POPPER FISHING Oregon Inlet Yellowfins (You don't have to go to Panama for this!)

Most of the time, popper fishing for yellowfins is associated with traveling to fish somewhere exotic, but Oregon Inlet in North Carolina is one of the best places in the world to catch yellowfin tuna. Popper fishing is uncommon (outside of bluefin season) because most tuna caught here are on chartered trips which often have inexperienced fishermen, meaning trolling is the best approach for those captains/mates to put fish in the boat for their clients. On this trip we encountered lots of nice yellowfins, lots of casting opportunity, calm seas, and no sharks. We went on an overnight trip and caught tunas both in the evening and on the following morning after getting some sleep at the tuna grounds. The two popper setups in the video are 6500 sized Penns, one Slammer IV and one older Spinfisher that is still trucking. The Slammer is on an 8' heavy Fenwick HMG rated for 2-5oz and up to 80lb braid. The Spinfisher is on a custom rod. Both reels had 50lb braid to an 80lb fluorocarbon leader.

My tuna popper setup:
Rod: https://amzn.to/44oCu3Q
Reel: https://amzn.to/3sfrmca

The reel from the other setup (rod is custom):
Reel: https://amzn.to/3P9PUN2

The popper we use:
https://amzn.to/45DES7T

Braid:
https://amzn.to/3QNPyN2
Leader:
https://amzn.to/3KQuodm