lure like a spreader bar or sidewinder, use lighter leader for the teaser lines but keep the heavy stuff for the mainline and hook-bait. This will allow the teasers to really dance, but you’ll still have the beefy stuff where it counts.

And lest it go unsaid, use fluorocarbon whenever you’re targeting tuna. Their eyes are tough to fool, and will will deliver more bites virtually every time.