Article by Capt. Franky Pettolina
As I walked down the dock, I saw my buddy Robby unloading one heck of a catch of bluefin tuna. I knew that fishing had been good, but this was a giant stack of bluefins. There must have been 20 of them. Maybe more. Robby told me they had released a bunch more.
“Probably 50!” That’s what he told me. I asked him how he caught so many. Cedar plugs? Zukers and Green Machines? Nope. Chunking. That’s what he told me. Chunking. I looked at him and said, “What the heck is chunking????”
This scenario played out back in the late 80s. There were no ridiculous slot limits on bluefin tuna at that time. I think the federal size limit on all tunas back then was a 22-inch minimum, and you could kill however many you wanted. That usually meant however many you got to the boat. But I am not here to write about tuna limits or fishermen killing more than they need, at least not this week. What I am going to write about is the rest of that evening in the late 80s, and the next day.
Robby proceeded to explain to me about this new magical method of tuna fishing. During the 80s in the Mid Atlantic, daytime tuna chunking was in its infancy. The boys up in New Jersey and New York were having success doing it at night, and I am pretty sure commercial fisherman were using chunks of mackerel to catch giant bluefin in New England, but daytime chunking was just starting to catch on. Robby took me aside and let me in on his new trick. He told me to take my cast net and go net up a cooler full of bunker. I figured that was easy enough. The bay was full of them. Next, he told me to cut the snap swivels off of my 50 lb. trolling rigs and tie a small, live bait hook right to the main line. I looked at him like he was nuts. No leader? Just a tiny hook tied directly to the main line? He told me, “Shut up and listen, and do what I say!” Robby still talks to me like that, by the way.
After I completed these tasks, he instructed me to head to the southeast edge of the Jackspot and anchor up right on the edge. Ok. I could handle that. Finally, he told me to cut the bunker into pieces. “Throw a handful in the water and watch it drift away. When you can’t see ‘em anymore, throw another handful. After the third handful drifts away, throw another handful, only this time put a hook in one of the pieces and feed it out with the other chunks. When it gets about a hundred feet from the boat throw some more and put another piece out with a hook in it. You will catch’em!” To be honest I didn’t really believe him. He had been known to mess with me over the years, but I had to give it a try after seeing all the tunas he caught that day.
So I went out that night and netted up a big Igloo cooler full of bunkers. I cut the swivels off of my 50 lb. rigs and told Dad about our game plan. He didn’t look like he trusted me much more than I trusted Robby, but we were going to give it a shot.
Our charter showed up the next morning. Four guys and a gal that I had never fished with, but they had been offshore out of Ocean City before. When I told them what I was going to try they almost cancelled the trip! After assurances that I did, in fact, have lures and ballyhoos to go fishing with after this cut bait mess failed, they reluctantly agreed to head out on the trip. A little over an hour later we were at the southeast edge of the Jackspot. Thankfully Robby was already there, anchored up on the “Sea Warrior” with his captain, Warren Sauers. After several attempts, I succeeded in getting my anchor to set with the boat in the right spot. On my way back from anchoring up on the bow of our charterboat, “Last Call” I looked over and saw several bent rods on the “Sea Warrior” and Robby was busy gaffing a tuna.
So I went to the task of cutting up my bunker and throwing them in the water. One handful. Two handfuls. Third handful hits the water and I toss the hook bait into the mix. I pull two jerks of line off of the reel and WHAMMO! The line gets ripped out of my hands, the reel backlashes and KAPOW... the line snaps! Sheepishly, I looked at my charter and said, “Let me try this again.” I grabbed another rod. Started the bunker toss routine again and fed a hooked bait out again. This time with a little drag on the reel. WHAMMO, part deux!. This time I succeeded in hooking the fish and 15 minutes later a 40 lb. bluefin was sliding around the deck and 2 others were hooked up. The whole day went that way. With nothing more than cut bunker and livebait hooks tied directly to my main line, we mugwumped the tunas. We killed 15 and probably lost at least that many more. The charter loved it and I was convinced this was the most deadly method ever devised to catch a tuna. When we got in that night, Robby looked at me with an “I told you so” expression firmly etched on his sunburnt face.
Of course that was over 20 years ago and chunking is no longer as simple as tying a hook to your main line and throwing some bunker out there. Although bunker are still a great bait, and many of the charter boat crews won’t leave the dock without them, they seem smaller to me than they were back in the 80s, but the tunas don’t seem to mind. Now, you are spitting in the wind if you don’t use fluorocarbon leader. Fluorocarbon is less visible than regular monofilament and is much less susceptible to chafing.
Chunking methodology has become somewhat of an art form. The guys that have it dialed in are constantly evolving in their methods and their tricks are never going to get emailed to Hillary Clinton, believe me! All that aside, I am going to offer some advice on a basic chunking rig for the guys who are wanting to go out and try it for the first time.
A 30 or 50 lb. outfit is all you need. I would not recommend braid for your main line. You definitely want mono when chunking. I prefer a ball bearing swivel, usually 60 or 80 lb. For your leader, I suggest starting with 50 lb. fluorocarbon. About 6-feet is good. As far as hooks go, circles all the way. Sizes vary from one manufacturer to another, so there isn’t a standard answer. Something between a 5/0 and an 8/0 is the range in most brands. You want a hook that can be hidden in the bait.
Now for the secret. Once your rig is tied on, find something fixed and put your hook on it. Crank the rod and reel down to a bow and let your fluoro “stretch” for a few minutes. On my boat I put the rod in the port side flatline holder and turn it sideways so it is facing the starboard side and I put my hook over on my electric cord holder. Then just wind it tight and let it set for a while. This takes some of the memory out of the leader and helps with the drifting of the bait. Some guys wipe the leader down with alcohol to take the “shine” off of it too. I don’t do this, but I know many that do. Now you are ready to go!
One last tip. If the fish are leader shy and you drop down to 30 lb. leader, downsize to a lighter gauge wire hook and back your drag off a little. It may take a little longer to catch them, but your odds of doing so will increase! Now go net some bunkers and head on out there!
Capt. Franky Pettolina is Co-Captain of the charter boat, “Last Call” and President of the Ocean City Marlin Club.
