Another Massachusetts Meat Trip

[hartattack]

Got a surprise phone call from Ice Cream Bill on Friday morning that he was sick and could not go on Nantucket fluke/Cod adventure that night, could I pinch-hit ? Hell yea!! Especially when wife requested I come back with more HAddock filets this year - for once I did not disappoint her.

First day was Fluke and SeaBass on Nantucket Shoals. Fluke quality was amazing, quantity this year was down. Our group of me & 3 guys from Jigging World got our Fluke limitof 20 with 12 of our 20 over 7 pounds :eek: Really happy that Anthony (MrAC198_) got the pool winner at 12+ pounds. Conditions up there are always challenging and this year the current was stronger than past, forcing us to use up to 28 ounces of lead onhi-low "popcorn" type rigs. Last drift of day was just east of Nantucket where we later tucked out of the Wind to anchor for the evening (sleep at sea, no Nantucket layover for this trip). This drift allowed us to use less weight and it was 100% SeaBass- mostly knuckleheads up to 5+ pounds. On Saturday we fished from 8:30am up to 8pm.

Sunday the engines started up at 4:30am and we steamed east into 175' Haddock grounds. CAptain announced the night b4 that Cod fishing has been off so far this year so we wouldtarget HAddock (no limit on these tasty things). WE were able to use less Lead here in deeper water :confused: - merely 18 ounces was sufficient. Haddock fishing was drop & reel with any piece of Gulp! you used. Clams attracted Dogfish, jigs were hitby the Mackeral but Gulp! = HAddock here. Double headers swung over rail kept everyone happy. Haddock minimum size is 18" and most every Haddock caught was a keeper. After 2 hours of filling our coolers CAptain announced that we were losing the tide sowould be steaming East into deeper water for bigger fish. We arrived at Georges Bank and now had to go back to 28 ounces of Lead and had to upgrade our Norwegian Cod jigs to 36 oz !! Here it was mostly Pollock and a double header nearly destroyed JiggingWorld Rick, but Rick persevered. Stayed here an hour or so when Captain announced that Codfishing is still off so we went back to HAddock grounds to top off our coolers that were already full. Even were able to get a few Cod here too. WE fished Sunday from6am to 2:30, back at dock by 5:15 and mates were still cutting fish until ??pm.

How can you top this trip ? BY going again. I'm scheduled to go last week of August with some other NJFers if my body recovers. Feel better Bill, thanks for letting me pinch-fish.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Wow awesome trip Larry!!

[CadiShackFishing]

Looks and sounds like a great trip. Congratulations on the successful trip.

[AndyS]

Wow !!!

[Duffman]

Damn that sounds sick!!! Freezers gotta be packed!!!!!

[Grateful Dad]

Nice job, Larry and crew! That is an amazing trip!

[ALS Mako]

Sweet action. Great job larry. I gotta get up there one of these days. Maybe next year? 😎🤔

[hookset]

Check pm box

[Ice Cream Bill]

Great report Larry! So glad that you were able to take my spot with Anthony & Rick from Jigging World. Turns out my low grade fever is actually bronchitis. Taking some antibiotics and feeling better each day. I knew that I wasn’t 100% and two straight days at sea would not been fun!

Hopefully you, me, Duffman, ALS Mako and others can get up there next year.
I was grateful you tried to get me on this trip originally so offering it first to you was a no-brainer. Tight Lines!

Bill

[Fin Reaper]

The things we do for our wives....you my friend are up for husband of the year after that trip

[Togfather2530]

Great report. Funny thing is when your homeport is jersey it’s disappointing when you realize all the good fishing is north anymore. Cod in jersey is nonexistent anymore along with mackerel and whiting. The flounder fishery there makes ours look sick. I need to get up there soon. Seems all the fish are moving north. Global warming I guess lol. Get the Democrats started lol

[tropics]

Nice job Larry I am trying to find some more boats up here to fish on.
Richie

[bulletbob]

Great report. Funny thing is when your homeport is jersey it’s disappointing when you realize all the good fishing is north anymore. Cod in jersey is nonexistent anymore along with mackerel and whiting. The flounder fishery there makes ours look sick. I need to get up there soon. Seems all the fish are moving north. Global warming I guess lol. Get the Democrats started lol

Mass population-7 million
NJ -9 million
NY -19 million


Lots more pressure here, its that simple.

[shrimpman steve]

Great report Larry. Heard you ran into an old friend of mine as well!

[hartattack]

Richie: I'll be up there Aug 27-30, will call you to hook-up, got filets for 'ya.
Steve: 'one of my old friends' narrows the candidate list down to just a few million peeps. Ringwood Rick is aces :)
All: despite I-95, to me Nantucket fishing (not just Fluke) is my favorite.

[henro]

Awesome report! Can you share what specific rod & reel combos(model numbers and weight/line ratings) you used for the 28oz popcorn fluke rigs and what you used for the heavier deep water rigs for pollow/cod?

[hartattack]

I've been doing this trip every first weekend in August for 4 years now and I think I've finally zeroed in on the proper gear. I use a Phenix Megalodon rod rated PE4-8. Strong but light is key - you need to be able to swing most of your catch over the rail.

Whatever reel you use should have a long power handle (not just a power knob). Hi--speed gearing helps reeling in from so deep but losing torque hurts when getting up off bottom. I now use a CAnyon HS-15, its 6:1 ratio is the sweet spot (for me) between too much cranking vs. too little power. My buddies at Jigging World were using 2-speed reels, Lexa-HD (low gear model), Ocea Jiggers and Saltiga JDMs; and as always they were dialed in. The rod should be strong enuff to swing anything you don't want gaffed. Up there they gaff all Fluke, so if you wanna release 'em you better swing 'em.

You definitely need a the lightest, strongest gear possible - using 24+ oz. cod-jigs/fluke rigs will knock the crap out of you. I used to use my Tog Gear and would really feel sore the next day; with the set-up above I was actually not as beat-up as I've been in past.

Make sure you are fully spooled (I use 30 lb braid with 40 pound mono top-shot tied to 30 pound mono leader, never saw the need for Fluoro here). Georges Bank is 300' but with current and line scope you are out 400'+. You can get snagged on wooden wrecks on Georges BAnk so top-shot encouraged. I use the same gear for Nantucket Shoals fluking but some used lighter. The Shoals is a series of peaks and valleys and those valleys can be up to 100' deep. Good thing on the Shoals is that it is not rocky so rig loss is minimal.

It's a lot of work but pay-off is a lot of smiles :):):)

[dakota560]

Larry great report! What dreams are made of for sure. Not sure how you beat a trip like that in terms of quality and variety but should be fun trying. Thanks for sharing the experience, awesome stuff!

[henro]

I've been doing this trip every first weekend in August for 4 years now and I think I've finally zeroed in on the proper gear. I use a Phenix Megalodon rod rated PE4-8. Strong but light is key - you need to be able to swing most of your catch over the rail.

Whatever reel you use should have a long power handle (not just a power knob). Hi--speed gearing helps reeling in from so deep but losing torque hurts when getting up off bottom. I now use a CAnyon HS-15, its 6:1 ratio is the sweet spot (for me) between too much cranking vs. too little power. My buddies at Jigging World were using 2-speed reels, Lexa-HD (low gear model), Ocea Jiggers and Saltiga JDMs; and as always they were dialed in. The rod should be strong enuff to swing anything you don't want gaffed. Up there they gaff all Fluke, so if you wanna release 'em you better swing 'em.

You definitely need a the lightest, strongest gear possible - using 24+ oz. cod-jigs/fluke rigs will knock the crap out of you. I used to use my Tog Gear and would really feel sore the next day; with the set-up above I was actually not as beat-up as I've been in past.

Make sure you are fully spooled (I use 30 lb braid with 40 pound mono top-shot tied to 30 pound mono leader, never saw the need for Fluoro here). Georges Bank is 300' but with current and line scope you are out 400'+. You can get snagged on wooden wrecks on Georges BAnk so top-shot encouraged. I use the same gear for Nantucket Shoals fluking but some used lighter. The Shoals is a series of peaks and valleys and those valleys can be up to 100' deep. Good thing on the Shoals is that it is not rocky so rig loss is minimal.

It's a lot of work but pay-off is a lot of smiles :):):)

Thank you for that info. I have a JW Shogun 7'6" M rated for 2-8oz(max 12oz) and 20-40lb test as per their website and a Shimano Terez 7' MH rated 40-80lb test(Shimano doesn't list lure weight rating). Would these 2 be enough to handle those heavy rigs you're using up there or should I look for a heavier rod setup? The shogun has a Tranx 400 on it and the Terez has a Trinidad 16NA so I know the reels are up to the task.

[MasiJC]

Nice haul and some great looking fish!

[MVP]

That was a great read Larry and all the extra detail as those are pearls of wisdom that guys should listen to when fishing up north. Looking forward to seeing you at the end of the month

[dales529]

Great report Larry. Next year in the Tourney I want you using 28 oz:D
Glad you got em. See ya soon on the Monger

[Togfather2530]

Mass population-7 million
NJ -9 million
NY -19 million


Lots more pressure here, its that simple.

That’s a good point Bob, although I have a hard time believing that’s all it is. The fish that used to be here simply are not there anymore. No cod, no mackerel, no whiting, no weakies. Not trying to be negative. I’m glad the fishing always seems great up there. Honestly everyone I know that goes up seems to do well. But let’s face it the salt water fishing is not anything it was. Tuna fishing doesn’t come close to what it was either. Even the blue fishing off of barneget isn’t what it was when I was a youngster and my dad took me.