It was a delight and new challenge for me to get on Cod with this crew yesterday.
Kilsong, thank you for the very nice trip out on Eastmans. Everyone was fun and informative on my first time out pulling on these fish.
I'm not shy to say that after this marathon trip, jigging for cod will be on my list in the future. I think I probably had more fun straining my back than anyone else!
It was a perfect day for any kind of fishing on the east coast. We happened to arrive to Eastmans around 3:45am and to our surprise there were a good number of vehicles already in the lot waiting to load the boat with gear. We took a short name as the journey for me was at least 6 hours. The area around Eastmans is kind of a resort area and actually a very nice place to meet friends and enjoy the water. More on that later...
So it was my conscious effort to NOT bring more than 1 rod and 1 backpack of gear. I know from experience it's not about the amount of gear your packing but the preparation you have for the trip in need-only items. I heard there was mackerel inshore so I packed my Saltiga rod and Saltist reel specifically for the mack. 2 rods was enough for me.
As the morning started it really felt like there was a constant pick of fish from each stop we made. We tried to anchor initially but then mixed up the time with some good drifts. It was beautiful weather and some minimal wind to start the morning with a pick up in wind later on in the day (6-8/8-10).
I picked up my Lav jigs in a variety of sizes along with a viking for insurance of a good bite. Im happy to see such a simple jig can produce. I guess the day was right for my gear as I know one jig and technique will work one day and may not work the next. Anyhow, I rigged up with 16oz of lead and red tube/ pink squid setup. Had a blue squid teaser with grape color 6" worm as the stinger hook. I used this rig primarily through the day.
Eventually in the afternoon I switched to Squiding style with a 10oz Crippled Herring in Mackerel color and had success with 1 cod and 1 nice sized haddock.
Anyhow, I was pleased to see that my choice of rod was among the choice for the sharpies on the boat. That goes to prove the helpfulness of guys on here to share useful info on what works and best usage. The combo of Jigging Master PE5 and St. Croix XXXHF worked perfect all day.
I jigged up cod, haddock, and Pollock, and ling/cusk all on the same setup. The mates enjoyed filleting up my catch as well. (wow, such enthusiasm).
A day of good laughs with fellow anglers and the challenge to pull on some big fish was enough for me.
Nice to finally meet some good anglers from 360 tuna and other boards across the fishing community. Angelo and Ralph did an amazing job on packing the cooler as did most everyone on the boat. Sam did an amazing job staying on the fish all day and ended the trip with the pool winner that was hooked up right next to me after I pounded my way to my PB cod.
Kil really showed up with helping me learn the technique for jigging and squiding as I stuck by him at the rail pretty much all day.
Willy got on some nice fish, I think he got one additional fish that I didn't for a grand slam! Thanks for helping with the driving too.
