Massachusetts Massacre - Cape Codfish & Nanfluket

[hartattack]

Went on 2-day non-sponsor party boat trip out of Hyannis. First day was Cod/Pollock on Georges Bank; 2nd day was Fluke/SeaBass on Nantucket Shoals. It was incredible

Conditions for Cod were tough - steady 20 MPH winds, strong current and wreck fishing 300 feet deep - but the fish were there. My son Brian & I each caught a dozen or so cod (up to ~20 pounds, ORL of 10) and the same # of Pollock, also up to 20 lbs (no limit on Pollock). We had to use 20 ounce Norweigen jigs, although clams worked too. Unfortunately I have no pictures from Day 1, we zonked out after jigging so many hours and the mates fileted our 3 totes of fish while we crashed.

WE slept at sea, anchored up off Nantucket in calm waters. Engines started up after daybreak & we hit the shoals after a short run. Mates had to shake Brian awake in his bunk when boat started fluking. He went from coma-like sleep to fluking in under 5 minutes.

Fluking was the best I've EVER experienced. Brian & I each had our limit by 9am. Bucktailing was next to impossible, even using 12 oz jigs. We used some NJ techniques that succeeded:
- used the Ron Santee Sr. rig: 20 oz sinker on bottom, 2 droppers above tipped with Gulp! and bait
- the NJ spearing we brought were bigger & firmer than the boat bait - Mass. fluke were all over them

Even though we were bailing fluke, many anglers were struggling. Mates told us to help fill others' limits so we started to upgrade our catch and give away some of our smaller keepers. Of the 10 fluke we kept, they were all 22+" up to Brian's personal best of 28"/8.2 pounds; my best was 27.5". Pool winning fluke was 13.9 pounds; pool winning Cod/Pollock was a 30 lb Pollock.

This trip was epic & I now understand why they sell out so quickly. The boat does several 2-day Nantucket layover fluke trips, but only 1 "CAptain's Special" each summer. This trip will become a yearly event for Brian & me and hopefully some NJF'ers will join us next year & beyond (btw - no cell phones went swimming!)