CaptDom

Helen H 1/17

After driving over 900 miles roundtrip on Wednesday to pick up a new boat(yes, all in 1 day), I hopped in the car at 1am and made the drive to Hyannis. I was able to briefly rest on the way out, and we were fishing by 6:45, sun still not up.

The fishing all day was tough, slow pick. No drift at all really, and a good hour of slack water where only a few foul hooked fish and a couple of skates were landed. The fishing appears to be winding down on the open bottom, although still very good catches in relation to the fishery these days.

I used a 12 ounce Lav all day, with a white codfly. I was able to do much better than those around me in the stern, except for the duo of Chris Conkol and Eben, who put on a good show in the port corner. I ended up with 28 keepers total, all markets. Had a good number of short throwbacks as well, probably 15 or so. I also dropped a bunch more, as early in the day they all seemed to be foul hooked, and quite a few rolled off half way up. Had a porbeagle follow up a cod, but he took one look at this pure shark killers eyes and never showed again.

It was nice meeting CConkol in person finally, just as nice a kid face to face as he is online.

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CAPT. DOM PETRARCA
COASTAL CHARTERS SPORTFISHING
NEWPORT, RI (401)-862-0358
www.coastalcharterssportfishing.com

AlloyToy

Nice to get out on the water I bet........

What area did you guys fish? Off Nantucket?

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"First The Bite Then The Fight"

Possum

LMAO there Dom.

Sounds like a decent trip none the less. 28 markets is a nice bag of filets.

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gman

congrats on the new boat my friend, I will call you later today

CaptDom

We fished open bottom, east and north of Nantucket. The bite has been fantastic up there for about a month, but every year it tapers off mid January, and completely shuts down by Feb.

Capt. Jim on th American Classic will be running trips out east of Stellwagen, all winter as long as the fish are still there. last year we had an incredibl;e late Feb and March, while the bank was closed down. I will keep you all updated on the available fishing for cod on the AC this winter.....might be the only local New England show in town.

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CAPT. DOM PETRARCA
COASTAL CHARTERS SPORTFISHING
NEWPORT, RI (401)-862-0358
www.coastalcharterssportfishing.com

AlloyToy

Capt. Dom,

Any RI Cod News? I read in the Fisherman about South of the Island. I wondering after the Cod we caught off Newport in the fall if there is anything going on any closer?

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"First The Bite Then The Fight"

ckonkol

You beat me to it Dom.



I finally got to go cod jigging. This trip on the Helen H was my first trip to start off the 08 fishing season and it was a good way to start off the season on a high note. Surprisingly enough Eben and I were the first people on the boat and I positioned us in the port stern. Also in the stern was CaptDom We got to the fishing area before 7 and I decided to use my Calstar 800m and Saltiga 15 paired up with a 12oz lav and a blue fly. I hooked up instantly and got a nice keeper into the boat. then Eben followed. My next cast was less successful. I got tangled up with someone hooked into a Porbegal and had my jig cut so I had to re rig up that jig and I really didn't miss too much since Joe called lines up soon after I got messed up. So back in action after the 2nd drift we had over 16cod in our cooler. It was good picking then I decided to take a little break and as I did the action slowed down. We avoided heading in early to a loss of someones apendage due to Dom's quick thinking. This gave Eben a chance to try out my setup and as soon as his jig hit the bottom he got a keeper. So after I finished my break a couple drifts later the fish decided it was lunch time and the bent rods started. Eben and I were getting a fish a cast on these drifts then sadly the good day of cod jigging had to come to an end. Eben and I teamed up for 60 something keeper cod. We probably had 30keepers each not counting the ones that we threw back that were just legal or too skinny for our likings. Dom it was great meeting you and hope to fish with you again soon.

Only found time to take pics once in the morning
My 2 biggest
my biggest
Eben's 2 biggest

CaptDom

Chris, same. Looking forward to fishing with you and Eben again real soon. Its nice to meet other guys who have as much fun being on the water and fishing as I do.

I forgot about that finger incident. That guy seriously almost lost his finger. I am just glad that I pulled the line up, instead of the other way, as I could have made it worse.

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CAPT. DOM PETRARCA
COASTAL CHARTERS SPORTFISHING
NEWPORT, RI (401)-862-0358
www.coastalcharterssportfishing.com

CaptDom

I plan on trying the local drops on a bluebird day later in the winter. The local scene is pretty quiet, even at the fish houses. Bad weather and poor regulations equals little effort. The bite has been pretty good for the boats working south of Block and in the NY bight. My only fear is that these are break off pods from the main georges stocks(the same body we fished on the HH) looking to spawn, and heavy pressure my prevent them from developing a resident population of any real mass....

I had a thread going on codfish last year here on NBS, and I feel that there are resident fish to be caught. Hopefully I can try a few more times this year.

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CAPT. DOM PETRARCA
COASTAL CHARTERS SPORTFISHING
NEWPORT, RI (401)-862-0358
www.coastalcharterssportfishing.com

ckonkol

Looks like I'm going to be heading back up to pay Capt. Joe Huckemeyer a visit Saturday since my seabass trip tonight got canceled.