2012 Grounfish is off to a great start!!!

We've had a few Haddock trips schedualed for those that couldnt wait untill cod season opened on the 16th, and those hearty fishermen were rewarded with loads of health cold water haddock! We ventured to the far north into deep waters where wo found Haddock in good numbers last year. Once I honed in on the spot I set Akulas anchor and the action started. Bait was the method of choice and we had bent rods non stop am bugeyes all day. A few Cusk and even a juvenile Wolf fish were also caught.

Two days later repeat clients Paul and Doug Dansereau and thier crew headed put to the same spot and put on a repeat performance, catching thier 6 man limit of Haddock.  Clams were the bait of choice again, and the Haddock were chewing! Water temps are in the high 40's, and there are bountifull amounts of Mackerel and Herring on Stellwagen Bank. One thing is for sure, when the tuna show up they will be VERY happy at the amount of food on the menu!   Capt. Fred

The 2012 season is here

I realized that I literally skipped an entire year of posting reports here. Keeping up with the busy fishing season left me little time to keep up with reports, but this year I will be keeping up.  Chris, myself and the rest of the Crimson Tide crew have been busy working on Akula through out February and March, getting her ready for the upcoming season and adding a few new upgrades that we are VERY eager to put into use this year. 500 watts of new metal halide lights have been installed that will literally light up the back up the boat and the surrounding water like Fenway Park. Not only will this be huge for simply seeing whats going on, but it will surely attract bait fish from all around, turning the waters around the boat into a virtual aquarium.  New underwater lights have also been installed, increasing vision while we are night fishing. as well as being bait attractors.  Amongst the new additions is a very fishy new system...... but those details I'm keeping to myself, unless you are fishing with us and get to see it in use first hand!

Here's to a great season in 2012, Capt Fred

Single handed victory

 A few days late on this report, but beter late than never.  Last week I had Mike Fitsula returning to fish with Crimson Tide Charters.  On thier last trip a few weeks prior we just couldnt get the tuna to bite- they seemed to have lock jaw, but Mike got his redemption this time out.   We schedualed this trip on short notice, due to the the winds being forcasted to kick up later in the week. Mike couldnt get his buddies to call out sick for the day, so he manned up and showed up in morning by himself. And to top it off my mate was home with pneumonia, so it was just me and Mike. Talk about being short handed!

   
A quick ride out in calm seas brought us to where we we have been fishing for the last few weeks and we were immediately greeted by whales......birds.......and TUNA!  Tuna busting the surface in every direction.  Mere minutes into the troll the right short rigger snaps, and were tight. Mike helps me clear the remaining 6 lines and gets into the harness.  After a little huffing and puffing, and a few beads of sweat, 56" of sashimi is bleeding out on the deck.  

The tuna were still showing themselves everywhere, so we quickly got the cockpit organized and sent the lines out again.  Not 15 minutes later  another rod goes down and were tight to tuna # 2....and its only 9 am- god I love days like this. We repeat the proccess of clearing lines and Mike settles in to battle his opponent.  We got the fish boatside and pulled him in through the tuna door. Took a qiuck measure and photo, inserted a tag in his back, and swam him for a few minutes before sending him back to rejoin his school.     

Mike looked at me still out of breath, and said  " how about we eat lunch and turn this boat around"?  No problem Mike.... I had had a pretty good workout myself.  We hung out for a little while and watched neighboring boats fight fish for a little while before turning AKULA west end heading to the dock. 

A few more monsters hit the deck

The tuna fishing is on FIRE and theres no shortage of "bigguns" within 30 minutes of the dock. The weather has been another story though, with 30 knot winds kicking up the seas all week. Those brave enough to venture out when the seas subside have been rewarded with fish nearing the 1,000 lb mark. Lets get out and and do some damage!

Its been a busy fall

Well its been a while since our last report- so Im going to do a little pictorial catch-up. The fishing this year has been nothing short of fantastic. With tuna of all sizes within range weather our customers have been looking for smaller 100 lb fish to bring home for the table, or 800 lb monsters to stretch their skill and ability weve been able to get them on the fish. Dont be fooled into thinking that season is over, last year we were catching tuna well after thanksgiving and plan on contunuing to fish into december! Here are some pictures of the last couple of months.

The mid september tuna bite is hot!!!!!!

The bite on the bank is real good right now with lots of size class fish being caught on everything from bars to ballyhoo to xraps and of course live bait. We went 1 for 2 sat with the first fish hitting a ballyhoo islander white/blue long behind a bird and the second hitting a 9" black squid bar. Multiple hookups too. Get out there - winter is way too long. Good luck!!!

ANOTHER GIANT TAKEN BY CRIMSON TIDE CHARTERS

Wow!!!!! Where to start with this one. After Saturdays dissapointing 0 for 2 (pulled hook and broken leader) I was ready for some redemption for sure. Well we GOT IT and boy did we get it.


The crew for Sunday was the Jennarose clan. This was the first charter booked by Crimson Tide when Fred and I decided to start the business. Good Karma for sure. The only problem was they wanted to go bass fishing. Well lets say it didn't take long to convince them to drag a few bars around.

We depart Green Harbor a little after 5am and I point the boat to the exact spot where the BFT won the day before. I had bites there at both slacks and we marked good fish all day. We arrived to the same scene the day before - birds, bait and busting tuna. Fred sets out the spread in record time and after a few passes the short corner rod goes ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. The 50 is screaming and the rest of the spread is cleared. Well let's say this fish was pissed. He worked all anglers on board for a few minutes each until we finally get color and a nice toss of the poon by Fred and bam game over. Taped out at 81" and weighed 260lbs. So I ask the crew if they wanted to go bass fishing and they so F-no lets get another tuna.

So I work the area until about 9am and we are off to the race for some bass. We spent all of an hour putting a few blues and bass in the boat before deciding to run 10 miles south. I told the crew that the bass were thick there a few days earlier and there were also tuna mixed in and it didn's take long for the tuna crack heads to want their next fix.

We arrive to a desert but a good one. NO BOATS and pods of tuna busting everywhere and feeding in reckless abandon. Spread goes out and just after the last rod is out. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzz fish number two is on and landed in somewhat deteriating sea conditions. He visits Akula's deck, a tag is inserted and he's on his merry way. 55". Spread goes back out and just after the last rod is set ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ fish number 3 is on. Rod is passed a couple times on this one and we have a nice 71" fattied boatside and is safely released.

Well the seas are building fast and the Akula is steaming through 3-6 foot seas on its way to port to meet "The little white truck". Fantastic day with great crew and REDEMPTION is ours.