Friday's Trip Report And A Little Ride In The Early Morning Fog...

Yesterdays trip was nothing short of perfect in terms of weather, in fact it took the cake of all the trips this past season. It was a 10/10 with just a light breeze and warm temps that were about as comfortable as you could ask for. "Fish Counter Bob" ran the deck yesterday and at 5 AM sharp we tossed the lines and FV Codzilla slipped away into the darkness and spotty coastal fog. As I went up the channel in "zero visibility" I thought about how lucky I was to have such great electronics - my electronic eyes - to guide us out to the grounds. Its really a strange feeling though and one that takes some time to get used to...you really have to trust what you see on the screen(s) cause you have nothing else to go by....no street lights, no yard spotlights and even a super powerful flashlight won't see through the fog. Imagine trying to drive your car down a backwoods dirt road on a foggy, dark night with no lights and just your gps screen on your phone to guide you? That's kind of what its like...minus all the hazards of being out on water. Running a boat is not a job for the faint of heart...its a real dangerous business and if your looking to improve your prayer life, its a perfect job! Love the fact that my office is the deep blue sea...

After the patchy fog dissipated, we got treated to an incredible sunrise and flat calm seas. At 7 AM we got right down to business and dropped in on a small area I haven't fished in many, many years. Hopes were high and I was marking fish like crazy, but the slack tide worked against us and the fish put a nose up to our offerings. Not the start I was hoping for so I pointed the bow south and off we went. Hit paydirt on my second choice and we boated (and lost) several nice fish. Russ from CT boated his first Cod ever....a nice 20lb+ fish. On the ride out Russ asked me if Cod fight hard...well he certainly got his answer as the fish pulled drag and fought hard to get back to the bottom several times....good job getting that fish to the boat Russ! As we poked around on several drops we picked-up a few fish here and there but the fishing certainly wasn't as good as the weather. Despite crappy tides the crew chipped away and by 2 PM we had a nice cooler of fish. Several HUGE Sea Bass today (a real shame they had to go back), tons of Scup, Cunners and even a few "unmentionables" were worth a mention today as we tried to stay clear of them. Master rod handler Bill from Coventry, RI did a job on the fish today boating several nice ones and dropping a few including one thanks to yours truly...not fast enough with the gaff. To round out the crew, I had Mr. Fischer and friends from NJ who caught more scup than anyone aboard using clams on a simple high-low rig. All very good rod handlers today and I think a total of 3 very minor tangles to help make a good trip even better. Overall, I would rate the day a straight "B"....a passing grade but short of my usual high expectations.

Have some boat maintenance to catch up on this week and hope to schedule a few trips for the end of the upcoming week...lets just hope the beautiful weather continues for a couple more trips this fall. More to come, standby...

Capt.

Marking...

Russ With His Nice Cod.....

A Perfect Day At The Office....