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Great Haddock and Cod Fishing April 18th 2009

Capt. Roland Lizotte
April 20, 2009
Stellwagen Bank - Saltwater Fishing Report

Finally, we had a break in the rainy, windy and cool weather which allowed us to get out on the water for the first cod/haddock trip of the season on Saturday. This was the kind of trip that you look forward too, especially early in the spring when it is cool with the water temperatures in the low 40's. We left the dock at Brewers Marine in Plymouth around 630am to fish the dropping tide. The winds were light, it was about 54 degrees with an overcast sky on the way out of the harbor. The seas were fairly calm which allowed us to run the Jersey Girl at 30+mph off shore to Stellwagen Bank around the old "BE" Buoy in search of some cod.

When we arrived up on the western edge of the bank, we were greeted with large schools of bait on the bottom. Jigs went over the side and it was not long before we had the first cod over the rails. Most of the cod that came up were smaller fish or "just under" fish in the 19"-23" range. We managed to pick up a few larger market sized cod as we moved from spot to spot across the bank working our way East. After a couple of hours of picking away at the cod, we decided to move down towards the SE corner of the bank where there had been a reports of a good haddock bite.

After a quick run down to just East of the SE corner, we were greeted with a fleet of boats. Small center consoles, large sport-fisherman and the party boats were all stacked up in an area less than an 1/8 of a mile wide. There had to be 50-60 boats in this one area, the fish were there. Within minutes of dropping our lines down, everyone had fish on and when the lines came up, they were all nice sized haddock. Drift after drift, we slowly picked away and managed to fill the box with some nice sized haddock (10-15lb fish) with a few smaller cod mixed in. It made for a great end to the day.

An interesting note for us on this trip was that 90% of the fish taken, all came on the jigs which is a sign of aggressive fish. We had very few fish hit the teasers or bait on the hooks. The other nice thing about fishing this time of year was that we caught all of our fish (cod and haddock) in less than 150' of water which is nice. You do not have to crank and crank the line up from the deep water, although with the Okuma reels we use, that is usually not a problem since the reels have a nice line retrieve to crank ratio, are lever drag and level wind. Spring is here, the warmer weather is here and the fishing is awesome. Why not book a trip aboard the Jersey Girl with Reel Time Fishing Charters and get out to the fishing grounds quickly? You will spend less time running and more time fishing, not to mention the fact that we can cover a lot of ground to find the fish if the bite is slow. So with all that said, this is the best time of year to get on the water for Cod and Haddock fishing. Get in on the action while the bite is hot and up in the shallow waters of the bank. Contact Captain Roland Lizotte for booking details and STAY TUNED FOR ALL OF OUR UPDATED PICTURES.

Stellwagen Bank Fishing Forecast:

Cod and Haddock fishing should be good through May. Great spring weather is forecasted later in the week with weekend temps close to 80...

Target Species:

Cod, Haddock, Shark, Tuna, Striped Bass, Bluefish

More Fishing Reports:

 

Come enjoy time on the water aboard the "Jersey Girl" with REEL-TIME FISHING CHARTERS conveniently located at Brewers Marine in the historic waterfront of America's Hometown, Plymouth Massachusetts. With over 15 years of experience fishing the coastal and off shore waters surrounding the South Shore and Cape Cod, let us introduce you, your family, friends or co-workers to the experience of a life time. We specialize intrips that target Striped Bass, Bluefish, Tuna, Cod, Haddock and Shark

Contact Info:

Reel Time Fishing Charters Inc
48 South St
Plymouth, MA
Phone: 774-437-1882
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