By Steve Zelck
Well sports fans, summer has finally arrived, and please excuse the pun but things are definitely heating up. I’ve been out several times now on scouting missions, recreational fishing and some charters – here’s what I have to report. My first trip in early May we headed to Stellwagon. The wind was screaming and the haddock were scarce. All day bait fishing produced dismal results, the haddock were few and far between. Heck I saw more seagulls in the dumpster or McDonalds than I saw on the water. I guess they were smarter than me that day.
The second voyage was far better because the bank had suddenly come to life. Whales everywhere, lots more haddock, and you can literally walk on the sand eels, mackerel and herring. There was more bait close to shore than I’ve seen in the last ten years.
Just the other day, we were lucky enough to get a charter and decided to head to a hot spot to the north. Well let me tell you, it was epic from the first drop. Those scientists at NOAA really don’t know their stuff – they claim there is no cod around; well, I was throwing back on average about six beautiful ten-pound cod for every one haddock that came aboard. Yes that’s right, I had to fight through the cod just to get to the haddock. It was enough to make you sick. I just hope someone from the good government will read this and perhaps let us keep five and go back to work. But that would make entirely too much sense. Anyway, it was a great day on the water. We had our limit by midday and headed home. There weren’t many boats in the area, so get out and take advantage! As I mentioned, there are tons of bait around, which should bring in the nice big predators. I’ve heard of several good striper feeds toward Plum Island, and believe it or not, Charlie – yes, Charlie – has been sighted by some of the lobster guys – so don’t be screwing around. Get the boat finished and in the water! Mother nature looks to have set the table for us quite nicely. You don’t want to be fooling around painting your bottom or having a reel serviced and hear about the guys that got in early and caught a 500 pounder already. Get ‘em!
FORECAST BY: Steve Zelck was born and raised in Gloucester. Steve’s love of the sea lured him back to pursue his fishing passion and not a day goes by without him checking the pulse of the harbor for action. If you don’t find Steve at Three Lantern Marine, you can bet he’s out working on his lobster boat, F/V Erik and Devin, named after his kids. He also tuna fishes aboard the F/V Bounty Hunter with captain Bill Monty from wicked tuna. www.threelanternmarine.com.