Jarrett Birch - Tunas in the Box Interview
Hog Wild Sportfishing ● Outer Banks, NC
Jarrett Birch spent the 2021 fishing season on Outer Banks the Hog Wild in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Jarrett spent the previous few seasons fishing on the Marlin Gull, another charter boat based of Pirate’s Cove Marina in the Outer Banks. Before the Marlin Gull, Jarrett actually spent the first half of the 2017 season on the Hog Wild for Captain Jimmie Horning’s first full summer running the boat after taking over for the helm from Jim Horning Senior. Jarrett now has a corporate banking job that allows him to freelance weekends all summer long between charter and private boats.
How did you get your start fishing?
I started fishing when I was super young. I was brought up around sportfishing boats my whole life. Growing up we had a 58’ Blackwell and after selling it we followed that up by a 50’ Blackwell. We spent all of our free time fishing offshore for whatever was biting that time of the year.
Who would you say was your biggest mentor?
I would say my biggest mentor growing up was my dad. He taught me the love of fishing and everything there is to know about it. I have spent a lot of days on the water with him from the canyons off of New Jersey tuna fishing to the gulf stream off Florida live baiting sailfish but the majority of our fishing was done out of Oregon Inlet, North Carolina.
Describe your ideal spread fishing for tunas in the OBX.
My ideal spread of tuna fishing in the OBX is pretty basic I’d say. I always fish two teasers preferably one pink one and one green one. I like a spreader bar followed close behind the teaser on either side. For the rest of my spread I like all sea witches on my ballyhoos. In my long riggers and long shotguns, I like a supreme sea witch (crystal with a hint of pink and blue mixed in), blue and black, black and purple, or blue and white. On my flatlines I like a dark color on one side and a light color on the other, any combinations of colors seem to do good there. In more short riggers, I like crystal hair with a green squid or crystal with a red squid. If there are some marlins around I will replace one of my short riggers with a Hawaiian eye with a horse ballyhoo in hopes for a blue marlin bite.
What do you think has made you successful tuna fishing?
I think what has made me a successful tuna fisherman has been spending a lot of time out there fishing for them and also riding out with numerous different boats seeing how and what they like to fish and make my own combination of tactics.
What do you think most people overlook while tuna fishing?
I think what most people overlook while tuna fishing is the art of “dragging” a tuna bite. When you get a tuna bite I think many people pull the boat out of gear too soon and that prevents many from getting a “smackdown”. When you feel like taking the boat out of gear pull that fish for another 10 seconds and you would be surprised by the amount of bites that come after that.
What’s your favorite color to pull?
My favorite colors to pull while tuna fishing is blue and white, supreme, black and purple, and blue and black. With those four colors you are rigged up for your best chance of bites.
Describe the differences between kite fishing and trolling?
While trolling, you tend to have 8-12 poles out with ballyhoos or spreader bars out. We tend to troll 99% of the time when targeting tunas. We will put the kite out when we see tunas busting on flying fish in the blue water and they won’t bite our trolling gear. On the kite we tend to fish 3 rubber flying fish that skip on the water and look like real flying fish and that tends to be a very effective way of fishing for tunas when you see them busting and can’t get bites.
What has been your best day on tunas?
My best day tuna fishing was on a commercial trip on the hog wild. There was just 3 of us on the boat that day fishing 8 poles and it was as fast as you could go. When the dust settled, and we ran out of bite, ice and room to put fish we counted out 48 yellowfins out of who knows how many bites. That will sit at the top of my list for a long time.
What’s the secret to catching bigeyes?
I believe the secret to catching big eyes is how fast you troll. I’ve heard a few guys say slowing down works but I believe that a faster troll, say 7.5 knots, gets the most big eye bites for us. Big eyes also love to hang out around pilot whales so hammering pods of whales is also an effective method to big eye fishing. I also feel darker color sea witches get more big eye bites for me.
At the beginning of the season, talk me through your process of what you do. (tackle, tying seawitches, which colors you want to make sure you have, etc.)
My pre-season prep consists of having about 450 sea witches tied of all certain colors, fresh line on all my rods, and having all of my tackle organized the way I like. When it comes to sea witch colors I make sure I have my four big hitters which is blue and white, supreme, black and blue, and purple and black. After that I like to have a fair amount of crystal hair with a green squid and crystal hair with a red squid. Once I have all of those tied I will have an experiment batch of colors that I feel may work.
What was it been like to fish with Jimmie on the Hog Wild all summer?
Fishing with Jimmie on the Hog Wild all summer has been my favorite season fishing yet. We had a blast together, fished with some awesome clients and had some exceptional catches.
How have you seen Wicked Tuna change Jimmie's operation?
I have not seen a change to Jimmie’s operation since the airing of wicked tuna. The only thing I have seen change is the amount of people that come up to the boat to ask where captain Jimmie is and would like a picture with him.
What are you doing now?
I am still freelancing by fishing on the weekends, but I took an office job for the time being. Now I am helping Tunas in the Box by tying their seawitches by hand and building the rigs you can use to catch your next big one! Check out our Tunas in the Box tuna rigs.
Book your trip with Hog Wild Charters for 2023 today.
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