A Completely True Fishing Story

This is the (completely true!) story of their epic journey on the high seas.

Patrick Dubé has been fishing for tuna in the Gaspé Peninsula for eight years now. When he started this fall tradition, few restaurateurs in the province could boast of offering bluefin tuna in their establishments. While it has increased in popularity the species is endangered, the stock is highly protected, and fishing is subject to restricted quotas. Only about 50 licenses were issued in the province this year. Very few people manage to get their hands on this exceptional fish, let alone go fishing for it themselves. If you are one of the lucky ones and get to bring one to your restaurant, you can consider yourself very privileged.

Over the years, Patrick has become friends with a fisherman, Yves Couture, who gives him a place on his boat every year to go tuna fishing. But this year since Yves' boat was out of order Patrick and Christian boarded Jimmy Lepage's boat instead on September 19 with both captains and their crews.

“We left Baie-Saint-Paul at 5 am and arrived at our destination at 5 pm,” remembers Christian, who was going tuna fishing for the first time. “Fifteen minutes after arriving, we were already on board the boat!” To get to their spot, they would need to sail all the way up to the Hauts-Fonds de Miscou, 35 nautical miles from the Gaspé coast (about 65km)!

After a few hours of sailing to their favourite fishing spot, and with night finally falling, the crews set up the bait and fishing rods. They could see clearly on the radar that a lot of fish were swimming underneath them. Night fishing is preferred when looking for tunas since it is usually quieter and less crowded at night than during the day.

"A minute after dropping the lines in the water, something was biting," recalls Christian, whose excitement is still very palpable even to this day.

Tuna are very heavy fish and they are caught with a traditional reel rod, so it can take several minutes, even hours, to reel the fish in.But not in the case of Yves and Jimmy's crews! “The guys knew what they were doing, they handled the rod like pros!” Christian and Patrick recall with admiration. After just 30 minutes, the first fish was caught and brought up. In less than two hours, they caught three tunas: the first weighed 895 pounds, the second 650 pounds, and the third 580 pounds. It’s the kind of catch you have to see to believe as it's so impressive!

After an incredible night, Patrick and Christian were back on the road the next day, stopping along at a few restaurants to taste all the delicious products Gaspésie has to offer: seafood, fish, and other local delicacies.

Back in Charlevoix, members of Jimmy and Yves' crews came to deliver a whole tuna, the biggest one ever caught, to Patrick and Christian's kitchen

“In less than two hours, everything was cut and vacuum-packed or frozen,” explains Patrick, who treated this exceptional fish like a little treasure. “By Christmas, everything will have been eaten.” The chef and his team will prepare tartares, tatakis, steaks and broth with the tuna, whose sweet red flesh will delight even the finest palates.

These dishes will be served at Le Bercail the restaurant in Le Germain Charlevoix Hotel & Spa.

Do they hope to be able to repeat the experience next year? “Yes, if the fish stocks allow it and the captains can still find us a place on board their boat,” admits Patrick, who campaigns to make products from the St. Lawrence River more accessible.

In the meantime, they will have a fabulous fishing story to tell anyone who wants to listen.