Unfortunately, my charter had a change of plans on Saturday and decided not to take the trip. I spent the day rigging tackle and getting caught up on some honey dos that were long overdue. The day weather wise was perfect and I was upset at not being on the water on a day Mother Nature was in a good mood. 

As evening approached I started getting calls from friends and fellow charter captains who had fished and the reports were terrible. From NH to Cape Cod every report indicated little or no bite. One boat (6 Pac charter) had only one keeper cod by 1100…ouch!!! So even though I missed spending time with the guys on the water it all worked out for the best!

On Sunday I welcomed aboard Scott Hughes along with his son Alex and their buddy Tom. Scott, who fished with me, last year, hails from upstate NY and drove in that morning arriving at 0400 after a 4 hour trip…hardcore anglers to say the least. I told them how terrible the fishing was the previous day but I had confidence we would get on a good bite (of course they didn’t see my crossed fingers).

We departed Gloucester Harbor at 0430 and as I approached Eastern Point I still had not decided on where to fish. The seas were holding a slight swell and as I brought the Lady Diane to plane I selected a heading to grounds I had not fished in a month…got to start someplace.

We arrived on my numbers around 0530 and started to look around. First couple drops produced zilch and I thought one more and we are out of here. Machine lights up, jigs go down and FISH ON! We had found them back where I left them a month earlier. The guys started taking nice market cod in the 8-12 lb class.

As in the past we would move find a bunch, drop jigs, catch a few and move along to find another bunch.

Around 1030 we witnessed a couple giant tuna pushing. I made a couple casts with the ever ready tuna rod and was glad that they decided to ignore my offering as these were BIG fish (400lb+ class) but at least I can say tuna season is officially underway!

A heavy blanket of fog moved in around 1100 and my location was kept secret except for the one other charter captain from my harbor who was fishing in the area. On a normal Sunday we would be surrounded by weekend warriors but not today…we both had banner days…I love the fog.

Sometime during the morning we hit a school of hungry pollack and within 10 minutes we put a dozen in the box to go along with the boat limit of cod we would catch. With an hour to go in the trip, I started a live well with our 40^th cod and we played catch and release keeping only a bigger fish than was in the well. We released well over two dozen cod during this process.

At 1330 we headed for the barn with a full box of market cod waiting for the “mate” to fillet.

 I put the Lady Diane on auto pilot, turned on the radar’s early warning system and as the guys served as lookouts the “mate” started the fillet job. As we approached the Groaner buoy the last fillet was added to the bag and we steamed into Gloucester Harbor at 25 knots as the fog had lifted. 

We secured the Lady Diane in her slip at Cape Ann Marina at 1530 and the guys loaded 140 lbs of cod and pollack into their coolers. Scott and his crew hit the road for their long drive and I went to work on getting the Lady Diane ship shape for her next adventure.

Another great day on the water with a great crew came to an end. I am very fortunate in having customers like Scott who is not only a great fisherman but a faithful customer. I look forward to our next trip together and filling those totes again!

Tight Lines,