Few fish test your gear and your back like a yellowfin. They're fast, they fight deep, and a good one will have you doubled over the gunwale wondering what you've hooked.
Catching them isn't luck. It's about being in the right water at the right time of year and having a presentation the fish actually want.
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About yellowfin and where they run
Yellowfin tuna are a bluewater fish that follow warm currents and bait. They range right around the country, but a few areas have built reputations.
The NSW canyons off places like Bermagui, Narooma, Port Stephens and Sydney are the classic yellowfin grounds, fishing the shelf and the deep water beyond it. Victoria gets a run off the far east and Portland in season. WA holds them along the deeper water off the west and north. Up in Queensland, the wider grounds off Moreton produce them too.
They hold where the bait holds. Temperature breaks, current lines, bait schools, working birds, floating debris and the shelf edge. Find clean blue water pushing against cooler water with bait in it and you're in the game.
When to target them
Yellowfin are largely an autumn and winter fish down the east coast, when the East Australian Current pushes warm water south and drags the fish with it. The exact timing shifts year to year with water temperature, so watch the sea surface temp charts.
Day to day, early morning is prime. Calm, glassed-off conditions let you spot bust-ups and working birds, and the fish tend to be up higher in the water column. A current line that's been sitting in the same spot for a few days will often stack up bait and fish.
How to catch them
Trolling skirts and divers
Trolling covers water and finds the fish. Run a spread of skirted lures, smaller pushers and jets in the 6 to 8 inch range work well for yellowfin, in a mix of dark and bright colours. Stagger them across the wake at different distances so they swim in clean water and in the prop wash.
Bibbed minnows and deep divers run off the corners add another action and dig a bit deeper. Pull them at around 6 to 8 knots and watch the spread. When one goes off, the others can get hit as the school competes. There's plenty more detail on lure choice in our guide to the best marlin and offshore trolling lures.
Cubing and the berley trail
When you've found fish but they won't eat a lure, cubing is the answer. Anchor or drift over the ground and start a steady trail of cubed pilchard or tuna flesh going over the side.
The idea is to set a line of slowly sinking cubes that brings the fish up to the boat. Bury a hook in a cube that matches the size and sink rate of your berley, feed it back down the trail unweighted, and let it drift naturally with the rest. When the line comes up tight, wind and lean. The ritual side of bait fishing for big pelagics is covered well in big baits, big bills.
Spinning the bust-ups
The most exciting way to catch them. When yellowfin push bait to the surface you get a boiling bust-up, often with birds working overhead. Idle within casting range, don't drive over the top of them, and fire a metal slug or a stickbait into the edge of the school.
Wind it fast. Yellowfin want a fleeing baitfish, so a high-speed retrieve with the occasional pause triggers the strike. Match the size of your lure to the bait they're feeding on. If they're on tiny stuff and won't touch your slug, downsize.
Gear
Yellowfin demand serious tackle. For trolling, overhead reels with strong drags spooled with mono or braid in the 15, 24 or 37 kg class depending on the size of fish you expect. Match them to rods rated to the same line class on a quality harness, because the fight is all about applying pressure.
For cubing, a 15 to 24 kg outfit gives you the grunt to turn a fish that's trying to bury itself. For spinning the bust-ups, a heavy stickbait or stickbait-style spin outfit with a 8000 to 14000 size reel, 50 to 80 lb braid and a strong leader.
Leaders matter. In clear blue water yellowfin can be leader-shy, so run fluorocarbon and go as light as you dare while still having the strength to handle the fish and any sharks. Sharp hooks, checked and re-sharpened, are non-negotiable.
Handling
A yellowfin is prime eating, but it spoils fast if you don't look after it. Bleed it straight away by cutting the gills, then get it into an ice slurry. A bin of ice and seawater drops the core temperature fast and keeps the flesh firm and clean.
If you're releasing fish, keep them in the water, support the body, and let them swim off under their own steam. A green tuna thrashing on the deck does itself no favours.
Common mistakes
- Driving over the school. The fastest way to put down a bust-up. Stay on the edge and cast in.
- Leader too heavy. In clean blue water it costs you bites. Drop down until they eat.
- Slow cube trail. Inconsistent berley breaks the line of scent and loses the fish. Keep it steady.
- Soft drag settings. You need to apply real pressure to a yellowfin or it'll out-stamina you.
- Ignoring the water. Temp breaks, current lines and birds tell you where to fish. Don't just troll randomly.
If Moreton is your launch point, the wider grounds get a mention in our Moreton Bay rundown.
Yellowfin are a fish you earn. Watch the water, get out on the calm mornings, and have your gear ready when the trail comes alive. Check your state's current size and bag limits before you head out, because offshore species rules do change.