Fishing for Tuna or Barracuda?

Question

Where in the US could I go fishing for either tuna or barracuda? And not factoring travel expenses, how much would a trip run me?

Thank you.

Answer 1

San Diego has a lot of boats going out all the time and tuna and barricuda can be caught this time of year and into early fall.  A 3/4 day trip would give you a good chance of barricuda at about $75ish and a 2 or 3 day trip would give you a good shot at tuna, at a cost of a few hundred.  If you were happy with just barricuda, you could even rent a kayak and paddle yourself into the kelp beds off La Jolla and catch plenty a barricuda using a spoon.  Visit www.sdfish.com for links to all the big charter companies and the website also has forums where we people discuss their recent fishing trips.

Answer 2

The Fl. Keys, Islamorada. Tuna would be black fin, generally run up to 20/25 lbs. Sometimes can find yellowfin fishing out of key west. Barracuda are easy to come by. A six hr. tuna trip would run you between $750 - 1000. If targeting barracuda, well you can take big ones from the reef, not as far out and do with a half day trip for under $500. Thing is, when tuna fishing, you can also take some other fine big game fish from the same waters. I know some guides, if interested, e-mail me.

Answer 3

You can get barracuda off local 1/2 or 3/4 day boats running out of southern California; however these are the Pacific barracuda, fish which rarely get over 10 pounds -- much smaller than the ones you get out of Florida. When the barracuda are biting you can catch all you need; the rest of the time they're mixed in with the rest of the catch (primarily bass in the summer).

These trips run about $40-$75, plus license, tackle, food, etc.

There is usually pretty good tuna fishing out of San Diego in the summer. The "one day" trips (departing 10PM, returning the following evening) run from about $175 and up, depending on the boat, passenger load, etc. Other expenses (Mexican license, food tackle rental, etc.) may run $50-$100 more. The fish (albacore, yellowfin, and bluefin tuna) generally range from 10 to 40 pounds, though some years there have been bluefin of over 200 pounds taken in these waters.

These are both on "open party" boats where you may be sharing the rail with 20-30 other passengers -- if you want a private charter on a six-pack type boat, it will run considerably more. But I've made great catches on these types of boats.

Answer 4

I did this in San Diego like the first guy said when I lived down there.It was a lot of fun and I'd recommend it if you find yourself down there.

Answer 5

If you're a trip by yourself, I would suggest the Southern Cross Club in the Cayman Islands; it has been featured several times on the "Fishing The Flats w/ Henry Wazczuk" television show. I've never been there myself,but this suggestion is the information I've heard. Just find an experienced guide ask him to take a close reef.  Hope this helps.  Good luck!