Big Bluefin Behavior

October 24, 2007

On The Water
July 2007
By Chris Weiner

While I still have much to learn, I have been working on a harpoon boat since I could walk and have grown up in this fishery. When harpooning, we look for tuna swimming or feeding on the surface, and once we spot them, we try to sneak up behind them. A 40-foot boat with almost 600 horsepower is not the stealthiest craft on the water, but done right, the boat can get remarkably close to the fish. One of us will then run out into the 25-foot-long pulpit on the bow of the boat and attempt to throw a handheld harpoon into the tuna. The pulpit is about twelve feet off the water, and the vessel is moving at around six to eight knots. Coupled with wind and waves, this means the task is often quite difficult. But to me, there is no method of fishing that is more fun or more rewarding than harpooning.

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