I'm sure this has been discussed on here before, but i wanted to ask....i'm wanting to start getting into some of the more serious party boat trips....the long overnight/tuna/etc. i know for some of these i've heard many folks say that its wise to bring some of your own tackle to be able to fish more effectively.

what do yall recommend? I would think the boat would provide a sufficient heavy rod for bottom fishing but for casting to tuna or anything like that? what a solid go to? i have a Penn 8500....is this big enough? what sort of rod would be best suited, what sort of line load? or if not the 8500 what would be a good all around go to? i don't want to go underprepared but would like to not have to carry around more than really necessary.

Erich

My go to reel is an Avet 30 2-speed spooled with 100-pound braid and an 80 pound mono top shot (reel on the right). I know lots of yellowfin tuna anglers that will not go with less than a 50 size reel. Generally you want a heavier setup on a head boat so you can control the fish better. I will take a variety of rods and reels to cover different situations.

The Penn 8500SS with 80# braid and 60# topshot would land most YF in the 40-60# range but anything over that size and you're asking for trouble.

But .... on my first floater trip ever back in November 2002 a friend landed 5 YF 60-80# on a Penn 9500SS.

Your friend must be as strong as an ox.

Its been a while but I've fished on a decent number of head boats, I've never caught tuna. I've see other people bring their own rigging but I've only ever fished with what the boat provided and while some of it was a little rough sometimes it generally seemed to work. I do recall plenty situations though where if i maybe had some of my own little bit more specialized stuff i could have capitalized on some moments. The tunas I'd heard that its good to have a big spinning set up to be able to cast to them some....is this wrong though? and level wind is the way to go? If i read the post above correctly that big blue level wind was the real being referenced there. I would agree on a head boat that more power is more better so pressure can be applied when needed.

i would like to do one of the tuna runs, but i've never been. aside from what i've seen on a regular head boat trip for 8-12hr i don't know what to expect. what do they give you? what do you like to bring along with that?

The reel was the blue one on the right of the picture.

I suggest you call Dolphin Docks in Port Aransas. I have caught lots of fish with them. They have a variety of long tuna trips and can tell you all you need to know about what to expect and what to bring.

https://dolphindocks.com/gallery/2023-catches/

BUERICH - sent you a PM.

I usually go on a few party boat trips a year either out of Galveston or Port A. Ive found the boat rods to be very questionable. I've had multiple rods not have enough line on them to reach bottom in 150' of water, have horrible backlashed buried in them or drags so worn they just didnt work. So, I bring my own even for snapper trips. Be cautious about getting reels with too high a gear ratio for bottom fishing. If its rough day and you end up with 24 oz of lead, a 6:1 reel will wear you out.

If you ever get up to the Tyler area , I have a ton of gear I bought for Tuna fishing, I went on one 36 hour out of Galveston,
the boat gear was Krap. I planned to go on a trip from Venice So I bought every thing I would need . Scheduled 3 times , weather blow out on two , I had back
issues on the third, Bottom line I have a bunch of Tuna gear , And have lost the desire to go.

Would make some one a great deal on this gear.

Good luck

MO

Curious what you do with all the meat after those tuna trips. Do you make your own sushi? Can you sell to a sushi restaurant? Grill it up, give it to friends? Seems like you'd end up with a substantial amount of tuna.

I can't speak for everyone but most of us take the best part of the loins for steaks. Everything else is good for canning. I don't know many YFT fishermen that don't also own a canner. I've been supplying friends and family canned fresh YF for 25 years. Once you've eaten fresh canned tuna you'll want to throw rocks at Star Kist.

Coff, The tuna I catch gets eaten somehow - grilled, canned, shared, or given away to family/friends. Selling recreationally caught fish is a giant no-no. You need a comercial license for that.

Do tell! Interested in canning tuna, we can everything else. TIA, LC