bucking into choppy seas, the best catch (151 tvina) was in almost flat calm water 

 off Grays Harbor on July 19. 



Except on a few occasions when a good nximber of albacore were needed 

 for tagging purposes, no effort was made to "load up," Various co\irses were run, 

 especially in the water zones which were considered to have favorable temperatures 

 for albacore. When tuna struck, the vessel continued on the course at trolling 

 speed in an effort to determine the extent of the school. When strikes ceased, 

 one or two circles were usually run back over the area where fish had been caught, 

 and if aiough were taken to indicate the presence of a considerable number of 

 fish, the commercial fleet was notified of the position by radio, and the vessel 

 continued on the exploration. 



Many times the presence of fish was first noted by albacore breaking 

 water and jumping, but no large schools were visible for any extended period of 

 time. Most of the jumpers seen were in small schools and appeared to be travel- 

 ling at considerable speeds as they were usually lost sight of in a few minutes, 

 Qiiite often no surface sign of tuna was observed before or during the time fish 

 were biting. 



Effectiveness of various types of lures was taken note of, but no 

 detailed record of strikes was kept because of the complications involved in 

 attempting to evaluate the fishing ability of any certain jig used with a com- 

 bination of eight lines of different lengths under fishing conditions which 

 varied from day to day. One of the most consistently effective lures was the 

 Japanese-made, 1^-ovince lead jig with pearl or red eyes and red and white feathers. 

 Also, amber-head and green-head plastic jigs with red and white feathers produced 

 good results. Several jigs were made up using strips of plastic ribbon of differ- 

 ent colors approximately l/lO of an inch wide. These proved to be very good lures. 

 One such jig with an amber plastic htad and red, white, and yellow plastic ribbon, 

 was trolled continuously for over a month, catching its share of albacore each 

 day and was still in good condition when it was lost on drifting kelp. This 

 durability of the plastic is a decided advantage over feathers, which take severe 

 punishment from trolling and strikes and must be changed often, sometimes several 

 times daily when fishing is good. 



Other jigs which caught tiona in varying degrees were white or grey bone 

 jigs, rubber squids, and hard rubber-head jigs with frayed rubber skirts. At 

 times when the tuna were striking exceptionally well, all lures took fish. The 

 albacore probably Mt the two outside lines more consistently than any others, 

 especially when single or paired fish were biting; but it was not uncommon for 

 the short stem lines to take single fish, and when fishing was good, no prefer- 

 ence for certain lines was apparent. 



Gill Nets 



Shark fishermen have accidently taken albacore in their nets for years 

 along the Pacific coast, but experiments during this survey in use of gill nets 

 were undertaken specifically to ascertain the commercial possibilities of the 

 gear. Besides this primary purpose, the nets also served as an exploratory tool 

 because on severed occasions the nets caught albacore when none were showing on 

 the surface or when none could be taken with trolling gear before or after the 

 set. By noting the depth at which the fish were entangled in the meshes, some 

 data on their vertical distribution was also obtained. 



12 



