Yellowfin Tuna
Offshore / BluewaterYellowfin tuna are WA's premier light-tackle gamefish — chased off Exmouth, Ningaloo and the continental shelf, and again off Rottnest and the lower west coast in autumn. Blistering runs, prime sashimi flesh, and a large-pelagic bag of 3.
Yellowfin tuna are the blue-water benchmark for WA gamefishers. The North West Cape out of Exmouth is the headline fishery — the shelf and the canyons drop into deep water within a short run, and yellowfin to 60kg-plus show from autumn into the cooler months. Off the metro coast, autumn brings schools onto the shelf out wide of Rottnest, and the south coast off Albany and Esperance produces them alongside southern bluefin. They hunt in fast-moving schools, often under working birds and bait balls, and a hooked fish will dump 200m of line before you've found your feet.
Live slimy mackerel and yakkas, whole pilchards and gar for cubing/berley trails, skipping garfish behind the boat
Skirted trolling lures (Pakula, Zacatak) in 6–8 inch on the shelf, chrome slugs and stickbaits cast into surface bust-ups, deep-diving minnows along temperature breaks
Heavy spin (10000–14000 reel, 50–80lb braid) or 24kg overhead for trolling, 1.5–2m of 80–130lb fluorocarbon leader, strong single or circle hooks. Check drags and crimps before you leave the ramp — yellowfin punish weak gear.
Troll skirts and divers along the shelf edge, current lines and temperature breaks, and watch the sounder and the birds. When fish bust up on the surface, shut down and cast slugs or stickbaits ahead of the school. A cube or berley trail anchored on the shelf will hold fish under the boat. Keep the boat moving with a hooked fish to stop it sounding.
Autumn and early winter are prime off the lower west and south coast; the Exmouth grounds fish year-round with a cooler-months peak. Early morning around bait schools and current changes is the most reliable window.
Commonly 15–40kg; fish over 60kg off the Exmouth and Ningaloo grounds
Year-round in the north; autumn–winter peak off the lower west coast
Yes — yellowfin is prime eating: deep-red, firm flesh that's superb as sashimi and seared rare, and good on the grill if you don't overcook it. Bleed and ice the fish the moment it's aboard, and ideally spike it — flesh quality drops fast in a tuna left to flap on the deck. Trim the bloodline before serving.
No minimum size. Yellowfin tuna count within WA's large pelagic finfish TOTAL mixed bag of 3 per fisher (statewide) — shared with mackerel, mahi mahi, the other tunas, wahoo and samsonfish. A Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence (RFBL) is required when fishing from a powered boat. Always check current DPIRD rules — regulations may change.
A run out of Exmouth puts you on the shelf inside half an hour — there are few easier blue-water accesses in Australia. Watch for birds and surface activity rather than just trolling blind. Keep a spin rod rigged with a slug for the surface schools that appear without warning. Handle and chill the fish properly and a single yellowfin is a freezer's worth of sashimi.