[614782]

Al I have a cod trip on for the middle of March out fo Green Harbor. We will be just coming off the new moon what kind of conditions can I expect. We will be fishing on th Janet-B one day and the Hacker the next. My son booked the trip so I assume we will be fishing Stellwagon Banks.Any input will be appreciated. Thanks, Lou

fishon

 

[Crazy-Al]

Lou wrote:
Al I have a cod trip on for the middle of March out fo Green Harbor. We will be just coming off the new moon what kind of conditions can I expect. We will be fishing on th Janet-B one day and the Hacker the next. My son booked the trip so I assume we will be fishing Stellwagon Banks.Any input will be appreciated. Thanks, Lou
_______________________________________________

Hi Lou,
The Month of March and April is an excellent time to fish the Stellwagon waters!

Now, fishing just off the new moon ?or full moon. The water is going to be moving at its maximum capacity and therefore, you need to up the weights (sinkers & jigs) considerably!

In addition, you may want to get an old issue of SWS (May 97, Pro Issue) where there is an excellent article (Tricks of the Party Boat Pros) that reveals many cod fishing secrets. In the article I gave away two major tips?

1) ?Consult the tide tables when booking your trips. While you can catch cod just about anytime the current allows, book your trip to coincide with the half-moon phases. Full-Moon (or New Moon) tides can require as much as 32 ounces of weight to get your bait down, but during the half-moon phases you can get away with a ten-ounce sinker on the same grounds.??

2) ?Try the new braided lines, which provide more sensitivity. Braid don?t stretch and have a thinner diameter, which means you can use less weight and gain a better feel for the bottom.?

I also encourage you to use a long fluorocarbon leader when the fish are line shy!

Hope this helps?

"Crazy" Alberto
[email protected]

 

[quick release]

ttt

Good luck ! Capt. Dean on the Quick Release

 

[Crazy-Al]

Hello Lou,

I just got a great cod report from a friend (hi-hook / pool winner) that fished this weekend?s trip?. He said the bite is pandemonium with many keepers till your arms drop!

Good Luck!

"Crazy" Alberto
[email protected]

 

[Capt. Marc]

Crazy-Al,

I will have to disagree with the regarding when to book a trip. Cod feed best when the water is moving. You can almost tell the state of the tide by the slow down in the fishing. At slack current cod usually totally move off to who knows where (still searching). I like to think of cod like deep water stripers, The best fishing is around the moons because the fast current pushes the bait up from the deep where the cod are waiting on the banks. With the moons you have a longer period of moving water and thus the cod bite longer. The fast current shouldn't be an issue with superlines and the right sized jigs or sinkers. On partyboats while at anchor, casting out and walking the jig back to the boat is deadly. Also when it is really ripping, home made pipe jigs or other slender jigs will work well.

I believe these boats are 6 pack charters and they will be most likely drifting (should if there is light winds). The current shouldn't be an issue since the boat will be moving along with the tide.

March 12-17 and 26-31 are prime days.

Lou,

Let us know how you do and good luck,

Capt. Marc

 

[Capt. Marc]

Lou,

The best day is when you will be fishing during one whole tide. What I mean is let's say it is a 2hr ride out to the grounds and the boat leaves at 8 and stops fihing around 4. It is roughly 6 and 1/2 hrs between tides and moving water starts around an hour after high and low tide. So I would look for a high or low tide around 7-8am. This way you are riding out to the grounds when the fishing will be slow and you will be fishing all day in a moving current. When you book a trip with a slack current in the middle of the day, the fishing may be slow until the current starts again.

This is from my experience and isn't the rule. If your on a good piece of bottom that holds fish all tides, then of course, you will do well.

Unfortunally on a party boat or charter, you can't fish the tides since they run on a schedule. Usually on the moons you will have a high and low tide around noon which is in the middle of the trip but the slow period is much less then mid moons. On my boat I will usually leave the dock at the slack tides to take advantage of the calm water and slow fishing.

Capt. Marc

 

[617162]

I'll chime in on this discussion a bit. Crazy Al has very legitimate points regarding the currents associated with moon tides. Most of the codfishing done on the Banks is in water from 100-200 feet deep. This is quite a range, and depending upon the depth where the fish are holding will dictate how you fish for them. When scheduling a wreck trip, where I KNOW that we will be anchored I will avoid at all costs sailing on a moon tide. Heavy currents and wreck fishing don't mix well as most of the fish caught off of wrecks are resident fish and don't spend their days roaming around looking for food. Heavy currents in this situation tend to have the fish hugging the structure which make catching that much more difficult and you'll find that one small section of the boat tends to be where most of the catching is taking place as their lines are positioned best in the place where the 'lazy' resident fish are congregated. Jig fishing is another story, as Capt. Marc stated the fish on the banks are generally transients, used to looking for bait concentrations on which to feed. They will use bottom structure much like a striper will in order to feed on the bait also using that structure to avoid the flow. The trips on the 6 pack boats to Stellwagon are not affected as much by current as those trips done by larger headboats where there are many more lines in the water. On a headboat fishing both rails the people on both sides of the boat need to work together. Those on the lee side (in the direction of the drift) need to use heavier jigs than those on the upwind side of the boat, and they need to flip their jigs out as far as they can away from the boat. This will permit the most time in the strike zone before their jigs ride up too high in the current to be manageable under the boat. The people on the windward side of the boat can use slightly lighter jigs since they can fish out further that the guys fishing under the boat. You will have tangles, it's inevidable, but as long as everyone works together and you have an attentive crew it's not that bad.

I was on a trip out of Hyannis this past Sunday and we slayed the cod. Nothing real big with the pool fish in the 15# class, but many fish for all those that worked for them. Seems the slow (by Gearge's Bank standards) fishing experienced thus far this winter is finally coming into it's own. Best of luck to anyone that's going! -Capt. Mike



This message was edited by J&J'sPop on 2-26-02 @ 12:29 PM