Canyon Tuna: Fishing the Atlantis, Block & Veatch

There is offshore fishing, and then there is the canyon run. Sixty, eighty, sometimes a hundred miles southeast of Montauk, the continental shelf drops out from under you in a single dramatic step — from 200 feet of green Atlantic shelf water to 1,000-plus feet of cobalt-blue ocean in less than a mile. That edge is where the bluefin tuna, yellowfin, bigeye, and wahoo we chase out of the East End come to feed. This is a field guide to the three canyons we fish hardest — The Atlantis, Block, and Veatch — and the methods we use once we get there.

The GeographyWhy the Canyons Hold Fish

The Atlantic continental shelf south of Long Island is, in fishing terms, a desert with one extraordinary feature running along its southern edge: a series of submarine canyons cut into the shelf break by ancient rivers when sea levels were 300 feet lower. From west to east, the major canyons within reach of a Montauk-based boat are Hudson, Toms, Hendrickson, Veatch, Block, Atlantis, Hydrographer, and Welker. We work the eastern three hardest because they sit closest to East End fuel.

Canyons matter because of what physical oceanographers call upwelling. As the Gulf Stream wanders north and west in summer, warm tropical water collides with the cold, nutrient-rich water held above the shelf. The canyon walls force that cold water vertically into the photic zone where phytoplankton bloom. Phytoplankton feeds zooplankton, zooplankton feeds squid and small bait, small bait feeds skipjack and bonita, and the apex tuna — yellowfin, bigeye, bluefin — feed on everything below them. A productive canyon edge in August can look like a tropical reef, with mahi tailing under floating weed lines and tuna boiling on the surface at last light.

Canyon OneThe Atlantis Canyon

The Atlantis is our preferred bigeye and warm-water yellowfin canyon. Because it sits further east, the warm-core eddies that spin off the Gulf Stream often pin against the western wall of the canyon, creating a stationary temperature break that holds bait for days at a time. When SST charts show a sharp 70–76°F break on the Atlantis western wall, we will burn the extra fuel to be there at dawn.

We fish three primary contours along Atlantis: the 500-fathom edge (3,000 ft drop-off) for daytime trolling, the 100-fathom shelf break for chunking on bluefin and yellowfin, and the canyon heads themselves at 50–80 fathoms when bait is stacked on the points. Tilefish dropouts on the way home — golden tile and blueline — pay for fuel on slow days.

Canyon TwoThe Block Canyon

The Block Canyon's geography makes it forgiving. The shelf break is steep and well-defined, and the canyon walls run roughly north-south, which means a current and temperature break almost always sets up somewhere on the structure. Even in marginal water, the Block produces. We work the east wall for morning troll, the canyon head for night chunk drifts, and the "100 Square" area between the Block and Atlantis when bait disperses.

A typical Block Canyon trip out of Montauk: depart between 2:00 and 4:00 AM, run two-and-a-half to three hours offshore at 25–28 knots in the 37' Edgewater, fish dawn-to-dusk on the troll and afternoon chunk drift, and either run home in daylight or stay out for an overnight. For overnights, the Block is ideal — close enough to bail if weather degrades, deep enough to hold bigeye on a night squid drift.

Canyon ThreeThe Veatch Canyon

The Veatch is a calculated trip. We run it when satellite imagery shows a clearly defined warm finger of Gulf Stream water pushing onto the Veatch's western wall and when the multi-day forecast holds. The reward is a canyon that has produced some of the largest bigeye and giant bluefin landed on the East End in recent seasons, along with consistent volume yellowfin and frequent wahoo encounters when warm blue water is sitting on the shelf break.

Veatch trips are almost always overnights. We chunk through the night on the canyon head, sleep in shifts, and troll the Stellwagen-influenced edges at first light. The crowd is thinner than the Block — most New York fleet boats stop at the Atlantis — which is a meaningful edge when you are working a quiet bait school at 4:00 AM.

The TargetsWhat We Fish For

The MethodsHow We Fish the Canyons

1. The Morning Troll

Most canyon days start at first light on the troll. We pull a six-to-nine line spread of spreader bars (squid daisy-chain rigs with a stinger ballyhoo behind), cedar plugs from the long riggers, a green-machine bird teaser, and a single naked or skirted ballyhoo down the middle for any wahoo or mahi that come up on the spread. Trolling speed: 6.5 to 8.5 knots for tuna; we bump up to 14–18 knots on a dedicated wahoo pass with planers and high-speed lures.

We zigzag the temperature break, the color change, and any visible weed line or current rip. Bird life — shearwaters working low, frigates wheeling — is the most reliable canyon tell. We do not pass a working flock without dragging the spread through it.

2. The Afternoon Chunk Drift

Once we mark fish on the sounder or get a bite on the troll, we set up a chunk drift. The chunk drift is exactly what it sounds like: we shut the engines, drift with the current, and feed a steady slick of cut butterfish, sardine, sand eel, and squid behind the boat. The drift creates a chum slick a half-mile long that funnels tuna right to the transom.

Behind the boat we float baits at three depths: a flat line right on the surface (the "chunk on a hook"), a mid-water bait at 30–60 feet on a balloon, and a deep bait at 80–150 feet on a small weighted rig. When yellowfin or bluefin tax the slick, the bite often comes on all three rods within seconds of each other.

3. The Kite

On flat-calm days when there is no surface breeze to float a balloon, we fly a fishing kite off a dedicated rod, holding a live bait — usually a sardine, mackerel, or small bluefish — splashing on the surface 80 to 120 feet behind the boat. The natural surface action and the visual of bait struggling on the chop is, on certain days, the only thing that will draw bluefin up from a deep mark. The kite bite, when it happens, is the most visual and most dramatic tuna take in offshore fishing — a 200-pound bluefin will come three feet out of the water clearing the bait.

4. The Night Squid Drift (Bigeye)

For bigeye we fish through the night on the canyon edge. Bigeye spend daylight hours deep — 600 to 1,200 feet — and rise toward the surface only after dark to feed on squid. We rig three deep-drift rods at 80, 150, and 250 feet, each with a single drifted squid on a lighted rig. Underwater LED lights hung off the transom draw squid to the boat; the squid draw bigeye. The bite, when it comes, is often well after midnight and almost always a fish of consequence — a 200-plus pound bigeye on a stand-up 80-class outfit is a one-to-two hour fight in the dark.

5. Run-and-Gun on Bluefin

Bluefin on the inshore lumps and shelf edge often refuse to chunk. The method that works is run-and-gun: we monitor the surface and the sounder, run hard to feeding fish (look for whales, working birds, surface boils), shut down on top of them, and pitch a single live bait or a soft-plastic stick bait directly into the school. If you can get the bait in front of the right fish in the first ten seconds, the bite is automatic. Miss the window and the school sounds. It is fishing as much as it is hunting.

6. High-Speed Trolling for Wahoo

When warm blue water is pinned tight to the shelf break and we are seeing flying fish on the surface, we will dedicate a pass to wahoo. The technique is uncomplicated and brutal: 14 to 18 knots, wire leaders, weighted planers, and rigged ballyhoo or large skirted lures with a strip bait. A wahoo's first run on a high-speed troll is the fastest thing you will ever feel on a rod and reel — they regularly empty 200 yards of 80-pound braid in a single screaming burst.

The Boat & TackleHow We Rig the Canyon Boat

Our canyon program runs out of the 37' Edgewater 370 CC — a four-stroke center console built for the long offshore run, with the fuel range and the sea-handling to make Montauk-to-Atlantis a comfortable round-trip. Standard offshore kit on a canyon day:

• Trolling outfits: 50-wide and 80-wide two-speed conventional reels, bent-butt stand-up rods, 80–130 lb monofilament topshots.
• Stand-up tuna outfits: 50-wide conventionals on straight-butt stand-up rods with bucket harnesses for chunk and live-bait work.
• Pitch baits: 30–50 lb spinning outfits loaded with 65 lb braid for run-and-gun bluefin and pitch baits to fish on the slick.
• Jigging: 200–400 gram slow-pitch and butterfly jigs for marking fish that won't come to the surface.
• Bottom rigs: Electric reels with 32-ounce sinkers for tilefish at 500–800 feet on the run home.
• Bait: Live bunker and sardines (chilled in the tuna tubes), boxes of butterfish and squid for chunking, balao and ballyhoo rigged in the cooler for trolling.

The SeasonWhen to Book a Canyon Trip

The canyon season for East End boats runs late June through early October. We watch sea-surface temperature charts, chlorophyll imagery, and the Gulf Stream's position every morning. The decision to launch a canyon trip is made the night before — sometimes the morning of — based on what the water is doing.

• Late June–early July: First yellowfin push to the Block. Trolling is the productive method. Bluefin on the inshore lumps run-and-gun.
• Mid-July–August: Peak canyon trolling, chunk drift fires. Bigeye begin showing on the Atlantis at night.
• September–early October: Trophy bigeye, large bluefin push back through. Wahoo on warm Gulf Stream water. Best weather window of the season.

What to ExpectThe Reality of a Canyon Day

Canyon trips are not for everyone. The day starts in the dark, you are at sea for 12–20 hours, the run is long even in calm conditions, and the fish you hook can fight you for an hour or more. We carry full safety equipment, an EPIRB, life raft, sat-phone, and redundant electronics, and we will turn back for weather without apology — the canyon will still be there next week.

What we ask of charter guests: eat dinner the night before, hydrate hard, take a dramamine if you are uncertain, dress in layers (it is cold at 4:00 AM and hot at noon), bring polarized sunglasses, and trust the captain's call on fish and weather. What we deliver: a real shot at the most spectacular fishing the Northeast offers, on a boat purpose-built for the run, with a captain who has fished these canyons through bait, weather, and full moons for years.

Hamptons Charter Co. operates offshore canyon trips out of Montauk, New York on the 37' Edgewater Bounty. We fish the Block, Atlantis, and Veatch Canyons for yellowfin, bigeye, bluefin tuna, and wahoo. Inquire about full-day, overnight, and multi-day canyon programs.