Dogtooth Tuna

Dogtooth Tuna

There is a certain mystique surrounding the dogtooth tuna. Not in fact a member of the tunas at all, it is actually a member of the Bonito family.

It does have many similarities to the tunas though in some respects it differs considerably. Teeth for example. The reason the dogtooth tuna is called as such are its relatively large widely spaced Conical teeth.

It has an aggressive attitude to match. It spends most of its life prowling outer reef slopes and deep drop-offs terrorising pretty much every other fish out there.

Sharks shy away when a big dogtooth enters the scene.

Although we catch dogtooth tuna whilst trolling, popper casting along the reef and livebaiting for marlin, we primarily target them using deepwater jigging methods.

Found all around Kadavu island, they can be targeted on jigs in most weathers however the sumer months (Dec-May) are the best months for deepwater jigging.

We use Daiwa high speed Saltists on Shimano T-Curve Ian Miller deep drop jigging rods spooled with either 50lb or 80lb braid. Jig weights depend on the depth or area we are working but in general vary from 150g to 400g.

Bite Me holds the Fiji National All-Tackle Dogtooth Tuna Record with a fish of over 90Kg (200lbs)