Tuna Teeth

Started by FatTuna, September 12, 2018, 11:49:49 PM

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FatTuna

I've been telling myself for a while now that I should really analyze the anatomy of a tuna to understand them better. Today I took a close look at the teeth. Most of the fish we've lost over the years has been due to a chew off..... There is a lot of debate about what type of leader to use, what type of hook, etc. I wanted to know just how sharp the teeth were. THEY ARE SHARP AS HELL. I knew they were sharp but they are way sharper than I would have expected.  It's no wonder they get through after an hour............ This has lead to my conclusion that a perfect hookset is the most significant variable in catching these fish. Anything but a set in corner in the mouth is likely to result in a sore arm but no fish........ Circle hook or bust.

*Can a moderator straighten out the pics or tell me how to do it. Thanks.

Benni3

Thay got that titanium leader,,,but maybe it's just coated  ;D

Reel 224

Now you Know. Don't mess with a Tunas mouth! That is very interesting to see the teeth up close.......................Joe
"I don't know the key to success,but the key to failure is trying to please everyone."

FatTuna

Quote from: Benni3 on September 13, 2018, 02:44:50 AM
Thay got that titanium leader,,,but maybe it's just coated  ;D

They are line shy though. You'd never get a bite without fluorocarbon. Even really heavy fluorocarbon will turn them away....... you basically need to fish light and hook them in the corner of the mouth.

Benni3

That's my problem in freshwater 8lb hooks more fish,,,,but 20lb or 30lb braid keeps em

Cor

I was going to say that in 95% of times they are hooked in the corner of the mouth, when baiting then no problem.    Hooks do sometimes tear out.

I usually fish with lures, that's a different story as they often come off the hook after a while.
Cornelis

jurelometer

Good info!   An interesting test for your tuna teeth would have been to try sawing off some leaders of  different diameter.

As a service to science,  do you think you could catch another nice tuna and report back?  :D :D :D

On a side note:  Does anyone use tournament style (non-kirbed) hooks for live baiting tuna?   The kirbed hooks are supposed to have a higher possibility of hooking something inside  the mouth  before getting to the corner.

I was testing hook sets  with kirbed circles on  a dead yellowtail and found that a sudden sharp pull often set the hook inside the mouth, even when pulling the line toward the tail, across the corner of the mouth.  When the  circle hook got a non- jaw hookset, it usually could not penetrate, and pulled out with a bit of effort. A steady pull from the side or the back almost always resulted in a proper jaw hookset, but not always.  Wish I had tried the same with a non-kirbed version of the same hook.

-J

oc1

You should have also tried it on different sides of the mouth. The thing that has always bothered me about offset hooks is that they can only be offset in one direction or the other.  Fishing jargon says a kirbed hook is offset left and a reversed hook is offset right.  This is going to make the angle different (either upward or downward) depending on which side of the mouth it is on.  You would think that differences in that angle would have to make a difference in hook set success. 

The more common criticism of kirbed hooks is that they are prone to being further bent or distorted or straightened because when the hook is pulled straight it puts a lateral pressure on the point.

The final criticism is that the offset will make the hook tend to spiral when pulled through the water.  It's difficult stuff to study though so I just punt and use straight hooks.
-steve

Benni3

Quote from: oc1 on September 13, 2018, 07:23:38 PM
You should have also tried it on different sides of the mouth. The thing that has always bothered me about offset hooks is that they can only be offset in one direction or the other.  Fishing jargon says a kirbed hook is offset left and a reversed hook is offset right.  This is going to make the angle different (either upward or downward) depending on which side of the mouth it is on.  You would think that differences in that angle would have to make a difference in hook set success. 

The more common criticism of kirbed hooks is that they are prone to being further bent or distorted or straightened because when the hook is pulled straight it puts a lateral pressure on the point.

The final criticism is that the offset will make the hook tend to spiral when pulled through the water.  It's difficult stuff to study though so I just punt and use straight hooks.
-steve

yes,,,, the offset hooks I use for little trout,,,,I have had that problem,,,,same thing on a smaller scale  ;D

FatTuna

Next time we get one I will try sawing the leader in it's mouth. Won't be able to flip the fish over though, once it's on deck it's too heavy.

I also want to take a closer look at the outside of the fish and see where/if the leader could get cut. A lot of people say that the gill plate and fins are to blame for some break offs. I want to inspect the indentations around it's head to see if it can get caught anywhere. A lot of the time when we get cut off, the leader is missing a few feet of line, 2 to 4 feet. I'm not sure if it's from the hook going down into the stomach or if it's getting sliced 

We used to fish all offset hooks but recently switched to an inline Gamakatsu live bait circle (HD). My feeling is that an offset hook is more likely to set inside it's mouth or in it's gut than an inline.

We did have an offset that almost bent out on us. As soon as the fish hit the deck, the hook dropped out of it's mouth.

boon

I only fish inline circles these days, be it for dead bait or live.

As mentioned, offset/kirbed hooks are more likely to get caught elsewhere in the fish.

Last season I started bridle rigging all of my livebaits. Not only do they live much longer and swim better but of the fish I hooked 100% were hooked in the jaw/lip.

FatTuna

#11
I'm all about the bridle rig too but we don't always get them in the corner of the mouth. The ones we land are typically hooked in the corner but the ones that get away I'm assuming are gut hooked. It's said that a gut hooked fish will fight much harder and that seems to be the case.

We fished the same two baits for 10 hours yesterday. They were strong and lively until the end of the day. I like using the elastics for small baits and the rigging floss for the larger baits.

Another pic of the fish.

Headed out tomorrow, hope we can get another one.