Ever since 1616, when Capt. John Smith wrote “Hake you may have when the cod failes in summer, if you will fish in the night,” it has been common knowledge that they bite best after dark, from which it is fair to assume they do most of their foraging between sunset and sunrise.
We are forced to discuss these two hakes together, for they are so hard to tell apart that they are often confused, while they agree so closely in habits and distribution that what is said of one applies equally to the other, except as noted below.
From Fishes of the Gulf of Maine by Bigelow and Schroeder, 1953 _ Courtesy of MBL/WHOI
http://www.gma.org/fogm/Urophycis_tenuis.htm
http://www.gma.org/fogm/Urophycis_chuss.htm
2010 to 2016 Massachusetts landings of white hake have been in the range of 3 to 5 million pounds. Squirrel (Red) hake landings 197 to 366 thousand pounds.
Good Morning Gloucester 
The lifecycle and historic aspect of the fish very interesting to me! 🙂 Dave
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