Friday June 16, 2017 Marathon Friday
Today we had our second marathon of the year. It was a terrific success. We caught our boat haddock limit by 1pm and cut fish for 3 hours. An 8 pound pollock won the boat pool. The weather was breezy and chilly, but the fishing continues to be as good as it gets. The spring of 2017 will be remembered for a long time as one of the best haddock seasons in recent memory.
Our trips for the weekend are full, but if you are reading this report, keep in mind, the air temperature is 10-15 degrees less than the forecast on land and the breeze creates a wind chill, dress in layers. Also, the ocean is a bit bumpy, if you feel the need for motion sickness medicine, take it at least 1/2 hour before boarding the boat.
Saturday June 17, 2017 Two Trips, Two Results
The early trip, 3/4 day trip, 7am to 1 pm was the trip to be on today. The weather was overcast, no wind, fog and comfortable sailing. The first stop produced a few fish, but not as good as we had been seeing so we moved. The second stop was much better, the bite turned on, and bags and coolers started to fill. A 6 lb haddock won the boat pool.
The afternoon trip, 1/2 day fishing, 1:30 to 6pm was very different. We tried 3 different stops, plenty of fish on the sounding machine, just not many that seemed hungry. We had a tide change between trips, and that can have an impact. The weather was nicer than the morning, though, for some reason, we lost a larger than expected number of anglers to sea sickness. It was a strange, frustrating trip for crew and customers. The largest keeper was a 7 lb haddock. We did catch and release some nice cod, but what else is new?
Our schedule for this week and next:
Friday, June 23rd, All Day Fishing 7am – 4pm
Saturday, June 24th 3/4 Day Fishing 7am – 1pm
Saturday, June 24th, Half Day Fishing 1:30pm – 6pm
Sunday, June 25th, 3/4 Day Fishing 7am – 1pm
Sunday, June 25th, Half Day Fishing 1:30pm – 6pm
Tuesday, June 27th, All Day Fishing 7am – 4pm
Wednesday, June 28th, 3/4 Day Fishing 7am – 1pm
Wednesday, June 28th, Half Day Fishing 1:30pm – 6pm
Friday, June 29th, All Day Fishing 7am – 4pm
For reservations please call us at 978 559 1978.
FROM THE DECK OF THE LADY SEA
CAPTAIN MIKE & CREW
Saturday June 10, 2017
Today’s full day charter had perfect weather and perfect fishing. It was easy and efficient. We fished for about 3 hours, took 2 drifts and reached our boat haddock bag limit. Some cod in the mix caught and released, but the larger haddock cooperated today.
Sunday June 11, 2017 3/4 Day trip
Summer arrived today on shore, but on the ocean, it was very comfortable, breeze from southwest, 2 foot seas. Today, there was enough wind that we were required to anchor, so we did. We dropped the anchor, fished, hauled the anchor and came home, one stop shopping! It was a wide range of success, anywhere from 2 keepers to 22 keepers depending on your luck and experience. Quote of the day, from a youngster, Jimmy said, “This was the funnest day evahhh.” We agree.
For Reservations, please call us at 978 559 1978.
FROM THE DECK OF THE LADY SEA
CAPTAIN MIKE & CREW
Friday, June 2nd, 2017 Half Day Charter
The Lady Sea returning from a half day charter with beautiful clouds and sun with a group of students from the Greenwood School, from Putney, VT. They had a great day of fishing. Caught tons of fish and can’t wait to come back again next year. Photo compliments of Good Morning Gloucester.
Saturday June 3, 2017 3/4 Day Trip
We made the steam to the area we have been fishing full day trips and it was worth the extra travel time. There isn’t much we can say, it was great fishing, just as it has been all spring. Really, crazy good, experienced anglers had 10-14 keeper haddock, rookies had 6-8 keepers. The average size was better today than what we have been seeing as well. Of course we had a few cod (up to 10 lbs), mackerel, small pollock, a few sculpin and whiting to round out the living creatures caught today. We left the fishing grounds a few minutes early to give the 3 meat cutters a full 2 hours to process all the fish with the last fish cut as we came through the breakwater. This memorable spring action continues.
Sunday June 4, 2017 Full Day trip
It continues, there isn’t much else we can say, the fishing is fantastic. Today, the weather was perfect, slight current which had the fish on the bite. Our first stop was a very slow pick, so we tried to drift which produced some very nice cod, but not many haddock. We set up again on anchor and it was slow, with more nice cod, so we made another move through the armada of boats out there today, found some fish stacked up 20 feet from bottom. The bite was on, haddock, pollock, and cod on almost every drop for everyone. One angler, who documents each catch, reported catching a total of 50 fish today, and easily attained
his haddock bag limit. Our regular angler, Gene the Marine captured the correct fish for the pool, also the last fish of his for the day.
The only problem, we didn’t get a chance to take some action photos. More than once, the comment of the day from many customers, “This is the best fishing I have ever seen.”
We have a little weather coming in the first part of this week, but next weekend is looking more summer like, we have a few private charters already booked, but we do have the following ‘open boat’ trips available……….
Friday, June 9th All Day Fishing 7am – 4pm
Sunday, June 11th 3/4 Day Fishing 7am – 1pm
Sunday, June 11th Half Day Fishing 1:30pm – 6pm
Wednesday, June 14th All Day Fishing 7am – 4pm
Friday, June 16th, Marathon Trip 5am -5pm
Saturday, June 17th, 3/4 Day Fishing 7am – 1pm
Saturday, June 17th, Half Day Fishing1:30pm – 6pm
Sunday, Father’s Day Special – All Day Fishing $56.00 per person
For reservations, please call us at 978 559 1978.
FROM THE DECK OF THE LADY SEA
CAPTAIN MIKE & CREW
Saturday, May 27th, Marathon Trip
We continue to fish the shallow water of Stellwagen Bank where we have had very good fishing throughout the spring. It was a beautiful day on the water. We had to fight a strong astronomical tidal current, but was manageable. We had 26 people aboard today and came up just shy of our boat limit for haddock. The fishing and catching was constant throughout the trip. The weather was comfortable, with a small swell, mostly sunny skies.
The highlight of the day was catching our first halibut of about 20 inches, certainly a good sign for the recovery of the Atlantic Halibut fishery. Pool winner was a haddock of about 6 lbs. Cod, pout, Pollock, and sculpin graced our deck and were released unharmed. 
Sunday, May 28th, 2017 ALL DAY FISHING
In the sport of fishing, the difference in a day can be huge. As was the case today versus yesterday. The weather forecast was that Sunday would be the better of the 3 day weekend. We went to where we have been fishing with a least 30 other boats in the area, the day started with a strong astronomical tidal current on anchor, so we tried drifting which was manageable for a while, but then the wind increased from the SE creating white caps and a chop of 2-3 feet and the sky became overcast, we were drifting at over 2 knots which forced us back on the anchor. Today was the toughest fishing day the crew could remember for a very long time.
Even with the tough conditions, we managed to catch a little over 100 keeper haddock, certainly not the numbers we have been seeing, but still very respectable. Pool winner was a nice haddock, but the largest fish was a larger haddock for a gentleman that did not enter the pool.
This week we start our 3/4 and Half day fishing trips. We have the following trips scheduled for the next two weeks:
Saturday, June 3rd
3/4 Day Fishing 7am – 1pm
Half Day Fishing 1:30pm – 6pm
Sunday, June 4th
All Day Fishing 7am – 4pm
Tuesday, June 6th
3/4 Day Fishing 7am – 1pm
Friday, June 9th
All Day Fishing 7am – 4pm
Sunday, June 11th
3/4 Day Fishing 7am – 1pm
Half Day Fishing 1:30pm – 6pm
As always, if you don’t see a trip that works, give us a call as our schedule does change.
For reservations, please call us at 978 559 1978.
FROM THE DECK OF THE LADY SEA
CAPTAIN MIKE & CREW
Friday, May 19th & Saturday May 20th, 2 Full Day Trips
We went back to the shallow water hunting for haddock. Though it seems the fish are smaller as the Bank has been picked over by boats from Gloucester to South of Boston, we were able to put some very good catches together with plenty of action. Pollock have also moved in with most being small, with a few keepers in the mix. Friday’s pool winner was an 8 lb Pollock. Saturday was an 8 lb haddock caught by our most irregular angler, Hammer, for the second week in a row. We caught and released cod up to 15 lbs on both days, plenty of sculpin and eel pouts kept everyone busy. Yesterday’s catch was over 400 fish. 
This spring has been special in terms of easy fishing and catching. Fun for all ages, school is winding down, weather is warming up, come to Gloucester and get some fresh haddock while the opportunity exists. The fishing has been over the top excellent!
We have the following trips this week…….
Wednesday, May 24th All Day Fishing 7am – 4pm
Saturday, May 27th MARATHON TRIP 5am – 5pm
Sunday, May 28th, All Day Fishing 7am – 4pm
Monday, May 29th, All Day Fishing 7am – 4pm
Remember, these are the final all day trips for the Spring Special of $56.00. Give us a call at 978 559 1978 to make your reservation.
FROM THE DECK OF THE LADY SEA
CAPTAIN MIKE & CREW
Friday May 12th, 2017 Full Day Charter
We left the dock under clouds and misty skies. A bit on the chilly side with a NE breeze creating a 2-3 foot choppy sea all the way to the fishing grounds. A couple 4 footers mixed in, but in these conditions, the number of anglers suffering with upset stomachs was increased. Some didn’t quite recover in time to partake in the fishing. The ride to the barn was smooth and uneventful.
The fishing was much slower than it has been, and this is the report we had been hearing from other boats this week. We had some very nice haddock, cod, sculpin, pollock, conger eels, and a red fish, but not in the numbers we like to see. A 5 lb haddock was our largest keeper and a nice 10 lb cod was the largest fish of the day.
Today, the bait was missing, the whales were gone, the birds were gone, and many of the boats were elsewhere. There just didn’t seem to be life on the Bank. The shallow water fishing was great while it lasted, but it may be time to go back to the conventional bottom fishing. Saturday nights nor’easter will shake things up again.
Happy Mother’s Day to all!
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Saturday May 13th, 2017 Full Day Trip
Today was a much better day. We left the dock with light east wind, partly sunny skies and headed East to the fishing grounds. It was calm all day with a big rolling swell. We fished in deeper water today with very good results. Today we saw some of the largest fish of the year in many categories. Jigs finally staked a claim today with some haddock, big cod, and some of the largest pollock of the year. We had several cod in the 12-15 lb range all released safely. We had a wolf fish on the surface that was close to 20 lbs and released. Pollock up to 10 lbs, cusk from 5-9 lbs, haddock up to 6 lbs, and we are still yet to land a dog fish this year.
Hammer, our most ‘irregular’ regular, out dueled Gene the Marine for the boat pool with a 9 lb cusk, the 10 lb pollock was not in the boat pool today.
Weather and maintenance will keep us tied to the dock for the next several days.
This week’s schedule:
Thursday, All Day Fishing 7am – 4pm
Saturday, All Day Fishing 7am – 4pm
For more information or to make a reservation, please call us at 978 559 1978.
FROM THE DECK OF THE LADY SEA
CAPTAIN MIKE & CREW
Thursday May 4th, 2017
What a great day to be on the ocean! A light crowd of 22 anglers, most of whom have a great deal of fishing experience, came with us today. The bite was not as savage as it has been nor was the current (probably related), but we had a steady pick of haddock all day. Some very nice cod were caught and released to keep the anglers busy. We also saw more small haddock in the mix, roughly 3 small haddock to every legal haddock. Everybody went home with nice coolers of fish, bags of filets, sun burns and tired arms. Some saw minke whales, sculpin, conger eels and caught our first legal pollock of the year. Overall, we were a few fish short of our boat limit, but many achieved the limit and then some. Good time had by all.
The weather will keep us on the dock for the next couple days. Our next available trips are:
Saturday, May 13th,
Sunday, May 14th, Mother’s Day. Free Rod Rental for All Mothers!
Wednesday, May 18th, …etc
For reservations and/or information, please call us at 978 559 1978.
FROM THE DECK OF THE LADY SEA
CAPTAIN MIKE & CREW
Wednesday May 3rd, 2017 Full Day Charter
Today we left the dock under sunny skies, light winds with a large charter of school kids. An enthusiastic and very respectful group, they were a pleasure to have aboard.
The fishing continues to be nothing short of excellent. The first stop was a steady pick of haddock with the current taking the lines aft. We decided to make a move on the change of tide and it became much more steady. Like the weekend, you could barely get the sinker to the bottom without getting a fish.
Over 350 haddock were caught and cleaned on our boat today. The cod count was down significantly from the weekend. We left the fishing grounds with the fish still biting.
For reservations, please call us at 978 559 1978.
GOM Regulations Update:
At this point, the recreational saltwater fishing regulations will remain the same as they were last year until further notice. We still have the 15 haddock bag limit with a minimum size of 17 inches and a bag limit of 1 cod per person starting in August and ending at the end of September. NOTE: This could change any day and we suspect we will have 2017 regulations in effect by August, which most likely will not include retention of cod and reduced haddock bag limit to 10-12 fish per person.
FROM THE DECK OF THE LADY SEA
CAPTAIN MIKE & CREW
Saturday, April 29, 2017
It doesn’t get any better than the fishing we had today. We went back to the shallow water, and we caught fish immediately. In fact, we only made 2 stops today. Many anglers had enough fish and were sitting in the cabin 1/2 hour before the end of the trip! We had close to 450 keeper haddock today with the largest being an 8 lb. pool winning bull haddock. The cod fish were ravenous today as well with many in the 5-10 lb. class. The weather was perfect, with light winds, mostly overcast and no rain. It also turned out to be a good whale watch as well as we had Minke and Humpbacks swimming around the boat during our second anchor stop. If we had to find one thing to complain about, the tide was a little on the strong side, but very manageable. Good time had by all, fishing like this is not the norm and with the number of boats working the area, it could dry up any day. We will take advantage of it while we can.
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Today we left the dock with a brisk NNE breeze that kicked up a 2-4 foot sea. Not a big deal except we were taking it on the keel most of the way to the fishing grounds. We lost a few anglers to the dreaded mal de mer. A couple were able to fish through it. The day improved under bright sunny skies.
The fishing was excellent again. Another 2-stop day, like yesterday, mix of haddock and cod with a few sculpin and small Pollock in the mix. I am tired of hearing complaints such as, “my bait cup is empty,” “my arms are tired,” “I can’t even get my sinker to the bottom.” These are all good problems to have! Most anglers reached their haddock limit, some people caught a total number of fish in excess of 50 fish during the trip. Again, we saw a large number of cod up to 14 lb. all released alive. The pool winner was another bull haddock of 7.5 lb.
GOM Regulations Update:
At this point, the recreational saltwater fishing regulations will remain the same as they were last year until further notice. We still have the 15 haddock bag limit with a minimum size of 17 inches and a bag limit of 1 cod per person starting in August and ending at the end of September. NOTE: This could change any day and we suspect we will have 2017 regulations in effect by August, which most likely will not include retention of cod and reduced haddock bag limit to 10-12 fish per person.
FROM THE DECK OF THE LADY SEA
CAPTAIN MIKE & CREW
Sunday April 23
Finally a break in the weather and enough anglers willing to chance the elements. We left the dock under bright sunny skies and were greeted with a 4-6 foot swell from the southeast. We pounded into this swell all the way to the fishing ground. As the day passed, the swell faded, the slight breeze diminished, and we had a beautiful ride back to the dock.
The fishing was excellent from start to finish. We started in the shallow water with a fish a cast all morning. Haddock were the fish of the day, with some anglers limiting out and many with 8-12 fish per person. A 6-pound haddock took pool honors. We also found some clean white belly cod, the largest weighing about 11 pounds; they do not count toward our big fish pool. We moved to deeper water in the afternoon where we found more haddock, cod, a couple wolf fish, a flounder, red fish, and a bunch of sculpin. It was a great day, the crew cut fish through the breakwater.
We also saw our first whales and dolphins of the year. This weekend will be the last weekend to retain 15 haddock per person, we have space available on all trips.
For reservations or for more information, please call us at 978 559 1978.
From the Deck of the Lady Sea
Captain Mike & Crew
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