Tough Offshore Run For Cod....

Nice & Calm...a little Fog...great start

Ominous as Fog abated...

NE wind machine just starting....

Here we go...this was just the beginning of a long day

Took Jon Niven and the JP group from Ct. for a white knuckle sleigh ride today to open-up our offshore summer Cod season. The day started perfectly with calm conditions and a little light fog (as forcasted) but as soon as we got to the grounds (28 NM offshore), the fog lifted and the NE wind machine came on full force and far exceeded NOAA's forecast of "5-10 knots, 2-3 ft seas"...the weather robot kept repeating this as I struggled to hold the bow up in the 30+ knot gusts and 7-10' seas...Managed to fish for just under an hour motor drifting while I kept the bow up to the building seas and screaming wind...the boys did a great job and boxed some nice fish...also lost several very big fish including one monster that JP couldn't budge off the bottom...he would get a few cranks and the fish would just peel drag back to the bottom, this went on for several minutes and the fish finally parted ways after a huge wave broke over the bow and jarred everyone on the deck...frustrating...that would have been a fish for the books based on the bend in the rod and classic codfish head shakes...tell tale sign of a real big brut. Needless to say, we had to end the trip short after several big rollers broke on top of the bow and buried it...that was enough for me, pulled the plug and beat my way back in to finish the day on the local Sea Bass grounds where we also boxed several nice fish. Overall, not the start I wanted but was certainly encouraged by what I saw on my Sitex 211 bottom scope and will make another run to the Cod grounds in the upcoming week as soon as these east winds abate...standby for future details. Including a few pics for laughs...none of these captured just how rough it really was today...these were just as the wind started...when it got real bad, forget the pics, couldn't take my eye off the next wave or wheel...long day at the helm

Capt.