Haddock fishing off New Hampshire 1/14/20

Started by 54bullseye, January 15, 2020, 02:26:06 PM

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54bullseye

Me and Dave Turner "droppedit" on this board went out Haddock and Pollock fishing yesterday with Eastman's Fishing Fleet out of Seabrook NH.  It was cool but a really nice day for mid January with temps in high 30s to low 40s and seas pretty much calm other than a slight ripple !! We went out to Jeffries Ledge around 20 miles off shore so great conditions for January. Fishing was really good with the Haddock biting as soon as your gear hit bottom we were using squid for bait and I think I only changed bait once in the hour and a half it took me to catch my 15 Haddock limit. It seemed like you got a more solid hook set with less bait so more hook showing and they weren't picky at all !!!!!! There weren't many Pollock around at least not hungry ones as I only saw a handful caught and not to big maybe an 8 pounder won the pool. Both Dave and I caught 25 Haddock plus apice in total but limit is 15 only  ;). both Dave and I tried jigging with poor results they wanted bait !!

A really nice day of fishing for winter off New England !!   John Taylor

Keta

Nice, I have wanted to catch a haddock for years.
Hi, my name is Lee and I have a fishing gear problem.

I have all of the answers, yup, no, maybe.

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Maxed Out


Nicely done John

  Looks like decent ocean and good fishing !!

-Ted
We Must Never Forget Our Veterans....God Bless Them All !!

droppedit

Yesterday is what it is all about. I've been fishing Jefferies for over 50 years and never seen a Haddock bite like that. Then again, I've never been out in the middle of January. Like John said as soon as you hit bottom you had a bite. We got a few nice double headers but most of the fish I picked up were on the bottom hook. I've never been a fan of circle hooks but gave them a try yesterday and after I pulled the bait out of their mouths a few times I got the hang of pulling slow and letting the fish set the hook. I've never been a big bait fan as I much rather jig. After getting my limit I went back to the jig in search of some pollack but they never did make it. I always have a good time when on a trip with John but did miss not having Brenda's cookies yesterday ;)
If anyone gets the chance they should really get in touch with Eastman's while things are still crazy out there.

Dave

Some days the supply of available curse words is insufficient to meet my demands.

http://www.turnerscustomrods.com

54bullseye

Quote from: Keta on January 15, 2020, 04:05:57 PM
Nice, I have wanted to catch a haddock for years.

Lee just start driving east call me when you see the Atlantic LOL !!!!   John

Lunker Larry

Haven't caught Haddock since 1968! Coool to see.
You know that moment when your steak is on the grill and you can already feel your mouth watering.
Do vegans feel the same when mowing the lawn?

droppedit

Quote from: Lunker Larry on January 16, 2020, 02:32:09 AM
Haven't caught Haddock since 1968! Coool to see.

In the late 70's - 80's if a haddock was caught, the mates would walk it around the boat and show people what they looked like. Finally the marine fisheries stepped in and closed Jefferies Ledge to dragging and then even gill nets and within a couple of years the haddock made a good comeback. Last Spring we had a hard time trying to catch Ocean perch because of the haddock, which the season was closed till April 1. It's good to see management work and hopefully in my lifetime I'd like to see a good cod stock return with a recreational fishery.


Dave
Some days the supply of available curse words is insufficient to meet my demands.

http://www.turnerscustomrods.com

Hardy Boy

That is stellar weather for January !! Nice job. I assume they are great eating ? What is preferred cod, haddock or pollock?


Cheers:


Todd
Todd

Donnyboat

Thanks for the report & pics Dave, I am surprized they allow you to take 15/ person, if you were in Australia, some of the average fish quota is 8 or less, cheers Don.
Don, or donnyboat

akfish

It's great to hear that fishery managers figured out away to help haddock recover. I doubt I'll ever fish them but it's good to hear encouraging stories about fish recoveries. In my part of the world -- SE Alaska -- things are not so encouraging. King salmon are in the worst shape they have been in in the 25 yers I have lived here, although my understanding is that some king salmon fishing will be allowed in 2020. Rockfish are in worse shape: The limit is zero on non-pelagic rockfish, and almost zero on pelagic rockfish.
Taku Reel Repair
Juneau, Alaska
907.789.2448

Recoil Rob

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1badf350

-Chris

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akfish

Alaska does not regulate fishing by depth, so you can fish any depth you want for rockfish. If you drop down 600 or 800 feet you're likely to catch large (and old) rougheye, yelloweye, and other species. What needs tp be done is to regulate fishing on reefs within a hour of coastal villages and towns. Here the reefs have been devastated and the fish are tiny because they don't have a chance to grow.
Taku Reel Repair
Juneau, Alaska
907.789.2448

Maxed Out

#13
Quote from: akfish on January 26, 2020, 12:32:11 AM
Alaska does not regulate fishing by depth, so you can fish any depth you want for rockfish. If you drop down 600 or 800 feet you're likely to catch large (and old) rougheye, yelloweye, and other species. What needs tp be done is to regulate fishing on reefs within a hour of coastal villages and towns. Here the reefs have been devastated and the fish are tiny because they don't have a chance to grow.

Washington coastal waters is experiencing huge recovery of yelloweye and other bottom feeders. No more bottom draggers and hook & line using descending devices has had the biggest impact to the unexpected fast rate of recovery, but doubtful it'll ever return to days when we could keep yelloweye.
We Must Never Forget Our Veterans....God Bless Them All !!

54bullseye

We were fishing between 250' and just over 300' and it was calm enough to use the wind sock so we had fairly long drifts probably a half hour or so then Capt. would reposition the boat and start over. He anchored up later in the day but fishing had slowed and we didn't do so good then !! Fishing has since slowed and seas haven't been so good lately !  Glad we went when we did.    John Taylor