MBG goes to PEI 2011

[Captain Greg Sears]

The tuna season in Prince Edward Island is going strong. This year will be the first time in many years that the Canadians can catch their individual quota (One fish per year per boat) at any time. The reason for this is so they do not flood the market and draw short money for their fish. In the past they only had one day to catch their total quota. The one day derby had some great traditional value because it became a friendly family day of fun. It was a cool experience to see all of those boats catching tuna at the same time.

This year they are holding a tournament http://www.tunacupchallenge.com/ that will sort of replicate the one day derby. Mass Bay guides is sending a crew to participate in the tournament. we have one tag available for the three days of fishing so we will get a chance at Ken Fraser's World Record. I hear there will be many teams from all over the world some of them pretty famous. we will be fishing with our friends Jamie and Troy from Bruce Brothers Charters I am sure you remember our trip from last year. http://vimeo.com/15964898 Some of the guys from SFC have already gone up to fish with the Bruce Brothers and I am sure you will hear all the fish stories..

Our whole crew will be spending 10 days fishing with the Bruce brothers starting next Tuesday. We will have film crews and many cameras so we can share our experience with the rest of the world. Starting Tuesday MBG mates Corey and Justin will be heading up to scout and fish the first day of the tournament on Wednesday. On Wednesday I will be flying up with the Crew for the next two days. On Friday Bryan and Taylor will be heading up to fish with their crew for the next 4 days. Most of us will be heading back on Friday to fish the SS Tuna tournament http://www.bbgfc.com/SSTS_2011.html We will be posting all the pictures and reports on this thread... Stand by for some cool stuff...

[hotreels]

Good luck guys. Sounds like a winning crew.Can't wait for the vidio

[blackhullcharters]

Have fun guys, sounds like a blast.

[Bristolfish]

Wish i was going, cory told me about it, i can't get the time off (too busy) . sounds like a GREAT time. Some day i will get up there

[Captain Greg Sears]

My Summer Vacation:
by: Captain Greg Sears of Mass Bay Guides
This year Mass Bay Guides put a team together to participate in the "Canadian International Tuna Cup Challenge" held in North Lake Prince Edward Island Canada. This tournament has been held every year since the 1960's. It was an incredible time and we fished against some of the best fishermen from a lot of countries. I even met Dennis Braid and had him give the crew a demonstration of how to properly wear your Braid harness and how to properly fight a fish stand up. I learned that I was doing it all wrong but this is another story..

Our adventure began leaving Marshfield Ma. aboard Shoreline Aviation's corporate Leer Jet. It was a 50 minute flight and we arrived at Charlottetown Prince Edward Island. We rented cars and had a 1 1/2 hour drive to North Lake Harbor "The Bluefin Tuna Capital of the World". Our team was fishing with our friends from Bruce Brothers Charters, owned and operated by Captains Jamie and Troy Bruce. The Bruce family has been fishing out of North Lake for over 100 years and they are held with great respect from the community. Jamie and Troy have become good friends of mine over the last couple of years and have worked with MBG to create some great tuna adventures for our clients. The Bluefin tuna fishing grounds are less than 2 miles from shore, making it the Ideal place to catch your first giant tuna. We sent our team fully outfitted with clothing and gear from our generous sponsors at Old Harbor Outfitters. OHO creates and sells some of the best outdoor clothing and gear made for the avid fisherman. We looked very professional but looks aren't everything. The folks from North Lake are some of the nicest most cordial people I have ever met, you could leave your wallet full of money on the side of the road and you will get it back with all your money. A far cry from the uncivilized world here in the big cities of the USA.

Here were the rules for the Tournament:

1. Under Canadian law charter boats may only have 4 hookups on Bluefin tuna per day and you can only catch and release one fish per day. So if you do not lose the first fish you are done for the day. Also if you break off 4 fish you are done for the day. But you may feed and use hook less lures and baits to have a lot of fun on the rest of your charter. By the way, they had fisheries patrol with telescopes on the beach and boats in the water watching us. The rules in Canada are very strict and they enforce them with an iron fist. Probably the reason the tuna fishing is so good but also the reason a lot of fishermen are starving. PS: they allow no private salt water sport fishing what so ever, you cannot even fish with a surf rod from the beach. Canada is missing out on a huge economic tourist Industry.

So now that you know the daily bag limit.... the rules for the tournament where designed to use speed to determine the winners. The size of the fish did not matter.

2. They divided the tournament into three heats 4 hours each. And points where accumulated by fastest time reeling in one giant tuna per heat... It was luck of the draw if you got a little one. We where allowed to use the rod holder and we were also allowed to tag team the rod with fresh anglers. We were granted points per heat by placement of number of boats. For instance 16 boats ...16 points for last place and 1 point for first place and so on.....For the final results all three heats were added up and the team with the least amount of points was the winner.

In the first heat we put our best men on the job Corey Carlson and Justin Nazarchek. They hooked up only five minutes after leaving the dock and reeled in a fork length 80 inch 350 pound fish in 4 minutes ..... They were disappointed that they did not hook a grander but when they found out it was the fastest recorded time in the tournament they were pretty pleased. Their efforts put Team Mass Bay Guides in first place..

In the second heat we had the entire team of eight for an all out tag team record. We left the dock and within fifteen minutes we where hand feeding huge fish and just waiting for the right moment. After an hour we decided to throw in the hook.... The bait did not even hit the water and we were tight... Two minutes into the fight our fish darted under the film crew boat and headed straight for a gill net high flyer... Oh yes Murphy's law prevailed we got wrapped on the buoy but Captain Jamie backed down hard and we gaffed the high flyer flipped the buoy over the rod and away we went... We chased the fish for a mile got him straight up and down. Then we ran over the line and snagged the gunnels but managed to remained tight. We constantly tagged off the reel to keep the anglers fresh and so everyone got a chance. We landed a fork length 100 inch 800 pound fish in 36 minutes. We placed 6th in this heat. A team won first in this heat with a 90 inch 700 pound fish in 8 minutes.

In the third heat we left the dock with the Old Harbor Outfitters handpicked hard core fishing team. We arrived at the secret spot 11 minutes after a high speed exit from the chute. The chute you ask? This is the craziest harbor entrance you will ever see... anyway back to the third heat.... It was getting boring because we did not see a fish for 7 minutes... Laugh out loud... Troy said he was marking 6 and Jamie said he was marking 4 and they wondered where the fish went? If I marked 4 fish at home I would be ecstatic... I decided to start chumming and feeding a bait by hand along with the chum it took five tries and I hooked up... What took so long?.. We tagged teamed this fish with two of the least tired of the crew... I was the lead hitter and got about 400 yards back to the boat. Stew Rosen was the relief and took the home run.... We landed the biggest Bluefin Tuna anyone on the boat had ever seen including Jamie and Blair our captain and mate. Fork length 115" was the conservative boat side measurement with a 4 foot plus wide girth we estimated this fish well over 1000 pounds and released him in 13 minutes total time... For another first place heat..

We ended up placing second ( First Losers) The winning team had a 2nd Place a 4th place and a 1st place total of 7 points. We had a 1st place a 6th place and a 1st place giving us 8 points. All in all we had a great time and there were no losers because Prince Edward Island is an incredible place. PEI is a Tuna fisherman's dream vacation.

There are only 16 charter boats in PEI and They all participate in the Tuna Cup. I have reserved Both of the Bruce Brothers boats for next year's 2012 Canadian International Tuna Cup..... Some spaces will be available for Team Mass Bay Guides and the Old Harbor Outfitters special forces... It is not a cheap adventure but less than some of the other all inclusive fishing vacations you can have... Only serious dedicated fishermen apply.. Deposits required.. If you are interested in this trip or any other of our Mass Bay Guides adventures give us a call, look for our add on these pages.

My Special thanks to Bruce Brothers Charters and the Bruce Family and to all the people who participated to make this one of the best fishing tournaments I have ever been in. Congratulations to the old guys who beat us.

WAY MORE TO COME>>>>>>>>

[Captain Greg Sears]

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