Hey Mick good to hear from ya!

Island Current -

Big John from Jack's Bait and tackle sent me an e-mail the other day. He said he and his 2 sons went on a trip toward the end of week on the IC out of Snug Harbor.

I kind of had the same opinion Williehookem had, that there were still a lot of shorts and it might not be worth it. My friend Eli drove to Montauk last week and took a cod boat to Block from there. He ended up with 6 market (smaller) cod, and a bunch of smaller ones. That's terrible, considering he's one of the most hardcore fishermen I know.

So it might be picking up a bit. Big John said they came home with 30 cod, and had good action. Eli said the action was good but the cod were tiny. Following some of the reports, the other day the pool winner on one of the boats up there was 15#. Sure it's a nice cod, but nowhere near the size of the slobs they were bailing last year.

Some of the guys who are long time cod-fishers are telling me it really hasn't heated up yet and the best is yet to come. That makes sense...

I can do 1 trip with the limited budget I have. I was thinking about a trip about the 3rd week of Feb, providing the slobs are being caught by then.

Big John told me the IC trips are $95. That's not bad considering some other boats are charging $135 - $150.
I would be up for an IC trip if anyone else is interested, end of Feb.