May 29, 2010
Wow! Wow! Wow! We awakened to a hint of the coming sunrise. An orange tint interrupted the predominantly dark sky as we stared out toward the east. It was 55 degrees in Marshfield, MA and the weatherman predicted that it would top out at a perfect 72 degrees. This time he was completely accurate. The wind was steady out of the southwest at 10 to 15 knots. The crew was ready as we headed to meet the captain of the Ridla, Andy Glynn, at 5 a.m. The crew consisted of Jeffrey, Lucas (Luke the Fluke), Rob, Dave (Big Dave), and myself.
On our way to Stellwagon Banks, Jeffrey and Lucas scored with about 30 mackerel at Big Dave’s request. Big Dave likes to smoke them (once they dry, obviously). We continued on. Andy was somewhat pessimistic based on the previous day’s report. Big Dave and I were fully confident because we have always had excellent to fantastic days on the Ridla. This day may have topped all of the previous performances. Once we got to the bank, it was not long before we started to slam 5 to 7 lb. pollack with a few 10 to 12 pounders mixed in. There were also a few small cod in the mix. It was impressive how newcomers Jeffrey (12 years old) and Lucas (15 years old) quickly picked up on jigging and reeling 12 lb. fish up from 170-foot depths. After we had our fill of pollack, Capt. Andy found the codfish waiting and hungry. After culling approximately 150 codfish and keeping our limit of 50, we decided that we were done. Multiple doubleheaders were the norm. Lucas and Jeffrey were on fire at times. They even managed tripleheaders. The cod were mostly market sized. However there were many over 10 lbs. Big Dave may have had the biggest at about 15 lbs. Many thanks to Capt. Andy Glynn and extraordinary mate Patrick. Some may be as good, but nobody is better. Wow! Wow! Wow!