Just finished shooting 2-dynamic Cod-jigging TV shows out of Centerville, Newfoundland.
Posted on August 2nd, 2010[nggallery id=286]After filming an exciting Atlantic Salmon TV show show from The Backlands on the Humber River, Glen Meadus owner/operator www.seabreezeboats.ca, drove our CS TV crew to his home-town of Centreville, Newfoundland (about a 4 1/2hr. drive from Deer Lake, NF). Many of you are familiar with Glen and his boats since I used one (19′ bow-rider model), in the Great Lakes for 3-years and did several TV shows fishing with Glen for trophy walleye, smallmouth bass and salmon & trout. Since that time Glen & I had spoken often about our TV crew travelling to the north-east coast of Newfoundland to experience the magnificent Newfoundland scenery, hospitality, food, and of course the excellent cod recreational fishery.
As many of you know, a large scale cod fishery started right after the discovery of North America in 1492 and became the most important industry in Newfoundland. By 1951, factory fishing and new “super travlers” harvested huge amounts of cod. The cod catches peaked in 1968 and fish processing plants where build all over Newfoundland. Than, due to many factors, the fishery colapsed in the early 1990’s and it was shut down shortly afterwards. Today the cod are coming back and there is limited commercial quotas for them and there is also a couple of Recreational Fishery openings where fish are caught and kept for personal consumption.
As things turned-out, our Atlantic Salmon trip coencided with a 3-week Recreational Cod Fishing Opening. So right after we arrived in Centreville (where Seabreeze boats are built), we headed out about 20 miles on the open Atlantic. Unfortunately, as soon as we got out to fish holding areas, it started to rain. Glen, my wife Barbara and I were fishing out of a 23′ Seabreeze boat equipped with the brand new Yamaha VMax 225 hp. outoboard and the camera crew along with Jimmy (Glen’s plant manager), were filming from a 22′ Seabreeze equipped with a 90 hp. Yamaha 4-stroke outboard.
Glen used his Humminbird 997 color sonar to navigate using the GPS/ocean charts and to also find shallower reefs in water surrounded by 300-400′ depths. We immediately started jigging using 4-6oz. vertical jigging spoons and 50 lb. test Sufix 832 Braid loaded on Rapala Hydros counter reels matched with Rapala Magnumheavy-action, 2-piece baitcasting rods. We fished water depths ranging from 40-100′ deep. The action was non-stop. Most of the time we were hooking tripe-headers with some of the largest fish nearing the 15 lb. mark.
Besides enjoying great cod fishing we attended a dinner theatre in Newtown, Newfoundland where we ate traditional cod dishes (Fish n’ Brewis + baked cod & cheese, and much more), and sang with the band and laughed at the excellent comedy performance. The Centreville coast of Newfoundland is very scenic, peppered with Islands that were once inhabited by fishermen. Today those islands still have cabins that are used seasonally and you can see all of the docks and fish cleaning stations that were once teeming with commercial catches. Newfoundland is beautiful and it’s residents are some of the friendlies people on the planet!
If you love to travel and discover beautiful places, Newfoundland should be at the top of your list. For more info. on Seabreeze boats, you can contact Glen at, www.seabreezeboats.ca, and the Government of Newfoundland at, www.newfoundlandlabrador.com .
