Green Harbor Bluefish - "Dave can't work a camera!"

I’ve seen more seals on and around south shore beaches this year than ever before. Recently I’ve seen several seal carcass on the 4×4 Duxbury beach. Harbor seals are protected under the MMPA. According to NMFS, harbor seal stocks have increased since the passage of the MMPA in 1972. Populations in Oregon and Washington are at or approaching their “carrying capacity” with a population of roughly 22,380 seals. The California coast stock is beginning to stabilize at 34, 233 seals. In New England, the population is increasing is and currently estimated to be 91,000 seals.

Last Saturday October 1st, wasn’t looking to be very a very promising day in the morning but by noon there was a nice window opportunity that lined up nicely with rising high tide. It took a little searching but we found some nice mackerel and after a few minutes we had what we needed for bait. I landed a very nice keeper (41” Striper) a few days earlier near the Burkes Beach jetties so we decided to start there but after a few drifts (and no hits) we relocated. We setup on spot number two about ½ before high tide and put the live mac’s back to work. In less than 30 seconds a big bluefish starts peeling line off my Shimano Baitrunner 6500. On that same drift I think we landed two or three more large bluefish and had a few breakoffs right beside the boat. We were using mono leaders with circle hooks hoping for striped bass not bluefish and even though the blues were biting we were fishing for striped bass. On our second drift my bait got hit right away (again) but this time it was a 39” Striped Bass (glad I didn’t switch to a steel leader) followed by more bluefish. On our third drift we landed another 37” Striper and or course more bluefish. With plenty of bait left but not enough time use them so we headed to the back to the slip. All of this fishing took place inside of two miles from shore along the Green harbor coast. The season isn’t over yet!!

October 2011 Striped Bass Fishing Green Harbor MA

The Shimano TLD50 II LRSA 2-Speed series reels are a great choice for big game standup fighting. They are light weight and have enough drag to wear down big fish. Jerry Brown LINE ONE Hollow Core Braided Spectra line is by far the best line you could put on your big game reel it is super durable and sports a very small diameter (expensive stuff but worth it). I get 600 yards of 80lb Jerry Brown onto my Shimano 50TLD II series reels, far exceeding the manufacturers rating of 440yards, in addition to a 100 yard 80lb mono top shot. This is more than you would normally need with fish under 225lbs but what if you hook into a 350 or 450 pounder (be prepared!). I like a 30-80lb 5”6’ straight butt rod setup for standup, it’s a good match for the reel when you are fishing at 15-20lbs of drag at strike. The braid belt and harness setup will save you a lot of unnecessary pain and while I’ve caught fish without the belt/harness before I would not want to do it again. The 10’ reel safety line is to protect your investment in the rod and reel combo as well as the angler who is tethered to the reel if God forbid the fish pulls the angler out of the boat. The white boots are a story all by themselves, besides giving you an excellent hold on the deck let’s just say I didn’t catch my first tuna until I wore mine.

There you have it, everything you need to go standup tuna fishing and why you need it. Ok well not everything, you are still going to need a few lures, Squid Spreader bars, stick baits, live baits, hooks, fluorocarbon leader and maybe even a kite. All for another day….

Brilliantly red local cod caught inshore in 50ft of water

Local Inshore Cod fishing Green Harbor in September.

September is usually a very good month for fishing in the northeast. Hurricane Irene stirred things up as she passed through and left some very cold water in her wake. The coastal water temperature was roughly 70 degrees before the storm and now it is closer to 60 degrees or less. The colder water brings new inshore fishing opportunities, specifically local Cod.


Local cod are easily identifiable by their brilliant red coloring. They produce beautifully clean white (completely wormless) fillets. You can expect to find keepers jigging in 50ft of water within a mile or two from Green Harbor. I stumbled into a few nice fish while searching for baitfish (Pollack and Mackerel).

Striped Bass caught at Farnham Rock Green Harbor Marshfield MA

I had a dozen sea worms left over from the day before and a few hours to kill so I decided to see if I could find some flounder out in front of the jetties at Green Harbor. The fishing was slow but the conditions were flat calm and it since it was a warm sunny Saturday morning I stuck it out longer than I normally would when the fishing is this bad. For the next three hours I caught about 20 skate and only a few small flounder.

During this failed bottom fishing adventure I had a few interesting taps on one of my flounder rigs that didn’t feel like skate or flounder, at the time it wasn’t clear what it was and I couldn’t seem to set the hook but I kept trying. After several attempts I managed to hook the nibbler and to my surprise it is a decent sized mackerel. Fishing in less than 20 feet of water on a sandy bottom in mid August you would not expect to catch a mackerel on a flounder hook but weird sh!t happens sometimes. Into the livewell goes the mackerel and the bottom fishing continues. The remainder of the flounder fishing went about as good as the beginning (many skate, few flounder) and with the sea worms almost gone I pulled the plug and decided to go cycle my lobster gear. That is about the time I remember I have a live mackerel on board and to add to the excitement it is almost high tide. Like a kid in the candy story I prepare a Shimano 6500 Baitrunner with a new leader and circle hook and motor over to Farnham Rock. I hooked the mackerel through the nostrils with the circle hook at let him swim freely on the secondary baitrunner drag. I had set up on the left side of Farnham in 50 feet of water and let drift bring me up onto the structure there. I was on my third drift and starting to think it wasn’t meant to be when the reel starts peeling off line, fish on. After a quick but fun battle I have a nice 35 inch Striper in the boat. Knowing when to switch gears and knowing how and where to fish the live mackerel were the keys to this salvaged trip. On a good day if I had ten live mackerel the first eight or nine would have been eaten by bluefish or dogfish. Since I only had one shot (one bait) it was especially gratifying to have it play out the way it did. A big part of successful fishing is being able to switch gears when the opportunity presents itself and on this day that is exactly what I did.

Just when the crew was beginning to think the sharks wouldn’t show up they did. We set up a Shimano 50TLD with a wire leader, pitched a blue shark a hook bait (mackerel) and strapped my nephew into a fighting harness – Game on. After several runs Mason has the upper hand and the shark is boat side for a photo op. The shark put up a decent fight but he is no match for our gear. After the photos the shark was released tired but unharmed. Everyone made it home with all their fingers and toes and we all left with a real appreciation for these awesome creatures while in thier natural habitat. It doesn’t get any better.

Mason Hauser stand up fight with a blue shark August 2011

Taylor Mortell shaking hands with a Blue Shark

Maddie and Kendra Shake hands with a blue shark

The Trophy category remains open for the recreational anglers so I continue my quest to land a giant. Of course in the meantime if I’m lucky enough to land slot fish while trying I won’t be complaining. This beauty was caught on a spreader bar at 8:30am July 22, 2011 on Stellwegan bank.

July 22, 2011 Bluefin Tuna | Edward Mortell

It all starts Tuesday afternoon with a late cancellation, setting up a day of solo tuna fishing. I resigned to the fact that I’d be alone, so I figured I’d troll rubber sunrise to 11am then head for the barn before the winds picked up. Of course the plan was about to change again, I just didn’t know it yet. My wife and I decided to escape the summer heat and eat dinner on the water Tuesday evening. While we were out there, the water was glassy flat and I was able to spot a few small schools of mackerel (always keep one eye on the water). They were mostly tinkers but a few were tuna worthy. After catching about 25 nice bait sized fish the mind starts churning…I could hear that voice in my head “I want to catch a GIANT tuna” over and over again, yes the full on tuna sickness had set in. I spent the next hour or two convincing my wife that the seas would be calm, the whales would be everywhere, the sunrise would be beautiful and I needed her luck and skills at the helm to “catch a giant tuna”. The crazy rant eventually works…she is in for a 4:30am departure.

I am so pumped I can hardly sit still (so I don’t). I have all my trolling gear in order and live bait waiting at the slip! I spent the evening preparing & testing my leaders (100lb fluorocarbon, 300lb swivel, owner bait hook, crimped & completely blacked out with electrical tape). I asked my youngest daughter & wife touch both leaders and think “giant tuna” before I bag them up (I’m not superstitious).


4:30am we depart Green Harbor as planned and everything my tuna sickness promised my wife it would be, it was, and more! It started with a very nice ride across the bay followed by an incredible sunrise as we arrived on the SWC. The whales were bubble feeding, we saw full out of the water twisting breeches (multiple times), we had enormous striped bass hitting the rigs while trolling (over and over again), it was truly incredible. One of the stripers was so big I thought it could be a little tuny, nope, it was a 40+lb striped bass. We gave up on the troll around 8am and set two macs on balloons in 190ft drifting up and over the edge, into 80ft. The activity seemed to have slowed compared to earlier but the area was still alive. Just before 9am a football sized tuna jumps out of the water 40 yards off my stern and 10 minutes later, it is GAME ON. The battle continued for 45 minutes, the fish took about 300yrds of line with 17lbs drag 3 times but eventually we have the fish on the deck. It tapes out at 57 and change, and it is very fat.

Great days like this are few and far between, getting to share the experience with my wife/best friend made it 1,000 times more special. Thank you Laurel for being there for me again! I love you.

A few photo’s from our adventure..

Capt. Laurel Mortell at the Helm

Edward Mortell 40lb+ Striper

Edward Mortell - Bluefin Tuna - Stand up fight

July 20, 2011 57" Bluefin Tuna

Striper Fishing June 2011

Within a few minutes after setting up on the secret spot we have our first fish and before we decide to call it quits we landed at least 9 nice fish. The most active bite was 1/2 hour before and after the high tide. After that the activity was sporadic but consistent.

I’ve been using a Penn 975 baitcaster on a light uglystick for most of my live line bass fishing this season (this is my favorite light rod reel combination) instead of the heavier Shimano 6500 Baitrunners I usually use. Both reels are spun up with 40lb Powerpro and for this type of fishing I generally use a 4ft 30lb fluorocarbon leader to a circle hook.