Yankeecodman

Killer ghost nets

From a charter on a smaller 40 foot boat same area

It's better because the zones have with in them the prime sea humps and structure that the big spawning cod prefer. These structures also atrract bait fish. Our main problem is not so much the commercial fisherman that target the cod but the ones that target the schools of Herring that most of the sea life from Whales to Cod depend on. They come in with huge mid water trawlers and take the Herring which is the prime food for the Cod.

In the spawning areas they have scattered square mile areas where no commercial fishing is allowed and is patroled by the USA coast guard. This allows some santcuary for spawning fish from commercial harvest.

The Angler Fish (we call them mother in law fish because of the big mouth or Monk Fish) was about 40 pounds.

We were no where near the Grand Banks. We where fishing the non commercial zone of the Stellwagen Banks in the Gulf of Maine .

The American Classic 26 knot 100 foot Aluminum boat

My 10 fish limit Weigh in

A bunch of noreast members charted the American Classic for a go at some Gulf Of Maine Cod. I caught over 30 cod. I only kept 10 which is the limit per man-two at 31 pounds (which I caught at one time one on a Lava Pirk and the other on a matt fly above the Lava Pirk,one 30 pounds,one 26 pounds and 6 others from 10 to 12 pounds. My double 31

Yankee Cod Bible

Where the Cod are

Winter, you be right about the water temps. This year during our winter the water was colder then normal and shut down the fishing till may. The colder water forced a lot of Cod south below 41N. In Canada in the Bay Of Fundy hundreds of dead Cod washed ashore. They were killed by the cold temps of the water during the winter.

Most of the fishing is between 41N and 43N. We also get Blue fin tuna to 1000 pounds in the same areas.

We fish mostly under water rock ledges and Sea Mounts that were formed during the Ice Age. Below is a under water view of one of the best fishing areas a Sea mount called Cashes Ledge You can fish from 40 to well over 1000 feet deep.

Thank you for the welcome. This chart below shows the main fishing areas 5 to 100 miles off shore of the eastern USA.

TAUTOG OR BLACK FISH My favorite fish to catch,lives on rocks reefs or wrecks.Hard to hook and land. bull dog hard fighter will run for the Wreck or rocks when hooked [ 11. September 2004, 02:48 AM: Message edited by: Yankeecodman ]

Do they come close to shore. The closest is five miles or so when the spawners come to spawn. Mostly fishing is waters between 180 to 600 feet. Years ago there was a fishery from shore during the winter but that was when the stock was at it's peak. I fish on the east coast above on my previous posts there links to boats that I fish on. [ 11. September 2004, 02:40 AM: Message edited by: Yankeecodman ]

COD

WHITE HAKE

HADDOCK

Yes we have trawlers but they are regulated as to their catch amount and the size of the fish. Plus they are limited to the days at sea per year. Also the banks are closed to commercial fishing during spawning and some are closed completely to commercial fisherman. The fisheries is just starting to make a come back in the states. Long way to go to get back to what it was Dog fish? You can catch them five at a time when they swarm in on you. To you guys consider dog fish a game fish to us in the states they are pests.

Winter With the regulations that were put in. Codfishing has made a come back. I live in NYC and fish in MA.NH. and in Me. The size limit for cod is 22 inches any smaller has to go back and in some areas you only can keep ten and some areas you can keep all you want. There more fish in the ten pound to 30 pound range And Pollack fishing is unreal. I recently went on a trip that for the whole time when you dropped your pirk and fly down it wouldn 't hit the bottom,you would have on 2 Pollack on 12 to 30 pounds on that would keep you pirk from hitting bottom where the cod were. At the end of the trip I had 200 pounds of Cod and Pollock fillets. Cod head/party boat cod Party boat Maine Cod boat Above are some links to some of the boats I fish on These are pary boats anf they carry up to 50 fisherman. There are also smaller charter boats that will take only 6 fisherman [ 04. September 2004, 10:20 PM: Message edited by: Yankeecodman ]

Looks like you guys across the pond have problems with big seals too We have Seal problems here in the states too,our Cod Fish keep chasing our Seals and the Seals jump up on our boats and docks and are afraid to go back in the water and make a mess. One day I like to take a crack at your Conger fishing. [ 04. September 2004, 03:03 AM: Message edited by: Yankeecodman ]

Yankee Codfish bible The link above might be of interest, in that it has alot of information about the eguipment and rigs and fishing styles we use here in the states for Cod fishing.