[Goliath]

I fish Georges Bank about ten times per year, mostly on the Helen H and occasionally on the Yankee Capts. This year I'm booking a few trips with the Frances Fleet and I have a few questions for those out there that have fished with them. Which boat do they use for this nowadays? I've seen them out on the bank several times over the years while fishing on the Helen, and it was always the Gail Frances. Now I've fished that boat on day cod trips and I didn't find it to be all that roomy. Second question is do they let too many guys on the boat for an overnight trip? Never mind how many exactly, you guys who've been on an overcrowded boat know what I mean. If they use the Lady Frances what can you tell me about the boat? How about the captain and crew? In a nutshell, is this a worthwhile trip or should I just stick to what I'm used to? The main advantage to this trip is the proximity of Point Judith to New London, CT. I live in Suffolk Co. Long Island and it is a breeze to take the ferry from Orient Point. And the fact that the boat leaves the dock at 10:00 pm means I won't even need to get a motel room like I do when I fish out of Gloucester or Hyannis. I'd like as much info as you guys can give me.

Goliath

 

[Captneilf]

Goliath

Hi,

My info is several years old.

The young mates I worked with convinced me to make a cod fish trip 2 years in a row. It took them over 5 years to commit as I always get sea sick on cod trips.

We sailed on the Lady Francis, a beautiful well cared for vessel. The capts and mates were top notch.

The 1st trip was very bountiful. Lots of cod to 35+ lbs.
The 2nd trip was not as bountiful as the weather was very warm. We sailed the 1st weekend of Dec on both trips. These were overnight trips.

2 years on a Destroyer Escort in the North Atlantic did not do to me what those 2 cod trips did. Hopefully never again. Must be do to rigor mortise trying to catch up with me. LOL!

The rails are numbered. You request or get a # when making reservations. There was plenty of fishing room.

I felt they ran a class operation.

 

[619627]

Goliath i know their are a couple of guys here who fish the FRANCIS FLEET...hopefully they can give you some good info. Contact me with a PM if you are not getting the info you are looking for.

EC NEWELL MAN*

(This post edited by EC NEWELL MAN on 02/18/2003)

 

[Goliath]

Captneilf:

Thanks for the input. Sorry to hear about the mal de mer. It happens. Sounds to me like you give it your stamp of approval. Coming from someone like you who has been around the block gives it more weight in my book.

EC

I'll see what the traffic brings. I was hoping for some diversity of opinion from some of the regulars. Both good and bad.

As for your (non)response, sometimes a smart man can learn alot from what is not said, rather than what is said. Am I misreading you?

Goliath

 

[Captneilf]

Goliath

Hi,
The Helen H is also a very fineoperation. I have not sailed on her but have met the capts at shows and friends fish her.

The Lady Francis takes about 8 hours to get to the fishing grounds. The Helen H is much closer to the sites.

There are many fishermen here that can give you better more up to date info than I.

 

[paulh]

she's a real beauty, but you must ask yourself, do you feel lucky ?

if the ocean is questionable would you rather spend a few more hours in your car, or a few more hours on a boat (times two, each way) !!

BTW - Is that a sister ship to the Klondike IX ??

(This post edited by paulh on 02/19/2003)

 

[Meirowitz]

Neil, from the looks of things, the Frances Fleet fishes waters that are closer than eight hours. It appears that they schedule day trips this time of year for cod, hake and sea bass that depart at 6:30 a.m. and return at 3:30 p.m. I would assume from this that it takes only a matter of hours to get to the sites.

Frances Fleet Trips

Kind of odd, in that although they seem to have a decent website, they don't make it easy for you to contact them by email.

One advantage is that the Frances Fleet is closer to mid-Suffolk County, Long Island than the Helen H (one hour ride to the Orient Point ferry, 1/2 hour waiting time, 1 1/2 hour crossing to New London and then another 2 1/2 hours to Hyannis, MA). It looks like the trip to the Frances Fleet, located in Galilee, RI, might be an hour or so shorter.

(This post edited by Meirowitz on 02/19/2003)

 

[Captneilf]

Meirowitz

Hi Dick,

Yes, they do have day trips. We did the over night long range trips.

I believe the Lady Francis and the Klondike are both Lydia's. The are both very beautiful ladys and FAST!!!! Running a big Lydia like them would be like something else.

 

[621146]

Frances Fleet

Great boat and crew. Fished with my club the first week in May, really caught a tremendous amount of fish. Good bunks also. I think you can e-mail the capt and he responds personaly.

 

[Gamakatsu]

I have fished the Frances a few times and I find it to be comfortable, but not luxurious. They limit the trip to the number of bunks on the boat, which I think is 40. Each fishing spot is about 3 feet wide and they only fish 7 across the stern, which is very nice. The crew has been excellent on the trips I've made and they didn't fish at all. It was hard to make a judgement of the captains because they maintain a closed wheelhouse, so I couldn't critique them very well. They did move the boat as necessary and I have done very well on the trips I made, with similar fishing to the Helen H. We did see the Helen H once, so I know they fish the same areas. As stated above the big drawback is the long ride out. They leave at 10 PM and you are fishing at about 5:30 or 6:00 AM. The fishing ends between 2:00 and 3:00 PM. They seem to baby the engines bigtime and probably cruise at around 12 knots, from the sound of the engines, I'd say about 1300 RPMs on 12-71 naturals (just a guess ). However, I use this to my advantage because when I go on the Helen H, I need to pay for a hotel. On the Frances, I just sleep on the ride out and save the $$ of the hotel. The drive from the GWB is about 3 hours on the way there and about 2 - 2.5 hours on the home, when there is no traffic. I hope this helps...

Gamakatsu

 

[617250]

I've fished the offshore trips on these boats many times over the last 10 years. The Gail Frances is the older boat, at 90', the captains and mates like her, because she gets a few more knots than the Lady. The Gail has a single "unfinished" open bunk room below, in the forward area of the cabin. The well worn smells below can be a bit of a drag on this vessel. The Lady Frances is the newer and bigger boat at 105'. I've always found the Lady to be more comfortable for anglers, that extra 15' really seems to make a difference. All the walls inside the cabin, above and below, are covered in an easy to clean white laminate. There are separate "finished" bunk rooms below forward, with separate A/C and heater controls. The Lady's bunk rooms always seem cleaner, fresher, and more comfortable that the Gail's.

Smoking in not allowed in the cabins, although, much to my disappointment, the rule is not always enforced (if you're on a trip with Capt. Frank, it will be enforced). Both boats have 104 fishing positions labled along the rails. They never take more than 45 anglers on the offshore trips, so that everyone can have a bunk, and be comfortable fishing at the even numbered rail positions. For the jigging trips (George's Bank), with 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 anglers, the top of the pulpit is a great place to be. On each drift, you can cast out to the uptide side of the boat and jig your way around to the downtide side, without ever having your line go under the boat. With the numbers of anglers I mentioned, your group can get a nice rotation going around the top of the pulpit, landing your fish on the downtide side then turning around and casting back out on the uptide side, and often bring home twice as many keeper cod as the anglers on the rest of the boat. You have to book real early for these spots, or call back often, hoping for cancellations.

Personally, I like the schedule. Boat pulls out at 10:00pm, get a good night's sleep, usually start fishing between 5:00am and 7:00am. Usually a 7 to 8 hour ride home, plenty of time to get fish cleaned, sleep, change clothes, relax with reading, CD's, cards, chat, etc. Mates will cook breakfast at usual costs. Hot dogs and bergers are always available. On 2-day trips, mates cook up some very good dinners for $7 to $10, for your night on the Bank (of course you're not obligated to buy the boat's dinner). Sometimes, they'll cook up some Rhode Island chowder, for the trip home.

I think they tend to use the Gail for the 24-hour trips, because she's a bit faster, and the Lady for the longer trips. I usually go on the 2-day trips, and I've been on the Lady 80% to 90% of the time, but equipment problems could mean either bot is put into service for your trip. Captains and crews are usually excellent on these boats, and they're normally a pleasure to fish aboard. I hope you enjoy your trip.

 

[Gamakatsu]

Ray brings up a good point about the pulpit. That is also my position of choice and it can be worked in rotation, kinda like the end of a jetty, if everybody is keyed into the fishing. The same can be done on the stern, but the pulpit is ideal for this.

The trips that I have made were obviously on the Lady because the bunkrooms were seperate. However, on the last trip I made, it was the end of June and there was a massive heatwave with temps over 100 degrees. There was no A/C and I was near death (well almost) until we got offshore and things cooled down a little.

Gamakatsu

(This post edited by Gamakatsu on 02/19/2003)

 

[Gamakatsu]

Hey Rayhope,

Have you ever done one of their Nantucket Wreck trips? A few of us are going in May and I've heard different opinions of the fishing. Just curious to hear your view.

Gamakatsu

 

[Goliath]

Gamakatsu
rayhope

Thanks guys. This is precisely the type of info I was looking for. These bits of info you can only get from guys who have done the trips. As I said, I sail on the H at least 8 times a year on the Georges trips, and yeah, it is my favorite boat by a mile. I'm the type who would rather drive the extra time rather than take an eight hour boat ride to the grounds. But I really wanted to try something new. I've been on the Gail on the day trips and except for one overcrowded trip, it has always been successful. The idea of getting eight hours of sleep prior to fishing sounds wonderful, provided your not getting your brains beat in. In that case there would be no sleep for me.

Once this wind dies down we should try to put a trip together on the Helen H, given that she sails everyday and finding a day shouldn't be that hard. Sometime in March perhaps. Maybe even a charter. Hopefully some enterprising member could spread the word on this site. Count me in.

Frank

 

[619627]

Goliath...this was the type of information i wanted to see on the board. I have not fished with the Gail Francis in many years, since it was more convienent to fish on the Viking boats.

EC NEWELL MAN*

 

[Codfisha15]

Hey folks,
I agree with frank, we should definitely try to get some of us together on the helen h. Count me in if it goes. I can go pretty much anytime in march (spring break).
See ya,

 

[617250]

Hi Gamma,

I've done a number of the Wreck Specials. Great value for the dollar...14 hours on the water (4:00am to 6:00pm) for $70. They only schedule these trips a few times each year. One or two in April, two in October, and they'll usually add a couple of unpublished Wreck Specials in December, weather permitting. These trips are always on Wednesdays. I usually look at my vacation planner after the summer, and this past October I had a couple of V-days left, so I booked on both October trips. Wreck fishing on a large party boat is always a gamble on the wind vs. tides, your location on the boat in relation to being anchored over the wreck (unlike the Helen H, the Frances Fleet boats do anchor over the wrecks, with one and often two anchors...which can take seemingly forever), and if the boat's not full so you can move around as needed. First trip, last October, 45 on board, 33 miles out, very good weather, hit 2 wrecks, lots of big fish over 20 lbs. were landed, and most anglers went home happy. I was a few spots from the front of the pulpit and only had a few smaller fish. Two weeks later, 44 on board, 65 miles out, weather good till mid-morning when a line of showers followed by a fast moving Yankee Clipper came through, hit 3 wrecks, smaller fish, only about a dozen anglers caught keeper fish. I was in the same spot in the pulpit, had 7 nice cod from 10 to 15 lbs, and to my surprise won the pool. I went home happy, but most of the other guys looked a little gruff getting off the boat. Go figure.

All the experienced guys I talked to on these boats, rave about the Nantucket Wreck trips, especially in the Spring. I've always wanted to go on the 2-day Nantucket Wreck trips (none scheduled this year, only the 24-hour trips), but the buddies I usually book the big trips with, prefer the action on the George's Bank trips (the Frances Fleet boats will usually drift over a wreck or two, on the way home from George's Bank - this usually yields an easy to identify pool winner). One of these seasons....