On Saturday I welcomed aboard Mike O’Connor and his crew from northern New Hampshire. Unfortunately, I left my camera at home so I was unable to take any photos on this trip. Mike and the guys had  fished with me last year and really tagged the fish,  so we were hoping for a repeat performance. During the week I had spoken with other captains in the harbor and they noted that the cod bite had slowed but one of them found some good pollack fishing on Friday. The only problem is that where that bite occurred was a long ride from the dock so we departed the marina at 0430 Saturday morning.

I stopped at three different spot on our way to the pollack grounds and found that indeed the cod bite had dried up. At one stop the mackerel were so thick that the cod jigs impaled two at a time…the table is set for Charlie’s arrival! Gill nets and draggers were working the areas hard and there was little to be found in the same area where we had been hammering the fish in past trips. With a few market cod in the box, I decided to steam the additional 10 miles south to where the pollack were reported to be. 

Upon arriving we found a fleet of boats working the area. Mark and the guys managed stick a few pollack but the bite was very sporadic at least. We worked the area for over 3 hours but even though the tide was perfect the fish would not turn on. When pollack don’t bite you know you are in for a long day.

With a dozen pollack in the box, I decided to move to the east into the deeper water and we did managed to take  a few real nice haddock to 6 lbs  to finish the day. We arrived back at the dock around 1545 after logging nearly 90 nautical miles on the trip. This was one of the slowest fishing days I have ever had on the Bank but I hoped that the next day things would turn around.  I appreciate Mark and the gang coming down to fish with me and I look forward to better days ahead with this great crew of guys.

On another note of interest….The news of the day was that someone from Cape Cod  took the first tuna of the season this year in Massachusetts’ Bay this year. Reports say it was 88” long and was taken on a trolled bar way out east of the Bank. Looks like the season has begun and with all the bait (mackerel, herring and sand eels ) around it should be a banner year.

 

I debated all evening on where I was going to fish on Sunday. I was tempted to head to Jeffreys but I have not fished there this year so I decided to give the Bank another shot. I figured it couldn’t get much slower than Saturday and I was curious to see if the slow fishing was a one day affair or if indeed it was time for me to move into new areas.

I welcomed aboard Mike Sowerbutts and his friends Paul from Indiana, Jon and his son Jared who hail from Iowa. This was the first ocean fishing experience for the Midwest guys so I was hoping to find some fish that would give these folks some fun on their first trip.

We left the dock again a 0430 I had planned to steam all the way south to start the day. Along the way I made a decision to give my cod spot on top of the Bank another try today even though yesterday’s trip didn’t produced much in that area. 

I arrived on my numbers at 0545 and after a quick lesson in how to use the gear, during which time I hooked up after 3 jigs, the guys were off an running. The cod bite was decent and everyone on board started taking nice market cod including this  first cod Jared had ever caught.

I called in a fellow charter captain from my harbor as he was passing by and both boats worked the school for about an hour. Probably the catch of the morning was taken by Paul however  when he landed the biggest Sea Raven I have ever seen. You have to look closely to see the fish in this picture as Paul was using his secret camouflage "Colts" disguise to sneak up on his fish. The raven weighed 6.75 lbs and actually took the jig on a bite.

When the bite slacken I moved 10 miles south on the look for pollack. The shoal water was barren so I decided to head east. A fog bank moved in around 1000 but that was no problem for us as there were only a couple charter boats in the area and my radar told us exactly where we were.

We found a decent bite of both pollack and good size haddock in the deeper water including this nice 6lb bugeye that Mike took.

For the rest of the trip we picked at the fish and by the end of the day the guys had a respectable amount of fillets to take home.  It was by no means a slam but a much better day than Saturday. With all the commercial activity on the bank (draggers and gillnetters) it looks like I will be moving into the deeper water on the next trips. I marked plenty of fish out there and since that is an area closed to commercial fishing it should provide better opportunities to get back to filling the boxes on the boat.

Memorial Day weekend I am taking family and friends on  two days of ground fishing trips and I plan on exploring areas I have not fished this year (Jeffreys, Tilles and east of the Bank). Come June I will looking to getting after them again and stuff the boxes like we have done in the past. Charlie will be showing so I will be bringing some extra gear on the cod charters just in case we get a shot to chase him down as well.

Tight lines,