"It turned out to be great weather for us on the codding grounds," wrote skipper Bruce Smith for the Shogun April 30. "Along with the outstanding conditions the fish cooperated with us and decided to bite. The hot ticket for most of the guys was a heavy diamond jig or Jax Jig on the bottom and one baited hook or shrimp fly above it. Most of the time we sweeten the jig with a small strip of squid or strip bait. The key word here is small. A small strip, instead of a big hunk of flesh clogging up the gap of the treble, allows for the jig to sink quickly. Our new SHOGUN jig from Salas lures in the heavy models has been working on yellowtail and great on the cods, it sort of looks and is shaped like the old Holiday Special, one of my favorite vertical jigs."

On May 1, Smith added these remarks: "Our weather held on for another beautiful day. The current and water conditions made for tougher cod fishing today, it was slower than yesterday for sure. Some nice lings, up to 18 pounds (biggest landed by Brian Pearlman), came over the rail along with the standard quality reds."