Yellowfin Tuna
Thunnus albacares
The workhorse of blue water — sickle fins glowing gold, a dead-vertical fight, and the best sashimi most anglers will ever eat. Cows over 90 kg still swim off Mexico.
Also known as: Ahi · Allison tuna
World record
Guy Yocom · Cabo San Lucas, Mexico · 2012
Overview
- Scientific name
- Thunnus albacares
- Family
- Scombridae
- Max length
- 7' 10"
- Typical length
- 4' 11"
- Max weight
- 440 lb
- Depth range
- 0–250 m
- Conservation status
- Least concern
- Difficulty
- Hard
- Fight
- Table quality
How to catch it
Chase porpoise schools with poppers and stick baits, or slow-troll live skipjack. Expect an hour of pure down-force per big fish.
How big does it get?
What turns up on an ordinary day, and what a very good one looks like. Almost nobody catches a maximum-size fish — this is the honest spread.
1.8 m angler
Character
What this fish is actually like to catch.
Where it lives
Its band in the water column, against the ocean's real depth zones.
When to fish for it
Relative catch activity through the year, northern hemisphere.
Distribution
Trophy Score of all :n logged catches of this species. A score means nothing until you can see the population behind it.
Top catches on FishRankings
The heaviest of this species recorded by our community.
Nobody has logged one yet. Claim the top spot.
Log a catch4 Related species
| Species | Species | Worth | Max length | World record | Depth zone | Fight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Thunnus thynnus | 298 | 15' 0" | 1,496 lb | Sunlit zone Saltwater | ||
| Pacific Bluefin Tuna Thunnus orientalis | 295 | 9' 10" | 907 lb | Sunlit zone Saltwater | Near threatened | |
| Southern Bluefin Tuna Thunnus maccoyii | 288 | 8' 0" | 369 lb | Sunlit zone Saltwater | Endangered | |
| Bigeye Tuna Thunnus obesus | 284 | 8' 2" | 435 lb | Twilight zone Saltwater | Vulnerable |
"Worth" is what a catch of that species is worth before any of your own skill counts — higher means harder to find and harder to beat.