It is no surprise that most lures catch more fisherman than fish. If I walk into a tackle store, I’ll walk out with more fishing lures and tackle than I will ever need.
Do I really need the same lure in five different color variations? If you want to catch big tuna, you need the best tuna lures money can buy.
I’ve been on hundreds of tuna fishing trips around the world from my home base in New Jersey to Hawaii to the Adriatic Sea. Tuna are the same everywhere around the world, predators looking for prey. Put the right baits on top of them and you are going to hook up.
This is a list of my go to favorite tuna lures that consistently produce bites in most offshore trolling conditions.
Best Tuna Fishing Lures
- Green Machine
- Skirted Trolling Lures
- Williamson Flash Feather Rigged
- 36 Inch Green Machine Spreader Bar
- Daisy Chain Squid Lures
- C & H Sea Witch Lure
- Billy Bait Mini Turbo Slammer Lure
- Cedar Plugs
Green Machine
This is an offshore classic. I never leave the doc without a green machine in the box. I usually run this on the short riggers or directly of the transom lines.
They will definitely catch tuna as well as marlin and mahi.
Skirted Trolling Lures
I like this 6 pack because you have a variety of colors to choose from. I tend to have more bites from the darker colors, but I have caught tuna, marlin and mahi on all the colors.
Williamson Flash Feather Rigged
Feather lures are some of my favorites. There are a few manufacturers of the varied feather lures for tuna. I prefer this one from Williamson with the silver head and the blue / white color pattern.
36 Inch Green Machine Spreader Bar
Why use only one green machine when you can have 10 running at once? A spreader bar is an essential weapon in the offshore tuna fishing game.
This one takes things a step further by adding splashing bird at the top of each green machine chain. Sometimes you need to create a circus on the surface as your trolling pattern and this trolling lure set will have you covered.
Daisy Chain Squid Lures
Going with the circus on the surface theme, a daisy chain set of lures covers a lot of water and this will look like a school of squid or baitfish with the last one in the chain being the target for the tuna.
I love a splashing pattern and the middle four on this chain are baby bird splashers.
C & H Sea Witch Lure
The Original Sea Witch is the favorite of millions of sport and commercial fisherman worldwide.
It is at its best when combined with natural rigged baits such as ballyhoo, cigar minnows or strip baits. Available in solid colors, stripes and tri-colors. I prefer pink/white, blue/white and a dark pattern like red/black or purple/black.
Billy Bait Mini Turbo Slammer Lure
The Billy Baits Mini Turbo Slammer is designed for smoke and turbulence trails and can be used with or without bait.
With the ideal trolling speed between 2 and 20-knots, and is a tackle box must-have. Proven and tested in offshore waters around the world, Billy Baits fishing lures specialize in catching tuna, dolphin and wahoo.
Cedar Plugs
Cedar plugs are sure to trigger strikes from any big gamefish on the prowl. It’s touted as a giant tuna killer, but will catch a variety of predators, such as tuna, dorado, wahoo, marlin, sails, yellowtail, blues, and stripers.
The wiggling, swimming action drives fish to strike. Here are six brand new 6-inch rigged Cedar Plugs with a 6-pocket lure bag in the colors of Red/White, Blue/White, Purple/Black, Dorado, Zucchini and Natural Plain.
If you are like me, your tuna fishing gear is a never ending quest for the best lures, colors, skirts and splashers. Fish with baits and without.
Try different speeds and patterns. Just remember the hard part is knowing where to fish in the vast oceans as these pelagic tuna fish are constantly on the move. Follow this list of best tuna lures and once you find them, you will catch them. Tight line!
Final Thoughts
These are the tuna lures I never leave home without. Be sure to keep these bad boys in your tackle box so you can land a trophy bluefin or yellowfin on your next fishing trip!
Wow. I am definitely going share this with a few of my friends. Very cool information about tuna lures.
The Offshore Candy Lures at http://www.whiteyswitches.com have produced amazing results for me
Thanks for the suggestion Chris. These look great, we have never used them.