The Hunt For Big Fish with Larry Dahlberg

Hi Larry,
a couple weeks ago I watched a segment on a trip with some researchers ; to catch tuna in the gulf. what time did you go, or what time is best and where did you go out of?
thanks for your time,
gary

my favorite time is in october. we went out of venice. I'd suggest contacting Kevin Beech.
best,
L

Larry,
I just fished the Emerald Coast Billfish Classic and my team is looking for a new tuna lure. We have an idea we would like to develop with you or another custom lure maker. Please let me know how to get this started, as we want to get a prototype tested, refined and proven before another tournament on Labor Day.
Mark Lackley
Marklackley@gmail.com

Hi M
Have you made a first proto? What does your lure accomplish that other lures do not?
L

No, we haven't made a first proto. We have just started thinking about how to solve the problem we have, which is this: We have had great luck with our kite lines, which we slow-troll (around 2mph) with live hardtails when the wind is right. But when there is no wind for the kite, and especially if the current is in the same direction as the wind, the kite does not work. We simply are not getting the yellowfin strikes on our flat lines or outrigger lines. When we got a little wind last week we got a good strike and landed a yellowfin on the kite line, but no other strikes the rest of the week.

So we are interested in exploring whether the answer might be a lure that looks exactly like a hardtail being skipped on the water from a kite, since that is where we've had our success. Maybe there is already a good lure already in existence, and if not we want to design and build one.

Anybody who's spent any time chasing tuna has felt your pain! Yes, I think there is a way to do it. It's called Greensticking!
check it out. Might be able to jerry rig something similar with the right kite set up.
best
L

Attaching a helium balloon on top of the kite will solve your kite issue. You can get a small helium tank at a party store. Works great, you can still "steer" the bait with kite adjustment and you wont dunk it when the wind drops.

Hey Gerkin
Everyone has the kites and balloons and uses them with live bait, but the issue is lures. It's pretty tough to move the kite fast enough to animate a lure enough to inspire a tuna.
Like I said, check out the green stick. It's the most lethal method for catching tuna ever invented. One just has to be very careful not to roll your boat over with it!
L

Does the kite/balloon/Flying fish setup work on the East Coast? (Have had great results with it around Baja.)

Looking forward to trying the green stick in MX!