"Reginald P. Smithers III" wrote in message
. ..

How far offshore do you have to go to fish for Tuna?



Tuna fishing is really the only type of fishing that I actually enjoy. I
can appreciate the interest others have in stripers, blues, cod and even
flounder, which are the predominant fishing activities around here, but I
found I got bored with that.

At the beginning of the 2002 boating season I bought a brandy new 37' Egg
Harbor SportsYacht. It was very nicely equipped inside and out, had a huge
fishwell in the cockpit, live bait well, cockpit sink and freezer plus seven
gunnel mounted rod holders (fixed and swivel), plus outriggers and a center
rig. It cruised at 30+ knots and was ideally set up for offshore fishing.
After the first season of taking friends and work associates out for a day
of cod or striper fishing my brother and I started thinking of doing
charters. I really enjoyed running the boat and the enjoyment people were
getting spending a day on the boat catching fish. Running the boat when
tuna fishing is also an acquired skill that takes practice and most of the
time the boat captain deserves as much credit or more as the angler for
landing a tuna. When the tuna season started I got a recreational license
and we got a tuna the third time out .... which is really unusual for
newbies ... and we earned a reputation as the "lucky" boat at the marina.
(Most of the other boats did commercial charters)

But ... I soon realized the toll that charter fishing would take on the
boat. I was constantly cleaning the interior carpets of fish blood being
tracked all over the place. Plus, the transom and sides of the boat started
getting chips and nicks in the gelcoat from weights smacking into them.
Cleaning the cockpit after returning with 400-600lbs of cod became a chore.
When I looked at some of the other charter boats I realized the abuse they
received doing charters and I decided to forget about it. We did a few more
unsuccessful tuna trips and I ended up selling the Egg after the second
season of ownership.

Eisboch