Summertime Codding at its Best!

By willy

Capts. Kirk and Josh report a great weekend of all-day fishing aboard the Yankee Patriot and Yankee Clipper, respectively. Nice clean market cod in the 6-10-pound range have been comprising most of the catch; they’ve been eating both bait and jigs, although jigs have been culling most of the bigger pool-winning fish, which have been in the low twenties.

Haddock have been the second most-caught species after cod, with most of them being taken on bait but with some mondo specimens like Linsel Clarke’s 10-pounder on Saturday succumbing to the jig. Some pollock have been around as well, not as many as there were in June but instead the more standard summer sprinkling on each trip with fish ranging from mediums to 20-plus-pound jammers. Some cusk, wolffish (released, of course), and a few white hake round out the take on what have been a very good couple of days of summertime fishing. Dogfish appear to have moved further inshore and haven’t been too much of an issue on the all-day boats–fingers crossed. Despite the steamy summertime weather, there’s still plenty of life out on the grounds, with birds, whales and tuna joining schools of groundfish in a collective assault on various baitfish, mainly spike mackerel and herring. We can only hope that the fishing stays as consistent as it’s been recently. (Photos courtesy of galley-man extraordinaire, Jay Benjamin)