05-05-2002, 12:36 AM
This week Peter Dressel from Ellsworth ME came out cod fishing with his three sons. Tuna Hunter started the day on Jeffries Ledge with Norwegian jigs. The water temp is warming up to 45 degrees. Wind and skies cooperated to produce as comfortable day as can be expected in Spring.<br><br>Following along the edge on the fish finder, we found more bait (herring) showing up as we moved up the edge from 300 ft to 170 ft. At 170 ft we were on the top of the ledge, with cod showing as red gobs almost solid along the bottom. We were in our first long drift across top of Jeffries when the cod attacked heavy. From then on we had non-stop action until slack tide - hours later. By then Pete and sons needed a rest from the hungry cod. <br><br>There were many doubles throughout the day. Hookups were consistently better on jigs than bait (clams). Recently, with the abundance of herring on the cod grounds, it seems the cod hit jigs while in the herring, and hit clams when the herring have moved on. When the bite slows amidst large schools herring, and it's not the tide change, we can only figure the cod are full - a fact supported by the stomach contents of those we filleted - chock full of herring.<br><br>Tuna Hunter will be heading out for cod and haddock moat every day that weather allows. Call Capt. Gary at 978-407-1351 for the latest conditions and availability. Check out our website at http://www.tunahunter.com<br><br>