I welcomed aboard the Barney Keesell party from Atkinson, NH for the season's first ground fish charter. The Lady Diane left the dock at 0600 and found light winds and a 2-3 foot easterly swell once rounding Eastern point of Gloucester Harbor.
The plan for the day was to head to the deep water around Tilles for a couple hours waiting for the tide to flood. Unfortunately the area showed little sign of either bait or fish so after an hour of looking around, I steamed to a spot on Stellwagen that had produced in the past. Once we arrived the sounder lit up with large bait marks and fish underneath. Jigs sent to the bottom were immediately taken and market cod came to the surface. The cod were clear white bellied school fish but sub legal fish out numbered legal about 10 to 1. After putting a few in the box, I decided to start exploring different depths. The shallower water held plenty of short cod along with some keepers but I was looking for better quality so I started working my way south until I reached a spot in deeper water I fished last year for haddock. Bernie and the guys, who are adept jig fisherman, immediately started tagging nice haddock in the 5 lb class. Pictured below is one of Evans many nice looking haddock he jigged up yesterday
Having guys on board that know how to fish make it easy to see the box fill and by the end of the day the guys had a cooler full of delicious haddock and cod fillets.. We cruised home around 1400 on nearly flat seas with smiles all around .
It was a great way to start the season and the presence of bait on the bank means even better days are ahead. The haddock are definitely on the bite so now is the time to book a charter. Tight Lines,
Haddock are red hot
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