On Wednesday 18th September Riaan, my Dad and I flew out of Durban to start our long awaited journey to North Lake, Prince Edward Island, Canada. This is THE place to go and tick off the bluefin tuna off your bucket list.
After arriving at OR Thambo, we were told by SAA that our 8pm flight to Heathrow was delayed by 12 hours! To cut a long story short, our trip would be shortened by 1 day... Eventually we were on the a flight to Heathrow. We rushed through customs to the waiting plane bound for Toronto. Seven hours later we touched down before connecting to the four hour flight to Charlottetown... After a bit of grocery shopping, we headed 100km East to North Lake. We finally arrived at the beach house at 8pm, completely buggered!
The next morning at 6:30, we walked down to the quay side to the waiting boats. There was a very pleasant atmosphere amongst the captains and crews and everyone was super excited about the days prospects. We climbed aboard “White Water” run by Troy Bruce from “Bruce Brother Charters” and mate Ryan Young. These guys are a class act and know exactly what they are doing. Their tackle prep and boat manners are impeccable and exactly what you would expect from a professional operation like this. I would definitely recommend hooking up with them on a charter!
Before 7am, all the boats had passed through the narrow harbour inlet and made their way to the herring nets a few miles offshore. On arrival Troy and Ryan set 2 drift lines and a kite line with live mackerel. We were taken through the drill so that we knew what to expect when a strike occurred. Riaan and I were tasked with restocking the livewell with fresh mackerel which was actually a lot of fun. Unfortunately it was a very quiet day for us despite the guys trying their best get us into a fish. We returned to port at after 5pm where we enjoyed the local banter between the boats over a few cold beers. One of the operators had taken their “kill fish” for the season (only 1 bluefin may be harvested per boat per season) so we took the opportunity to have a photo taken with a Bluefin to put their size into perspective. This was a 498Lbs fish and although not considered a monster, it was still an impressive fish.
The following morning we were at the boat at 6:30 again. We followed the same routine as the previous day, fishing around the nets. Several boats hooked up near us, but by 10am, the bite was over. The afternoon passed without action but by 2pm the gannets had grouped together and were feeding on baitfish being pushed to the surface... something had to happen. At around 3pm, the thick rubber band holding the line snapped, followed by the chafing gear being ripped off the rod, as a big fish engulfed the stinger bait in a blind strike. The 130Lbs reel took off and 200Lbs backing melted off the reel despite a 50Lbs drag! Troy and Ryan kept the fish under control while we cleared the deck. Troy followed the fish to slow the run, but the fish was not having any of it and all but emptied the reel. It was my turn on the rod and not being used to fighting fish out of the gunwale, it took a while to get my rhythm. After about 15minutes, we had about half the spool back on the reel and gaining steadily. It all seemed quite surreal when for no apparent reason, the hook pulled! Unlucky. The boys persevered until 5pm without another pull, before returning to port. That night, my Dad and I discussed planning a return trip in 2014 as we were so impressed with the setup.
On day 3, we arrived at the dock and found out that we had been moved to a different boat for the next 2 days. We would be fishing with Capt. Ian and Mate Jason on “Aly Dan”. Our first stop was in the shallows to catch bait. These mackerel were tiny in comparison to the monsters we had caught the previous days at the nets, so we headed east towards them. As we neared the rest of the fleet, the water temperature dropped a bit, so Ian changed direction, heading West of the harbour. As we stopped and put out lines, the same story of the previous two days played out as a few boats hooked up at the nets. Jason upped the lines and we steamed all the way back East. Our morning passed without a touch despite moving to try other spots. The wind gradually died and the sea settled. Most of the other boats started making a long 2 hour run towards “Fisherman’s Bank” in the Northumberland Strait, half way between PEI and Nova Scotia where the fish were feeding. We however headed back West where we spent almost an hour of searching for a herring net which was lifted and cleaned out before folding and packing it away for the close of the season. With most of the other boats gone, we bobbed around off North Lake to pass the rest of the day. By 5pm, we had caught a blue shark for our efforts... whoopy! On return to the port, we refuelled so that the next day we could run to where the fish were.
At 5:30, we left North Lake. After an almost three hour run, we joined the rest of the fleet that had been fishing for some time already. The birds were everywhere picking up the scraps from the herring boats as they cleared their nets. There were probably 25 to 30 boats in the area, most of them tight on fish. We stopped short and started our first drift. Two live baits were rigged while Jason started cutting chum. Unfortunately the chum was still partially frozen, so the gannets has a field day.
We made another approach and stopped right next to the herring boat. The water surrounding the boat was a cauldron of massive swirls as the bluefin gorged themselves on the herring that fell out the nets. As our chum hit the water, a huge bluefin (over the mark) appeared from nowhere and engulfed the bait. The sheer size of these fish is staggering. Riaan and I both took a step back to try and comprehend what was going on under the water. There were more huge boils around us, followed by a strike on one of our live mackerel. The rod keeled over and the 130Lbs International took off. Immediately we were into the backing as Ian chased after the fish. There were a lot of boats around and our fish was intent on swimming right through the middle of them. Just as we were about to clear the pack, it doubled back and swam around another boat that was already fighting a fish. When the two lines touched, our main line burnt off and the fish was gone...Unfortunately that’s fishing.
We headed back to the herring boat and started chumming. I commandeered a rod and rigged up a live mackerel. I had just put it into the water when a bluefin appeared from under the boat and engulfed the bait, ripping the leader out of my hands! AWESOME! I tightened up and the mono flew off the reel into the water against a tight drag. Ian chased after the fish which stayed on surface. About 5 minutes in, the fish arched left towards the bow, the hi-vis dacron cutting through the water at speed. Despite forewarning from both Jason and I, the Dacron backing ended up being cut off in the prop!
The herring boats had finished lifting their nets and the feeding frenzy was over. All that was left were the few boats still fighting their fish. There were still the odd marks, but nothing like before so we drifted the area hoping for a strike. The birds started gathering over an area and the boats that worked the flock actively went tight on a few fish. We meanwhile watched this from quite a distance. Eventually, by some miracle, the birds moved in our direction and we started marking fish. I took over the chum station and dumped a sizable amount of bait in the water. Almost immediately the sounder marked a fish coming up. I threw a few big chunks in, followed by a whole mackerel. Again the fish came up. After a few minutes, the pattern was clear that every time I threw a whole mackerel, the fish would come up. One live mackerel was replaced with a whole dead mackerel and instead of me throwing a bait, we let this rigged bait go down the slick. Almost as if it was scripted, the fish marked on the sounder and the line went tight to a fish. Job done! Again the line went screaming off the reel as we chased after it. Jason and I were focussing on our line angle in the water and again it started arching left towards the bow. It was like déjà vu in slow motion. Jason and I were shouting to go left but alas... Result: propeller 2; dacron 0.
By now, the three of us resigned ourselves to the fact that unless the fish surrendered themselves without a fight, we would never get one to the boat... to make things worse, we only had 1 rod left to fish with (the other 3 needed new topshot) and this one rod was very questionably to say the least. Luckily this tackle fix took quite some time to complete so we relaxed on the deck watching all the other boats actively working the flock of diving birds and hooking up to fish... Life was great.
Later that same day we stopped in the middle of the birds. Immediately we marked fish. I went to the chum station again and the same pattern repeated itself. After throwing several big chunks, followed by a whole mackerel, the fish would mark higher. Finally at 30ft, the rigged dead whole mackerel went overboard and the game was on! This fish took a ton of line and managed to stay clear of the other boats, as well as ours! For an hour, the fish would come to within 30m of the boat then empty the spool on a screaming run, despite a heavy drag, thumbed spool and glove-held line. Knowing this was our last chance of the trip to feel the power of these fish, everyone took chances on the rod in the gunwale. Jason was exceptionally calm in this situation and had a positive attitude throughout the fight. Every time the fish would run, he remarked that this was a really big fish and that we just needed patience... something that the captain needed at that point.
Eventually the fish started to tire and made its characteristic big circles. It surfaced 15m out to show its sheer bulk. The leader came up and Jason took hold of it. The fish turned under the boat and passed the stern where Jason had no choice but to release the leader. This was met with disgust from Ian who said it should never have been let go. At that moment, Riaan, my Dad and I knew what was going to happen as we had seen this story played out many times by impatient crews. The fish made another turn towards the boat then arched underneath, with Ian hanging onto the 250Lbs leader for dear life. The last thing I remember seeing is Ian’s hand flicking back as the leader parted...
It would have been nice if, after having sat in a plain for 23 hours and at airports for 18 hours, we were afforded just 5 minutes to get the photo of a giant bluefin tuna, that we came half way around the world for. Technically it was a caught fish, but not in our books as our goal was not achieved. Despite what we went through on the last 2 days of our trip, the first 2 days made up for it and we will definitely be back to fish for Giant Bluefin Tuna again... what an experience!
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