6/30-7/6 Reports

By tomconley

With the exception of last Friday’s (7/3) trip aboard the Yankee Clipper, which produced only a slow pick of haddock, short cod, and cusk, over the past week Capts. Josh, Kirk, Smitty and Pete report fair to good haddock fishing on the anchor. High hooks have had ten-plus haddock per trip, with some cod, cusk, and the occasional pollock or wolffish thrown in too. Lots of hour-plus anchor stops that start with a good flurry of haddock, cusk, and maybe a few cod and then settle into a steady pick with two or three fish on at a time.

The dogs have arrived and have been a nuisance at times, but have so far been pretty manageable—it seems to take them at least a half-hour after anchoring to follow the clam scent trail to the boat and onto anglers’ hooks. Bait fishermen who use a small piece of clam on a single hook just above the sinker have been doing quite well on the haddock while mostly avoiding the dogfish. Jiggers have been taking some haddock as well as cusk, pollock, and the occasional keeper codfish, but it sounds like bait is the way to go for quantity at the moment. There do, however, seem to be some better codfish in the mix, with a handful of fish in the 25-pound range having been jigged up over the past few days.