Yellowfin YFT Jervis Bay

[Fergofisher]

Gday Raiders, 

 

This year - is the year i am hopefully going to be able to finally target a YFT. I have a 4.75 Top Ender and have (in the right conditions) been 30-50 km offshore regularly. Need advice on a couple things before the season properly starts to help me try and land this dream nugget. Ill usually have someone on board with me so i don't mind running 4 rods as we have a bit of experience clearing them fair fast when we were on our marlin mission earlier this year. 

 

Gear: I currently have x4 Okuma TG30 2 speeds with 500m of 50lb braid and i would say 100-200m of 15kg mono top shot. For each, i have 24kg stand up back bone elites. Will this gear suffice on fish up to 50-100kg? I am willing to upgrade to a couple Tiagra 50WLRS's with 24kg setups if need be to be able to land one of these beasts.  I have a couple heavy spin rods to pitch as well. 

Lures: I have a mix of Xrap 15's, 20's & 30's. I have a number of 6, 7, & 8" skirts all different colours etc mainly by Pakula. Lure wise will these do the job with a mixed spread? 

Teasers: I have a Pakula witchdoctor with a few flash strips attached. I have a few birds etc as well. Will this assist? 

Outriggers: I do have a set of outriggers. Not sure if this would wise to use or not? 

Leader: For the skirts i think they are already rigged at about 100-120lb. For the divers etc, will 80lb do the job? How much leader as well for the divers would work? 

Belts: I only have stand up belts not a full harness but again willing to get a black magic setup as example if that's going to help my arms not fall off. 

 

Couple more questions: 

- Where to go i am completely unsure.. This is the main concern i have. What sort of water do they sit in generally as in temp wise or does it vary? 

- I know to look for bird life etc, but if this isn't happening am i looking for temp breaks, clean/dirty water, mass eddies etc? I have access to Ripcharts to give historic guidance hopfully to put e in the general area of the hot spots

- How close in can they be caught? As in do i need to wait for perfect day to rip 30kms off or do they come in closer to the heads at all at any point or do they just follow the bait etc? 

- Is cubing the better option when the fish aren't coming to the surface? If so what's the general rule of thumb as in how often i should cube, cut into halfs quarters, when to feed a bait back through the chum etc etc. 

 

Cheers for the help in advance, this fish has been on my bucket list since i can remember. Thanks Legends. 

Edited March 18, 2021 by Fergofisher
Just adding some more info

[noelm]

Personally to target Yellowfin specifically I would drift live baits and burley/strip bait with Pilchards.

[Fergofisher]

1 minute ago, noelm said:

Personally to target Yellowfin specifically I would drift live baits and burley/strip bait with Pilchards.

Ok thanks mate. Yakkas or slimys? What area would you target for a good place to start the cube?

[Jp2]

You sound like you are on the right track Fergofisher. We look for temp breaks on websites like RipCharts on or over the shelf.  The 0 altimetry line seems to be a good starting point. We run a mix of 3/4 skirts and 2 xraps or bibless minnows under the prop wash as close to boat as possible. 
 

I personally have  caught more cubing but I like to troll until I find an area that I want to cube. I have caught them at all times of the day. Tide change seems to help. 
 

You have many questions but I hope it’s some help to you.

 Thanks John 

[Fergofisher]

15 hours ago, Jp2 said:

You sound like you are on the right track Fergofisher. We look for temp breaks on websites like RipCharts on or over the shelf.  The 0 altimetry line seems to be a good starting point. We run a mix of 3/4 skirts and 2 xraps or bibless minnows under the prop wash as close to boat as possible. 
 

I personally have  caught more cubing but I like to troll until I find an area that I want to cube. I have caught them at all times of the day. Tide change seems to help. 
 

You have many questions but I hope it’s some help to you.

 Thanks John 

Cheers John, and yes haha i have plenty of questions. I'm happy to put in the hours to figure these fish out as usually not many want to give away there secrets which is understandable. 

Thanks for the info, i was thinking much the same about starting on the shelf and following the general rule of thumbs. Will keep you in the loop this season if i get the chance to head out. I ended up treating myself with a couple Tiagra 50's - so hopefully i get the chance to hear one screaming.