Helen H - Hyannis, Massachusetts
Full Day Cod Trip
(508)790-0660
Monday, February 16, 1998
The crisp February air on a winter morning in the anticipation of the first bite from Mister Wiskers. Call him a slob, a pig...he's "Mister" cod to you! You put your favorite rig together...from door knob rigs to all the color teasers. Mister twister or small squid teasers. Now cover that hook well with clams. Hooks, good and sharp...don't get cheap on the hooks. Cape Cod is known for it's great cod fishing...the weather does not go with it...the Canadian fronts dropping down at a seconds notice can turn the ocean into a nightmare. But there are days that are just right...tides, wind, moon and my lucky rabbit's foot are working just right.
On those days you can bang the living stars out of them all day long. That was what it was like this day on the Helen H. Give yourself about 5 1/2 hours to get there from the NY area...make it 6 hours, incase of traffic. My fishing pal, "Crazy" Al and I headed out of New York City at 7PM to catch a boat out of Cape Cod at 2 AM...you know...before the squirrels wake up! Making new ground speeds, we got there with time to spare. We were expecting an OK trip.
We loaded up our gear on the boat. I would say about 80% of the fishermen on the boat are from the New York and New Jersey area. I knew just about everyone on the boat and I knew that if we got on some fish, this bunch would do some damage and they sure did!
The Captain of the Helen H has gotten to know the waters off of Cape Cod very well and had us on fish from the get go. On the first drop, I had two double headers in a row and so did Al! We looked at each other and laughed...loaded up 8 more fish in the next 20 minutes...put down my rod and took some pictures.
Fish to my right, fish to my left...the boat had more than 100 fish within the first hour and a half. A bunch of sharpies, if you ask me! Jigging was the trick with a red, green mister twister teaser. The fish in the morning were in the 5-8 pound range...good hometown fishing...forget breakfast, and fish! After shooting a roll of film or so, back to the rod. We got on a nice a nice piece...a Captain's ace in the hole spot, where he knew there would be some nice slobs. Al and I were not in the pool...lucky for them, we both had pool winners with fish over 25 pounds easy. We had easily over 80 pounds of fillets in our coolers.
The mates were great, as always...always there when you need them...not hunting down for one. Over 600 cod were caught...and that number did not come out of a hat...it's the real gig! Here are some of the count...Rob Marano from Howard Beach, Queens with 23 cod to 10 lbs...
...Jim Murphy and Johnny Pizza with 35 cod to 10 lbs. for a total of 225 lbs. of cod...Tom Glwnn from Glen Cove with 40 cod to 15 lbs...Tony from Staten Island with a 30 lb. cod (the one that counts...all the rest are just meat on the table!)...Vito from Staten Island with 20 cod to 15 lbs...and Jihad from Newark with 15 cod to 15 lbs.
Well worth the trip. Look..the weekends are booked solid. Call for cancellations, there are always a few. But if you want something solid, play hooky and go on a weekday. If you want to get a party together with a bunch of pals, make reservations for March...that's right...March! Look, when you're hot, you're hot! So get off the couch...the TV is tired of seeing you! Remember to make space in your freezer for fillets.
Special thanks to the Captain for making it a special day...and to "Crazy" Al, thanks for helping me to get around with my injured knee and for making this story possible.
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On those days you can bang the living stars out of them all day long. That was what it was like this day on the Helen H. Give yourself about 5 1/2 hours to get there from the NY area...make it 6 hours, incase of traffic. My fishing pal, "Crazy" Al and I headed out of New York City at 7PM to catch a boat out of Cape Cod at 2 AM...you know...before the squirrels wake up! Making new ground speeds, we got there with time to spare. We were expecting an OK trip.
We loaded up our gear on the boat. I would say about 80% of the fishermen on the boat are from the New York and New Jersey area. I knew just about everyone on the boat and I knew that if we got on some fish, this bunch would do some damage and they sure did! The Captain of the Helen H has gotten to know the waters off of Cape Cod very well and had us on fish from the get go. On the first drop, I had two double headers in a row and so did Al! We looked at each other and laughed...loaded up 8 more fish in the next 20 minutes...put down my rod and took some pictures.
Fish to my right, fish to my left...the boat had more than 100 fish within the first hour and a half. A bunch of sharpies, if you ask me! Jigging was the trick with a red, green mister twister teaser. The fish in the morning were in the 5-8 pound range...good hometown fishing...forget breakfast, and fish! After shooting a roll of film or so, back to the rod. We got on a nice a nice piece...a Captain's ace in the hole spot, where he knew there would be some nice slobs. Al and I were not in the pool...lucky for them, we both had pool winners with fish over 25 pounds easy. We had easily over 80 pounds of fillets in our coolers.
The mates were great, as always...always there when you need them...not hunting down for one. Over 600 cod were caught...and that number did not come out of a hat...it's the real gig! Here are some of the count...Rob Marano from Howard Beach, Queens with 23 cod to 10 lbs...
...Jim Murphy and Johnny Pizza with 35 cod to 10 lbs. for a total of 225 lbs. of cod...Tom Glwnn from Glen Cove with 40 cod to 15 lbs...Tony from Staten Island with a 30 lb. cod (the one that counts...all the rest are just meat on the table!)...Vito from Staten Island with 20 cod to 15 lbs...and Jihad from Newark with 15 cod to 15 lbs.
Well worth the trip. Look..the weekends are booked solid. Call for cancellations, there are always a few. But if you want something solid, play hooky and go on a weekday. If you want to get a party together with a bunch of pals, make reservations for March...that's right...March! Look, when you're hot, you're hot! So get off the couch...the TV is tired of seeing you! Remember to make space in your freezer for fillets.
Special thanks to the Captain for making it a special day...and to "Crazy" Al, thanks for helping me to get around with my injured knee and for making this story possible.