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Boston
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By: Ron Powers "The Fisherman" JANUARY 1.2004
"Your mother told you don't put off for
tomorrow, what you can do today".
And under most circumstances she was right. But without any disrespect
to dear old mom -she obviously knew nothing about cod fishing. Those who
have waited for that "one more good day" and have procrastinated about putting away that boat,
have a wealth of opportunity awaiting them just north of Boston Harbor.
Come late fall and early winter, just at about the time your kicking
yourself for not having spent more time taking advantage of the fall
migration (if only you could have done without that "sleep"
thing!) there is an almost quixotic fishery just outside of Marblehead
-rock cod.
If you have never seen an example of this gorgeous
subspecies of the Atlantic cod, you're in for a treat. Splashed with vivid
colors of orange, red and mahogany this fish is as much a feast for the
eyes as it is for the dinner table. Think -cod by way of'60's flower child
and you'll have the correct visual image of these fish.
NOT ALL SMALLS:
My previous experience with these rock cod is that
while fun they were generally undersized -that is until I
jigged the structure off Marblehead with Captain
Dennis DeCarney of Drop-a-Line Charters. The hard bottom of Outer
Breakers, Southwest Breakers, Pig Rocks and Tinkers Ledge fairly teem with
rock cod once the water temperatures drop below that pivotal 50-degree
mark and these fish will generally last there well into winter.
The cod
feed heavily on a potpourri of prey items including numerous crustaceans
and harbor pollock that take up residency here and the result is that you
seldom will encounter a cod that is not swollen like a blowfish. Many of
these fish are good sized and enough are over 10 pounds to make every tug
of the line a real crapshoot.
BAIT AND DEEP WATER:
What attracts the fish to this area, in addition to
the plentiful bait-source, is its close proximity to the sanctuary of deep
water. In fact your most productive drifts will generally be along the
edges where the 35 to 50-foot shallows plummet to 70 plus feet.
One of the
most amazing aspects about these cod lairs is that they are within two
miles of the shoreline. Being so near terra firma, you can reach these
grounds in less than a ha1f-hour steam from two nearby launching sites:
Winter Island in Salem and The Lynn Ramp by the causeway in Lynn Harbor.
It transmits the makeup of the bottom, this is important because as the
name belies: rock cod love rocky terrain.
VARIETY OF METHODS:
On a recent outing four of us tried numerous
techniques and all were successful with these codfish. First mate Don
Liberty was whooping it up while drifting Santini Chincoteague Rigs and
clams, while the rest of us were having a grand old time with 12-ounce
bright orange and chartreuse Sea Wolfe Cod Bombs.
Since this is crunchy
bottom fraught with lure eating snags, stick with single hooked jigs,
which will stick the fish but generally not the structure.. Fix a dropper
or teaser, such as a pelican green teaser of a cod fly, a couple of feet
above your jig to increase the odds of a hook-up.
Since it is relatively
shallow water, you can skip the cue stick rods and ultra heavy reels and
opt for something less wearing and tearing on the joints. Vinnie "The
mackerel" Viarella, who is an experienced old salt, seemed to have
the system down pat. Vinnie's tools of the trade are a Daiwa Sealine X50
and matching seven foot rod that may look the worse for the wear thanks to
many a fish war, but never missed a beat while cranking in the cod- fish.
Vinnie prefers Power Pro 50.:.pound braid; he says that thanks to the
ultra sensitivity of this line, he can so much as feel the fish breathing
on that jig. By the way Vinnie was eventunually hooking up, I'd say he was
on to something
Another advantage of the Power Pro is that
ON THE MEAT
Captain Dennis DeCarney prefers drifting to anchoring
and feels that it is essential to be vigilant of your drift pattern. A
little trick that Dennis employs is to hit the "man overboard"
button of his GPS system as soon as the bite is on.
This way as soon as he
drifts out of the productive zone, the skipper is able to motor back to
the original spot with no fanfare and work the school further.
THE REGS:
A quick line about regulations, as of December 1st
the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries limits the take of cod to
five fish per day, with a 23-inch mini. Currently this regulation, will
remain in effect until April...1st where It is scheduled to shoot up to 10
fish per day again with the same size restrictions in effect (as always
drop a dime to the fisheries folks at (617) 626-1520 before you venture
out).
While some weigh the value of motoring out to say, Stellwagen during
the winter especially when the bag is limited to only five fish, when the
excursion is only a couple miles out, you will not only get a bang from
these rock cod, but you'll get a bang for your buck!
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