Update

By willy

Hey gang,

Sorry I’ve dropped the ball recently on reports. I started working deck on Monday after moving out of school last Friday, so it’s been tough to find time to report on catches as of late. Rather than going over each day’s fishing since my last report (gulp) eleven days ago, I’ll just sum up by saying that the fishing’s generally been good and there have been very few slow days—the action’s been consistent, if not a bail-job every day. Capts. Josh, Kirk and Dave have been experiencing good results on a mixed bag of cod, haddock, pollock, and cusk. Pool fish have generally been cod or pollock in the low to mid-20s. Both bait and jigs have been effective, although jigs are responsible for most of the larger cod and pollock. Dogfish are a virtually a non-issue—fingers crossed.

My first week on the water (the Yankee Clipper with Capt. Josh) has seen an impressive number of nice market cod in the 8-15-pound range, plus a lot of pollock ranging from mediums to large ones in the mid-twenties. Monday saw a lot of nice cod to 23 pounds come over the rails despite the fact that the bite wasn’t really on and a number of the fish that came aboard were snagged. A pile of haddock hit the deck as well.

Tuesday’s trip began with a slow pick on small and barely-legal cod but the end of the day was excellent “old-school” fishing on cod and pollock actively feeding on mackerel and herring. The day ended with a two-and-a-half-hour drift that produced fish-a-cast action on market cod to 24 pounds and pollock to 15 pounds; proficient jig anglers easily limited out on cod to 20 pounds and were releasing legal fish by day’s end!

Wednesday’s trip began the way Tuesday ended: a two-hour drift of fish-a-cast action. I had the day off and, jigging in the pulpit, put around 20 keepers in the boat during the drift: a limit of cod to 12 pounds and ten or twelve pollock to 21.5 pounds. The wind increased a bit and we made a few anchor stops, at which we scratched away at scrod, haddock, and cusk but nothing to write home about. Overall, it was a good day, with very good to excellent fishing on that first drift and just fair fishing afterward.

Thursday’s trip, a marathon, saw steady fishing on both jigs and bait for the entire trip. The weather was a bit snooty but anglers stuck with it, and high hooks had around 20 keepers, a mix of cod, pollock, and haddock. Red Paulhus won the pool with a 25.5-pound pollock.

Friday’s trip, a charter, was fair to good overall, with action ranging from a grind to some periods of strong fishing. Haddock predominated but there were a number of cod to 21 pounds caught, as well as a dozen or so medium pollock ranging from 10-16 pounds.

Saturday’s trip was good for proficient jig fisherman who knew how to cast a jig; Loretta Miner, for example, tallied around fifteen keepers, mostly small market cod but with some pollock, haddock, and cusk mixed in. Others enjoyed a steady pick on an even mix of keeper cod and haddock, with a few pollock thrown in. A 26-pound pollock that ate a jig took pool honors.

Wireless at the house is up and running, so look for more consistent reports to start flowing in!