By tomconley
Hi all,
Sorry for the lack of reports over the past few weeks—have been busy moving out of Woods Hole, a quick fishing trip to Florida, and now moving back into the dorms for the fall semester. Here’s a run-through of what the guys have been doing since last Tuesday the 18th.
8/18: Capt. Tom O. himself ran the Yankee Clipper’s limited-load trip last Tuesday, but reports a slow day of fishing. The weather was perfect, but the fish just weren’t in the mood. Just a slow pick of cusk and a handful of haddock.
Capt. Kirk, who had a charter on the Yankee Patriot, reports similar results. Not a lot going on, with some cusk, haddock, and a couple of codfish coming aboard.
8/19: Capt. Kirk ran Wednesday’s day trip aboard the Yankee Patriot, and reports much better action than the previous day, with good fishing on mostly haddock with cod to 14 pounds and a few pollock to 15 pounds mixed in as well. They enjoyed steady action all day with some solid flurries of haddock punctuating the day. A beautiful 24-pound wolfish that swallowed a hunk of clam took pool honors.
8/20: Capt. Josh had the wheel for the Super Thursday trip on the Yankee Clipper, and called the day fair to good. The fish were mainly biting the clams rather than jigs, and catches were well-spread around the bait, with a number of anglers tallying 10-12 legal fish by day’s end. Large haddock, market cod to 17 pounds (the pool winner), and a handful of pollock constituted the catch. The bite was best on the anchor in the morning, but they caught fish while drifting in the afternoon as well.
8/21: Capt. Kirk had the day trip on the Yankee Patriot on Friday, and reports a good day of fishing despite difficult conditions. The wind blew 25 knots out of the southwest, so they anchored all day, catching mostly haddock with a few cod and large cusk mixed in. In fact, a big cusk of about 12 pounds took the pool. The dogfish were pretty thick but the good amount of haddock mixed in with them made weeding through them worthwhile.
Capt. Josh led the charge on a charter aboard the Yankee Clipper, and reports that the fishing was slow in the morning, where the fishing had been good on the marathon yesterday. After catching just a few haddock and cusk they shifted to some hard bottom where they found a steady to good pick on some haddock, but tide-versus-wind conditions made fishing effectively difficult. Their best bite occurred in the afternoon just after slack tide. A fair day overall, he said, with slow fishing to start in the morning and a fair to good bite for the last two thirds of the trip.
8/22: On the Yankee Patriot, Capt. Kirk reports a good day of angling. Dogs weren’t too bad, the haddock bit pretty well with some cod and cusk mixed in, and a 12-pound cod took pool honors. They anchored all day, and bait seemed to produce better on the groundfish than the jigs even though it attracted more dogfish as well.
Josh reports a fair to good day on the Yankee Clipper. They made five anchor stops, with some better than others, catching a mix of cod and haddock, with more keeper cod than he’s been seeing recently. A 12-pound cod won the pool. Jigs and bait were more-or-less equally effective.
8/23: All trips were canceled Sunday due to Tropical Storm Bill.
8/24: Capt. Josh ran the Yankee Clipper today, and reports a fair day of fishing. They had a couple of slow stops to start off, then made a shift and found a steady pick of cod to 18 pounds, cusk, haddock, and a brief pollock blitz of 8-14-pound specimens. The 18-pound cod took pool honors.
8/25:
There were two limited-load trips on Tuesday. Aboard the Yankee Clipper, Josh reports another fair day. After a few slow stops, they moved to some deeper water, where Josh located a large sign of pollock. However, the fish seemed finicky and anglers only boated a handful of them. Hopefully those fish will turn on soon and provide some fast, exciting action for the jig fishermen. Since the pollock didn’t pan out Josh made another shift and picked away at cusk and haddock to finish out the day.
On the Yankee Patriot, Kirk, sailing with a light load, reports a very good day of fishing. Drifting all day, they had a good pick of haddock with some market cod and cusk mixed in. Jigs and bait both produced, although jigs caught most of the better-sized cod, including the pool-winning 15-pounder.
8/26: Kirk ran Wednesday’s day trip on the Yankee Patriot, reporting fair to good fishing overall. The first anchor stop was very good, with anglers putting dozens of nice haddock in the boat during their two hours there. Once the bite petered out, Kirk made a short shift but found only a slow pick on haddock with a pile of dogfish mixed in, a surprise because there had been almost no dogs at the first stop. The third anchor stop offered more of the same, with some haddock but lots of dogs too. Conditions made fishing difficult during the second half of the day, when the wind hauled out of the southwest at 25 knots and the boat began to swing on the anchor in choppy 3-5-foot seas. An 11-pound cod won the pool.
Capt. Josh had a charter on the Yankee Clipper, and reports a fair day of haddock fishing despite the mostly inexperienced angling crew on board. Cusk and a couple of nice cod in the 8-14-pound range were mixed in too.
8/27:
Capt. Josh reports a good day of fishing on the Super Thursday trip on the Yankee Clipper. The pollock bit fairly well in the morning, although they were concentrated in small areas and would only eat a jig twitched slowly right on the bottom. After moving off the pollock, they had a steady bait bite on haddock with some codfish to 20 pounds mixed in too. Many anglers had upwards of ten legal fish by day’s end. A 20-pound cod won the pool.
8/28: Capt. Josh ran the day trip aboard the Yankee Clipper yesterday and reports a fair day, with some anglers catching over a dozen keepers while others had only two or three. They began in the morning by looking for the pollock, but they once again proved quite finicky, although a handful of them including the 16-pound pool-winner did succumb to jigs. After targeting the pollock, anglers picked away at haddock, cusk, and cod for the remainder of the day, despite a ripping tide that made tending bottom difficult.
8/29: All trips were canceled today due to weather.
Willy
By tomconley
We had some great fishing this past week. We were able to sneak Saturday in before Hurricane Bill got here and the fishing was on the slow side. Monday after the high seas, the fishing turned around. There was an even catch of cod and haddock. Both bait and jigs were working well. There was even a big cusk bite.
Half day fishing has continued to produce some nice fish. Haddock and some big redfish being the most abundant. Capt. Dave had to run from the dogfish a couple days but managed to put some fish on the boat.
Our half day fishing trips will be running on weekend afternoons after Labor Day. We will also run a few morning half day trips. Call our reservationists for details.
All day fishing will continue to run 7 days a week at 7am and weekends at 6am and 7am. To assure you are not left on the dock please call and make reservations. Reservations can be made online or by calling 800-942-5464
Our pool winners this week were
Felipe Martinez - Everett, MA - 12 lb Pollock - Bait - Clipper
Jack Drinkwater - Wakefield, MA - 15 lb Cod - Jig - Patriot
Rick Luongo - Walpole, MA - 13 lb Cod - Bait – Patriot
Randy Krueger - Watertown, MA - 15 lb Pollock - Jig - Clipper
James Walker - Danvers, MA - 10 lb Haddock - Bait - Patriot
Nick Messienese - Stow, MA - 20 lb Cod - Jig - Clipper
By tomconley
Right you are, Kevin…Right you are 
.
Here are the reports from 8/14-8:17
8/14:
Capt. Smitty had the open trip on the Yankee Clipper today. He steamed back to the same area where Josh had enjoyed good success on Thursday, but found only a pick of haddock and large cusk. They made a shift of a few miles in the late morning, where they found some better quality fish, especially for the jig fishermen, but just not enough of them. Anglers picked away at haddock, nice-sized cod from 10-23 pounds (the pool winner), and medium pollock in the 12-15-pound range. However, the bite never really got going; the quality was there, but not the quantity. Smitty dubbed the trip fair overall.
Capt. Kirk had a charter on the Yankee Patriot, and reports a fair to good day. They started off with good action on keeper cod, haddock, and large cusk before settling into a steady pick on haddock and cusk for the remainder of the day. Not a bang-up trip for sure, but there seemed to be a fish or two coming up around the boat at all times.
8/15: —————————————————————–
At the last minute, my father and I decided to jump aboard the Yankee Clipper, with Capt. Smitty at the helm. My dad fishes with me only once a year, and we were running out of time before I head back to school, so we decided that Saturday would be the day.
It’s hard to imagine how the day could have been any more perfect.
The weather was spectacular: flat calm, sunny skies, and comfortable temperatures. And the fishing, to be frank, was positively savage.
We began drifting at about 8:15, and I spent the first couple of minutes giving my dad a refresher course on how to jig up in the pulpit. While I was showing him the proper technique, I hooked a fish and passed it off to him. From then on, it seemed that at least one of us would have a fish on for the remainder of the trip.
As he cranked to the surface, I heard him grunting and groaning (“Man it’s deep, my wrists are killing me!”)—the guy is 69, after all—but after a little while we saw color: a 20-inch codfish. It was one of only four or five short codfish we’d catch between us over the course of the day.
I took a cast, and on my first jig stroke stuck a haddock on the teaser. Dad flopped out his 12 oz Lavjig and promptly hooked a 26-inch cod. He finally got in a comfortable position in the pulpit and was able to crank without his arthritic wrists giving him too much trouble—although he did continue to lament the anchor chain that “prevented [him] from setting his feet.” This, he insisted, was why he kept dropping so many of the fish he hooked.
After a bit of skill-honing, the old man was in fine form—good jig stroke, slow, steady cranking, and even hand-over-handing haddock into the boat without calling for the gaff. He even snared a few haddock and keeper cod employing the time-tested “haddock wobble.” 
As Dad continued to perfect his technique—catching a fish every time he dropped down, mind you—I was busy doing some damage of my own on the port side of the pulpit. My second cast found me fast to a fat 19-pound codfish; my third, a small market cod. This fish-a-cast silliness continued…and continued. I’d swing a haddock over the rail; Dad would call for the gaff on a 10-pound cod. The action would taper off briefly—by which I mean I’d jig for a minute or two before hooking up—before picking right back up again.
Smitty never moved the boat. He never needed to. Our day consisted of one 4-hour and fifteen-minute-long drift, and we caught fish the whole time. So did everyone else: 60% haddock, 30% cod, and 10% cusk—mostly “large bolognas,” mind you. No pollock. But all quality; as I mentioned, you could count the number of short cod we caught on one hand. I captured my token doggie on the jig, but they were virtually nonexistent. A large blue shark terrorized us for a few minutes early on, but subsequently disappeared. The drift was easy, tangles were minimal, and the fish were hungry.
And we continued to catch. Dad, softy that he is, began feeling bad that he was killing so many fish. After all, for a guy who goes out once a year, who knows? Maybe they catch ‘em like this every day! Despite my—and mate Dave’s and Smitty’s—insistence that this was a very special day and that the haddock biomass is the highest it’s been in 40 years, he released a few cod back to the ocean alive, watching them for a few moments after dropping them into the sea to make sure they swam down. I followed suit, although since most of the keepers we caught were haddock, they found their way into various burlap sacks lining the deck. 
By 11:30, Dad’s arms had had enough, and he was hungry. Plus, he wanted to try to get cell phone reception on the upper deck since he was on call and needed to make sure that “none of [his] patients [were] dying.” 
Of course, there was no reception, and we were later relieved to discover that nobody did in fact die on his watch…
He went to get a cheeseburger and Heineken from galley cook Jay, while I continued to do my thing. It was more of the same, and I captured a white hake and a 17-pound cod in addition to the take of small market cod, haddock, and cusk. I had two fishless casts all day.
By 12:30, we were done. And everyone was okay with that. I kept a running tally of the fish that Dad and I captured, and it went something like this: 26 haddock, 13 keeper cod, 13 cusk, and one white hake. And to top it all off, the old guy managed to take the pool with a 12-pound cod! Not bad for someone who does this once a year, eh?
Overall, I’d deem the day excellent. So did Smitty and just about everyone else on board. I’m not sure how it could have been any more so. The only bad thing about it is that now my father might expect that kind of action on every trip he goes on! Thanks for a good time, Pop.
———————————————————————-
Capt. Bill Muise, filling in for Capt. Kirk, ran the Yankee Patriot on Saturday, and tried out a different area. Unfortunately, the fishing was on the slow to fair side, just a grinding pick of haddock and cusk with a few keeper codfish mixed in. They drifted all day and anglers put the effort in, but the fish just weren’t in the mood, it seems.
8/16: On the Yankee Clipper, Capt. Ray enjoyed a good day of fishing, heading back to the same area where Smitty had enjoyed his success yesterday. The bite started off with two long, productive drifts on mostly haddock and cusk, with some cod mixed in. It never got hot and heavy but there were always a few fish coming up with the occasional haddock flurry as well. The third and final drift was not as productive as the first two, but by that time most people had more than enough fish to go home with anyway.
Capt. Smitty ran the Yankee Patriot yesterday and reports that the fishing was just fair. Just a pick of haddock and cusk for most of the day. Evidently, the bite was early on Sunday, and by the time the Patriot (the 7AM boat) got to the area where Ray was fishing, the bite had already begun to taper off. So it goes!
8/17: Capt. Kirk, on his first trip as the man in the wheelhouse aboard the Yankee Clipper, reports a fair to good day of fishing today. Mostly haddock and cod to 14 pounds, with only a handful of cusk mixed in. Dogfish were once again quite manageable; let’s hope that trend continues!
Willy
By tomconley
Saturday on the Yankee Patriot revealed a very slow pick with bait. The fish were not interested in the jig that day but I managed to persuade a few into the cooler nonetheless. Captain Bill did a great job filling in for Captain Kirk but despite drifting, anchoring and moving to multiple new spots, the fish didn’t want to cooperate and the overall fish count was low. Regardless, it was a beautiful day and everybody had a great time. A legal sized cod won the pool.
I don’t know if it was the different area Captain Smitty chose for the Yankee Clipper on Saturday but it sounds as though the Clipper was the boat to be on that day. Yes, GloucesterToo, Willy’s Saturday with his Dad sounded fabulous. Willy’s usual enthusiastic report is as follows:
“My father and I experienced absolute carnage on Saturday–one 4 hour and fifteen minute long drift was the day! After I gave him a refresher course on how to jig, it was on! Between the two of us, we tallied 26 haddock, 13 keeper cod, 13 cusk and one white hake–gave most away and threw back a handful of keeper cod. I had two nice markets of 18 pounds apiece, and the old man won the pool with a 12 pounder! Not bad!”
Willy has a way with words. My reports sound boring in comparison.
As for Sunday, My husband and I boarded the Yankee Clipper with Captain Ray. We drifted and ended up moving 3 times. Each time we had a slow but steady pick that would die off too quickly. Majority of fish were caught on bait. Mates Dave, Dave Jr, and Anthony tallied 124 haddock at the end of the day. A few keeper cod and multiple cusk were also taken. I even managed to jig up a small wolf, cutter and a flounder. Only one baby pollock on the entire boat. Talk about different species! A legal sized cod took the pool.
As for the Sunday Yankee Patriot with Captain Smitty, Mates George, Greg and Gina stated about 60 fish were taken by about 40 anglers. Again, a keeper cod won pool honors.
Back to work for me until my next fishing trip 2 weeks from now. I’m sure Willy will be back to his descriptive fish reports next week.
See ya out on the water!
Loretta
By tomconley
Took the Saturday 1/2 day overload boat at 4:30pm, perfect weather, limited to 30 people on the Patriot, plenty of room, good fun. Capt Tom had the duty, and a couple rookie deck hands, as I guess this boat was added at the last minute.
Anyway, it was non stop action, dog fish everywhere, somehow, I snuck in 3 sub legal cod, a whiting, a redfish, and only 1 dogfish. Eventully, we did see a few haddock come over the rail. Capt Tom was running around, doing the anchor, undoing tangles and releasing dog’s. I decided that my services were best served giving him a hand re tying lines, releasing dogfish, and helping young kids use the equipment. It was too perfect a night weatherwise to not enjoy myself, and so many kids having such a good time, it was worth it. Great Gloucester sunset concluded the trip. Great people there in Glousta.
Redfish69
By tomconley
Over the past few days, more and more hard-pulling pollock have been coming over the rails of the Yankee Clipper and Yankee Patriot, most of which are in the 8-15-pound range. White hake have made a showing on some trips as well, with some weighing more than 25 pounds. Fall can’t be far away! The haddock bite continues to be good overall, with some days better than others, with plenty of cusk and cod mixed in too.
8/8:
I boarded the Yankee Clipper with Capt. Josh on Saturday morning for my buck-a-fish rubber match with Dave Sullivan. Tied at one victory apiece, we agreed that after this final day of friendly competition we’d call a ceasefire. Egos must be preserved somehow! 
The fishing was good overall, with a mixed bag of cod, pollock, haddock and a few cusk spread around the boat. We began with two productive anchor stops that yielded a good number of haddock for the bait anglers and a mix of good-sized pollock, cod to 14 pounds, and haddock for the jig fishermen. In the late morning, conditions were such that we were able to drift, which further boosted the take. Dogs were all but absent, and there weren’t many short fish either, meaning that most fish hooked went into the bags. Pollock were present at every stop but weren’t really chewing—I hooked most of the ones I caught doing the “haddock wobble” rather than squidding or jigging as I normally would for pollock. It must have been pretty funny to watch me twitch the rod tip looking for a haddock bump and then get slammed by a pollock!
Fittingly, Dave and I tied in our final day of competition, each tallying eleven legal fish. Both of us had five or six 8-14-pound pollock, plus three or four haddock and two or three codfish. The pollock were spitting up peanut bunker, and I caught a couple of squid jigging as well; the bait’s there! A 17-pound pollock took pool honors.
Over on the Yankee Patriot, Capt. Kirk reports a fair day of angling overall. Dogs weren’t an issue; they just couldn’t get a good bite going for much of the day. A mix of cusk and haddock on the drift made up the catch, with a handful of codfish including the 10-pound pool winner.
8/9: I once again was aboard the Yankee Clipper with Capt. Josh, and enjoyed another good day of fishing. The bite was definitely better today than yesterday, but difficult drifting conditions made tending bottom tough for less-experienced anglers. The day consisted of two long drifts and one anchor stop to close out the day. The second drift was the best stop of the day—2 hours long with a good pick on a mixed bag of cod, pollock, haddock and big cusk in the 6-10-pound range. More short cod today than yesterday made for fish-a-cast action for most of the day for those jigging. At times, it was all big haddock; at others, a pile of 6-10-pound codfish would come to the surface. Bait and jigs both took fish; bait may have taken more haddock, but jigs took the better-quality cod and pollock. Dogs were once again not an issue, although a medium-sized blue shark did harass anglers bringing fish to the surface for part of the day, although I never saw the beast actually get a hold of anything.
Unlike yesterday, when the catch was more-or-less spread around the boat, today, some anglers did far better than others. Some had only a few fish by day’s end, while some had very good or even excellent days. Jigging an eight-ounce Angerman jig in the pulpit, I had one of my best day trips of the summer, tallying 8 haddock, 7 cod from 24 inches to 8 pounds, 4 nice pollock, and three 6-10-pound cusk. Once again, I caught two squid on the jig, which were promptly converted into a gaggle of keeper cod and haddock by the bait anglers . A 20-pound jig-caught wolfish won the pool.
8/10:
Capt. Josh reports a fair to good day on Monday’s day trip on the Yankee Clipper. The drift, like yesterday, was difficult at times but was the best option given the area they were fishing, and those who put in the time and effort walked off the boat with a hefty bag of fillets. Capable jig fishermen did best, each putting upwards of a dozen fish—a mix of big pollock, haddock, and cusk—in the boat. Josh remarked that while it was a fair to good day overall, for those jiggers who could cast and tend bottom the action was very good. In addition to pollock, haddock, and cusk, a handful of good-sized white hake came aboard as well, including the 26-pound pool-winner that gobbled a wad of clam.
8/11: There were two limited-load trips today. On the Yankee Patriot, Capt. Kirk reports a fair day, a steady grinding pick mostly of haddock and cusk, with a few cod mixed in too. Dogs weren’t an issue, but the groundfish weren’t really biting either. A 12-pound cusk won the pool.
On the Yankee Clipper, Capt. Josh offered a similar report, a slow-to-fair day with a mix of cod, pollock, haddock, cusk, and white hake constituting the catch. The anglers on board were generally inexperienced but listened intently to the advice of Josh and mates Dave and Ross, and their effort helped to make the best of a day on which the bite wasn’t really happening. Nobody jigged today, and I wonder how a jigger might have fared given the fair number of pollock and cod to 15-pounds that succumbed to the clams. Like the past few days, the number of fish on board wasn’t notable but the quality was good
, with lots of five-pound-plus haddock, cod and pollock from 8-15-pounds, and white hake to 28 pounds (the pool winner).
8/12: Capt Kirk ran Wednesday’s day trip on the Yankee Patriot, and reports another fair day. They had a decent pick on the anchor in the early going, but then the tide began to churn and anglers had a tough time staying on the bottom, which in turn called in the dogfish. It was the worst showing of dogs Kirk had seen in the past week, and hopefully it’s a passing phenomenon! A 10-pound cod won the pool.
8/13: Capt. Josh sounded pretty enthusiastic today as he reported a good to very good day on the Super Thursday trip aboard the Yankee Clipper. A light load of anglers, using a mix of jigs and bait, put a mixed bag of cod, pollock and haddock in the boat; no cusk or hake today. Dogfish were nonexistent—Josh gave a count of three! Lots of quality cod and pollock from 10-15 pounds as well.
—– Willy
By Bill C
The fishing remains very steady. The Haddock bite continues to be strong. We had a couple nice Hake in the upper 20lb range this week. A few bigger Pollock were also landed. The bait fishermen are still out doing the jig fisherman, however, the bigger fish all seem to be on the jig.
Our half day fishing trips have been very successful the last couple weeks. Trying to stay away from the Dogfish can be a challenge. The Haddock and Red Fish are making for some great dinners.
Fishing was a bit tough on our last off shore trip. The Guy’s and Gal’s that worked hard did pretty well. The fish weren’t jumping on the hooks.
Our top dogs for the week were. Woojin Lee of Gloucester 25lb Pollock. Carlos Cositlas of West Springfield 26lb Hake. Howie (high hook) Hill of West Roxbury 10lb Cod. Richard Ferro of Worcester 21lb Cod. Peter Reed of Duxbury 28lb cod. Mark Paul of Lynn 28lb Hake. Jack Drinkwater 10lb Cod. Tim Ryan of Lynn 17lb Cod. Alex Bratiotis of Millbury Ma. 26lb Ocean Catfish.
Reminder, we have a Blue fishing trip scheduled tomorrow, 8/14 at 7pm. Come on and have some fun!
For information on all of our trips. Book online or call us at 800- 942-5464 Reservations are suggested. Please leave yourself enough time to deal with Summer traffic delays.
By tomconley
The action this week has been somewhat inconsistent, and it’s been tough to string together a set of good days after a great last week of July. The combination of the full moon tide and the attack of the dogfish has made for tough conditions. Still, Capts. Josh, Kirk, Smitty and Ray have been able to locate good concentrations of haddock with some more cod, pollock and cusk mixed in too. The end of the week found better fishing which will hopefully carry through the weekend.
8/2: On the Yankee Clipper, Capt. Smitty reports that the dogs were positively savage on Sunday—he estimates that 325 of them were brought over the rails by the light load of anglers on board! Compounding the issue was the fact that the desirable groundfish didn’t seem to have interest in jigs but only wanted bait, further upping the take of dogs. But anglers weeded through the spiny ones and managed to put together a decent catch, mostly of haddock with a handful of cusk, cod, and pollock thrown in too. A 15-pound cod won the pool. High hooks had seven or eight fish apiece.
I was unable to make contact with Capt. Ray, who ran the Yankee Patriot on Sunday, but Tom Orell tells me that anglers were plagued by dogfish at first but then got into the pollock hot and heavy at the end of the day, with good-sized specimens in the 10-15-pound range jumping on the jigs. A good day overall, with a 22-pound pollock taking the pool.
8/3: Capt. Josh, sailing with about 20 anglers, reports a fair to good day of drift fishing on the Yankee Clipper. Those who worked hard to tend bottom with either bait or jigs and who weren’t deterred by the numerous dogfish put together a catch of 10-12 desirable groundfish by day’s end. Once again, haddock constituted the majority of the catch, with a handful of cod and pollock mixed in too. Dogs were once again a nuisance, and Josh remarked that the take could have been much higher had the dogs not been so ubiquitous.
8/4:
Two limited-load trips sailed on Tuesday, one on the Yankee Clipper with Capt. Josh and one on the Yankee Patriot with Capt. Kirk. Capt. Josh reports a slow to fair day. The morning started off with just a slow pick of haddock and cusk despite good conditions that allowed him to drift. Dissatisfied, he made a four-mile steam in the late morning and found much better haddock fishing, a steady pick on the drift with some cod, cusk, and a handful of wolfish, including the pool-winning 12-pounder, mixed in.
On the Patriot, Kirk also reports a slow to fair day, but with decent fishing in the morning followed by a slow pick in the afternoon. Like the Clipper, they drifted all day under good conditions, but the bite never really got going; just a grinding pick on haddock, cusk, a few pollock and the pool-winning 15-pound codfish.
8/5:
Sailing with a light load, Capt. Kirk reports a good day overall aboard the Yankee Patriot. The day started off slow, with a strong southwest wind running into a hard tide, making for challenging conditions and just a slow pick of haddock on the anchor. The noontime tide change, however, sparked a good afternoon bite for the last two stops of the trip. In fact, they caught the majority of the fish for the entire trip on the last anchor stop, enjoying a solid flurry of haddock with some cusk and cod mixed in. A 10-pound cod that took a jig won the pool. Dogs were manageable for the whole day, a refreshing respite from the onslaught.
8/6:
Capt. Josh reports a good day of angling on the Super Thursday trip aboard the Yankee Clipper, fishing somewhat deeper water outside of day trip range. Anglers captured a mixed bag of groundfish, with haddock, cusk, cod and pollock all making a strong showing. Jigs proved most effective and also avoided the dogfish, which while not unbearable were somewhat troublesome for the clam dunkers.
8/7:
Capt. Kirk reports that, despite challenging conditions in the morning, the fishing was good overall on the Yankee Patriot today. A stiff twenty-knot northwest breeze blowing directly into the tide stacked up the seas and made the boat sit side-to on the anchor for the first two stops. Nevertheless, the fish, mostly haddock, were down there to be caught for those who could keep their bait or jig in the strike zone. Some nice codfish were mixed in too, including the pool-winning 18-pounder and a handful of other market-sized fish. As the wind died in the late morning, the fishing seemed to taper off as well, and anglers experienced a grinding pick through the early afternoon, with a fish or two on at all times.
I’ll be out tomorrow with Capt. Josh on the Clipper—look for a detailed report in the evening!
Tight lines,
Willy.
Yankee Fishing Fleet
Since 1944
www.yankeefleet.com
800-942-5464
By tomconley
It’s been an exciting and productive week out on the grounds, according to Capts. Josh and Kirk. A big push of haddock combined with diminished harassment by dogfish set the stage for a string of solid days of fishing aboard the Yankee Clipper and Patriot. After a decent weekend, nearly every trip this week has offered good action on a variety of groundfish. The haddock have been smacking both bait and jigs, with a smattering of small market cod, pollock to 15 pounds, and large cusk in the mix as well. Let’s get right to it:
Saturday, 7/25:
Capt. Josh reports a fair day of angling aboard the Yankee Clipper today. The morning started off with fast action on the drift, with the majority of the day’s fish coming aboard in the first hour and a half. Mostly haddock, with a handful of small market cod, including the 12-pound pool-winner, coming aboard as well. After that, however, the tide picked up, they were forced to anchor, and the bite tapered off substantially, with dogfish taking over and making effective fishing a challenging task. Jigs took some haddock and most of the cod, with bait catching more haddock but also nearly all the dogfish.
Over on the Yankee Patriot, Capt. Kirk enjoyed better success, reporting a good day overall. He was able to drift all day, with dogfish ever present but never to the extent experienced aboard the Clipper. Bait was the way to go, capturing most of the haddock, which constituted the majority of the keepers landed, as well as the 26-pound steaker codfish that took pool honors.
7/26:
Capt. Josh ran the all-day trip aboard the Yankee Clipper, calling it fair to good as a whole. The first couple of anchor stops in the morning offered a steady pick on cod, haddock, and a few 5-8-pound pollock—they caught what was there and then the action would taper off. Later in the morning, they made a shift into some deeper water, where they first had a pick of short and keeper codfish but later found a good bite on the haddock as well as a few flurries of pollock. As usual, Dave Sullivan was high hook with around a dozen pollock plus a smattering of cod and haddock, and he also won yet another pool with a 15.5-pound pollock.
7/27:
An enthusiastic Capt. Kirk called in to report an excellent day of haddock fishing aboard the Yankee Patriot on Monday. The light load of anglers enjoyed a steady pick on the anchor in the morning before experiencing a wide-open bite on haddock as well as some small market cod and cusk during three long drifts in the afternoon. High hooks had in excess of 20 keepers, mostly haddock, with anglers around the boat averaging ten haddock apiece! The pool was a burly 14-pound cusk. Dogs were manageable, with only a few dozen coming up over the course of the day. A great day in all regards!
7/28: Running the show for the limited-load trip on the Yankee Clipper, Capt. Josh reports that the fishing was just fair in the morning, when they made a mix of anchor stops and drifts that produced a grinding pick of haddock and some keeper codfish. An hour and a half-long drift in the afternoon, however, made the trip. Anglers enjoyed good action on haddock, cusk, cod to 14 pounds, a handful of pollock, and a couple of wolfish including the 18-pound pool winner. Overall, Josh deemed the day fair to good as a whole, with a fair start but a good to very good final drift to finish off the outing.
7/29: Capt. Kirk reports a good day overall on the all-day trip aboard the Yankee Patriot. Anglers experienced a steady pick all day on a mix of haddock, scrod-sized cod, and cusk, with a 10-pound cusk edging out a couple of cod to take pool honors. Bait seemed to be the ticket today; the doggies weren’t out in force today, allowing anglers to effectively fish the clam on the bottom for desirable groundfish.
7/30: Sailing with a light load of anglers, Capt. Josh reports good fishing on this week’s Super Thursday trip on the Yankee Clipper. Almost all anglers were jigging, and they started the day with fast, fish-a-cast action on cod, pollock, and haddock. Pollock actually constituted the majority of the legal fish during the morning. The short: keeper ratio on the cod was about 3:1. The few anglers fishing bait managed to catch a pile of haddock as well, since the dogs were not that bad—some had as many as ten haddock by day’s end. After noon, the bite in the area they’d been fishing tapered off, and Josh steamed off in search of new meat. The final drifts of the day offered a steady pick on mostly haddock with a few cod thrown in, with a fish or two coming up at all times.
7/31:
Fair to good haddock fishing was the order of the day aboard the Yankee Patriot Friday, according to Capt. Kirk. A steady grinding pick on the silver ones with the occasional cusk or pollock spicing it up. It certainly wasn’t a banner day but everyone had at least a few fish by day’s end. An 11-pound pollock took pool honors.
8/1: I jumped aboard the Yankee Clipper this morning for a rematch with my arch nemesis, Dave Sullivan. After losing the “buck a fish” battle last Thursday, I was ready for more punishment. The day began with fish-a-cast action, but mostly on short resident cod with a couple of keepers thrown in as well as a few haddock. After drift 1, I had put two haddock and a scrod in the box while Dave had a keeper cod. Unfortunately, after that first drift, the tide began to absolutely roar. Drifting soon became impossible. Then, when we anchored into the tide, lines screamed toward the stern. It was the worst tide I’d seen in a LONG time—even launching the jig as far forward from the pulpit as I could, it’d still be under the pulpit by the time I hit bottom. The challenging conditions made it difficult for many anglers to keep their baits on the bottom, which equaled one thing: dogfish, and lots of them. The beasts were thick today, both squirrely little males and big, nasty females. I caught 9 on the jig by day’s end. In the mouth. It hurt. Still, under those dogs were a smattering of groundfish—cod and haddock mostly, although Josh did stop on a pile of pollock that had no interest in biting anything we offered. The pool winner was a 15-pound wolffish.
The fishing was slow to fair overall, with just a pick of small cod, haddock, and the occasional keeper cod making their way through the onslaught of doggies. After a couple of rather unproductive anchor stops, Josh tried motor drifting in order to keep the lines somewhat manageable, which offered the most consistent action of the day on groundfish, but it was mostly on short codfish with a keeper cod or haddock coming aboard every once in a while. We would occasionally come across a slug of small market cod, during which a handful of 5-8-pound fish would come up at once.
The stars aligned, and I did indeed defeat the wily Sullivan today, edging him out, 6 keepers to 4. I had 4 codfish to 10 pounds—2 of which came as a doubleheader at the beginning of a motor-fishing stop—and 2 haddock, while Sully snuck out four cod. So it’s all even now, one victory apiece; stay tuned for the rubber match!
Although the fishing wasn’t the greatest today due to challenging conditions, both tide-wise and dog-wise, I was impressed with the effort the anglers put into it today. Even many apparent newbies with rental rods were willing to listen to the crew’s advice, and it helped to make a tough day as productive and enjoyable as possible. In any event, I had a great time as always, and can’t wait to do it again. Hopefully the bite just tapered off due to the ripping tide, and the fishing will improve back to the past week’s level in the coming days.
Willy G.
Yankee Fleet