By tomconley
Capt. Josh reports a fair to good day of fishing aboard the Yankee Clipper today. There was a wide discrepancy in angler success around the boat, with some guys doing quite well and others having only a couple, but overall everyone had at least some fish in the bag by day’s end.
The cod bite was good on the drift, with a pile of nice fish in the 10-18-pound range as well as a 22-pound steaker caught by Dave Sullivan that won the pool. Like yesterday, cod constituted the majority of the keeper fish on board, although there were a fair amount of haddock caught today as well. Sounds like between today and yesterday, the bite’s starting to pick up again! And there are some better-sized fish in the mix too. Here’s hoping that trend continues
Willy G.
By tomconley
4/27:
Capt. Josh had a charter on the Clipper, and reports a slow day overall. They had a pretty good shot of cod on the anchor around the tide change, putting a few dozen nice fish from 12-23lbs in the boat, but other than that there wasn’t a whole lot of activity. Most keepers today were cod, a change from the last week or so when haddock have been dominating the catch. The pool was a nice 23-pound cod, with a handful of other fish in the high teens coming aboard as well.
Capt. Dave also had a charter aboard the Freedom, and informed me that the haddock made a disappearing act today. The area that had been producing good numbers of haddock with some cod mixed in was pretty much devoid of life today. Dave shifted into some deeper water and had a slow pick all day on the anchor. Pool was a 10-pound codfish.
The open boat today was the Patriot, and Capt. Smitty also reports a slow day. A slow to steady pick on the anchor was the order of the day, and cod comprised most of keeper catch, with a handful of haddock and a few dozen redfish thrown in. Gus Bender won the pool with an 8-pound cod.
4/28:
Capt. Josh reports more of the same today aboard the Clipper. Even slower than yesterday, in fact. He managed to scrape a day together, and stayed out an hour and a half late to try to put a few additional fish in the boat. Unfortunately, the bite just wasn’t happening today. Mark Tolpin won the pool with a 16lb cod that took a jig.
Hopefully another shot of fish will move into the area that had been so productive over the past few weeks. The bait and life (whales, gannets, etc) are still there, and I’m confident that the fish will show up again soon. The gang might do a bit of scouting tomorrow and try to catch up with the market cod and haddock that appear to have pulled a David Copperfield. Stay tuned!
Willy G.
By admin
Capt. Josh on the Clipper reports a fair to good day today. The breezy conditions made drifting impossible, so all fishing was done on the hook. A steady pick all day with a few fish on at all times. Haddock made up the majority of the catch but a few dozen market cod mixed in as well. Pool fish was a 14lb codfish. A nice windowpane flounder came up too!
Willy G.
By admin
This is a Fluke
Aboard the Yankee Clipper, Capt. Josh was at the wheel for an 8-3 private charter, only affording him about 2.5 hours of fishing time. Even with the time constraints, he managed to put a good number of haddock in the boat while drifting, experiencing a steady grinding pick for the most part and a nice flurry of activity at the tide change. Pool went to an 8 or 9lb cod.
Willy G.
By admin
The Yankee Fleet began running full day trips, seven days a week, on April 1, and we’ve been enjoying good success on both market cod and haddock on Stellwagen Bank. When conditions allow for drifting, jig fishing on the open bottom has been very productive for cod. Otherwise, anchoring for a mix of cod and haddock has been the way to go. Here are a few of the more recent reports:
4/10: Capt. Josh reported an excellent day of drift fishing for actively feeding codfish on the Yankee Clipper today! They were gorging on sand eels, a fact not missed by the many whales that surrounded the boat for the majority of the day. Although the small:keeper ratio varied from 6:1 to 1:1, many anglers walked off the boat with limits at the end of the day, especially those who knew how to swing a jig and cast into the drift. The pool fish was a 26lb cod that beat out another fish of a similar size, and there were many nice cod in the 10-18lb range in addition to the smaller keepers that made up the bulk of the catch. A smattering of haddock and redfish were in the mix as well.
4/11: Strong winds and rough seas made for tricky conditions today. Capt Josh had to anchor for the duration of the trip, and anglers picked away at many small codfish to put keepers in the bags. Some anglers caught as many as 40 sublegal cod without a single keeper! It happens!
4/12 and 4/13 were cancelled due to weather.
4/14: Capt Josh reports a steady pick of cod and haddock on the Yankee Clipper today. Drift fishing in the morning produced numbers of codfish, although a substantial amount of them didn’t make the 24 inch size limit. The catching was good–the keeping was not! In the afternoon a few anchor stops produced a bunch of haddock as well. A few people managed to scratch out limits of cod in addition to some tasty haddock.
4/15: Capt. Smitty, sailing with a light load, focused on the haddock today, and was rewarded with a couple of productive anchor stops, fishing with both bait and jigs. A good number of cod, both legal and sublegal, were in the mix as well.
Willy G.
Yankee Fleet