8/2-8/7: Up-and-Down fishing this week

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.