The Mag

Trolling for Torpedoes

Joel Ryan and his mates snag some Southern Jumbos

Torpedos
Southern Bluefin Tuna are tremendous predators from the moment they hatch, and like other pelagic tuna species, are part of a group of bony fishes that can maintain their body core temperature up to 10 degrees above the ambient temperature.

So why wouldn’t you want to get out on the high seas and go trolling for torpedoes?

Late one afternoon not that long ago, off Victoria’s Cape Otway, the boys and myself stumbled across a patch of water that resembled a David Attenborough documentary; whales, dolphins and tuna attacked a massive ball of baitfish from below while gannets and terns rained from the sky. We trolled around the action and the skirted lures popped and smoked along the surface next to the feeding frenzy.

BAM… The lures on the long corner and short rigger disappeared into the ocean exactly where the crew had spotted two enormous Southern Bluefin Tuna. Two 24kg game reels screamed in deafening pain as they tried to hold the ocean beasts at bay. After an hour’s exhausting fight, the first fish swum alongside the boat while the titanic battle with the second fish raged on.

Hooking a world-class Southern Bluefin Tuna is really is the catch of a lifetime.
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