Fishing Report - Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod
Capt. Rich Antonino
August 27, 2007
Stellwagen Bank - Saltwater Fishing Report
August 17th...we hit the cod, haddock, and wolf-fish
Good news is that the cod moved into one of our spots and it was a blast catching them after our morning tuna fishing. We hit fish in a small area right off the bat, then the bite died. We tried fishing for a while in deeper water (300'), but the current was moving quickly and fishing was difficult and tiresome. More tiresome, actually--lots of line to reel in with or without a fish.
So, we headed 8 miles north and did really well on a rockpile that I like fishing. Immediately the cod attacked and it was like that for a strong hour. Drifting off of the pile, we hit haddock nicely, so it was a win-win.
The tuna bite didn't happen for us today, but we only trolled for an hour and 3/4 or so. That's ok. It was amazing weather, great company, lots of fun, and lots of fillets came from the day. The best catch was a double-header of 20 pound cod caught on squid/shrimp.
I have availability on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week and we'll keep our fingers crossed for some more good weather. We had a blip today and I had to cancel, but it looks great for the next week. Perhaps Tues/Wed. could be perfect weather for shark fishing off of Martha's Vineyard? Mako steaks anyone?
August 19th, Two nice Bluefin tuna
Two nice tuna to start the day! I like that. Both on dark squids, pretty far back. One black/green and one black/purple. Great day with a funny group of guys. Taking the traditional bite out of the still-beating heart of their first tunas, they showed plenty of Moxie.
We headed to fish for cod for a while, which didn't fare too, too well; although we only fished for an hour or so. We did manage a good handful of nice cod and haddock to round off the day's nice catch. Great fishing conditions and lots of fun!
August 20th, best codfishing we've ever had
Well, today's trip had no tuna, the worst two hours of codfishing, and the best three hours of codfishing that we've ever had. What a day! We started off fishing a little after dawn, seeing an amazing whale show, but the tuna bite was very, very quiet. The weather was PERFECT. It was glass calm and there weren't many boats out there. I guess that the bite lit up nicely around 11:00, but we were already codfishing by then.
We then headed NE to fish for cod when a NNE wind picked up, kicking up a slight chop, and making for a terrible drifting situation. Anchoring in deep, mucky water didn't happen too well. When we did hold, the dogfish found us in great numbers. I knew that the fish were there, so we eked out a tough drift and got used to the drifting conditions.
BUT WE WERE REWARDED WITH THREE HOURS OF CATCHING FISH AT WILL! It was amazing. The cod and haddock lined up to get on our boat and the size of the cod was quite nice as well. We had one person fishing on the bow with a light jigging rod and a small Okuma T-10 reel. It's a perfect fluke rod, but it did so well on the cod and haddock that I'm still smiling. Plus, the 7' rod would double over like never before on each fish. I loved watching everyone today.
Keep smiling and keep having fun out there. It's all good right now.
August 22---GIANT TUNA FISHING ON STELLWAGEN BANK
GIANT TUNA....Fishing. Matt and I had the day off, so, when Stacey said she had already called the babysitter, it seemed like a perfect time to pull out the big Penn 130's, catch some bluefish, and set up anchor and hope for a giant tuna to attack our baits. It didn't happen, but we had a great time anchoring off of Peaked Hill Bar and flying our kite. It was seemless until the dogfish came around after 5 hours and ruined our party. That's fishing. It was relaxing, that's for sure.
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