Cod and Ground Fishing 2006

While the weekend weather is keeping small boats at home, those that do get out to the banks are being treated to some fine fishing. Dave Patry, Captain of the "Cathy Ann" out of Green Harbor, Marshfield MA, reports catching hundreds of fish and the limit of keepers when he can get out. Cod can be found near Farnum's Ledge with a fair amount of keepers amongst the fish caught.

Winter flounder can be found in Boston Harbor and surrounding waters, most notably in the area Hospital Shoals, George's Island, Peddock's Island and the channel edges by Deer Light. My sources from the Quincy Yacht Club said the fillets are fat and tasty. It wasn't too long and we were there to try the waters. Winds made drift fishing difficult and Capt G-No found some good anchoring spots near the shoals and picked up a half dozen keepers on the morning tide. Grand Poobah Rock Bottom shows a big smile for a great weekend.

G-No led a party of Bite Me Bait Co executives to Stellwagon aboard the "Irish Ayes" where they caught plenty of small cod along with a number of keepers. Throw in a couple of haddock and plenty of whales to watch and you have a great day.

Rock Bottom and Capt. G-No show off the haddock while the birds and whales feast on sand eels and other baitfish

Secret flounder spot to try is on the Pig Rock side of the channel divide at Peddock's and Sheep Islands. Do it during the week to avoid the boat traffic on the weekends. Get up on the edge of the flat just out of the channel. A mackerel chum pot on the bottom increases your chances.

Pogies are in Duxbury Harbor. Schools hanging in the channel from the 8 and 10 buoys to the outer harbor and Bug Light.

Lots of small cod under the schools of mackerel. But there were some nice keepers too. Capt. G-No and the "Irish Ayes" took the Bride, Billy Bob and Jimdogg off the Marshfield coast where there is plenty of mackerel action. The tinkers were being chased around just outside Green Harbor, Marshfield Massachusetts. With a report from Rock Bottom and Elmer, the "Irish Ayes" crew sent a few jigs down to check out the situation. The bite was immediate. Everyone caught a keeper or two with the Bride setting the standard for the day with a 13 pound fish. And the rest of the crew chipped in too. "I was surprised to catch such a good fish so close to shore." said Deb.

G-No shows the keeper, while Elmer throws back a weeper at 23+ inches. The "Irish Ayes" on the prowl!

May has brought hope for cod fishing on the banks. The NW corner of Stellwagon has been producing some nice fish. Jimdogg, G-No, Billy Bob and Rock Bottom caught quite a few fish over the holiday week end. Fish were plentiful but many were under the 24 inch limit. Some big cod did show up however. Following a proven strategy the boys found where the whales were feeding and sent their gear to the bottom. Keepers were 1 out of every 5-6 fish caught. Jigs and teasers were the rig of the day.

G-No and Billy Bob show off a couple of the nice fish that came their way. At times we fished in 285 feet of water. Everyone got their limit on Memorial day with a good catch 0f 8-12 pound fish. Very few haddock were mixed in with the cod but other radio traffic spoke of good haddock catches by some boats. Again there were fish being caught all day and everyone went home tired and happy.

Captain G-No and "Bite Me Bait Co." I T specialist, show some nice fish taken from Stellwagon!

April 2006 Cod Fishing Early April weather can be iffy at best in the Gulf of Maine and inshore waters. This morning we hit the weather just right so a trip to Stellwagon Bank was in order. Our trip started well before dawn with a 4am breakfast at Anita Marie's in Rockland center. As we sat at the counter awaiting our food, the initial plan was laid out. "Who has the binoculars?' asked Elmer. "Keep an eye on the other guy." we all said and laughed. Talk of where to look for the fish, depths, water temps, and of course the "What color teaser is best?" debate. So with bellies full and spirits soaring, Capt. Gene Kelly had one last gear check ,and with the "Irish Ayes" in tow, we headed for Green harbor.

Soon we were launched and headed out the channel . We searched some of the old hot spots along the way starting with the area near where the "H" buoy used to be. There wasn't much doing so it was off to the banks NW side. There were a few boats in the area and as we worked our jigs along the edge, we glassed them to see if anyone was getting fish. We landed and released a few small cod and worked our way south along the inside edge to the deep ledges near where the bank bends south. Still no luck with big fish. So up onto the top of the bank we went. We boated only a few haddock and were beginning to wonder where were the fish.

There were plenty of whales working to the south and by their behavior we knew they were feeding. "Lets get up ahead of the whales and see if the cod are chasing the same bait" called Elmer. The water was just teeming with sand eels so we changed strategy. Wherever we saw bait breaking the surface, we sunk our jigs to the bottom and picked up a lot of nice codfish there. If you want to pick up pollock more often, bring your jig up off the bottom and jig it up and down through the lower 30 feet of water. Often they are suspended above the cod and haddock and just under the bait fish. Big cusk and Wolf fish were always a welcome sight. Good tasting whitefish.

We managed to get 3 more trips in before the rains and storms of May ruined the rest of spring.

Here we are 35 miles or so east of Boston Light as the sun comes up on another beautiful August day. Temperatures in the 80s and winds are light. Today Capt. Billy a friend out of Houghs Neck, is going to show us how to "Jig the Edges". Summertime is usually a slow time for the ground fish we seek. These fish include cod, haddock, pollock, cusk and others. Capt. Billy explained that the area that we were in looks relatively flat on the fish finder, but his GPS was equipped with the best charts and they showed us contour lines of little rises and drop offs. Some very subtle, others a little more dramatic. "The trick is to set your drift along one of the contour lines and try to stay on it." explained the Captain. "It doesn't need to be much of one to hold fish. Ten yards either way and you may not get fish." Well let's get in the water and give it a try.

Today's rig is an 11 oz Norwegian style jig and small white grubs. The leader was 50 lb test with a loop at the end to attach the jig to. Just like hanging a weight. A small drop loop 14-20 inches up to hold the teaser and your golden. "We will get plenty of haddock today and they've been hitting white of late." So with Gannets diving all around us we headed for the bottom. "If we don't get any hits in 10 minutes we move to the next line." "Don't waste time in any one spot if the fish aren't hitting." Said Billy. Well, Jim and I barely made the bottom when we both had fish on. With line peeling out we knew we had big pollock on. And sure enough I pulled a 20 lb beauty out of the water, Jim had a couple of 15 lb fish and Capt. Billy hooked up with another 20 lb fish. We were fishing in 250 - 300 feet of water east of Stellwagon Bank. And hauling fish up from that deep is work. But very enjoyable work. We then hit some cod and haddock. So on the first drift we took the 4 pollock , 4 haddock, two cod to keep and threw back 10 fish. I was convinced. Our sister boat with other members of the Bite Me bait Co. on board were fishing the same area without the benefit of contoured charts and caught only 5 fish all day.

Keeping your line straight up and down in the water column is very important. One way to do this is to keep your stern into the current and put the engine in reverse and use the engine to slow you down. Another trick is don't over jig. Short slow strokes work as well if not better than long sweeping strokes. Often when leaving my pole in a rod holder to help land another fish I would be hooked up when I came back. "Bait will work well on haddock here too" said Bill. "But the dogfish are around and they just waste your time."

A beautiful day on the water came to a close and we started the long trip back to the dock. Between the three of us we boated 30 haddock, 4-7lbs, 20 cod, 7 - 12 lbs. 4 pollock, and 2 cusk . We threw back as many and we didn't take any haddock less than 24 inches. These ground fishing techniques work well here and can save your trip by filling the cooler. So get an "Edge up on the other guy" and make sure your chart plotter has the contours lines needed to make your fishing trip a success. One of the hardest things to get done is the pictures. When fish are hitting no one wants to take the time to snap photos.