June 7

By tomconley

6/5:
Capt. Josh had the all-day trip on the Yankee Clipper today. The fishing was good overall, although the morning started off fairly slow with just a pick on haddock, both while drifting and on the anchor. After one stop produced only small cod and dogfish, Josh had seen enough and made a three-mile steam before dropping the hook. It was a good move! They sat on that spot for the last two hours and fifteen minutes of the trip, enjoying a good pick on mostly haddock. Jig fishermen caught some haddock and a couple of keeper cod, but bait definitely had the edge and most anglers had converted to fishing the clam by day’s end. Dogfish were present, but the anglers who followed the crew’s advice and fished only a single hook rigged close to the sinker avoided most of the marauding squalids and culled out the haddock. Those who fished with two hooks, or with one hook more than a foot off the bottom, had to weed through numerous dogfish before connecting with a haddock. The mates are out there every day—listen to what they have to say and odds are you’ll catch more fish! A 15-pound wolffish, one of three wolffish caught at the day’s first stop, won the pool.

6/6:
I decided to take a quick trip back from Woods Hole and go on the all-day trip aboard the Yankee Clipper, with Capt. Smitty running the boat. The day started off right–one drop over the side with a clam belly at the dock and one 20-pound striper! Released, of course .The morning started off a bit rough, with a two-foot chop snapping over four-foot easterly swell. The northeast wind abated and seas calmed throughout the day but we were still obliged to anchor for the entire trip. The first stop offered only a slow pick of haddock on bait, with perhaps 8-10 coming up in the half-hour that we spent there. I managed five short cod and a cusk (first of the year!), but all except the cusk were snagged. It was more of the same for the second and third spots: a slow pick on haddock for the bait dunkers and an assortment of small cod and cusk for the jiggers. There were some dogs around for the bait guys and I also managed to snag one on the jig, but they were by no means overwhelming. Spot four made the trip. We stayed there for the last hour and fifteen minutes of the day, enjoying a steady pick on a variety of groundfish with some good haddock flurries thrown in. Bait guys did well on the haddock while jiggers caught haddock, cusk, some pollock, and a handful of nice codfish, including the pool-winning 23-pounder. A couple of 6-10-pound wolffish made it on deck as well. Personally, it was fish-a-cast action with small cod, pollock, haddock, and one market cod of about 11 pounds. I think I managed 5 pollock, 4 haddock and the one cod at this spot, and also dropped two nice haddock on the surface. It happens! I should note that most of the haddock caught today were really good-sized ones, 20 inches or better, with many over 5 pounds. Overall, Smitty called the trip fair: a slow pick for the first three stops but a good bite at the final stop to make up for the slow morning.

Aboard the Yankee Patriot, Capt. Kirk began the day with similar slow action to what we experienced on the Clipper. The first few anchor stops found only short cod and a couple of haddock. Kirk shifted to the south and found a school of haddock that were willing to bite just before the tide changed. The haddock chewed on clams but the jig guys had some nice keeper codfish as well. The bite tapered off at slack tide, and Kirk motor-fished for a bit but only with fair results. Toward the end of the day, the bite pretty much died and they only managed to scrape up a few more haddock while drifting before calling it a day. As with our trip on the Clipper, one good anchor stop made the trip and the fishing overall was fair. A 12-pound cod took pool honors.

I have not yet had a chance to speak with Capt. Dave, who ran the Yankee Freedom for the all-day trip today, but according to Smitty and Kirk, it sounds like he had a similarly fair day of fishing, with haddock and cusk making up the majority of landings.

I also jumped on the half-day charter aboard the Yankee Clipper in the afternoon, with Capt. Josh in the wheelhouse. Dave MacDonald (redfish69) had organized the charter and was kind enough to invite me to tag along. The fishing was quite good by half-day standards. We made three stops. The first yielded a pile of short cod and a handful of nice haddock; I had 2 haddock and a half-dozen or so little codfish here. The second stop was the best of the trip—a steady pick of haddock with a LOT of redfish thrown in. No haddies for me there but I did catch around 7 or 8 redfish. The last stop was just a slow pick on haddock with some more redfish. But overall, a very fun, action-packed two hours of fishing—kudos to Capt. Josh for making it happen with such limited time! Thanks for the invite Dave!

6/7:
There were two all-day trips today: Capt. Smitty ran the Yankee Clipper, while Capt. Ray took the Yankee Patriot. Sounds like it was a pretty slow day aboard the Clipper. Said Smitty, “The day went just like yesterday, but without the good anchor stop at the end!” Just a slow pick on haddock and cusk, mostly on bait, although a dozen or so nice 8-14-pound cod and maybe twenty 4-8-pound pollock were caught on jigs as well. There were a lot of regular jig fishermen on the boat today, but many of them were out-fished by those with rental rods and clams—definitely a bait day! A 20-pound wolffish took pool honors. I didn’t get a chance to talk with Capt. Ray directly, but word has it that the Patriot also had a slow day out there, with just a pick on haddock and some cusk.