DROPPING DOWN
Most tackle and gear is provided for a small fee on party boats. The Helen H offers anglers the choice of rod rentals with Loomis 6 1/2-foot Pelagic Series, affixed with Shimano Torium 30 reels or Shimano Tallus TLC 70H 7-foot series rods, strapped with Shimano TLD 25s. All reels are lined with 40-pound Berkley Trilene Big Game monofilament.

If you bring your own gear, generally a 6- to 7-foot stout rod, with a moderate flex on the tip, seated with a size 4/0 or comparable reel will do the trick. High-speed reels, like those with 4:1 to 6:1 ratios are favored, since the depths can become cumbersome when reeling up to check your bait.

On the taboo topic of braided line on party boats, Huckmeyer expounded, “We welcome braids on the Helen H -- if you are familiar with them, but it’s not the place to learn how to use them. The currents that sometimes rip fast at two knots are too fast for an inexperienced braid angler to effectively work the line and keep out of everyone else’s line.”

It’s all about jigs or bait for these bottom battlers, depending on the conditions. “The amount of bait in the water determines what tactics we use,” Huckmeyer said. “When herring, mackerel and sand eels are abundant, we move right for the jigs to bring them up. Cod tend to feed more aggressively with more bait in the water, and I’ve seen cod come up from down deep to chase bait and jigs up to the surface.”

Huckmeyer uses Luhr-Jensen’s Crippled Herrings extensively on his vessel. “Normally, Viking jigs dominated our arsenal, and they are still used regularly. We found that when raising and lowering the rod steadily, the Crippled Herring jigs are designed with a flat profile that slashes through the water and specifically mimic herring. But the number one factor is they get you back to the bottom quicker. Put it this way, when you are in a stiff current, you can use a 20-ounce Viking jig, or you can get away with using a 16-ounce Crippled Herring. The Viking jig definitely gives off more flash reflecting sunlight from its three-dimensional triangular form, but the Crippled Herring gets you to the bottom quicker.

“Braid jigs, Norwegian jigs, and Spro jigs all work just as well; just be mindful that if it has a greater surface area and three planing sides, it may create more flash, but it will take a bit longer to return to the bottom.”

Twelve to 20 ounces is the norm for this type of fishing. All jigs are fitted with size 6/0 to 8/0 Siwash hooks. Iridescent colorations in mackerel colors, fluorescent green/ silver or bright orange/silver will work their charm on Atlantic cod.

Captain Greg Mercurio operates the 90-foot Yankee Capts out of Gloucester. He implements the use of jigs to tackle groundfish species when bait is present. “The Atom Vike jigs are a standard metal on the Yankee Capts. The jig rig consists of a 36-inch, 50-pound monofilament leader. A 100-pound barrel swivel is tied to the first tag end, and then a dropper loop is tied between 12 to 18 inches down. On the dropper, we like to use 8-inch twistertails of any color on a size 6/0 hook. On the remaining tag end, a 12-ounce Vike jig is tied on.”

Jigging technique on the Bank is tailored to the presence of bait in the area. If baitfish are scarce, then a raising and lowering of the rod tip at a steady pace in a 2- to 3-foot swing is the more productive method, in that the upward and downward motion will usually get a cod, haddock or pollock to come off the bottom to strike. When the groundfish are coming up onto deck, spitting up bait, you know they are chasing baitfish and actively feeding. It is then that a slow retrieve method is implemented where the jig is dropped down, and the reel is cranked in about 10 turns slowly, then is dropped back down and repeated. Actively feeding fish will home in on the jig drifting through the water, moving at a slow, wavering pace, sort of like slow trolling, and will whack the metal on the move.

When baitfish are in short supply, the action turns over to using hook baits, such as fresh clams, or cut mackerel and herring, as the fish aren’t moving and will sit on the ground floor waiting for a stone crab or morsel of clam to drift by. A textbook Georges Bank bait rig consists of a 100-pound barrel swivel, with an 18-inch section of 80-pound mono tied to another 100-pound barrel swivel. About 9 inches up on that leader a dropper loop is tied and an Eagle Claw or Gamakatsu size 6/0 or 7/0 Octopus-style hook is looped on fixed with a red or pink feather or curlytail grub. From the second barrel swivel, a second leader consisting of an 18-inch section of 50-pound mono is tied with yet another dropper loop fixed with another feather or grub hook tied 9 inches up. An overhand loop knot is then tied onto the remaining tag end.

On the bottom sinker loop, a small section of 20-pound mono is looped to affix the weight onto, so that if a fish is hooked on one of the upper hooks, and the 16- to 20-ounce bank sinker is rooted deep into a mussel bed or wreck structure, the 20-pound mono loop breaks off -- you lose the weight, but you still get your fish.

Overall, codfish stocks seem to be on the mend, so long as certain zone regulations stay in place, this will allow the stocks to rebuild as time passes. If all goes well, there’s a chance that we could see the once glorious cod rise to the great numbers of the not-so-distant past. Only time will tell for sure.