Roger reported another good day of fishing aboard the Gail Frances. It was a different day than yesterday however as the scup seemed to take more of a hold than the sea bass. Still plenty of sea bass overall and some nice ones up to and over 4 lbs but limits for a good number of fishers were not quite as easy to come by. Most of the fishers did manage several nice sea bass apiece however and some had upwards to 30 or more nice size porgies apiece. Some truly jumbo porgies today with sizes up to and even over 2 lbs on a few of the biggest specimens. Some nice ocean perch, a handful or two of hard fighting blue fish, one very large 4 lb sea flounder and a modest showing of the unmentionables which was nearly 100 pct negated by those fishing one hook down low. The most interesting catch of the day by far was the baby monkfish jigged up by a longtime regular customer in the bow. Don’t worry the baby monk was promptly returned to the sea. For the cod…it was a case of the haves and have nots. There were a handful of keepers and shorts jigged up in the bow straight away with Lucky from Stamford CT boxing three nice keepers on the iron and another gentleman jigging up a fine pair of keeper cod with both jig fishers also releasing a bunch of shorts. Both jig fishermen also did very well on the sea bass with frequent double headers. The cod bite on the bait was remarkably soft. Two bait fishers did really well. Longtime Frances Fleet regular customer Nick from Meriden CT boxed four beautiful cod to just under ten pounds and easily limited out on big sea bass to over 4lbs with bait while another fisher baited his way to 7 keepers with the biggest a beautiful green fish just south of the 15 lb mark. That fisher also reported missing several other obvious(to him) but very soft cod bites and threw back another half dozen short cod. Its not always an easy bite to feel with the boat swinging on the anchor and the bite is frequently more non pronounced than that of the sea bass and porgies. Changing bait frequently is also very important if the belly part of the bait is chewed out or washed out. Enough can not be said for a stout rod on these trips as well. We are fishing in relatively deeper water with running tides against a rocky sea floor. A stout rod will only aid in angler in amassing a nice box of fish and will really come in handy when hooking into a good size cod, sea bass, blue fish or what have you. The more stout equipment will greatly help anglers in dealing with the unmentionables as well. Don’t be afraid to be right on the bottom too, even if it means employing a slightly heavier sinker. Tomorrow is a new day with a different wind direction and rising barometer so we will see what that will bring as Capt. Rich will be set to sail at 7am for cod and sea bass aboard the Gail Frances. Some pictures today showcasing a few angler hi lights courtesy of Roger
Capt. Matt reported a good day overall of tog fishing. Every set produced some action and the sea bass were also very cooperative today as well with a few anglers limiting out on the tasty sea biscuits. About a thrid of the fishers today easily achieved limit catches of tatoug while others had just a few and some really struggled. A rather typical day of party boat fishing. Lots of short tog and short sea bass today keeping anglers busy as well. Last but certainly not least, one beautiful keeper cod fish. Some quality tog again today with a decent number of fish over 6lbs but the biggest of the day just pushing north of the 8 lb mark. The double digit barrier is going to be short lived this coming week, just a hunch. Tomorrow looks like a great day to do some togging and the Lady Frances will be set to sail at 6am with Capt. Mike or Capt. Matt at the helm.
Roger