June 24 to June 29

By tomconley

Last week’s big blow stirred up the fishing grounds initially, and on the first trip after the storm last Wednesday, Capt. Josh reported that all of the locations which had been producing a good bite of haddock offered only a slow pick of the silver ones and a handful of cusk. Since then, however, he, along with Capts. Kirk and Pete, have relocated the schools of haddock and have been enjoying fair to good fishing on them with cusk and market cod mixed in too. Some racer pollock have recently joined the party as well.

Fishing with clams is still the best bet in regard to putting good numbers of haddock in the boat, but jiggers have been getting the better-quality cod and pollock. And a slow jigging technique interspersed with the tried-and-true “haddock wobble,” when the angler simply jiggles the rod tip to make the jig and teaser twitch on the bottom, has been producing its share of nice haddock as well.

As I mentioned, last Wednesday’s trip aboard the Yankee Clipper produced only a slow pick of haddock. Thursday’s 5-5 trip on the Clipper was generally more of the same, although they did get into some nice market cod as well as a 31-pound steaker that inhaled a jig and took pool honors.

The fishing was better on Friday, both for the all-day trip on the Yankee Patriot, with Capt. Kirk in the wheelhouse, and for the charter aboard the Yankee Clipper run by Capt. Josh. Both captains reported fair fishing for haddock on bait, mostly on the anchor. Jiggers had some better cod but also had to weed through numerous short fish in order to capture a keeper.

Saturday was slower on the all-day trips aboard both the Yankee Clipper and the Patriot, mainly because of the strong tidal current and the inability of anglers to maintain contact with the bottom. I was aboard the Clipper, and the fish were definitely willing to bite in the deeper water (I had 4 haddock and a decent pollock in five casts at one point), but conditions were difficult and as a result the fishing was just fair as a whole, a grinding pick on haddock with the occasional cusk or pollock mixed in. I ended up with half a dozen haddock, a handful of cusk, and a stray pollock. Dogfish (pregnant females) were present but manageable.

I decided to jump on Saturday’s Half-day trip on the Clipper as well, and despite being close to home we enjoyed good haddock fishing on the anchor—better, in fact, than it had been during the all-day trip! Many nice haddock came over the rails as well as a few cusk and scrod-sized codfish.

Capt. Pete Mondello took the Yankee Clipper on Sunday, and reports fair to good haddock fishing, with a steady pick at each anchor stop and the occasional flurry during which 8-10 fish would come up at once. Some cusk, pollock, and a handful of keeper cod were mixed in as well.

Once again on Monday, it was Capt. Pete aboard the Yankee Clipper, and he reports a good day of haddock fishing in somewhat deeper water. Favorable conditions and proficient anglers allowed them to effectively fish the deeper water that had been difficult to probe over the weekend due to the strong tide and inexperienced anglers. Some cod, pollock, and cusk spiced the catch.

Overall, it looks like the grounds have settled into the typical summer pattern, offering pretty reliable haddock fishing on bait each day. Dogfish have not been too big of an issue, and we can only hope it remains that way. And you never know when the boat might drift across a patch of market cod or pollock and provide some extra excitement.

Willy G