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redhilltown
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Yellowtail vs Skipjack
So a friend and I caught some Skipjack tuna locally here in Newport Beach area over the weekend. First time for either of us. And while this may SHOCK
some of you guys, we actually disagreed about something as to fishing! All in good nature, this was the debate: what fish is the better fighter,
Yellowtail or Skipjack. Let's assume same size...10-15 lbs and caught on the same tackle/gear...fly lined with live bait (not deep). Help me prove
him wrong!! 
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chuckie
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I think the skipjack....I have had small ones thinking they were BIG ones and convincing me until they got to the boat..fun fish....
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Skipjack Joe
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Pound for pound all members of the tuna family are harder to bring in than those of the jack family.
It seems to me that 'better fighting' is subjective. Most guys think a tarpon is a better fighting fish than a YFT because it leaps and runs
erratically. They're like a wild bucking bronco. After that first magnificent run it's a long slugfest with tuna, something that many of us don't
really like.
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sd
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Skipjack are a tougher fight, use a light weight rod an 10 lb test and have a blast.
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mulegejim
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Not sure about the size range you are talking about but when you get to the 30 to 40 pound range the yellowtail are in my experience much stronger.
For one thing the tuna swims using its tail only whereas the yellowtail uses about 2/3s of its body. There was an article somewhere a while back
talking about this very issue which I'll try to find.
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mulegejim
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Pound for pound all members of the tuna family are harder to bring in than those of the jack family.
It seems to me that 'better fighting' is subjective. Most guys think a tarpon is a better fighting fish than a YFT because it leaps and runs
erratically. They're like a wild bucking bronco. After that first magnificent run it's a long slugfest with tuna, something that many of us don't
really like. |
Yellowtail – The Jack on Steroids
A Complete Guide to Yellowtail Fishing Techniques
Larry Brown - 9/20/05
California Yellowtail makes everybody’s list of the top 10 fish to catch. It normally is at the top of the list for west coast anglers because it is
as tough and mean as a junkyard pit bull, is great eating and is one of the most intelligent fish roaming our Southern California and Baja coast.
Pound for pound yellowtails are stronger than any of the pelagic tuna’s cruising though our coastal waters. A 25 pound yellowtail fights harder than
a 30 pound albacore, a 40 pound yellowfin tuna or a 50 pound white seabass or salmon! Yellowtail would be disqualified from the Olympics for the
steroids I know they must take. Best of all they can be caught year round.
Yellowtail are also more intelligent than any of the above noted species. Not only are they more wary, they will use any structure to break your
line. Primates are supposed to be the only animals that use tools – yellows utilize kelp, rocks, reefs, pilings and offshore oil platforms as tools
for their escape artistry. An albacore, hooked near a kelp paddy, will run deep and away from the kelp; most white seabass, hooked near thick kelp
forests, will run to the open sea away from the obstacles that may help free them. Yellowtail know the exact location of every strand of kelp, every
sharp rock and any other obstacle within 100 yards of every meal and put every ounce of strength and heart into their struggle to reach it and regain
their freedom. They are noble and tough adversaries.
They are the perfect game fish for the west coast angler. They are extraordinarily strong; they are very intelligent; they can be targeted all year
round; they can be found in nearly all waters within reach of California anglers, they are delicious and they can be taken using nearly all popular
techniques, including fly lining bait, surface iron, yo yo style iron, dropper loop and trolling. The purpose of this article is to explain each of
the techniques used to catch yellowtail and to increase your expertise and success targeting these predators. Let’s review each of the techniques in
detail.
This article focuses on the techniques used on party boats and long range boats. Private boaters can use all of these techniques but also need to
become expert at using their electronics and various chumming and trolling techniques, which are not critical skills for the passenger on a sport
boat.
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Martyman
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yellowtail...no doubt.
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dtbushpilot
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It's a tough call, I've caught lots of both, the winner is the fisherman.
"Life is tough".....It's even tougher if you're stupid.....
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BornFisher
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Tie a line to their tails and let them have a tug of war. I`m betting on the Yellow Tail!
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bajacalifornian
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A fish on the line, twisting his body against a current, builds a subjective pile of
"what ifs" . . . i.e., when a 15 pound fish feels a 30 pound fish,
as you bring it forward.
American by birth, Mexican by choice.
Signature addendum: Danish physicist — Niels Bohr — who said, “The opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth.
Jeff Petersen
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Skipjack Joe
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Actually it's cousin, the jack crevalle, also fight better than yellowtail. For the reason already given - using its flat body as leverage as it
fights sideways to your line. As long as you haven't turned him towards the boat he has a great deal of leverage with that body.
Using rocks or kelp to break you off is beside the point. Need to compare apples to apples
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mulegejim
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Forgetting the argument of which is the stronger fish here is a recipe for cooking either.
TUNA/YELLOWTAIL FILET MIGNON
8 yellowfin tuna or yellowtail steaks, one inch thick
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
one clove garlic, minced
bacon slices
Trim out bone and all dark red meat. Wrap each steak with bacon and secure with a toothpick.
Combine oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire, and garlic. Marinate steaks in single layer for one hour – turn after about ½ hour.
Barbeque over high heat five minutes – turn and grill five minutes more or until fish flakes easily in center when pierced with a fork.
Note: I drizzle some of the remaining marinate over the steaks just before turning and just before removing from the barbeque – it will flame up and
leave a nice finish.
This is from Patti Higginbotham's book "Somethin's Fishy in Baja".
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redhilltown
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Thanks Jim!...but now that everyone is drooling over your recipe, how can they join the discussion??? 
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captkw
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Mood: new dog/missing the old 1
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lb for lb
A Fileskin trig would tear um both UP !!! (lb for lb) You Boys Know What a El Toro IS Right ??? That should end the debate !!
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Skipjack Joe
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lb per lb comparison
... goes only so far.
They say that a flea is the mightiest of animals. If it were the size of a man it could jump city blocks. Which of course it couldn't.
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Skipjack Joe
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On the intelligence of yellowtail
For years trout fishermen would claim that a brown trout must have the IQ of a harvard graduate because they were so hard to fool. Eventually someone
somehow did evaluate the IQ of a trout. It was something like 9.
A tuna spends it's entire life crisscrossing the pacific in open blue water. It's only escape from danger in open water is to outrun it. Why would
anyone expect a fish like that to try to break off on submerged reefs and shoreline kelp beds when hooked.
I suppose the bass I catch at the local ponds must be really bright because they head for the submerged logs when I hook them. Even bluegill dive into
mats of weeds when hooked.
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BornFisher
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| Quote: | Originally posted by mulegejim
Forgetting the argument of which is the stronger fish here is a recipe for cooking either.
TUNA/YELLOWTAIL FILET MIGNON
8 yellowfin tuna or yellowtail steaks, one inch thick
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
one clove garlic, minced
bacon slices
Trim out bone and all dark red meat. Wrap each steak with bacon and secure with a toothpick.
Combine oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire, and garlic. Marinate steaks in single layer for one hour – turn after about ½ hour.
Barbeque over high heat five minutes – turn and grill five minutes more or until fish flakes easily in center when pierced with a fork.
Note: I drizzle some of the remaining marinate over the steaks just before turning and just before removing from the barbeque – it will flame up and
leave a nice finish.
This is from Patti Higginbotham's book "Somethin's Fishy in Baja". |
Thanks for the recipe. I used this one many moons ago with tuna and it was great.
In the last 2 weeks I have gone 5 for 7 on YT hookups. Those that I missed, rocked me. Wouldn`t have happened with SJ. So the scoreboard is me-5,
yellows-2. SJ I`m confident would have been me-7, SJ-0. So it`s about scoreboard. Yellows will beat you more than Skippys. Yellows are better
fighters.
[Edited on 10-2-2014 by BornFisher]
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redhilltown
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Thanks Fisher! But... my thoughts were as stated simply caught near the surface without the chance of being broken off as to structure. Just pure
muscle vs muscle. There is no doubt yellowtail are smarter and dragging one up from 200 ft is ridiculous. My thoughts after catching them (at the
surface) is that a 15 lb sj is stronger (and more fun) than a 15lb yt.
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Pescador
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| Quote: | Originally posted by redhilltown
Thanks Fisher! But... my thoughts were as stated simply caught near the surface without the chance of being broken off as to structure. Just pure
muscle vs muscle. There is no doubt yellowtail are smarter and dragging one up from 200 ft is ridiculous. My thoughts after catching them (at the
surface) is that a 15 lb sj is stronger (and more fun) than a 15lb yt. |
See, you successfully answered your own question. Others have different experiences, but both defy scientific measurements of which fish actually
exerts the most pressure against a rod and reel. There is a new development along that line as Mudhole has a grip that will register the amount of
pounds of pressure exerted on your rod and reel seat.
In the meantime, I vote for the fish that you had the most fun catching and if, in your humble opinion, it pulled harder than any small yellowtail you
have experienced, then who am I to argue the point. It is, however, complicated by the fact that a yellowtail from the Pacific side of the peninsula
is known to pull much less than the same yellowtail that grew up on the Sea of Cortez side. I have caught 50 lb yellowtail by La Bocana that I was
able to subdue with 20 lb line because they ran to open water, but on the Sea of Cortez side a 50 lb fish is almost impossible to land with 60 lb.
line.
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Skipjack Joe
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There's a great deal of information on the physiology of tuna on the internet. Information that explains their incredible speed and endurance.
Enlarged heart. Greater O2 concentrations in blood. Resistance to lactic acid buildup. Blood temps higher than surrounding water.
Their mode of swimming is also unique, very different from yellowtail.
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