Headed offshore for some ground fishing on some numbers a good friend had provided. We fished the area for 3 hours and only put a few keepers in the box. With five more hours left in the trip I had to decide whether to keep fishing the area or make a 20 mile run to where I had fished a few days earlier. It was not a hard decision as I have promised my customers that I will take them to where the fish are...not where I wish they were. So hammer down and off to the northern we flew.
We arrived at dead low tide..slack water. Moving water is when ground fish bite best so I figured we had an hour or so before we would start hitting them. To my surprise ( and relief) the first jig that hit the bottom was taken by a nice market cod of 10 lbs. Although not a slam bite we started putting nice keeper cod to 18lbs and haddock in the box. About 10 minutes before we were scheduled to head for the barn we put a nice 10 lb pollack in the box. Manny, who had chartered the boat, hooks up immediately so I expected to see another racer come aboard. Looking into the water the initial color confirmed my suspicion but when the fish surfaced I was amazed to see a trophy haddock that had inhaled the jigs 10/0 treble awaiting a gaff.
Manny's fish measured 29" and weighed 10lbs on the nose. A real trophy fish considering haddock in the 5 lb class are considered real nice fish.
With the threat of impending T Storms we ran for the barn pushing 30 knts across the Gulf...(I love that big 250 Zuke). A great day on the water with a great group of fisherman and a trophy fish to put in the memory banks.
