Crimson Tide in PEI with Bruce Brothers Charters

[seaworm1]

Last week I was sent up to PEI Canada to film my encounters with what can easily be called the best Bluefin tuna fishery on the planet. After what the Sears boys experienced last season with Troy and Jamie Bruce of Bruce Brothers Charters it was an easy decision on who I would chose to fish with, and boy it was a good decision.
I took this opportunity to field test some big game gear, and after just the first two days of fishing I came to realize that the fish up here will test every crimp, hook, line, glove, reel, harness and spirit that you put to the test...... we strained, disfigured and broke everything we brought up......exept for one thing, The Fishemans Outfitter "Short Stroke Giant Killer" rod, which I absolutely cant say enough good things about. At 5'5" this rod is an absolute beast- soft tip with plenty of forgivness, but with the backbone of a sasquach than can haul 1,000 lbs of bluefin to the suface with ease- no need to spend super high dollars on the other overpriced and probably undermatched rods on the market.

If I had the time I could write pages upon pages of what we experienced up there, but ill give you the condensed version. First off, The locals that inhabit the quiet town of North Lake (Souris) PEI are some of the kindest friendliest people that I have met- Never did I see a strange look even though I was obviously a tourist- what a far cry from what im used to being from Boston. And Troy and Jamie Bruce are no exception to this. Troy and his wife Claudia were gracious enough to put me and my crew up in thier own home- the aroma of fresh brewed coffee greeted me every one of the 5 mornings we were there, and the home cooked meals were nothing short of the best hospitality I have experienced. I cant thank you enough Troy, you went well beyong the call of duty.


As far as the fishing went........its tough to find words to describe the mayhem that lies just 1 mile out of the harbor. Thats right, 1 MILE from the dock. Canada has some incredibly strict rules governing thier fishery- some of these rules are agreeably way too strict, but its because of these rules that the bait, and the bluefin are here in such vast numbers.

Our days would start with a quick stop about 1/2 mile from the dock- a 10 minute stop with sabiki rigs would yield about 50 Mackerel in the livewell. Similar to what we enjoy on the south shore in May and June.

Next stop is another 1/2 mile away- Most of the commercial fishermen hold gillnet permits, and here we pulled up to one of Troys nets. Only being in 60 ft of water the hauler made short work of getting the mesh topside, and as much free herring was there for the taking. And im not talking the bullsh!t 8-12 inch herring that we are all used to down here, The herring up there average a solid lb each, absolute monsters. No sooner than a few Herring dropped out of the net, the 10 ft monsters were there to gang rape them at the surface......and the mayhem ensued.

It was like feeding ducks at a pond......the sounder was blacked out with fish, it looked more like what we would associate with dogfish on our sounders, but it was all tuna.....Massive tuna. In fact I never was one that I would place at under 400 lbs, with the average size being a solid 700. The largest one we boated taped out at 116", a solid 1,000 lbs of back destroying, will breaking fish to take on standup gear. I still find it hard to believe.

And this went on for 5 straight days. Tuna, tuna and more tuna. I lost count of how many we hooked, and brought boatside. Its simply something you have to see with your own eyes. Save your pennies, disregard your wifes feelings and get yourself up there to see this sh!t- This is bucket list material.

The Bruce brothers are the THE boys to go see www.peibluefintunacharters.com Do yourself a favor and make it happen- The memories will be etched in stone.

[CaptainCJ35]

What an awesome report and even better pics! Taking your advice and added it to my bucket list with a bullet.

[WeCatchEm]

Awesome report/amazing pictures and I absolutely agree with you on the short stroke gt killers from fo!

[seaworm1]

Heres just a taste of the 45 hours of video we captured- This is a raw unedited piece, you'll get the picture!!

http://youtu.be/2Is-FiYEGdA?hd=1

<iframe width="1280" height="750" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2Is-FiYEGdA?hd=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[seaworm1]

One more quick Hook-up

http://youtu.be/OBtpz6RDk68

[jmrecord]

Good stuff Fred!sick........

[Captain Curt]

nice report and pics Fred.

[twofinbluna]

That fish in #23 is a monster (file pei19).

All these pictures/reports from PEI should remind everyone just how important it is to have proper management of herring, macks, etc.

[FullStrikeAngler]

Fred how deep of water are you fishing in PEI...I would asuume it is pretty shallow.

[Thynnus]

What an amazing trip Fred, congrats buddy, I can't wait for the footage! George I think they were fishing in 40 - 80 feet of water 1 mile from the dock!