[617789]

I have heard conflicting opinions about the best strategy for setting up to chunk in the canyons. Some swear that you should set up on the canyon edge so that the current and therefore your chunks are going into the canyon. I also read an article where the very experienced author said this was the dumbest thing to do and said you should set up on the edge where the current is coming out of the canyon so that your chunks will drift away from the canyon up onto the flats as this is where the fish hang. What does everyone think works best? Is there a right or wrong answer? Also which way does the current flow out on the 100 fathom curve?east-west/west-east or is it tide dependent of effected by gulf stream eddys?

 

[MakoMike]

Magic,
IMHO the best bet is to set up right at the edge of a temperature break, preferably right where the break cross the drop from 50 to 100 fathoms. Currents out there can run in almost any direction but usually they are east-west, can make it unfishable if the current is going east and the wind is out of the east. Its impossible to find gear to tie off to once you go into 100 fathoms, all the gear sits on the high side of the drop off.

===MakoMike===

 

[quiknet]

This is theory (my experience is very limited). Water going from deep to shallow is xalled upwelling. This causes plankton to come up which attracts bait which attracts tuna. A friend of mine who fishes offshore alot explained this to me as why you always want the current to be running into the flats. Another important factor are warm water eddys. These eddys spin clockwise and so does their current. So if there is an eddy right at the mouth of the hudson, the east wall will have a strong flow onto the flats plus the deep, blue fertile water that is associated with warm core eddys. Find these conditions and you will quit before the fish do. Good luck and post your results.

 

[617789]

Thanks for the reply Makomike. I understand what you meen when you set up on the 100 fathom curve. I may be too "canyon" focused. The overnighter I took last year was to Atlantis Canyon and we set up actually at the canyon itself. We had the choice of east or west wall. With the current running east west you have a choice of which wall to set up on. One (in this case east wall) will result in chunks flowing over the edge into the canyon while the other(west) will result in the chunks flowing up on the flats toward shallower water. What do you think is best choice as I have had completely different opinions on this.

 

[MakoMike]

I'm not sure what you mean when you say east wall or west wall, atlantis isn't a deep indentation in the shelf, like the hudson or fish tails, it a very shallow indendtation, more like the dip. There really isn't an east wall or west wall, just an east side or west side. So if the current is running either due east or due west your chunks will basically parallel the drop off.
IMHO which direction you chunks go is much less important than finding the bait and finding the temperature breaks that tend to hold the bait. The tuna will come to the bait regardless of where it is.