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Bluefin Tuna is the largest and fastest type of tuna. They’re fierce predators that start hunting from the moment they hatch, and they rely on their vision to hunt. That’s why using colorful lures is a surefire way to catch them.
Fishing for bluefin tuna is no easy task. They’re fast, smart, and they’ll fight you. So you have to prepare well for that. Two of the smartest ways to catch them are to use a flyer lure under a kite to attract them and to use a pop lure to produce noise with a bubbles trail to get them.
In this article, we’ll explore 8 of the best bluefin tune lures alongside how to use them.
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Top 8 Best Bluefin Tuna Lures
From vertical jigs to pop lures and flying flyers, here are the best bluefin tuna lures on the market.
Goture Tuna Lures Vertical Saltwater Jigs
People are raving over the Goture Tuna lures on the internet, and they have the right to do so!
Goture’s deep fishing vertical jigs show superior construction with reinforced rings and hooks that enable you to catch the largest and most stubborn fish out there.
The jig weighs 2.28 oz and measures 6.5”. The wire is made of thickened stainless steel, and the hook is made of corrosion-resistant carbon steel. Compared to other jigs on the market, this one has an imposing construction.
There are three types of these jigs with the same hook size (#20) but varying weights and heights. Type 1 weighs 2.28 oz, and its length is 6.5”, type 2 is heavier with 3.53 oz and 6.9”, and type 3 is 5.29 oz and 7.8”.
The Goture Lures have a fluorescent design on their backs to enhance their performance in dark water to excite visual predators. Their coating is made through a multilayer coating technology with UV reactive to protect them from peeling and achieve light refraction that’s proven to attract fish from afar.
What We Like
- Works for a wide variety of fish
- Sturdy construction
- Smooth diving action
- Relatively affordable
Yo-Zuri Bull Pop Floating Lure
Yo-Zuri has proudly introduced its Bull Pop, the improved and more versatile version of their old Bull Popper.
The Bull Pop is available in two sizes; R1154 at 6” and a weight of 2 ½ oz and R1155 at 8” and 5 oz. Color options include ten different patterns; holographic bluegill, holographic black silver, ghost black, dorado, ballyhoo, mackerel, redhead, chrome sardine, pearl yellow pink. This versatility in size and color is helpful to accommodate offshore and inshore fishing applications.
This lure features 3x treble hooks and 3x strong split rings, which is an upgrade from its predecessor. The Bull Pop also has a stainless steel through-wire construction, which makes it more durable while catching bigger fish.
Through-wire construction means the hook is connected to the mainline, ensuring the fish stays attached to the wire in case the lure breaks.
This lure is designed for long-distance casting thanks to its weight and large cupped mouth that creates lots of noise and splash to draw in the fish even from long distances. In addition, the color-change technology, which was more extensive in the previous design, has been altered to cover only the top surface of the lure rather than the whole thing.
What We Like
- Stainless steel wire-through construction
- Color change technology
- No hook tangles
- 3x strong split rings
- 3x strong treble hooks
Williamson Popper Pro Bait
Designed to fight the largest and strongest fish, Williamson’s Popper Pro bait is another excellent option for luring bluefin tuna. Thanks to its robust construction, large cup face, and jet holes, the Popper Pro creates a noticeable sound and leaves a bubble trail behind it, attracting bluefin tuna like a pro.
What makes this lure special is its versatile design, with a 300 lbs swivel that connects line directly to the lure allowing for perfect rotation. This versatility allows you to fish in multiple techniques; slash and stall, pop on the top, and walk the dog.
This lure is available in two sizes; 5.125” and 7”. It’s also available in different color patterns to suit different water and lighting conditions. You’ll find ayu, bruised purple, dorado, green mackerel, and multi available on Amazon.
Propper Pro is super stable on the retrieve and has minimal chances of a thrown hook. There’s no way you aren’t getting that tuna!
What We Like
- Large cup face
- Loud and remarkable sound because of jet holes
- Available in a variety of colors
- Stable retrieval
Melton Cherry Jets
What makes the Melton Cherry Jets lure stand apart from other tuna lures is its special swimming movement. Not only does it create a smoke trail when it moves, but it also has a special side-to-side swimming action that’s hard to beat from any trolling position. In addition, the remarkable sonic tune and the thick bubble stream are granted to lure in the tuna right away!
Cherry Jets come in three sizes; small (7”), medium (9”), and large (10”). In fact, the Canyon Runner, a famous East Coast Charter operation, won a prize of $236,000 back in 2012 in the White Marlin Open. They used a medium Melton Cherry Jet to catch that fish.
Tuna that weighs 200+ lbs love the small-sized Cherry Jet. But, don’t be fooled by its small size. To put it in perspective, the small Cherry Jet works best for 20 – 80 lbs tackles, the medium is ideal for 30 – 130 lbs tackles, and the large works for 50 – unlimited tackles. That’s an impressive range here.
The head is made of solid brass with endless color options that include: canyon runner, dundee, big eye candy, comanche, flying Hawaiin, electric dorado, zucchini, and midnight express.
What We Like
- Unique side motion
- Available in plenty of colors
- Different sizes for different tackles
Fish Finder Joe Shute Skirts
The Fish Finder Joe Shute is one of the most deadly lures on tuna. It’s durable and can endure multiple throws without ever washing out. Its swimming action is also excellent and proves to be deadly when running in front of any pelagic species.
Shutes are easy to rig as they’re featured with quite a big hole through the center of the head. They’re great for offshore fishing and are designed to be extra flashy by having a hint of mylar tinsel along with its nylon hair.
The head of this type of lure is made of lead and painted with long-lasting paint that doesn’t get chipped easily even when in contact with toothy critters. The nylon hair present on these lures has a thickness of 0.07 inches and doesn’t tangle easily.
The hair is present in a variety of colors that are quite vibrant and highly visible even from afar. Usually, the hair is of a different color than the head, giving these lures a more vivid color combination.
There are many weight options available; 1 oz, 3 oz, 5 ¾ oz, and 8 oz. With bluefin tuna, the 3 oz lures are ideal as the bait can go deeper in the water column.
What We Like
- Weight versatility
- Great eye-candy for tuna specifically
- Excellent overall build quality
MagBay Yummee Flyer Flying Lure
MagBay is one of the big players in the fish products market, where its lures are known for their efficiency and versatility. One of their most popular lures is the Yummee flyer flying fish lure.
The Yummee flyer flying fish lure is designed specifically to target tuna. It’s made of soft plastic to ease its movement on the surface of the water. Tuna love flying fish, and it’ll travel to the surface with dolphins to get these yummy baits. That’s when your role comes in. You use the Yummee lure to slow troll the tuna and then drop the lure from the kite to pull the tuna in.
Yummee lures are 8 inches and come in four different colors: red, blue, green, and black. The lure comes fully rigged with a 150 lbs mono and stinger hook. Besides, it comes with its own lure bag.
This lure doesn’t work only for tuna, but it’s known to attract marlin, wahoo, and billfish.
What We Like
- Fully rigged with mono and stinger hook
- Soft and smooth flying movement
- Adaptable to different positions
Boone Gatlin Jet Rigged Lure
Boone Gatlin Jet Rigged lure has 17 holes that produce a huge bubble trail that bluefish tuna won’t resist. It measures 7”, weighs 2 ¾ oz, and it’s purple and black. The head is made of brass, and it’s chrome plated. The design is courtesy of Dave Workman Jr, the famous champion.
You can use the Boone Gatlin Jet with or without natural bait, and you can troll it at speeds ranging between 4 and 12 knots. Somewhere between 8 and 10 knots would be ideal for tuna. The lure works well for tuna, marlin, wahoo, kingfish, and sailfish. It can also be used as a stinger on a spreader bar or a daisy chain.
People who used the Boone Gatlin lure have reported satisfying results. Tuna, wahoo, and dorado love it! The only issue is that the skirts might come off, but you can always glue them to the brass head.
What We Like
- 17 holes produce a distinguished bubble trail
- Works with and without natural bait
Lobo Lures Tuna Spreader Bar
Spreader bars represent a different approach to fish tuna. The spreader bar has nine heads and a stinger that’s off-colored. The main body of the lure is a urethane head that’s durable, crack resistant, and is made to last for a long time.
Spreader bars are made to combine both offshore and inshore characteristics. This one from Lobo Lures is available in multiple combinations with or without birds. It includes nine SkipJack heads with their unique concave head shape.
The Lobo Lure spreader is best used when you target large tuna, because you need something obvious to catch their attention. The spreader bar in this case imitates the action of a group of batfish or squid.
What We Like
- Comes with a hook in the last squid bait acting as a lure
- Comes with an embroidered storage bag
How to Catch Bluefin Tuna
Bluefin Tuna is fishermen’s favorite. It’s large and it yields a lot of money in cases of commercial catches and produces a lot of meat in recreational catches. Bluefin are fighters; they won’t give in easily, which makes catching them a real thrill.
There are three ways to catch bluefin using lures; jigging, trolling, and chunking.
Trolling
Trolling is usually done near the sea surface and using the towing technique. You use a couple of lines with hooks and lures and run them behind your moving boat.
Author Note: The number of lines depends on the size of the boat. You can use one line and tie it to a boat or a canoe with an engine in case of small fisheries. In case of big fisheries, two or more lines are used and they hinge outboard from a vertical position.
Jigging
Jigging relies on the fact that tuna is usually found at shallow depths, 500 ft underwater and up, so using fast fall vertical jigs can cover this depth fast and it’ll catch tuna if it found it on its way.
Dropping these jigs for around two minutes grants that the full depth in the area is covered. If the jig stops midway, then it’s probably encountered a fish that has bitten the lure. Then, you can bring the lure up by raising the tip of the bar then reeling down.
You should repeat this so that the lure moves fastly then pause for a second.
Chunking
To use chunking, you anchor or drift in an area where tuna is known to be present in large numbers. Usually, batfish are used in this method. Baitfish are cut into chunks and tossed to the side of the boat. The idea is that if tuna found the chunk it’ll stay in the area.
Fishermen toss baits into different depths when chunking to cover a good range. They keep deep lines near the boat and use balloons for shallower lines so that they can drift away from the boat.
Conclusion
Using a suitable lure combined with good technique will get you that bluefin tuna. Just remember, you have to be patient and resilient. Catching bluefin tuna isn’t for everyone!
Happy Hunting!
