Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Friday, April 18, 2025, 6:10 AM EDT
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Proposed cod & haddock regulations for the 2025 fishing season (May 1, 2025 thru April 30, 2026):
Gulf of Maine cod
Gulf of Maine haddock
The sky was overcast for a couple more hours before clearing and remaining sunny for the rest of the day. The wind blew out of the northwest at about fifteen knots until later morning when I detected a little more west in the wind. The wind speed also picked up at that time and seemed sustained at twenty knots. The visibility was excellent all day. The air temperature reached a high of 50°F that I saw in my truck (so it was probably a degree lower - or that's what I have come to notice as compared to the home's two outside thermometers). In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 59°F (with a low of 36°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 49°F (with a low of 29°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 47°F (with a low of 30°F).
The day was spent running around picking things up for the Bunny Clark, delegating jobs, organizing, working on restaurant items (thank God for cell phones) and adjusting launching schedules, work on the Bunny Clark and the pick up schedule. We are now hauling the Bunny Clark out of the barn tomorrow. It was going to happen today.
One of the unexpected items of attention was a flat tire that I got yesterday. By the time I found a place to pull over where I could change the tire, the sidewall was ruined from riding on the rim. Thankfully, I was only a couple of miles from the shop (Brown's Service Center) where I take the truck on a normal basis. But that meant that I needed a new tire. This meant that I needed to pick up that truck today. Which I did. But, on a busy day, it was tough to move things around so I could do so.
Danny DellaMonica will be starting to work on Thursday. More details on that tomorrow. Tyler Carpenter has been rebuilding all the reels for the Bunny Clark. I have some new Penn Baja reels that he grabbed yesterday that he will take apart and re grease for the party boat scene. So preparation, preparation and preparation.
Very much looking forward to the fishing this year, albeit, with only one arm, giving me a hell of a lot more to do and worry about.
Over vacation, I received three donations sponsoring me in this season's Pan-Mass Challenge, a cycling event across the state of Massachusetts for cancer research. Since President Trump has taken away a lot of the funding for research across the United States, this has become a more important year for donating than ever. The three donations' all made in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC, and donors are as follows: Neil Feldman (NJ) for $100.00 site with the following message: "A little donation with hopes of a big cure...", Thomas Hover (NJ) with the following message: "In honor of Uncle Ed Werner." and Jules & Sue Epstein (FL) for $50.00 with the message: "Keep up the great work you do!" Thank you all so very much for the support and your generosity. This is very much appreciated by so many!
My day was spent mostly on the Bunny Clark with the biggest issue revolving around placing the impeller in the raw water pump. Mostly it revolved around how best method to replace the impeller in the raw water at sea. This would fall on my shoulders as I am going to be the only captain of the Bunny Clark this season. The raw water pump on this engine has been problematic with impeller changes. It is an exceptionally tight fit that leaves the vanes near flat as it rides over cam before opening up through the rest of the pump casting. It's very strange and so different from the bigger engines I have had. Anyway, by the end of the day I worked out a system where I could do this without too much hassle. Hopefully, this won't happen in a shortened season. But if it does, I will be prepared with a new bag of tricks.
The rest of the day was running around organizing, delegating, improving on some US Coast Guard requirements, putting on a new radar and working with David Pease at the barn to get the Bunny Clark prepared to move out tomorrow.
For the smaller part of the day I had to make a few decisions on the items at the (Barnacle Billy's) restaurant, work on some masonry details, schedule shingle replacements, make some decisions on pricing and inspect the deck for the last coat of stain. I'm really happy about the way the deck came out with the new railing. I received a very generous donation of $250.00 from Dave Burton (MA) sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge today. The donation was made in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC with a note that read: "In loving memory of [Captain] Ian [Keniston], thanks, Tim." It's been hard this spring without Ian. Mostly because for sentimental reasons but also for all the good work he did getting the boat ready every spring. Thank you for the donation, Dave. I really appreciate your generosity but for being so thoughtful over the years and the encouragement you give me in this and the fishing. It won't be the same without you on the boat for most of April.
But that was it, for thunder and lightning. By 6:20 AM, it was all over. It rained most of the morning until around 11:00 AM. It might have been misting a bit then but, for all intents and purposes, the rain was done. After noon, the sky remained overcast but it never rained again while I was awake. The air temperature rose to a value of 50°F, that I saw. It had dropped to 46°F by 6:00 PM. The visibility, although fair to poor to start, cleared somewhat along the coast but fog remained offshore. It was good along the coast. The wind dropped steadily all day. By 10:00 AM, the southeast wind was just over ten knots. By 2:00 PM, the wind was done for the day. We had zero wind for the rest of the day. The ocean along the shore was smooth on the surface with, what looked like, a six foot rolling sea that made a walk on the Marginal Way spectacular viewing with that wonderful salt sea smell I member from the time I became aware. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 64°F (with a low of 36°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 44°F (with a low of 33°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 50°F (with a low of 31°F).
Danny DellaMonica met me at the house this morning so we could coordinate the day and move to getting the Bunny Clark ready for inspection. We had planned to take the boat out of the barn at 8:30 AM. But it was raining so hard that we changed it to 11:30 AM, which turned out to be a better plan. The visibility over the road was terrible at that time and the pouring rain would have made it miserable.
After meeting at the house, Danny and I converged on the Bunny Clark at the barn where I made the call. I ended up going back home to get other items (and get caught up at Barnacle Billy's restaurant) while Danny stayed at the boat, hung the side curtains and got ready for moving the boat over the road. We ended up back at Safe Harbor in Eliot, Maine where Danny and I worked until 5:00 PM, mounting the radar mast, putting in the davit, etc., etc.
For two hours in the morning, after I got back from the Bunny Clark, I worked at the restaurant. The major item I completed was a new Journal entry for the Barnacle Billy's website. I like to do one before every opening. Then all bets are off during the season where I try to do others but end up failing in the quest for regularly scheduled Journal entries. I only had an hour to write it. So it didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it. But I will tweak it tomorrow morning, hopefully, to make it a better finished product.
Below is a shot of the Bunny Clark resting in the Safe Harbor yard, waiting to be dressed for the launching on Monday, April 7, 2025. She certainly doesn't look as good as if Ian had worked on it all winter. But it looks good enough - mainly because of all the good work Ian did in the past!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was a balmy 48°F, the sky was overcast, the roads were perfectly dry, there really wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The wind was light out of the northwest until after noon. The northwest wind picked up to a velocity between ten and fifteen knots. This kept up until around 5:00 PM and started to drop off after that. There was no wind by 8:30 PM. The visibility was excellent all day. The sky cleared around mid morning and stayed sunny until sunset. The air temperature ramped up to a figure over 60°F. I was too busy to look for a high temperature in Ogunquit today. In Portsmouth, the high was 64°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 69°F (with a low of 48°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 63°F (with a low of 37°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 42°F).
Danny DellaMonica and I worked on the Bunny Clark all morning. I did more running around than Danny did working. But together we worked on getting the life preserver carrier up on the canopy top. At the time, I also had other projects going on that took me back and forth from the boat and the other things I was doing. I had to leave to attend opening day at Barnacle Billy's. In the meantime, Danny worked on the Bunny Clark and completely waxed the hull before leaving after 7:00 PM.
I got home around 11:00 AM. The first thing I did was change the auto attendant's greeting on the Barnacle Billy's answering machine. The message is good until we close Sunday night as we are taking Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday off, opening daily for the rest of the season starting Friday, April 11. After a shower and a shave, I headed down to the restaurant on the motor scooter. This is the first time in a long time that the opening day was good enough to ride a scooter down from the house to the restaurant and ride it back home without being cold.
The restaurant was busy, one of our best opening days ever and the second most rum punches we have ever sold at opening. It seemed to start off slower than I expected. But, then, I expect too much. By mid afternoon, it was hard to keep up with the business. And that lasted until we closed at 8:00 PM. I spent the whole time going from table to table talking to everyone I have seen there in the past and enjoying myself in the greeting the whole time there. I had rave reviews on the deck railing and a few complaints about not being able to set a rum punch on the handrail to take a picture. All in all, the whole experience was very positive. Everyone seemed to be having fun and enjoying the food, the bottom line, in my opinion.
By daylight, the visibility was still excellent and the sky was still overcast. Overcast skies remained all day. By 1:45 PM, it had started to rain. Lightly at first, it became steady for the rest of the day and into the night. Although, at 9:00 PM, the rain had lightened considerably. Although we had no wind between 3 and 5:00 AM, the wind came on quickly after that out of the east. Wind speeds over eighteen knots were seen by 6:00 AM. The wind remained steady at fifteen knots out of the east through the morning. But, oddly, the wind dropped after noon. Not only that, by 1:00 PM, I noticed that the wind had hauled out of the southeast. With the wind shift we saw the rain come and the visibility drop to good looking offshore. It never got foggy as I would have expected with that wind direction. But it was never great after that with the more humid conditions and the rain. The air temperature rose into the 40°F category by 7:00 AM but I never saw the air temperature go over 42°F. The on shore breeze put the screws to it getting any higher. And I never expected it. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 49°F (with a low of 39°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 43°F (with a low of 32°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 43°F (with a low of 36°F).
I didn't spend much time on Bunny Clark stuff except on the computer, in reviewing documents in preparation for the USCG inspection and setting up the equipment to strip reels of old line and putting on new.
The rest of the day was spent at Barnacle Billy's restaurant. Yesterday was a record breaking opening day for sales. No so today. The weather dampened the business as it always has at Barnacle Billy's. It did not dampen the spirits of the patrons who were there however. It was a wonderful time for me. Although we had nobody outside on the deck, the patio or upper deck, the dining room was filled most of the day with people I have seen for years. In fact, there was only one person there that I haven't met before. And she was with people who are regulars here. There were probably other people I didn't know but I never noticed them. And I tried to get to everyone. It's vitally important to me that everyone enjoys the experience and the food.
My restaurant day ended at 8:30 PM.
It turned out that the weather was foggy offshore. In fact, there was haze, precipitation and fog that prevented me from seeing Boon Island light. After noon, I noticed that the visibility had improved to excellent. I just don't remember how far past noon that was! It rained or drizzled for most of the morning. After noon, the rain had stopped. It never rained for the rest of the day. The sky was overcast for most of the daylight hours. By 5:00 PM, the sky became mostly clear and the sun could be seen setting in the west. The wind was light all day with the wind direction variable from northwest to west to southwest and southeast. Wind speeds never broached the ten knot barrier. The highest air temperature that I saw was 51°F. And that was right around 5:00 PM. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 53°F (with a low of 40°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 56°F (with a low of 36°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 51°F (with a low of 37°F).
Ian Keniston had rebuilt thirty Penn 113H reels before he died on December 15, last year. I had picked those reels up before Christmas. They all needed new line. Tyler Carpenter, over the winter, had rebuilt all the Penn Baja reels. I set brought all the 113H reels to Barnacle Billy's, Etc. I also brought the "line winder", line and tools to the second floor as well. Danny DellaMonica showed up there before noon. Together, we set up the system to take the old line off the reels and put new line on. Danny worked on this all day and until a little after 10:00 PM. He had all the 113H reels, or what we call the "bait reels" (with monofilament line), filled with line before the end. Later in the afternoon, Tyler showed up with the Penn Bajas that he rebuilt in his spare time this winter. Danny had those stripped of line before he left the restaurant as well.
It's been hard not having Ian Keniston in this world. We fed off each other in the spring. And his excitement, along with mine, spurned us both on to enjoy the challenge of getting ready for the fishing. Of course, I'm sure there will be many things that remind me of Ian. But, right now, this time of the year seems the strongest and hits home the hardest. Plus, he knew the boat better than I did in some aspects. So I never had to think about getting everything completed on the Bunny Clark, leaving me to concentrate on all the restaurant stuff. It sure is a different year.
I spent the day at Barnacle Billy's (Original), talking to customers, enjoying our employees and making staff decisions. I didn't work on the financial side of things today so I never entered the office. And I kept checking on Danny's progress with the reels. Virtually, all my extra time was spent on the floor in the dining room of Barnacle Billy's, talking to customers.
Tomorrow, we will be launching the Bunny Clark.
I stayed at the boat yard or made forays back and forth to the boat yard all day. It was a whole day of checking systems, maintaining systems and gettting things back to snuff on the Bunny Clark. We were getting ready for Power Products to come tomorrow. When I got home I got a note telling me that it was now going to be Wednesday.
There was nothing really very exciting that happened today. Just small victories here and there. Two steps forward and one back. I'm hoping it doesn't rain tomorrow so we can seal up the canopy top.
We had a dry spell that lasted until about 10:00 AM. From then on, it rained lightly and periodically through most of the day, stopping around 3:00 PM or so. The sky stayed overcast almost all day until late in the afternoon, when clearing could be seen in the west. The wind was out of the east for most of the day but it never got any stronger than about five knots or so. Then, around 4:00 PM, the wind started to blow out of the west. Fifteen knots or so to start, by around sunset, the westerly wind was blowing a solid twenty-five knots with some higher gusts. The visibility was excellent or nearly so all day. The highest air temperature that I saw was 40°F about mid afternoon. It was mostly 37°F to 38°F during the day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 42°F (with a low of 30°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 39°F (with a low of 26°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 38°F (with a low of 27°F).
I spent most of my day running around getting items to finish putting the Bunny Clark back together, working on the Bunny Clark itself and working with a marine surveyor on our other boat, the Petrel so our insurance company can come up to date with the new changes that have been made. This was important while the Petrel was out of the water. The survey will be completed in the water at a later date. With the Bunny Clark, I was working mostly with the Yard (watching Vic Togliotti) install the new radar (the other one broke after thirty-five years of service) plus many other things.
The word came down from Power Products that I probably won't be able to have their service. They only have one road tech available. And that one road tech has personal issues. They do have some in the Wakefield, Massachusetts office but those guys are tied up. I'm not sure I really need them at this point as I have been addressing some of the problems myself. But I don't have access to the testing equipment so it will be a "trial by fire" until I'm comfortable with the engine.
By 3:00 PM, I was back at the restaurant working with the carpenters on the upkeep and repairs projects there. The front of Barnacle Billy's (Original) is being re-shingled. I gave them the go-ahead today to replace the shingles above as well. Once I see the invoice from their work this winter, I will decide how much further we can go. Most of the rest of my plans will probably have to take place after this season is over.
Tomorrow will be spent getting the Bunny Clark ready for USCG inspection.
The sky stayed clear all day. The wind was the salient feature in the morning. It blew out of the northwest at twenty knots, more or less, until noon and then started to drop off. By 2:00 PM, the wind was about ten knots and dropping. I noticed that it was blowing out of the south after 3:00 PM. Wind speeds increased to about ten knots or more after that. The visibility was excellent all day. It seemed cold all morning. I did see air temperatures in the low 40s but, for the life of me, I couldn't tell you where the high settled in. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 47°F (with a low of 28°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 45°F (with a low of 23°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 43°F (with a low of 26°F).
Danny DellaMonica couldn't work today. So I went to the boat and worked alone from 7:00 AM until 4:00 PM. Almost everything is ready for inspection tomorrow at the Safe Harbor Yard in Eliot, Maine. I cleaned up under the engine and put oil sops down, I ran the engine several times to check for oil and coolant leaks and I got everything organized down there for sailing.
The second radar is now up and running, the canopy top is sealed, all the electronics are working and all the silicone seal that should be applied has been completed.
After I got back home, I got all the paperwork, that I will need for tomorrow, completed and in the loose leaf binder that I keep aboard. I also worked at the restaurant for a half hour before going home. I stopped working at about 6:30 PM.
I have to tell you, it was so much easier with Captain Ian around. He did so many things in the last ten years that I had to re-learn a lot of it. That's a good thing. But it's taking more time than I would like. And it's also keeping me away from the restaurant. I'm lucky to have such good managers and such a great work force at Barnacle Billy's.
Tomorrow, my youngest ever Fisherman of the Year, Bryan Lewer, and my son, Micah, along with the haddock killer, Steve Selmer, are striking out for a groundfishing trip all day. It will be interesting to see how they do.
It was a perfect day for the last day the Bunny Clark was going to be at the Yard and for the US Coast Guard inspection. The wind was very light all morning. In fact, there was no wind for most of it. By noon, we were seeing a light wind from the south. The wind did come up to fifteen knots by 3:00 PM. And, on the ride back to Perkins Cove, the ocean was showing a two foot chops from the south southeast. Since I was steering to leeward, it was a very comfortable ride back. The sky was clear and sunny for most of the day with some high thin clouds before sunset. The visibility was excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw was 46°F. But that was on the Piscataqua River in Eliot before noon when there was no wind. I'm sure it was similar to Ogunquit, though. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 45°F (with a low of 34°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 53°F (with a low of 19°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 43°F (with a low of 23°F).
Danny DellaMonica and I met down at Safe Harbor in Eliot to go over what we needed to do for US Coast Guard inspection. We did a bit of cleaning up and reviewing emergency procedures as well. Later in the morning, Chief Warrent Office Mark Amero showed up to fully check the Bunny Clark out and go through the man overboard drill. This took about and hour and a half, maybe a bit more. This is a small amount of time. But we had the hull inspection only three months ago where a lot of what was inspected was viewed at that time. All systems were functioning as they should. We had no problems that would prevent us from moving forward. We had one item that we should find a solution for. But this was not critical. I will be looking into it as we move through the season.
Double D left to go work on reels while I took a break to eat a sandwich.
Tommy Thompson showed up from Power Products to look at the engine at 1:00 PM. The engine has been slow to turn over (start). I suspected an air leak. I also had coolant in the pan under the engine over the winter. This has happened before with temperature changes and the hose clamps loosening on other engines. But it had never happened on this engine before. So I wanted to coolant system pressurized and tested. Both systems where checked without an issue. But I don't like to take those kinds of chances. Not knowing drives me crazy. Tommy also put on a new belt that he brought with him and dropped off a spare impeller and some coolant. After looking for lubricating oil leaks, he left.
I had the Bunny Clark ready to sail at 3:00 PM. So, after bidding goodbye and thanking Dave Simonelli (the Manager at Safe Harbor) for all the good work they did for me there, I cast lines off and headed down the river to Perkins Cove. Below is a shot of myself and the Bunny Clark approaching the Route 95 bridge. In the past, I have always given Fred Kunz a call from the boat knowing that he was working at the Naval Shipyard. He only works there part time now so I didn't make the call.
As I mentioned in the previous posting, Bryan Lewer took out Micah Tower and Steve Selmer haddock fishing. The weather was excellent, albeit, a bit cold. Bryan has an open boat so there isn't much cover from the wind. The first half of the trip was just a pick (fishing wise). After the tide turned, it was a haddock a cast. We even ended up getting fillets from a couple of haddock they caught. Deb and I will have that tomorrow night. Back to the fishing, Micah had one double with two 5 pound haddock caught on the same line at the same time. They had no trophy haddock. But that didn't matter. The water is colder than normal this season. That usually means that the bite will be off for a week or so unless the wind is perfect. It also means that the best haddock bite will happen by May 1 instead of earlier as we experienced last season. It also might mean that the dogfish will be late and that the haddock fishing will extend further into the season. This, of course, is my take and prediction. I might be way off the mark. But there is a better chance that I am right.
Deb and I would have had the haddock for dinner tonight. But my truck was still over at the Eliot yard. So Deb drove me over to Safe Harbor and we converged on Greenleaves restaurant for dinner. This is our second favorite restaurant! We got home at 8:00 PM. Now I am really looking forward to the fishing on Tuesday. I hope nothing keeps me from my appointed task!
It rained periodically until around 8:00 or 9:00 AM and then stopped for the day. The sky remained overcast all day despite. The visibility changed to excellent once the rain stopped. The wind blew out of the northeast at ten knots or less all day. The high air temperature in Ogunquit was probably 44°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 43°F (with a low of 35°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 43°F (with a low of 33°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 41°F (with a low of 35°F).
I spent a little more time arranging this site before I posted this morning. For the rest of the morning, I worked on the Bunny Clark, mostly in the engine room area. Before noon, I left the Bunny Clark to get ready to work in Barnacle Billy's restaurant. I worked there for a couple of hours. It was very slow, business wise. After a couple of hours I drove to Portland to pick up enough lubricating engine oil and Volvo oil filters to get me through the season. Once home I distributed the cases of oil and filters to places where I needed to have them.
After dinner, I spent the rest of my time talking to the few customers we had in the dining room of Barnacle Billy's (Original). It was great to see and talk to Bill & Roseann Pakenham in front of their usual place by the fire.
It started to snow around 8:00 AM, maybe sooner than that. I had to drive in it to go pick up some stuff I left in the barn, where the Bunny Clark resided all winter. According to the thermometer in the truck, the air temperature got down to 32°F. The snow might have accumulated about an inch on the side of the road. On the road it was slush. But, of course, where I was going was all coastal driving. Inland, the roads were slippery, causing a friend of mine's son to total his car, a Subaru Outback. In fact, there were a lot of accidents today. And further inland, there were some towns that got as much as seven inches of snow today. This is pretty late for snow here. But it does happen. And it has happened in the past.
It was raw and cold all day today. I could not get warm. The wind blew out of the east northeast at fifteen to twenty knots to start and a bit stronger than that in the afternoon. The snow turned to rain. It rained all day. When it wasn't raining, it was misting so badly that it might as well have been raining. There was no time that I could work on the boat and feel that I would be dry in so doing. My uniform at the restaurant is summer clothes with dungarees and a lot of cotton layers up top, which really doesn't do the trick when the wind is cold and raw off the ocean. The highest air temperature that I saw during the day was 38°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 39°F (with a low of 35°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 38°F (with a low of 33°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 38°F (with a low of 32°F).
I spent the morning doing Bunny Clark things. After 12:30 PM, I was in the restaurant the restaurant all day. As I mentioned above, I could not get warm all day. My time was spent on the floor talking to patrons or standing in front of one of the two fireplaces we have. It was definitely a fireplace day. Part of my day was also spent catching up in the office at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. Business was slow as you would expect with the weather the way it was.
Tomorrow, Danny DellaMonica and Tyler Carpenter will be working getting the boat in shape to sail on Tuesday. I will be working on the Bunny Clark as well during the morning.
The weather remained miserable all day today. We didn't have a drop of rain in the morning until 9:00 AM. Then it started. It rained continuously after that. It never did rain very hard. It was just light. But it never stopped. Working on the after part of the engine and transmission, just aft of the edge of the canopy, my Bunny Clark hoodie soaked. The wind blew out of the north all day. In some ways this was good because Perkins Cove is in the lee with the wind out of that direction. It really didn't seem like it was blowing very hard. But, out on the ocean, wind speeds were about twenty knots, more or less, all day. The sky remained overcast all day, it rained until I went to bed at 8:00 PM and the visibility over the ocean stayed in the "good" category. The highest air temperature that I saw was 42°F in the Cove. But everywhere else in Ogunquit it got up to 45°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 45°F (with a low of 38°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 49°F (with a low of 32°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 41°F (with a low of 37°F).
I spent the day in the engine room of the Bunny Clark. From 9:00 AM until 2:00 PM. I changed all the oil, engine/transmission, all the filters and the sacrificial anodes to start the season. If I have an engine problem, I want to know where I stand after having gone over all that stuff. I also worked with Danny DellaMonica and Tyler Carpenter, who were getting the deck gear together and rods and reels. Both fuel tanks were filled in the morning by Estes Oil men (Drew and Leo?).
I went to work in Barnacle Billy's restaurant after 2:00 PM. I have had some respiratory issue for the last week where I have been coughing a lot. Being cold and wet today didn't help. It was so slow, business wise, in the restaurant that I felt the best thing for me to do was to take a nap. Which I did. I got back to the restaurant at 4:30 PM. But the business remained slow so I called it a day before 7:00 PM and went home.
Danny and Tyler worked through the morning and into the afternoon and night. The last part of the day was spent working on the rods and reels we will need for the season, getting the reels with their backing plates on the rods, making sure we had enough left handed reels available and getting the right number of jig sticks available. Tyler left earlier than Danny. Danny left just before 7:00 PM.
Dana Decormier (NH) showed up on my doorstep this morning to say hello but, mostly, to give me memorabilia of the reign of one super captain, Ian Keniston. Dana had the best Bunny Clark caps made up that had our "hake face" logo on the front and "Capt. Ian Keniston, 1970-2024, CUSK" on the back. The "CUSK" on the back in reference to Ian's license plate on his truck. Actually, the original reason that Ian got a license plate with "CUSK" on it stemmed from a trip where he filleted 264 of them, along with other fish on an early trip with me. But it also references a funny thing he had with Captain John Daley when he worked with John on the Indian II out of Portland, Maine. John also captained the Bunny Clark for me during one season. John passed away a few years ago, also way too young. Dana left my house after giving me a $50.00 donation from his family "In memory of the Bunny Clark Family", a reference to all the good times we have had together over the years with Ian Keniston. For me, I will be glad to get past this initial period of provisioning the Bunny Clark for the first trip. There have just been too many times where I am back taking the lead on things that Ian used to do for me. Thank you, Dana, (and family) for your support of my Pan-Mass Challenge involvement. But did you have to make me cry in the process? I do appreciate your help and, of course, all the good memories that go along with it.
It was a glorious warm day today, just what we needed before our first fishing trip of the season. The sky stayed clear all day with few, if any, clouds. The visibility was excellent. The wind was light from the northwest in the morning, died out to nothing by late morning and then blew out of the south in the afternoon. Wind speeds were not quite nine knots at 6:00 PM. The air temperature reached a high of 62°F, that I saw. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 68°F (with a low of 41°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 27°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 36°F).
I spent the day getting the boat ready to sail tomorrow. Much of my time was spent at home accumulating gear to bring to the boat and organizing my side of things in order to run the trip. Danny DellaMonica showed up later in the morning. So I worked with him for a while deciding on different things while Danny did the bulk of the work and did all of the organizing of the deck. Tyler Carpenter showed up after his work and helped Danny load rods, put the life preservers away, jigs, etc., etc. and etc. There was really a lot left to do.
I spent very little time in the restaurant today. What time I did spend was spent going around to different tables incognito and asking how their food and service was. As a result of being so much more involved in getting the boat ready, I am quite a bit behind in the desk work I need to do at the restaurant. I'll catch up. But I don't like the feeling of being behind.
I'm not exactly sure what we will do tomorrow, on the fishing end of things. But I have two ideas. I will go with one of those two. I'm pretty excited about going. And it's nice to know that everything is ready to do it. Do it we will!
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was a 43°F, the sky was overcast, the roads were dry, the wind was light out of the south and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
It was a fairly comfortable ride to the fishing grounds except for the left over rout we had from the southeast. It was just a little bit bumpy despite the fact that there was no wind to speak of. We carried overcast skies above us all the way out. Ahead of us it was fairly clear. We saw a nice sunrise. We had zero rain. The visibility was excellent. And the air temperature hung around 45°F for the whole ride.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south southeast at five or six knots to start, increased in the occasional rain squall to nearly ten knots, was out of the south at about eight knots before noon and, then, blew out of the south southwest at ten knots. We carried this all the way home. Seas were chops of a foot for most of the morning, in chops. Chops increased during the day to a couple feet. Seas were a bit larger for the ride home. It started to rain shortly after we started to fish. The rain was sporadic and gone by noon. The sky was overcast for the whole time fishing. We got a peek at the sun half way home. The visibility ranged from ten miles to over twenty-five miles. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 40.1°F. The high air temperature was 47°F
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 61°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 67°F (with a low of 48°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 43°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 55°F (with a low of 42°F).
The fishing was up and down. We had one bone move stop. The rest of the stops were a steady pick, two very good stops and one excellent stop. The last stop was excellent. We left them biting there to go home. The fishing itself was excellent. The catching was good to very good. Landings were a bit better than good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. Legal landings also included seventy-one cusk, a halibut, six redfish and a 5 pound pollock. Released fish included fifty-five haddock, seven pollock, one cod of 6 pounds, eleven small cod, twenty cusk, a wolffish and a redfish. We alternated between drifting and anchoring. Our best spot was an anchor stop.
Mark Girard (NH) had to be high hook with the most legal fish. He released too many smaller legal haddock for me to count, countless cusk and a wolffish. But he kept a lot of haddock and a few cusk. His largest fish was the 14.5 pound wolffish which I took a picture of and released alive. The wolffish was the second largest fish of the trip. With this fish, Mark won the boat pool for the second largest fish. His largest haddock weighed 5.25 pounds. Troy Galloway (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 76 pound halibut. This is his first halibut. I believe that it's the earliest legal halibut that we have ever caught on the Bunny Clark. And we have never caught a halibut on the first trip of the year until today. Some of Troy's other good fish included a 6 pound cod, the biggest cod of the trip, a 6 pound cusk and a 5 pound haddock. Bobby Allen (CT) caught the third largest fish of the trip, a 7 pound cusk.. He did not enter the boat pool for the third largest fish. He did catch our first fish of the season, a 4.5 pound haddock. I took a picture of Bobby holding this first fish. The digital image appears on the left. Matt Luce (ME) won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the fourth largest fish, 6.5 pound haddock, our largest haddock of the season so far. I expected him to catch a halibut. But he didn't.
Other Angler Highlights: Monika Patenaude (ME), on her maiden voyage aboard the Bunny Clark, caught the Bunny Clark's second largest haddock of the season today. It weighed 6 pounds. I took a picture of her holding this nice haddock. The digital image appears on the right. Jasper Downs (ME) caught one of the early haddock, at 4 pounds. Chris Silver (NH) caught a 5 pound haddock. Willy Thurston caught an early 4 pound haddock. Dave Symes (ME) caught a 5.5 pound haddock, his best haddock. Jared Lavers (ME) caught a 5.5 pound cusk. Jonah Rogers (ME) landed a 5.25 pound haddock. It was a great day out on the ocean with wonderful anglers, a real treat to be here after all that went on this winter.
I received three wonderful donations sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge from two wonderful anglers. The first donation was for $100.00 from Dave & Rebecca Symes. The other was also for $100.00 from Mark Girard. But the third was a very generous $2,000.00 from Wayne & Jackie Griffin (MA) in a package that had been delivered by FedEx that had been setting behind a bush for two days in the rain. Thank you, all, so very much for your constant support in this cancer project. You are always so thoughtful and generous - to a fault. And, of course, it's very much appreciated by so many!
In Perkins Cove, the wind blew out of the northwest at fifteen knots or more all day long. The sky was clear to start the day but became partly cloudy for most of the day. The wind gained strength in the late afternoon with some gusts to twenty-five knots and a lilt from the west. The closest offshore buoy, nine miles away, showed the wind out of the west at about twenty knots all day. By 5:00 PM, I saw gusts to thirty knots. The visibility was excellent all day. I was surprised as to how mild it was, more in line with a westerly wind. Just after noon, I saw 51°F. I actually thought it was milder than that but it must have been the sun that made me feel that way. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 52°F (with a low of 41°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 48°F (with a low of 39°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 50°F (with a low of 39°F).
After yesterday's great fishing, I felt great. I was surprised that I didn't feel sore at all from rolling around on the ocean all day. I guess all the running, core work, fluid trainer and swimming this winter had to help. Last night I felt like I was going to feel it today. What I did feel was elated with the success of our anglers, particularly with Troy's halibut. So unusual.
I spent a long time this morning bringing this site up to date after the first fishing trip of the season. I wanted to put the halibut on the index page, change out images and bring my fund raising page up to date.
I had to talk the Estes Oil fuel guys before I was done. And I had to address a propane leak at the restaurant that was easily resolved. I worked at the restaurant for most of the afternoon, leaving a bit earlier than normal to get ready for fishing tomorrow. I did get caught up on some of the office work I had to do at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. It seemed a more relaxed day than it was the day before yesterday.
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was a 39°F, 40°F in the Cove at the float, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the west at fifteen knots (more or less) and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The ride to the fishing grounds was uneventful and, oddly enough, exactly as the National Weather Service predicted. Who knew? Seas never got any larger that three feet, the wind from the west at fifteen to twenty knots. The sky was clear. The visibility was excellent. And the air temperature hung out at 47°F at the helm after we got past the ten mile mark. We carried a setting moon off the starboard beam that made it very easy to sail down the channel to the fishing grounds.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west for the early part of the morning at about fifteen to twenty knots with seas of about three feet with the occasional queer one. We really had no tide (current) today. So the seas were very uniform throughout. Later morning saw a lull in the wind, dropping the velocity down to ten knots. My thoughts at the time were; "Wow! If this keeps up we will have an easy ride home." It didn't. After noon, the wind continued out of the west at fifteen to twenty knots. The sky was cloudless all day. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 48°F (52°F at the helm on the way back). The visibility ranged to over twenty-five miles. The surface water temperature reached a high of 40.5°F, the coldest surface water temperature at this time of year for many years.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 58°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 60°F (with a low of 41°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 58°F (with a low of 30°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 55°F (with a low of 33°F).
The fishing was very good, although hard on the hands drifting. Plus, it was a little too quick at times on the drift in the morning. So we spent most of our time on anchor. Being on anchor was much more comfortable. And the bite was such that you needed to be on anchor for a while before the fish, haddock mostly, got into biting mode. Every anchor stop saw cusk biting when we would first start. After that, the haddock would filter in and dominate the rest of the time there. The catching was very good as were the landings. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far, just shy of the bag limit. We could have landed the bag limit had we kept every haddock that came over the rail that was exactly legal in overall length. Legal landings also included eighty-eight cusk and two cunners. Released fish included a few more than forty-two haddock, two wolffish, a sub-legal pollock, one cod of about 5 pounds, six small cod and about seven cusk. Bait was best today.
I would say that Fred Kunz (NH) was high hook with forty-three legal. Maybe more as he released some legal haddock. But everyone did well. Fred won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, an 8.75 pound cusk. This is the Bunny Clark's largest cusk of the fishing season so far. He had a contending pool cusk early in the trip that weighed 6 pounds. The bigger fish was caught on the last stop. Steve Selmer (ME/NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11 pound wolffish. This is now the Bunny Clark's second largest wolffish of the season to date. I took a picture of Steve with his cat. This digital image appears on the left. Steve also caught the largest haddock of the trip at 6.5 pounds. This ties the largest haddock weight of our previous largest haddock caught on the Bunny Clark so far. I also took a picture of this fish as well. This digital image appears on the right. Hannah Smith (VT) won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the third largest fish, a 6.75 pound cusk. She had been leading the boat pool for the largest fish all day until the last stop. I believe that she caught the most fish that she has ever caught on the Bunny Clark today. She had done better under Captain Ian before today's trip. Hannah's largest haddock weighted 5.5 pounds, the second largest haddock of the trip. Actually, she and her dory mate, Dave Haberl (VT), commandeered the bow and did better than any other two anglers who have fished up there for years. I was very impressed.
Other Angler Highlights: Dave Burton (MA) lost so many sinkers today that, I figured, if he last many more that he would have created an island on the fishing grounds. Along with a near brush from Steve's wolffish, he would surely have won the hard luck award t-shirt, had I been giving the shirts out today. Ron Neil (MA) had a lot of fish today as well. He was very consistent. The only fish of his that I weighed was a 5.25 pound cusk. Anthony Lomonoco (NY) caught a cusk that weighed 6.25 pounds. His largest haddock weighed 5 pounds. Jeff Gellatly (ME) landed a 5 pound haddock, his largest fish. Steve Bemis (NY) also landed a 5 pound haddock as his largest fish as well.
I landed two donations today sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Dave Burton gave me another $50.00 to add to his very generous $250.00 donation he gave on April 2nd. And the team of Haberl & Hannah donated a generous $100.00 to the cause. Thank you all so very much for your support, thoughtfulness and generosity. It is so very much appreciated!
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