Indonesia Big YFT of Pelabuhan Ratu .

[Sportfisherman]

Guys ,

Last Friday we had 4 strikes , 2 solid hook ups and 1 YFT boated while the other almost spooled us before the leader broke . At the same day another boat got a slightly bigger one and yesterday the same boat got another one , check this .

Jon .

[Narc]

Very Nice.

How heavy do you think this fish is? managed to weigh?

[Sportfisherman]

Very Nice.

How heavy do you think this fish is? managed to weigh?

Hi AhGu ,

50 kg by uncertified scale , that day a bigger tuna was landed by another boat n my estimate it was around 60 kg .

Jon .

[Narc]

Awesone Jon!

[Patudo]

Pak Jon...

Very glad to see you're still out there catching fish... all the YFT in your area still being caught by casting?

I've sent some emails to your address at sportfisherman but haven't gotten a reply for a while. Hope everything is well. My dad's still working in JKT. Must look you up next time I'm over there.

Best regards
dustin

[Sportfisherman]

Hi Dustin ,

Still fishing , don't troll much nowaday but casting is the way to catch YFTs now . I will check that hotmail account , have been away in East Borneo province fishing the upper reaches freshwater rivers catching empurau n sebarau .

Jon .

[ghaniyusoff]

Pak Jon,

I was there on 20 July 09. But the night before, I saw you in action on TV7. After I saw the sizes of those YFT.... oh dear, my Carpenter Le Grande 611 and Stella 8000 would not be able to handle.

True enough, I almost got spooled out until the main leader burst or the size 3 treble hooks got dislodged. I have nover seen Carpenter Wild Violence got punished so severely. Another two boats fought YFTs for almost 1.5 hours ended with burst leader.

We only managed to land small YFTs and Cakalang on popping and Wahoo and Dorado on trolling. We used Captain Ateng

[Sportfisherman]

Hi Ghani ,

I was in Berau - East Borneo when I received your SMS , when those big YFTs started to surface , my fishhing buddy summoned me back n went straight to P.Ratu , the efforts were well rewarded I must say .

OMA92 was used to a great use , were able to cast 40 gr. metal jig a long way to reach the big YFTs but yes , one needs reel with more capacity than an #8000 Shimano can ever accomodate in order not to be spooled , a bite leader may be advisable as long as it does not interfere with the action of the small sized lure .

Jon .

[nikolaus]

Hi Jon,

Great catch!!!!
BTW, where about is this place located ? When will be the best time to fish there? Any good operator that I can contact for more information concerning the charters?

Thks.

[Sportfisherman]

Hi Jon,

Great catch!!!!
BTW, where about is this place located ? When will be the best time to fish there? Any good operator that I can contact for more information concerning the charters?

Thks.

Hi Nico ,

4 hrs drive from JKT International Airport , located in the south coast of West Java , there is no charter outfit operating but there are plenty of boats for charter . For individual wanting to fish there , it's best to join the locals ( from JKT ) as the road going there can be a bit tricky or you can join Ghani who has good contacts with the local anglers .

Jon .

[Patudo]

Hi guys - is the bite still going on? It's tough sometimes that the gear that is perfect for casting a lure out to them is a little sporty to bring the lure (with tuna attached) back to the boat!

In Madeira my friends are seeing something similar. Big eye tuna busting on the surface but having little luck with trolling lures. It would be interesting to try casting there but these fish are anything from 75 to 100 plus kilos

[Sportfisherman]

Hi Dustin ,

I went to P.Ratu again yesterday , this time I did not see any tuna surfacing but found a couple of whale shark around about . When we are at the dock , we walk to the nearby commercial fishing landing site which made our jaw dropped , check this image of a big eye tuna being unloaded from the longline boat onto the trucks which will bring them to the export processing zone , and to put the salt on the wound , they were unloading hundreds of these big tunas !

Jon .

[ghaniyusoff]

My local friends went on 1 Aug too but did not see YFTs surfacing. Bait fishes probably gone already.

They came back with 2 Dogtooth TUnas... 15 kg from Trolling and another 30 kg from jigging at drop off.

That Bigeye is really huge.

[Sportfisherman]

That Bigeye is really huge.

After checking with knowledgable friend concerning tuna , that fish is Southern Bluefin tuna .

Jon .