On December 1st National Marine Fisheries will open the commercial giant Bluefin tuna fishery. The recreational fishery for Bluefin tuna under 73 inches will remain open through the beginning of 2025. For the first time in over a decade the recreational season and commercial season for Bluefin tuna will be open at a time when Bluefin tuna are within close reach of Virginia Beach. The Bluefins are already off the coast of Virginia Beach and it looks like we are going to get several weeks of great fishing!Today we are bringing the boat home to Virginia Beach from our winter home in Hatteras so that we can take part in the Virginia Beach winter Bluefin tuna fishery! Here on facebook, I see an awful lot of charters booking Bluefin tuna trips out of Virginia Beach. Many of these charter services have only ever caught a handful of Bluefin tuna. Some of these charters offering Bluefin tuna trips have never even caught a Bluefin tuna. Some of the charter operations offering Bluefin tuna trips do not have the proper licenses and safety equipment required to legally fish for Bluefin tuna.
I have been professionally fishing for bluefin tuna for over 30 years. I have caught hundreds of giant Bluefin tuna. I hold the current Virginia state record for Bluefin tuna at 708 lbs. I will be offering Bluefin tuna trips in Virginia Beach starting immediately.
I realize you have a lot of choices as far as charter services to book a Bluefin tuna trip with right now. There are only a handful of these charter services that have ever fished professionally for Bluefin tuna. If you want the opportunity to catch the fish of a lifetime you should probably book someone who is experienced in that fishery. I would be more than happy to book old customers and new customers and hope to give my clients the best opportunity at catching a giant Bluefin tuna!
The details are this: I will be booking charters at $1200 per day with a maximum of up to 4 people. If you don't have a full group I will be doing walk on or make up trips at $350 per person. These makeup trips will not be scheduled in advance and will be first come first serve on a short notice basis whenever the weather allows. If you'd like to book a day or if you'd like to be put on a list to receive text messages for upcoming makeup trips please send a text or call me at 757-749-6008.
If we go fishing and are lucky enough to catch a Bluefin, if the Bluefin is under 73 inches the charter will get to keep the fish for themselves to eat. If the fish is greater than 73 inches the fish will be brought to the market and sold and the charter can keep the head and tail of the fish. The charter will also be able to take photos with the fish and we will also upload videos to my YouTube channel ( Fishing with the Matador YouTube channel ) . Some days we may not catch a fish, but that's the risk of Bluefin tuna fishing. It's like big game hunting some days you get them some you dont, but you have the chance to catch the fish of a lifetime! All trips will be aboard my 32 Contender leaving from Owls Creek to Rudy Inlet in Virginia Beach.
I appreciate your time and look forward to fishing with you! Call 757-749-6008 for bookings, make up lists, or any other questions you may have. Thank you!
-Via Jake Hiles
