A big, ugly, expansive low pressure and its screeching easterly winds kept the entire Helen H Fleet lashed to the pilings from late Sunday through Wednesday, and Capt. Joe Huck was preparing to get back in the saddle Thursday morning after the long forced pause. Last trip before Mother Nature put the hammer down was a Limited Wreck Cod Trip that sailed early Saturday morning and returned in the evening. Working some of his many pet wrecks strewn across the bottom on the Southeast Part of Georges Bank, Huck managed to put his anglers on top of good numbers of good codfish, many of them in the 10- to 20-pound range, and the biggest around 30, in addition to a scattering of pollock and haddock. Most of the drops were in the 200- to 250-foot depth range, where the catch was about an even split between bait rigs and jig/teaser combos. [...] Read the rest of this post »

Capt. Joe Huck on the Helen H had a big load of news when I finally caught up with him late-week. Leading it off was a huge 10.8-pound doormat fluke-the biggest landed last week-by angler, Tommy McMasters of Brooklyn, NY. The full-day fluke trips, headed west now to fish off the Vineyard’s S side and Nomans, rather than Nantucket, have been seeing a decline in the fishing overall, though the sharpies continue to put together good catches of keepers, plus sea bass. The half-days have been focusing more on sea bass, with a scattering of fluke crossing the rails most outings. Huck noted the average size of the sea biscuits has been improving, with an improved showing of fish in the 3- to 5-pound range. [...] Read the rest of this post »

[...] Read the rest of this post »

Fluke remains the name of the game for the Helen H Fleet, with very few distractions. Capt. Joe Huck rated Tuesday morning’s half-day trip as the best showing of slabs on a short trip so far this season. That trip was set off by ideal drift conditions-a nice easy breeze out of the west backing an easterly flood tide, giving the H plenty of speed over ground. The tally for that trip included numerous fish in the 4- to 6-pound range, plus a load of chunky keepers to fill fillet bags. Seven-year-old Max Luppino of Pound Ridge, NY got on the board with a 6-plus-pound jumbo. Brother-sister team, Kelly and Nathan Mahalak from Wilkes Barre, PA had his-and-hers 5-pounders.

[...] Read the rest of this post »

It’s been a hectic week around the Helen H, and Capt. Joe Huck has remained in near-constant motion. The fluke fishing on both the local half-day and the full-day Nantucket runs has shown major signs of improvement in the consistency of the action. In general, big fish for all trips have fallen in the 7- to 9-plus-pound range, and Huck’s been pleased to see quite a few other fish in the 4- to 6-pound range on most trips. Tides went from very sluggish to cranking over the last seven days, to the extent that the better trips over the last few have been those days when the wind lays down a bit-the push of the tide alone plenty to keep the H moving along over ground.

[...] Read the rest of this post »

Capt. Joe Huck on the Helen H noted he’s seen some big improvement in the fluke fishing over the last week or so, due at least in part to the strengthening tides that are finally allowing the boats to cover some ground on the drift. Last Thursday, a full-day private fluke charter with the Cape Cod Salties had a good load of nice keeper fluke not too far from the Helen’s Hyannis slip. Notable catches for that trip were a 9.5-pound doormat for Norm Holcomb of Yarmouthport, and a trio of 6.5’s for Dennis Schock of Harwich, Bill Dagilis of Dennis and Dan Trainor of Orleans, among numerous other slabs in the 4- to 5-pound range. Both the half- and full-day trips have been seeing several fish in the 7- to 9-plus-pound range vying for pool honors. A charter last Wednesday saw a scattering of nicer sea bass to around the 5-pound mark mixed in with the fluke tally. [...] Read the rest of this post »

Carl Scuderi hefts a 10-plus doormat fluke he brought to net aboard the Fish Hawk at Nantucket.

Weak tides and light winds have continued to thwart the Helen H Fleet’s fluke fishing efforts. Thankfully, the tides have gained some oomph since late last week, lending a a bit more tidal “pull” to the water churning over the sandy high spots off Monomoy-to the extent that the rips are ripping again and the striper fishing is bouncing back from a near standstill last week. The Fish Hawk has been running striper/fluke combos, taking a nice mix of bass to around 35 inches and topping off coolers with some choice flattie fillets when the rip faces collapse and the bass disperse. One of the best fluke taken on the Fish Hawk over the last few days was a doormat just a hair over 10 pounds landed by Carl Scuderi (see photo at top right of this report).

The half-day trips, alternating between the Helen and the Angler during the week, are still leaning on the bumper crop of nice sea bass on the hard pieces around Nantucket Sound to take up slack from tougher going on the slabs. [...] Read the rest of this post »

Capt. Joe Huck on the Helen H lamented a continued struggle with light winds and weak tides when I caught up with him Friday afternoon. The unfavorable drift conditions out in Nantucket Sound forced a bit of a change in the game plan over the last few days. Joe and Capt. Walt elected to move onto tougher bottom to bump up the sea bass ratio, a move that panned out well on the half-day trip. Each trip has been seeing a dozen or more jumbo sea bass in the 3 ½- to 6-pound range, in addition to good numbers of smaller keepers that are taking the bite out of slow going with fluke. Patrons with the patience to work on a slow pick of fluke are still connecting with fish from 18 ½-inch keeper size to around 5 pounds. The sea bass are responding well to a number of different rigs. [...] Read the rest of this post »

The gorgeous, flat-calm weather over the weekend and early week proved a bit of a double-edged sword on the Nantucket Sound fluke grounds. Capt. Joe Huck on the Helen H noted that weak astronomical tides and light to nonexistent breezes added up to pretty tough drift conditions on a few of the half-day trips since Friday. “We’ve pretty much had to depend on what little tide there’s been to keep the boat covering ground,” he said, noting that he and Capt. Walt, alternating days between the Helen and the Angler, have been moving onto harder bottom to increase the sea bass ratio during a slower pick of fluke.

[...] Read the rest of this post »

Capt. Joe Huck enjoyed a brief bit of rest and relaxation this week, taking advantage of some precious down-time in the wake of porgy season-a span of the early season that leaves all hands pretty much exhausted. Naturally, much of Huck’s free hours were spent tackling the endless laundry list of maintenance and boat chores that keep each boat in the Fleet running in top form through a grueling year-round schedule. Since the last report on Monday, the Helen H devoted each day to half-day fishing out in the middle of Nantucket Sound.

As is always the case, each trip’s fluking success depended largely on what Mother Nature served up by way of drift conditions. On the days when tide and wind lined up, pushing the boat over ground at a decent clip (or one force over-powered the other with similar results), the pick of quality slabs was decent to good. On those days that provided minimal drift, the catch suffered. [...] Read the rest of this post »