There are many different types of Tuna you can catch while fishing in Miami-Dade and Broward County. If you go on a Tuna fishing charter in Florida and you’ll catch a variety of Tuna species including Bluefin Tuna, Blackfin Tuna, Yellowfin Tuna, Skipjack Tuna, Little Tunny, Atlantic Bonito, and Albacore Tuna. Below are the most popular types of Tuna you can catch in Florida. Click one of the fishes below to get more information on the different species including how to fish for them, where you can catch them, what bait to use and even how to prepare them for the dinner table.
Bluefin Tuna
The Bluefin tuna is an offshore schooling fish that will aggregate and forage on concentrations of small pelagic prey like mackerel, sand lance, sea herring, menhaden and squid. Bluefin tuna follow the boat’s chum line created by the shrimp boats by-catch, it is the world biggest chum line! March is a great time to follow the ship boats that are in full gear this time of the year. You can get some of the shrimp boat by-catch in exchange for some beer, just approach them when they are anchored. A 6-pack can get you a five-gallon bucket or two. Now when you chum with this by-catch, you will surely have some great tuna action
Blackfin Tuna
The blackfin tuna is the smallest tuna species in the genus Thunnus, generally growing to a maximum of 100 cm in length and weighing 21 kg. Blackfin tuna have oval-shaped bodies, black backs with a slight yellow on the finlets, and yellow on the sides of their bodies.
Yellowfin Tuna
The Yellowfin Tuna are a schooling fish found offshore usually feeding on bait fish or squid. When you spot a school of jumping bait fish with diving birds get up current of the school and throw in chunks of sardines mixed with fish chum and let the chum drift to the bait fish. Cast your line into the cut bait and hold on tight, this is one powerful fish that can weigh 100 pounds. Use 80 pound line with a 100 pound leader with short shanked 9/0 hooks baited with fresh chunk bait. Be sure to have a lot of line on your heavy reel because once the Yellowfin Tuna is on your line they will dive straight down at amazing speeds. In order to keep a Yellowfin Tuna you must have a Highly Migratory Species Permit. The Yellowfin Tuna’s meat is excellent on the grill or pan seared with wassabe
Skipjack Tuna
The skipjack tuna is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. It is otherwise known as the aku, arctic bonito, mushmouth, oceanic bonito, striped tuna, or victor fish. It grows up to 1 m in length. It is a cosmopolitan pelagic fish found in tropical and warm-temperate waters.
Little Tunny
The little tunny is the most common tuna in the Atlantic Ocean. It is found in warm temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean; in the western Atlantic, it ranges from Brazil to the New England states
Atlantic Bonito
The Atlantic bonito is a large mackerel-like fish of the family Scombridae. It is common in shallow waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea, where it is an important commercial and game fish.
Albacore Tuna
Albacore Tuna is an offshore schooling fish found in the open tropical and temperate oceans. Schools can generally be found 10 miles offshore, look for birds diving on bait fish and you may find a school of tuna. This large fish can be up to 4 1/2 feet (140 cm) and weights up to 100 pounds (45 kg). Albacore are carnivores consuming schooling fish, such as sardine, anchovy, and squid. Chumming with a mix of anchovies or squid or chunk chumming with whole anchovy or parts works well.
