"Sea fishing" Top 5 Page for this destination Province of New Brunswick Sports & Outdoors Tip by Bwana_Brown

Just over a week after Russ and I made our biking trip to Deer Island, my youngest daughter and (now husband) Ryan arrived from Calgary, Alberta for a week-long visit. Ryan had done some ocean fishing off Honduras and wanted a chance to sample what it was like on the east coast of Canada. After making a few phone calls, it just happened that the only outfit that seemed to fit the bill was based on Deer Island, so I ended up returning there with them near the end of their stay. This time, the weather was overcast with occasional drizzle and about 17 C - actually not bad weather for fishing! We booked our tour with Billy Mac Boat Tours which, although based on Deer Island, agreed to meet us between 8:30-9:00 AM at the mainland departure point of the Deer Island ferry. This view shows the vessel 'Craig C' waiting for us, with some of the small islands in the background supporting a steel 69,000 volt transmission line structure which (along with submarine cables) feeds power out to Deer, Campobello and Grand Manan Islands.

The 'Craig C' is a 40-foot Cape St. Mary's-type boat, capable of comfortably carrying 12 passengers, with a protective roof over the benches situated at the rear of the craft. The 2nd photo shows Ryan with Capt. Reid Cline, the owner of the boat, as we head out into the maze of small islands in this part of the Bay of Fundy.

Equipment: For the C$50 (US$44) per person price of our 3-hour fishing expedition, Reid outfitted each of us with a rod, equipped with a lead weight and four baitless, sparkling lures with jigging hooks attached. Since we were going for bottom feeding schools of Atlantic Mackerel, the technique was to get out into medium depth water where we would switch the engine off as we each fished off the rear portion of the boat. The line was let out until it went slack as it hit bottom, whereupon we would give it an occasional jerk to see if we could tempt one of the fish to go for the lures. Once a 'hit' was made, a quick jerk would usually snag the fish and, as it made attempts to get free, the other fish in the school would also be attracted to the 'action'. By these means, we were able to haul in fish one, two, three or even four at a time whenever we did strike it lucky. Carolyn was the best of the lot of us, hauling in the maximum four on a single go with one of them also being the largest that we caught (3rd photo). This outfit also does Whale-Watching trips for C$45 per person (C$30 for 12 years old and under). While we were aboard, another boat radioed that five Humpbacks were presently nearby off a group of low and rocky islands known as The Wolves. I would not have minded seeing whales again, but I've done that a few times in various places - this was my first sea fishing experience, and I really enjoyed it!

Address: 179 Calders Head Road, Calders Head, Deer
Directions: On Deer Island itself or pick-up can be arranged near Letete on mainland New Brunswick, where the Deer Island ferry runs from.
othercontact: clinep@nb.sympatico.ca
Phone: 506-747-2307
Theme: Fishing Trips