By willy
Sunday, 5/23:
Capt. Josh reports a fair day of fishing aboard the Yankee Clipper on Sunday’s 7-4 day trip. They drift-fished all day and experienced a decent pick of mostly haddock with some cod, pollock and cusk mixed in.
Yankee Fleet patrons love their haddock!
The bite was definitely better in the morning and more or less died in the afternoon after the tide changed. High hook was Pete Jones with 11 keepers, mostly haddies.
5/23-24 Overnighter:
Capts. Dave and Kirk ran the first overnight trip of the season aboard the Yankee Freedom, and report excellent results! The light load of anglers started early Monday morning with a fast bite on a mix of cod and pollock, mostly the latter, on jigs, before settling into a good pick on those two species plus some haddock. An easy day, Capt. Dave reports. A 12-pound pollock took the pool.
Monday, 5/24:
I had the pleasure of jumping aboard the Yankee Clipper with Capt. Josh at the wheel and my dear friend Audrey accompanying me for her first cod trip. After a two-hour steam we made a couple of drifts and found a grinding pick of mostly haddock and cusk with a few short and keeper cod in the mix. Audrey hooked and dropped something large before cajoling a nice haddock into snapping up her teaser and then snaring a cusk.
Audrey White with a beautiful haddock jigged up aboard the Yankee Clipper on May 24.
We were picking away and certainly could have scraped a day out of it, but Josh had bigger, better things in mind and around 10:30 he elected to make a major area change. After a 45-minute steam, we found immediate action on actively-feeding pollock and cod with some haddock in the mix too. A 30-inch striped bass was caught as well.
Most cod were shorts, but there were some keepers mixed in, while the pollock averaged 6-10 pounds and all the haddock were large, 5 pounds and up. Fish were pounding sand eels and took jigs readily—bait guys had a few haddock but also were harassed by enormous female dogfish.
Audrey White with a cusk aboard the Yankee Clipper, May 25.
The action was so fast at times that I put down the rod and helped out with gaffing fish and getting anglers re-rigged. Audrey was in fine form, hooking up on almost every drop, much to the chagrin of her railmates, myself included!
Unfortunately, while the fish were amenable to biting once we found them, they seemed to be stacked up in small, localized patches; Josh had to keep his eyes glued to the machine in search of fresh piles. As a result, the final number of keepers at the end of the day wasn’t quite where we would have liked to see it, making for a fairish to good day overall. Between us, Audrey and I put something like 10 keepers in the boat, a mix of cod, pollock, haddock and cusk. But we still had a lot of action, with short cod keeping us busy when the quality fish weren’t coming aboard. We stayed late to put a few more fish in the boat and weren’t tied up
"Mr. Wee" with a haddock aboard the Yankee Clipper, May 25.
at the dock until about 5:30. A 14-pound pollock beat out a couple of similarly-sized specimens to take pool honors.
Tuesday, 5/25:
Capt. Pete reports a slow day aboard the Yankee Freedom on Tuesday’s limited-load trip. Just a slow pick of haddock, cusk, a few pollock, and a mix of short and keeper cod. A 10-pound pollock took the pool.
- Mr. Wee is on again!
By willy
All three boats were out Saturday: Capt. Tom had the Yankee Freedom for the 6-3 open boat, Capt. Josh had the Yankee Clipper 7-4 open boat, and Capt. Ray had an 8-5 charter aboard the Yankee Patriot. All three guys report a fair to good day, with a steady pick of haddock for the most part and a few flurries of heightened activity mixed in. Lots of short cod with some keepers to 10 pounds, and a few medium-sized pollock in the mix too.
Just Josh aboard the Yankee Clipper for the 7-4 trip today–more later.
By willy
Matt Klayman with a pair of nice haddock jigged up aboard the Yankee Patriot on Monday, May 17.
Okay! Exams are over and the reports will start flowing with some more regularity. Fishing has generally been good with a couple of slower days and recently some truly excellent outings, with haddock and cod dominating the catch but with a fair amount of pollock and cusk in the mix too.
Monday, 5/10:
Capt. Josh reports a tough day all around aboard the Yankee Clipper. Sailing with a light load of twenty or so fares, they covered a ton of ground, and found a lot of whale activity, but most stops produced only a slow pick of haddock with a few cod mixed in. Capt. Josh’s strong streak of good fishing, which had lasted a month, was finally broken!
Tuesday, 5/11:
Capt. Josh reports just a fair day on the limited-load trip aboard the Yankee Clipper. Nothing too impressive for most off the day, just a slow pick of haddock and cod on the anchor, until the last anchor stop of the day, which was a good one that produced a number of better-sized codfish including the 15-pound pool winner.
Wednesday, 5/12:
Capt. Kirk reports a fair to good day on the all-day trip on the Yankee Patriot. They tried motor-drifting in the morning, picking some scrod and small-market-sized cod, but the wind honked a bit too hard out of the southwest so they anchored for the remainder of the day. The first anchor stop produced a steady pick of haddock for an hour and a half, nothing crazy but a few coming up at all times. They rest of the day produced more of the same, with some cod, cusk, and redfish mixed in. High hook had nine fish, and the pool winner was a 10-pound cod.
Capt. Josh had a charter on the Yankee Clipper, also reporting a fair to good day. They began with a few anchor stops that produced a steady pick of haddock, then enjoyed a series of productive drifts on cod in the 5-12-pound range.
Thursday 5/13:
Capt. Kirk reports that anglers aboard the Yankee Clipper for the Super Thursday marathon enjoyed a good day of fishing, with haddock and cod coming over the rails on both bait and jigs for the entire day. Mostly a steady to good pick with some solid flurries mixed in as well. A 14-pound cod took the pool.
Friday, 5/14:
An enthusiastic Capt. Kirk reports a very good to excellent day aboard the Yankee Clipper. Anglers loaded up on haddock and cod including some better-sized fish in the 18-20-pound range.
Saturday, 5/15:
Capt. Josh reports a good day on the 6-3 day trip aboard the Yankee Clipper. They anchor fished for the whole day, enjoying a steady pick of mostly haddock with some cod mixed in. Bait and jigs both produced, with the high hook for the day taking 12 fish on the jig. The pool winner was a 19.5-pound codfish.
Capt. Kirk reports a similar day on the Yankee Patriot for the 7-4 all-day trip. It wasn’t as good as Friday, but they steadily picked away at mostly haddock, with a 12-pound codfish winning the pool.
Sunday, 5/16: All trips were canceled due to weather.
Monday, 5/17:
With exams over, I took a few of my roommates out for a day trip aboard the Yankee Patriot with Capt. Kirk. After a bit of teaching and some time at the rail (not a lot of cod fishing in Philadelphia or Jerusalem, where my roommates are from!), the boys were doing quite well, casting the jigs and hooking up with relative consistency. We ground away at mostly haddock all day with some cod and cusk mixed in, plus the odd pollock or two. I’d call it a fair to good day overall; the three of us put 16 fish in the boat, mostly haddock, although I spent much of the day without a rod in my hand making sure the guys had the hang of it. Dave Parsons won the pool with a beautiful 22-pound codfish right at the end of the trip—at the same time that a monster 25-28-pound wolfish was caught and released!
Dave Parsons won the pool with this 22-pound cod aboard the Yankee Patriot on May 17.
Capt. Josh tried a different area and reports a slammer of a day aboard the Yankee Clipper for the charter he had on board. Non-stop action on mostly haddock with a good number of cod mixed in, including a handful of steakers and a 32-pound pool fish.
Tuesday, 5/18:
Capt. Josh reports an even better day than Monday aboard the Yankee Clipper on the limited-load trip! A 50/50 mix of cod/haddock on both bait and jigs, with a good amount of large markets in the 14-20-pound range and a 26-pound pool winner. They actually left the grounds a bit early today because everyone had enough!
Wednesday, 5/19: All trips were canceled due to weather.
Thursday, 5/20:
The 5-5 marathon aboard the Yankee Clipper was simply outstanding, Capt. Josh reports. Not much else to say. Fast action from start to finish.
Friday, 5/21:
I was aboard the Yankee Clipper with Capt. Kirk for the all-day trip today along with my friend Abby who wanted to go on a fishing trip before graduating from Harvard next week. It was one of those days when we ground away at fish all day, and the action never really got good, but by the end of the day there were a lot more fish on board than it seemed there were. I’d call it a fair to good day overall. After working out the kinks in her technique, Abby jigged up a nice haddock in the morning, which I promptly lost on the surface while trying to gaff it. Strong work, Willy G. Undaunted, she stayed in the game and, using both bait and jigs, caught a number of short cod plus a few keepers over the course of the day.
Abby Phillip with a keeper codfish aboard the Yankee Clipper on May 21.
I scraped up fourteen legals on the jig: 5 cod, 2 haddock, an 8-pound pollock and six cusk. Bait definitely had the edge on the haddock today; there were a few dogs around but certainly a manageable number. All in all, a fun day on the water, with decent fishing, great weather, and great people!
Capt. Josh reports a somewhat slower adventure on his charter aboard the Yankee Freedom. Just a slow grinding bite on haddock, cusk, and a handful of keeper-sized codfish. He was due for a slow one!
All three boats out today–more later.
By willy
Sorry for the lack of reports recently, folks. After this week we’ll be getting ‘em online more consistently. Suffice it to say that the fishing has remained quite good and remarkably consistent day in and day out. Cod and a surprisingly large number of early-season pollock have been filling up the bags, with large numbers of haddock mixed in on some days. Here’s a recap:
Tuesday, 5/4:
Capt. Josh ran the first limited-load trip of the season aboard the Yankee Clipper, reporting a good day overall with a healthy mix of cod, haddock and pollock. The fishing was okay in the morning but they elected to try something different and moved to a new area, where the action was better but not an all-out slam. They stuck with that for the remainder of the outing, completing a number of drifts and picking away at mostly cod and pollock. They did try a spot where Josh has been seeing some larger cod, and Ross Clayton, summer YF mate out on a busman’s holiday, connected with a 15-pounder and a 25-pound steaker on consecutive casts (we’re still waiting for the horseshoe to fall out if you know what I mean 
), but nothing else came up, and that was it for the trip.
Wednesday, 5/5:
Capt. Kirk reports a decent day aboard the Yankee Patriot, putting together a good catch after a slow start in the morning. They ended up with a mix of mostly haddock with some cod and a pile of redfish mixed in too. The bite picked up toward the end of the day and Kirk stayed 45 minutes late in order to capitalize on the better action. a 14-pound cod won the pool.
Thursday, 5/6:
Capt. Josh ran the first Super Thursday 5-5 marathon trip of the season aboard the Yankee Clipper and deemed the day “a lesson in patience and hard work.” The fish were there all day but conditions made motor-fishing imperative, and Josh was at the throttles making the drift fishable from the first stop through the last. They made a LOT of short drifts, and anglers had to work hard to stay near the bottom, but the fishing was pretty darn good, with a number of cod, pollock, and some haddock coming up on each drift. A very good day overall.
Friday, 5/7:
Capt. Josh had the open boat aboard the Yankee Clipper, reporting a good day overall. They had a fair pick through the early afternoon, although the fish that came up were all decent markets in the 8-12-pound range. Later on they found a pack of hungry cod and pollock out in the middle of nowhere and enjoyed a strong afternoon bite, primarily on jigs.
Capt. Dave, on a charter aboard the Yankee Freedom, reports that they enjoyed a good morning bite while motor-fishing, although there were a lot of short cod mixed in. The action settled down to a steady pick in the afternoon, when anglers jigged up a mix of cod and pollock.
Saturday, 5/8:
An excellent day aboard the Yankee Clipper: “we numbed ‘em,” Capt. Josh reports. They began the morning with a mad-dog pollock bite around an insane whale show, with 15-20 humpbacks and minkes pounding sandeels and the pollock picking up the pieces. Everyone hooked up immediately on the two motor drifts they made in the middle of the melee before Josh elected to steam off in search of codfish.
They made a half-mile drift and enjoyed fish-a-cast action on a mix of cod and pollock, and repeated the drift although the action wasn’t quite as good the second time around. Then the madness came: a POLLOCK BLITZ! That’s right, pollock chowing down on sand eels right on the surface, a school about 100 yards across. Pretty neat. Anglers dropped jigs and hooked up 20 feet down–pretty crazy stuff.
Once the fog moved in and the rains began in the late morning, angler effort dropped off since most folks had all they needed, but the diehards continued to hammer away at the cod and pollock for the remainder of the outing. The pool fish was a 16-pound cod.
Capt. Dave also reports a great trip on his charter aboard the Yankee Freedom. Lots of pollock with some nice cod mixed in. The whales, he reports, were corralling sandeels around the boat, and the sandlance would hide underneath the boat, at which point a school of pollock would swim under the boat and everyone would hook up. Pretty cool. The whales eventually left, but the groundfish didn’t, and anglers enjoyed great action all day.
Sunday, 5/9: All trips were canceled due to weather.
This is spring fishing at its finest–give the office a call for schedule info and to make a reservation.
By willy
All three boats were out both Saturday and Sunday. Here’s what the guys had to say:
Saturday, 5/1:
Capt. Josh on the Yankee Clipper reports a fair day overall. It was a slow pick in the morning but the jig fishing improved in the afternoon. High hook was Johnny Gillespie with around 10 legal, mostly cod with a few pollock mixed in. A 15-pound cod took the pool.
Aboard the Yankee Patriot, Capt. Kirk and friends enjoyed a two-hour drift first thing in the morning that produced a good pick of haddock on both bait and jigs. After that, however, the bite simply shut off and they spent the rest of the day looking for answers, which were not forthcoming. Still, the solid morning bite made the trip and most anglers walked off the boat with a good bag of fillets.
On the Yankee Freedom, Capt. Dave reports a good day overall. A steady pick of cod with a good amount of pollock mixed in too for the jig fishermen. Bait guys had some good shots of haddock as well. Overall, a productive day on the water with a nice mixed bag of tasty groundfish. A 20-pound cod took pool honors.
Sunday, 5/2:
Capt. Josh on the Yankee Clipper reports a slow start in the morning; there was a ton of bait in the area but not a lot of the target species. They made a substantial shift in the late morning and experienced a good bite of pollock for one stop that filled up some burlaps, but other than that it was just a pick on cod and haddock for most of the day, making for a fair day overall. A 14-pound pollock won the pool.
Capt. Kirk had a charter of high-school students aboard the Yankee Patriot, and also reports a fair day, with a slow but steady pick of haddock for most of the outing. A bit more angler effort would have helped, I think!
On the Yankee Freedom, Capt. Dave found a good early-morning jig bite on cod to 15 pounds, but after that the action tapered off and they really had to work for the rest of the day, making a lot of stops for a pick of cod and haddock and a good shot of pollock as well. A fair day overall.
Summer weather is here! This week marks the start of Tuesday Limited-Load all-day trips and “Super Thursday” 5-5 marathon trips; give the office a call for reservations!
Yankee Fleet