05-22-2001, 01:47 AM
STELLWAGEN BANK, MA-Cod Fishing 5/21/01<br><br>Strong winds and rough sea conditions warranted charter cancellations this week though Wednesday. Thursdays charters, Richard Kicza’s group from Hadley,MA on the JANET B and Wayne Pierce’s group from Vernon, NJ on MY OTHER HONEY, found the residual roll left over from the previous weather days a little tough on the G.I. tract. Nevertheless, the anglers that survived the roll found the cod and pollock very cooperative in the shoal-water on Stellwagen as well as the hard-bottom on the backside of P-town.<br>8 to 15 pound cod and pollock were hitting the jig and teaser rigs. Pool winners were fish in the high-teens, with more pollock that ususal mixed in the catch.<br><br>Archie Brinson’s group from Danbury, CT and Pete Marione’s group from Lawrence Harbor, NJ fishing on the JANET B and the DECISIVE found the trips more sea-kindly on Friday. This was Archie’s third trip this season with B-Fast Charters. Previously, he fished as fill-in on a split-charter. Archie reported that, although his group was able to fill the boxes with 10-15 pound cod and pollock, the angler’s had to work harder than his previous trips. The anglers foul-hooked the vast majority of the fish caught, indicating that they were not “on the feed” that day. Archie has scheduled another trip for Saturday. Pete’s group fished the shoals off Provincetown filling the boxes with 10 to 15 pound cod and pollock.<br><br>Two groups from NY and two groups from NE headed to the bank on Saturday morning. The fish shoals on the bank were more scattered and the cod and pollock still fussy for John Down’s group from Stoney point, NY fishing on the ALLIA and Gary Brown’s Group from Putnam, CT fishing with Capt. Al on the JANET B. The grounds on the backside was more productive for Ron Orban’s (E. Weymouth, MA) second trip of the season fishing on the SASHAMY and Ronnie Feimer’s group from Bronx, NY fishing on Capt. Scott’s DECISIVE. The coolers were filled with medium cod and pollock fillets with pool-winners just shy of 20 pounds. <br><br>Jim Agens of Blairstown, NJ first trip North for cod was excellent on Sunday. With a front moving through scheduled for the beginning of the week, the fish were “on the feed”. Jim’s group of fathers and sons got into some good sized medium cod and pollock on the shoals. With the water temperature pushing into the low 50’s and few dogfish showing to date, we anticipate the excellent cod fishing to continue at least through the end of June.<br><br>Capt. Mike Bartlett<br>B-Fast Charters<br>www.bfastcharters.com<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Capt. Mike Bartlett<br>B-Fast Charters<br>www.bfastcharters.com