Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
July 22, 2014, 5:00 AM EDT
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Captain Ian Keniston and Captain Jared Keniston ran the extreme day trip today. At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 49°F, there was no wind, the sky was clear and the visibility was excellent over the ocean. Ashore, it was almost a cloudless morning with very little wind, good visibility and mild temperatures.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at five to ten knots in the morning. After noon, the wind hauled out of the north and blew to ten and fifteen knots. Seas were chops of one to two feet over a two foot long swell. The air temperature was mild. The visibility ranged over twenty miles. The tidal current was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 48.9°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 63°F (with a low of 45°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 68°F (with a low of 52°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 38°F).
The fishing/catching was excellent. Landings were very good at least. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included one haddock, four pollock, a mackerel and three redfish. There were also fifteen sub-legal haddock. They drift fished for the trip. All terminal gear worked well.
Jason Ridolfi (NY) might have been high hook. He landed the best double keeper catch of the trip. His double included an 8 pound cod and a 5.5 pound cod, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. The 8 pound cod tied for the second largest fish of the trip. Brian Walsh (NJ) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, 9.5 pound cod. Ten year old Emma Keniston (Jared's daughter) tied for the second largest fish of the trip with Jason. Emma also caught the largest redfish of the trip, a particularly big one weighing 1.25 pounds. Ian took a picture of her with her nice fish. This digital image appears on the left.
Other Angler Highlights: Charlie Leith (TN) landed the largest haddock at 6.75 pounds, on a quarter pound shy of a Maine state trophy. It was also the only legal haddock of the trip. Ken Carter (ME) boated a 6.5 pound cod and a 7 pound cod, his two largest fish. Charlie Leith landed the hard luck award for not being able keep a fish. He was vacationing and there was no way he could keep a fish to bring home.
I received two donations supporting my cancer cure ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. One was a $25.00 donation from Jason Ridolfi. The other was a donation I received yesterday from Gloria Gennari (MA) for $50.00. Thank you both so very much for your help and sponsorship. I do appreciate it very much!
At 2:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 50°F, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at ten knots, the sky was overcast and the visibility was excellent over the ocean. 
The ride to the fishing grounds was very comfortable. Seas were chops of a foot or two, we were sailing almost to leeward and it wasn't blowing any harder than fifteen knots. On the grounds, the wind freshened to almost twenty knots with seas in chops of one to two feet. But this only lasted a half hour before it started to diminish. By noon, there was no wind at all. The ocean was mirror calm. At 3:30 PM, we had a light westerly wind. We carried this wind with calm seas all the way back to Perkins Cove. The sky was overcast all morning. We had a mixture of sun and clouds (mostly sun) in the afternoon. The air temperature was cool until 9:00 AM, mild until noon and warm from noon on. The visibility was over thirty miles. There was a moderate tide (current). The surface water temperature reached a high of 52.1°F on the fishing grounds, the highest temperature we have seen this season so far. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 46°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 69°F (with a low of 53°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 39°F).
The fishing and catchingwas excellent today. Landings fell into the "good" category. We have a very good first drift. After that it was a pick all day long with some high periods and a few slower periods. Most legal fish landed were cod by far. We would have captured the cod bag limit by 1:00 PM had Jason Ridolfi (NY) & Jason Kenyon (NY) not released twenty-four legal cod back to the ocean alive earlier. As it was we were shy by nine legal fish. Legal landings also included nine haddock (sixty-nine sub-legal haddock were returned), one pollock, two redfish, two mackerel and four cusk. We released a 22 pound halibut that was just an inch shy of being legal (man, I tried). Except for one anchor stop, we drift fished all day. All terminal gear worked well but bait caught the most haddock, by far.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook. If I were to guess, I would say it was one of the Jason's. Ridolfi's two best fish included a 9 pound cod and a 7.5 pound cod. The 9 pounder was the third largest fish of the trip. Kenyon's largest was a cod of about 10 pounds that he tried to lift in but fell off the hook to find it's way back to bottom. His largest landed fish was a 7 pound cod. Vince Debari (NJ) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 22 pound halibut. This is the first Atlantic halibut he has ever caught, the Bunny Clark's third this season and the largest fish/halibut of the Bunny Clark season to date. It was just shy of making the legal measure so we weighed it quickly and took two quick pictures (timing the tail flips) before it was released. It lay in the water for a moment upside down and then turned tail and beat it to bottom. I hated to let it go. But then I thought; "What would Marc Stettner do?" One of the digital images that I took of Vince and halibut appears on the right. Vince also caught two cod of 7 pounds each and an 8 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 15 pound cod caught by Lewis Hazelwood (MA). This is the Bunny Clark's largest cod of the season to date.
Other Angler Highlights: The Reverend Ed Baisley (NY) didn't wow the crowds today (as he usually does) but he did catch bigger fish than Mike Schetter's crew earlier in the year (eat your heart out, boys!). His two largest fish included an 8 pound cod and a 7.25 pound cod. Tim Rozan (ME) caught a cod of 8.75 pounds and 7 pounds, his two best. Ed Baisley, Jr. (NY) caught a 6.5 pound cod early in the trip but suffered badly from DTS (dull tackle syndrome). By the time he switched it out for better looking stuff, the fishing was over. He didn't weep hard enough to make his dismay look obvious. Anthony Paolini (NY) landed a 7.5 pound cod, his largest fish. Larry Irish (FL) was constrained by his captain. He caught quite a lot of fish and could have been high hook as well. His largest fish was a cod of 7 pounds. George Delahay (NY) caught the largest haddock at 5 pounds and the largest (only legal) pollock at 8 pounds. Ken Lang (MA) boated a 7 pound cod, his biggest fish. He caught two legal haddock on a jig. Nick Cross (NY) caught the most legal haddock with a count of three. He caught over twenty haddock himself, most sub-legal, of course. Kyle Pulz (NY) landed a 7 pound cod as his biggest fish. Nicole Shrader (NY) landed the hardest luck of the day award for only landing one legal fish for the whole trip, a 4 pound cod.
A number of anglers sponsored me in my cancer bike ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. These anglers and their donations included Tim Rozan for $20.00 (again), Bill Kelson MA for $25.00 and Vince Debari for a generous $50.00. Thank you all so very much for your sponsorship. I appreciate the donation and the support very much.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, there was no wind, the ocean was flat calm, the sky was clear and the visibility was excellent over the ocean. The weather was beautiful ashore. The sky was sunny all day. The air temperature got to 70°F with no problem except along the immediate coast where a slight sea breeze kept temperatures a tad cooler. The visibility was very good.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southeast at five knots in the afternoon. There was no wind in the morning. The ocean was calm all day. The air temperature was mild to warm. The visibility ranged over twenty miles. It was sunny all day. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 51.1°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 66°F (with a low of 49°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 65°F (with a low of 52°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 78°F (with a low of 41°F).
The fishing was excellent. The catching of legal fish was very good overall, excellent for fish of all sizes. Most legal fish landed were cod and plenty of them but not quite to the point of shutting everyone off with bag limit considerations - but close. legal landings also included two haddock, eleven pollock, seven redfish and nine cusk. They drift fished the whole trip. All terminal gear worked well.
Ian couldn't tell who was high hook. There was too much going on. There was a three way tie for the boat pool. Steve LaFlam (NH), Charlie Harris (MA) and Andrew Gaudio (MA) all landed an 8 pound cod to tie for the boat pool, the three largest fish of the trip. And I was told that Charlie gave Dave Harris, his father, a drubbing. But I'm not sure if it was most fish or biggest fish. I guess I'll have to find out later! Barbara Austin (VT) landed the hard luck award for the most tangled lines.
Sean Minogue (NJ) sponsored my Pan-Mass Challenge cancer fund raising drive with a generous $50.00 donation today. It's wonderful that I have so many good people helping me out. Thanks, Sean! I appreciate it so much. Now if I can just do my part and get you some fish tomorrow!
At 2:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, there was just the slightest amount of wind coming from the east, the sky was seemed overcast (it could have been fog influenced) and the visibility was good at best over the ocean.
The ride to the fishing grounds was perfect except for the visibility. For the first three miles we had good visibility. Then we ran into a fog bank. We carried the fog all the way to the fishing grounds. The entire ride showed us very light southeast wind and a calm ocean. In fact, the ocean was calm all day with light southeast to southwest wind, just a ripple on the surface or glassy wherever we went. The air temperature was mild. The sky was sunny overhead when the fog lightened up enough to shed the light. The visibility ranged from a hundred yards to two miles. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 53.0°F on the fishing grounds, the highest temperature we have seen this season so far. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 47°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 59°F (with a low of 51°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 48°F).
The fishing was excellent. The catching was very good. Landings were good overall. All the fish were a bit smaller today than they have been. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included twenty haddock (we also released ninety-five sub-legal haddock), four pollock, nine redfish (we had three that were just shy of 2 pounds each), twenty-eight cusk and our first white hake of the season. We also released seven wolffish back alive. We anchored and drift fished. We had one very good anchor stop and one very good drift. All terminal gear worked well.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook. Ray "Race" Westermann (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15.5 pound white hake. This is the Bunny Clark's first white hake of the season and second largest fish of the season to date. I took a picture of Race with our first hake. This digital image appears on the left. Two other fish of his that I weighed included a 7 pound cod and a cod of 7.25 pounds. Jon Griffin (MA) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, an 8.5 pound cod. The third largest fish was a 7.75 pound cod caught by Kieran Curran (NY).
Other Angler Highlights: Jerrett Fanion (MA) landed a 7.5 pound cod and a 7.25 pound cod, his two biggest fish. Nick Cross (NY) landed the largest cusk at 7 pounds. Doug Caputo (MA) caught the largest haddock of the trip. It weighed 4.5 pounds. Larry Cross (NY) boated a 7 pound cod, his largest fish. Lewis Hazelwood (MA) caught a 7 pound cod, his best fish of the trip. Frank Shiels (NY) landed the hard luck award for a combination of too many subs and a few tangled lines!
And, as a reminder, comments on the new recreational fishing regulations will still be accepted until midnight on May 22, 2014. These regulations include the three haddock bag limit with a minimum size of twenty-one inches (too high), a cod minimum size of twenty-one inches (too low) with a nine fish bag limit and a closed season for cod and haddock in September & October of this year and a haddock and cod closure for March and April of 2015. It's important that you voice your opinions on this these new regulations, particularly if you disagree with them as I do. I don't believe the closed seasons are appropriate. And the reason behind the new onerous regulations is poor data collection from the private boat sector. The simple fact is that the National Marine Fisheries Service believes we went over the recreational quota last year when we did not. I believe the cod are in trouble and we should help. But the best thing the recreational angler can do with cod is to release the bigger viable spawning fish and keep the minimum size high enough so there is a big enough recruitment index into the cod spawning population. Anyway, these are just quick thoughts. I would appreciate yours to the NMFS. The link is below.
Click here and when you get to the government's page, click the Comment Now button. Thanks!
I sent this letter as my comments to the Regional Administrator (Mr. John K. Bullard) on May 19, 2014:
May 19, 2014
John K. Bullard
To: Mr. John K. Bullard
I am very disappointed that the New England Fishery Management Council's Recreational Advisory Panel (RAP) was not given the opportunity or the tools (from the Science Center or any other entity) to make a salient decision on meaningful regulations that would help the fish stocks and, potentially, improve our industry. Instead, this was taken out of the Council's hands and passed to the National Marine Fisheries Service with limited time to come up with good models before the fiscal fishing year and without verification from any of the stake holders in the fishery.
The regulations that were promulgated (these interim regulations), despite the good intentions of all involved, neither help the fish stocks in the best way possible nor do they have enough common sense to allow the party/charter industry to survive economically as it should into the future. I do not fault those hard working individuals of the NMFS for the problems associated with the design of the regulations; they had almost as much trouble as the RAP did finding the best solution without the most essential tools needed. The NMFS also had the added misfortune of having to use greatly flawed landings data from the recreational vessels of the private sector. This data was accepted with no proof of the authenticity of those landings or the common sense to realize how improbable those figures are to someone who spends his/her livelihood on the ocean in the same capacity on a daily basis.
Even if you didn't understand the recreational fishery dynamics, the MRIP data table used to establish landings data for NMFS (with regard to cod and haddock landings) shows the PSE (the standard error of an estimate) estimates high enough (40 to 113%) as to not be reliable for any statistician to use in any scientific model I have ever heard about. In fact over 75% of the data collected for recreational fishing year waves have a PSE of over 50% or unreliable to be used as a data set. So is the NMFS using the "better to be safe than sorry" approach? No, actually, it appears to be a little bit of that. But it's more that not enough time and effort has gone into finding the best data collection practices and the best models to properly manage the recreational fishery. We are seeing the results of this in the form of these new regulations. And, frankly, these regulations will seriously compromise the financial integrity of the party/charter industry in New England.
For instance, with cod no one has worked with a model using a slot limit. I mentioned this at a Council meeting two years ago. I mentioned it again a year later as a new member of the RAP. And I mentioned it again at this year's RAP meeting. I was told that time constraints precluded working on a model of that complexity. But in fact it makes good sense. A slot limit would allow the angler to participate in preserving the larger spawning cod while also bringing the smaller cod to a recruitment level into the fishery. With an accepted cod mortality rate of 30%, keeping a cod with a 24 to 30 inch minimum Federal limit (for example) would keep anglers away from the larger spawning fish, relieve us the need of having extra no possession seasons and maintain a reasonable bag limit that could allow the party/charter industry to keep our regular customers in order to stay in business.
The haddock situation is more complex only because most recreational anglers hadn't been born when the haddock fishing was as good as it is now. Between the years of 1987 and the fall of 1994, we had no haddock to catch. They showed up on Jeffrey's Ledge in May of 1995. We have been able to catch haddock ever since. In fact, we are catching so many haddock now that it is hard to get away from them. Haddock have a very questionable mortality rate, do not lend themselves the morphology for tagging studies and have low live transfer capabilities. They have replenished in areas without the help of the recreational angler just as they disappeared without any input from the recreational angler. They are accessible in the near shore areas because of the closing of areas 1 and 2 on Georges Bank. Five years ago these extra haddock formed spawning populations in the close areas of Cashes Ledge and the WGOM. Now there is evidence of haddock overwintering in these areas. All this because the time it takes for haddock stocks to rebuild and move out of the closed areas is substantial as compared to a human's life time. In short, the closed areas brought the haddock back. Now the recreational angler is being asked to keep the haddock stocks to recent levels. Recent haddock levels will not stay if the status of the closed Georges Bank areas change from the status quo, the mid-water herring vessels are allowed such a huge haddock bycatch (larger than all the recreational boats in New England will land in a year) and the regulations aren't restructured to accommodate the recreational bycatch issue.
Haddock are found in specific spots, sometimes with cod but usually never with pollock to any great extent. But in the spring, specifically, they are found mostly alone. At least this is the case with the larger spawning individuals, the target of the recreational angler. In order for the recreational angler to participate in decreasing haddock mortality, the size limit on haddock should go down to 18 inches. This would still allow the angler to get a fillet of decent size and allow the vessel to leave the haddock when the bag limit is reached. Not all anglers handle haddock correctly to allow the greatest chance of survival after releasing. So it's essential that vessels leave the haddock as soon as they can to save from catching too many of the smaller ones or the future of our haddock stocks. I am in favor of keeping the three haddock limit. After all, some of us remember when it used to be a luxury to bring a single haddock home and be able to brag to everyone that you caught a haddock!
The New England Fishery Management Council has done a lousy job managing the ground fishery. Having made this statement, it seems remarkable that we have seen some limited successes. I'm referring to the increase in the haddock and pollock populations specifically. This increase is directly related to the closed areas. But it's more than that. The way that the closed areas were structured also allowed the theme of ecological management to take place. In retrospect, the cod stocks or the demise of them, more specifically, is due to a serious micromanaging of that species. These recreational regulations won't mean a thing, regardless of how stringent, if the cod's food source isn't considered, the commercial sector management system isn't replaced or we keep "adjusting" the closed areas in favor of more commercial effort. If fishing vessels can't find the fish they need without opening the closed areas then common sense would tell you that these areas shouldn't be opened. To think that these closed areas resemble fenced in areas is utterly ludicrous.
I am asking that you please consider what I have written here. These comments may not be in the context of a response that you would expect a recreational angler to write pertaining to the subject matter. But things like the closed areas discussion are essential if we are going to have any fish to regulate at all. There needs to be much better data collection. And the recreational angler needs something that will allow anglers to catch reasonable amounts of fish while allowing the party/charter industry to live on as a viable product of a successful management system. The regulations that went into place on May 1, 2014 do not help the fish, which in turn, do not help the recreational angler. And the perception by the American public that you won't be able to keep cod and haddock in Wave 3 & 5 will certainly hurt the party/charter business.
Sincerely,
William R. Tower, III (Tim)
Regional Administrator
National Marine Fisheries Service
55 Great Republic Drive
Gloucester, MA 01930
RE: Comments on the FY 2014 Cod and Haddock Recreational Measures
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, there was no wind, the sky was overcast, it was raining lightly and the visibility was good over the ocean. It rained lightly several more times before 9:00 AM. Except for a brief sprinkle later in the day, the roads stayed dry on into the night. I don't believe the air temperature ever got out of the 50°s. It didn't feel like it. The visibility remained good. The sky was overcast all day. The wind direction was northeast. But it didn't blow more than ten knots at any one time.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east lightly in the morning and to ten knots or more in the afternoon. Seas were chops of one to two feet in the afternoon. The ocean was calm in the morning. The sky was overcast mostly with some sun here and there. The air temperature was cool. The visibility was good. The tide (current) was strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 52.0°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 53°F (with a low of 50°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 57°F (with a low of 52°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 55°F (with a low of 50°F).
The fishing was so so with the strong tide. The catching of legal fish was fair to poor in the morning and very good to excellent on the last stop of the day. Almost all their fish were caught on the last stop. Most legal fish landed were cod. Legal landings also included twenty-three haddock, four pollock, three redfish, three cusk, twenty-five mackerel and about ten herring. They released one wolffish back to the ocean alive. the haddock cull was one legal haddock for every three caught. They drift fished and anchored. All terminal gear worked the same.
Clayton "Batman" Sauer (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11 pound cod. He also caught the second largest fish of the trip, a 10 pound cod. Stephen Beiler (PA) landed the second largest fish of the trip, a 9 pound cod. Stephen also caught a cod of 7.5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Jerry Garvey (MA) caught an 8 pound cod and a 7 pound cod, his two best fish. Gary Vincze (CT) caught two cod slightly smaller at 7.5 pounds and 7 pounds. Abner Stoltzfus (PA) caught a 7 pound cod. Ben Beiler (PA) landed the hard luck award for getting a touch of the mal de mer.
I received a Pan-Mass Challenge donation from Gary Vincze & Mary Ann Donovan for a generous $50.00 and another generous $50.00 donation from Malcolm & Nancy MacKenzie (MA). Thank you very much for your continued sponsorship over the years. It reinforces the knowledge that I am going in the right direction here.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, the wind was very light out of the northeast, the sky was overcast and the visibility was good over the ocean. We had light periodic sprinkles of rain until 8:00 AM. We had no rain for the rest of the day until about 5:00 PM for just a few minutes. The rain was done until we saw sprinkles again around 9:30 PM. The sky was mostly sunny ashore today with cool air temperatures.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east northeast at ten to twelve knots with seas in chops of one to two feet. The sky was sunny all day. The air temperature was mild. The visibility was very good to excellent. The tide (current) was very strong today. The surface water temperature reached a high of 50.0°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 63°F (with a low of 50°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 61°F (with a low of 52°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 68°F (with a low of 51°F).
The fishing/catching (of legal fish) was fair to good today. The tide was running a river and there was so much bait that the fish didn't really bite like they could have. Legal landings included twenty cod, nineteen haddock, one pollock, seven cusk and three mackerel. They tried anchoring but the current was too fierce resulting in too many tangled lines. Drifting was the mode of fishing operations today. All terminal gear worked about the same.
Brian & Marian "Merv" Murphy (NH) tied for high hook with eight legal each. Brian went on to attain "fisherman of the day" status as he also won the boat pool with the largest fish of the trip, a 10 pound cod. His second largest fish was a cod that weighed 8.25 pounds, the fourth largest fish of the trip. Troy Simpson (NH) caught the second largest fish, a 9 pound pollock. The third largest fish was an 8.5 pound cod caught by Mike Simpson (NJ). Ryan McKnight (MA) landed the hard luck award for getting sea sick. I'm not sure he was the only one.
Tristan Winslow (MA) donated $10.00 to sponsor my cancer bike ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Thank you very much, Tristan, for the help. I appreciate it.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, the wind was very light out of the southeast, the sky was overcast and the visibility was good over the ocean. It rained briefly at 6:00 AM. The rest of the morning saw the very occasional light rain shower. All the showers were so brief that the roads didn't even get wet. The sky remained overcast for the morning. After noon, the sky cleared and remained sunny for the rest of the day. The air temperature was cool for most of the day.
On the fishing grounds, the morning saw a light wind that was variable in direction. The ocean was calm. After noon, the wind hauled out of the south southwest and blew at five to ten knots creating a light chop. Seas were ocean swells of about two feet. The sky was overcast all morning as it was ashore. The afternoon gave them sunny skies. The visibility was good with over twenty miles of range. The air temperature was mild. The tide (current) was strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 51.9°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 63°F (with a low of 50°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 66°F (with a low of 52°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 73°F (with a low of 48°F).
The fishing was a pick (for legal fish) all day long. It never got really fast or slow. Good overall. There were plenty of fish around as told by the sounding machine. But there was so much bait I don't think the fish were as interested in our terminal gear. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included eleven haddock, sixteen pollock, three redfish, seven cusk and two mackerel. They anchored and drift fished. Jigs caught the most legal fish.
Steve Amacio (NH) or Shane Jackson (MA) were high hook, one or the other. Some of Steve's fish included a 9.5 pound pollock, an 8 pound cod and a cod of 8.5 pounds. Shane caught a 9 pound pollock and a 9 pound cod, his two best fish. Randy Clark (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11 pound pollock. His largest cod weighed 8 pounds. There was a tie for the second largest fish. Both Ryan Sadlon (NY) and Mike Lazzaro (MA) caught a pollock of that size. Mike's was caught alone. Ryan caught his pollock as part of a double keeper catch that also included an 8.5 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time.
Other Angler Highlights: Tim Trask (MA) caught a 9 pound cod and an 8 pound cod. Ollie Chisholm (NH) boated an 8.5 pound pollock. Don Lodge (NH) landed the hard luck award for losing two jigs.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, the wind was light out of the southwest, the sky was mostly clear and the visibility was good over the ocean. The air temperature warmed up to 62°F by 8:00 AM. It rained lightly/periodically throughout the morning. Enough rain was dropped to get the roads wet but that was all. The afternoon was dry except for one brief shower around 5:00 PM. We saw peeks of sun at times but it was mostly overcast today. The air temperature got up to 75°F at least. The visibility was very good.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at ten knots. Sea swells were long two footers under a chops of one to two feet. The sky was mostly overcast (some sun at times). The air temperature was mild (perfect). The visibility was about twenty miles except in the occasional light rain shower. The tide (current) was very strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 51.0°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 51°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 79°F (with a low of 55°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 79°F (with a low of 48°F).
The fishing was a pick in the morning (for legal fish) and very good for the last hour or more, or good overall. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included fifteen haddock, nine pollock, ten redfish, three cusk and four mackerel. Sixty-four haddock were caught total, most (of course) were returned. They also released two wolffish. They used the sea anchor (a bust), anchored (fair) and drift fished (the best, by far). Jigs caught the most fish.
Mark Doody (CT) was high hook with fifteen legal. He didn't have a single fish worth weighing. John Russell (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 12.5 pound cod, one of our largest cod of the season so far. He also caught the largest cusk at 7pounds. The second largest fish was an 11 pound cod caught by Bill Millington (NY). Ron Wolfe (NY) caught the third largest fish, an 8.5 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Leon Hadley (ME) landed the largest haddock we have seen in a while, a 6 pounder. And the battle goes on between Leon and his father, Tom Hadley (NH). Leon got yet another drubbing from his father in fish size and count. It was almost like Tom allowed Leon to catch that haddock just to take a little of the sting away - like novocaine at the dentist! Ryan Wolfe (NY) caught an 8 pound pollock, his largest fish. Matt Wood (NY) captured the hardest luck of the day award for losing three jigs in a row! Ouch!
John Russell donated generously to my cancer cure ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today by passing on $50.00 to the cause. Thanks so much, John. I appreciate the thoughtfulness and support. Nothing great gets done without extra funding. And, to me, knowing that 100% of every rider raised dollar goes to hiring the best researchers to fight cancer (nothing goes to administrative costs) is extra special indeed.
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 64°F, there was zero wind, the sky was overcast, it was raining very lightly and the visibility was good over the ocean.
The ride to the fishing grounds was perfect. The ocean was flat calm and glassy, the air temperature was mild, the visibility was very good and the sky was mostly cloudy with no chance of rain. Once on the grounds, the wind came up out of the east and increased. By 8:00 AM, the wind was blowing out of the east at fifteen to twenty knots. Seas went from calm to four and five feet by noon. The wind and seas remained the same for the trip. The wind and seas diminished somewhat on the ride back to Perkins Cove. The air temperature was cool with the wind after noon. This was primarily because we lost the sun after noon and had overcast skies all afternoon. We had quite a bit of sun in the morning. The visibility was very good at least until we saw our first rain shower five minutes after we left the fishing grounds for home. It rained for the whole ride back to Perkins Cove. The timing of the rain was perfect! The tide (current) was moderate - not even close to what I thought it was going to be. The surface water temperature reached a high of just 50°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 63°F (with a low of 46°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 74°F with a low of 50°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 72°F (with a low of 45°F).
The fishing/catching/landings were good to very good overall. It was busy all day long. Most legal fish landed were cod and haddock, the most haddock I have seen caught since the good haddock days of April this season. The haddock cull was two to one sub-legal to legal haddock. Legal landings also included eight pollock, nineteen redfish, fourteen cusk, two mackerel and a handful of herring. Three wolffish were released today. We drift fished, anchored and used the sea anchor. The sea anchor was the most productive method of fishing, the first time the sea anchor has worked better than the other methods this year. Bait was the best.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook. Rob Bentley (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 12 pound cod. His second largest fish was an 8 pound cod. Tom Archambault (CT) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 10 pound cod. Paul Griffin (CT) landed the third largest fish, a 9.75 pound cod. Paul also caught the largest haddock of the day weighing in at 6 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Wade Estabrook, Jr. (ME) caught the first decent fish I could weigh, an 8.25 pound cod. Brien Erwin (VT) caught a 9 pound cod, his best fish. Tom Paine (CT) caught the largest pollock of the trip weighing in at 9 pounds. Tom also caught a 9 pound cod. Dugan Wolchesky (CT) landed a 7 pound cod and a 7.5 pound cod, his two biggest fish. He also caught the most sub-legal haddock of any angler today. Cliff Crandall (CT) caught a 7.5 pound cod and a 9 pound cod, his two best fish. Ty Kashmiry (ME) landed an 8.5 pound pollock, the second largest pollock of the trip. Nikki Bleau (VT) caught an 8.75 pound cod, her largest fish. She also caught quite a few legal sized haddock today. Her dory mate, Duane Bleau (VT), may have caught the most legal haddock on the Bunny Clark today. Domonick Erwin (VT) landed the hard luck award for being the sole hurler today. Domonick is fourteen years young!
A number of anglers sponsored me in my cancer bike ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge again today. These anglers and their donations included Brien Erwin for $25.00, Cliff Crandall for $30.00 and Duane & Nikki Bleau for $50.00. Thank you all so very much for your generosity and support. It helps to know what it is like to get a disease that you had no knowledgeable means to prevent. But that's why we do these things, to help and to find out. Thanks again for yours.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 48°F, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at fifteen knots, the sky was overcast, it had been raining earlier and the visibility was just good over the ocean. The sky was overcast all day. It rained at times. But this wasn't consistent. And it wasn't a hard rain at all. Most of the day the roads were dry. The wind blew out of the northeast. At times it blew over twenty knots. The wind started to back off around 3:00 PM. There was ten knots of wind by 6:00 PM. It was cool all day. I don't believe the air temperature got much over 50°F, if indeed it did at all.
The ride to the fishing grounds was okay. The seas were small enough to be able to go right into them. So that's where Ian went. He had planned to go that way anyway. On the grounds, the wind picked up dramatically to a sustained twenty-five knots. Seas increased from two to three feet to six to eight feet. The current there probably had something to do with the seas because they were very steep. The air temperature was cold. The sky was overcast with occasional rain. The visibility was fair in fog for a little bit and five to ten miles when there was no rain. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of just 47.7°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 50°F (with a low of 46°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 50°F with a low of 48°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 52°F (with a low of 46°F).
The fishing/catching was good to very good overall. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included three haddock, four pollock, two redfish, two cusk and four mackerel. One wolffish was released back to the ocean alive. They anchored for every stop. All terminal gear worked about the same.
There was no way to tell who was high hook. There was too much going on. The locally famous Howard Hall (MA) caught the largest fish of the trip, an 11 pound cod. Now Howard is normally the king of the small fish. So, probably thinking that this was his lot on the Bunny Clark, didn't get into the boat pool. Which he would have won had he been so adventurous. His second largest fish, an 8.5 pound cod, tied for the third largest fish of the trip. Jarrett Erwin (VT) tied with Howard, also with an 8.5 pound cod. Scott Blair (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 9 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Brien Erwin (VT) caught a 7.5 pound cod, his largest fish. Bruce Hart (CT) boated an 8 pound cod, his best. Jonie Yoder (ME) also landed an 8 pound cod. Duane "Dody" Bleau (VT) caught an 8 pound cod, his largest fish of the trip. He was the haddock man on yesterday's trip. Today he caught the first legal haddock (out of three caught on the whole boat) but then went into "cod mode" and caught one right after the other. Dick Fleury (VT) landed the hard luck award for being the high hurler on today's trip.
When the Bunny Clark came under the bridge into Perkins Cove, Ian caught a piece of float rope in the wheel (propeller). It was a wob (coil) that had inadvertently fallen off one of the lobsterman's boats that had been at the dock a couple hours previously. At any rate, this meant I had to dive on the boat and cut the rope out. This took about a half hour by the time I got all the dive gear down to the Cove. At least diving that shallow, I didn't need a tank. But the water temperature in the Cove is still only 50°F and it was still raw and cold out. And it threw my schedule off between working at the restaurant and getting ready for the early marathon trip tomorrow. I can tell you that the shower felt awesome afterward!
Leon Hadley (ME) did a very special thing for me today by donating a generous $100.00 toward my cancer fund raising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge via an "egift" on line. Leon has given very generously to my cause every year I have been involved. He's a special fisherman (although he did let his father get the win on the last outing) and a great person. Thanks so much, Leon. You made my day today!
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 41°F, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at five knots, the sky was clear and the visibility was excellent over the ocean.
We had a fairly easy ride to the fishing grounds. The wind, although northwest when we left Perkins Cove, was north northeast once we got off a bit. The sky was clear, the visibility was excellent and the ocean was calm except for some large rolling sea swells of six to eight feet closest to our destination. On the grounds we had those same large swells. But these swells diminished in size fairly quickly. They must have been only three or four feet by the end of the day - long swells. The wind blew up to ten knots or more in the morning with chops of a foot, over the swells. The ocean was calm with very little wind by noon. The air temperature was mild to warm. The visibility was no more than twenty miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate for most of the day but fairly strong for the first couple of hours. The surface water temperature reached a high of just 50°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 39°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 58°F with a low of 43°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 39°F).
The fishing was very good, catching was very good but landings were no better than good overall. It was a pick most of the day with high points and low points. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included twenty haddock (we released seventy-six sub-legal haddock), one redfish, twelve cusk and one sea raven. We released six wolffish to 10 pounds today. We drift fished, threw the shoot and anchored. We had a very good pick of fish with each discipline but only once each. Cod flies and bait caught the most fish.
I didn't try to figure out who was high hook today. The figure couldn't have been more than ten. John Digertt (CT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 12.5 pound cod. The second largest fish was an 11.5 pound cod caught by Brett Marsh (CT). I also weighed a 7 pound cod and his 5 pound haddock. Emory Allaire (CT) caught the third largest fish, a 10 pound wolffish. His largest cod weighed 7 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Tim Allard caught the largest haddock at 5.75 pounds. He also caught a 4.5 pound haddock and a 5 pound haddock. Nello DiMauro (CT) caught the largest cusk at 8.5 pounds. And he boasted of catching several red hake which I never did see! Randy Bertrand (CT) caught an 8 pound cod, his largest fish. Dave Florence (CT) landed the second largest haddock at 5.5 pounds. His largest fish was an 8 pound cod. Rodney Goodale (CT) caught two of the wolffish today. His largest one weighed 8 pounds. Dan Bingell (MA) caught a 9 pound cod as his largest fish. Dave Fontaine (CT) caught an 8.5 pound cod, his best fish. Eleven year old Owen Marsh (CT) was on his first deep sea cod fishing trip today. His largest cod weighed 6 pounds but he also caught other legal cod, haddock and cusk. I took a picture of Owen with his 6 pounder, his largest cod/fish. This picture appears on the left. He also landed the hardest luck of the day award (a t-shirt) for being the youngest angler aboard. No one had any hard luck today and everyone caught legal fish.
I was grateful to more anglers sponsoring me in my cancer bike ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. These anglers and their donations included Owen Marsh using his own hard earned money for $30.00, Dan Bingell for $25.00, Jim Millovitsch (CT) for $20.00, Steve LaPlante (CT) for another donation (this time for $75.00!), Rodney Goodale for $25.00 and Mike Kalwara (CT) for $25.00. This is a hell of a response from a donation request. I appreciate it very much. Thank you!
Captain Ian Keniston and Captain Jared Keniston ran the extreme day trip today. At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 42°F, there was no wind, the ocean was calm, the sky was mostly clear and the visibility was very good over the ocean. The morning was sunny and cool with air temperatures reaching the 60°F mark by 10:30 AM. That all changed when the wind started blowing off the water. After noon, the wind hauled out of the south southeast and blew up to fifteen knots. The air temperature cooled back down into the 50°s. By 4:00 PM, the sky was almost completely overcast. It started raining a little before 6:00 PM out of a completely overcast sky. It rained hard for about a half hour. Rain and drizzle were the scene into the night.
On the fishing grounds the wind blew out of the south at five to ten knots in the morning. After noon, the wind hauled out of the south southeast and blew, as it did ashore, at ten to fifteen knots. There was a light chop in the morning increasing to one and two feet in the afternoon. The sky was mostly clear and sunny all day - until they got into Perkins Cove at the end. The air temperature was mild. The visibility ranged to fifteen miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of just 50.6°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 41°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 66°F with a low of 48°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 73°F (with a low of 49°F).
The fishing was very good all day. The catching of legal fish was fair in the morning but very good in the afternoon. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included seven haddock, three pollock, six redfish and five cusk. They anchored and drift fished. Anchoring worked the best by far. Jigs worked the best today but bait and cod flies worked well.
Jim Garanin (MA) and Steve Garanin (MA) tied for high hook with eleven legal each. Steve didn't catch a fish over 9 pounds. Jim caught the second largest fish of the trip, an 11 pound cod. Chris Albert (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 22 pound cod. This is the largest cod the Bunny Clark has seen in two seasons. Captain Ian took a picture of Chris with his largest cod (which ties for the largest fish of the Bunny Clark season as well). This digital image appears on the right. The third largest fish was a 10.5 pound cod caught by Mark Russell (VT).
Other Angler Highlights: Jack LaFlamme (MA) caught a 9 pound cod, his largest fish. He also landed the hard luck award for getting the most tangled lines.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, the wind was light from the northeast, the ocean was calm, the streets were dry, the sky was mostly cloudy and the visibility was very good over the ocean. It was cool all morning. The air temperature never got to the 52°F mark until around noon. The sky was overcast for almost all of it. After noon, the clouds broke up. By 3:00 PM, the sky was cloudless. It never rained even though it looked like it would around 10:30 AM. The wind was light out of the northeast all morning. After noon, there was no wind and remained that way on into the night.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northeast all morning and early afternoon, up to and over ten knots. Seas were chops of one to two feet. The wind dropped to nothing on the ride back to Perkins Cove. The sky was overcast in the early part of the trip, clear for the rest of the trip. The air temperature was mild. The visibility was excellent. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of just 51.4°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 45°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 60°F with a low of 52°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 68°F (with a low of 42°F).
The fishing was excellent. The catching of legal fish was fair. Legal landings included twenty cod, two haddock and five cusk. They drift fished and anchored. Bait seemed to work the best.
Bill Leavitt (ME) was high hook for the most legal fish. But Jared never did give me a count. Bill's largest fish was a 5 pound cod. Tim Wade (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 7.25 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 6.5 pound cusk caught by Ike Labbe (ME). He also tied with Chris McLain (ME) for the third largest fish. Both anglers caught a 6 pound cod each.
Other Angler Highlights: Chris McLain caught our fourth halibut of the season today. It only wieghed 2 pounds. Mathew Bailey (ME) landed the hard luck award for stepping in a full bucket of water! I'm assuming he didn't have boots on!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, the wind was light out of the northwest, the ocean was calm, the sky was cloudless and the visibility was excellent over the ocean. The sky remained clear for the day with very few clouds in the sky, a change from the last week. The air temperature was mild overall but very warm in the sun. There was very little wind.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northeast at five knots or less in the morning. The wind was light and variable in the afternoon. The ocean was calm all day over long rolling sea swells of three to five feet. The sky was sunny and clear. The visibility ranged from ten to fifteen miles in haze. The tide (current) was very light today. The surface water temperature reached a high of just 52.2°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 45°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 66°F with a low of 51°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 78°F (with a low of 41°F).
The fishing was excellent. In fact it was too good. The ocean was so calm that there was very little movement along the bottom. The catching suffered for it and got a fair rating for keepers landed. Legal landings included twenty-seven cod, seven haddock, six redfish and four cusk. They drift fished for the trip. Most anglers used jigs but I don't think it would have mattered what you used today.
Ian didn't tell me who was high hook. Yoshito Umaoka (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10.5 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 9 pound cod caught by Ken Selmer (NH). Bill Terrio (NY) caught the third largest fish, an 8 pound cod. Joe Selmer (NH) caught the largest haddock, weighing in at 5.5 pounds. Mike Merilo (ME) landed the hard luck award for taking exception to the motion of the ocean.
Donations for my Pan-Mass Challenge cancer bike ride abound today as I received more today than I have in some weeks combined. Those wonderful people and their contributions included Steve Shugars (ME) for a generous $100, Ron Terrio (NY) for $50.00, Betsy McLaughlin (NY) for a very very generous $500.00, Sue King (NY) for a very generous $200.00 and Dave & Rebecca Symes (ME) for a generous $100.00. Thank you all so very very much. The support is incredible. I certainly appreciate it.
At 4:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 53°F, the wind was light out of the southwest, the ocean was calm, the sky was clear and the visibility was very good in some haze over the ocean. Ashore, the air temperature soared up to over 75°F. It felt like summer. We had light winds and clear skies all day. The surf was huge today with most surfers not nearly bold enough to ride every one.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at ten knots all day. By late afternoon, the wind had hauled more south southwest - still at ten knots. Seas were chops of a foot over very long large rolling sea swells of five to eight feet. The air temperature was mild to warm. The visibility was about fifteen miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of just 52.0°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 74°F (with a low of 46°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 83°F with a low of 56°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 43°F).
The fishing was excellent (beautiful weather). The catching of legal fish was good. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included thirty haddock, one pollock, one redfish, seven cusk and a mackerel. They drift fished all day. All terminal gear worked about the same.
Owen McIntire was high hook with thirteen legal. Ian didn't weigh his largest fish. However, his largest haddock or the largest haddock on the boat landed on the deck and then right out the scupper (freeing port) and back from whenst it came! Ouch! I can taste that haddock now. How about you, Owen? Jim Hart won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 9.5 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 9 pound cod caught by Dan Townsend. He also caught the largest "landed" haddock weighing in at 6 pounds. The third largest fish was a 7 pound cod caught by Jeff Reynolds. Bob Labonte landed the hard luck award for not catching a single legal fish! And I felt bad for Owen!
Ron & Robin Krause (MA) did me a solid today by donating a very generous $300.00 to support my ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge. The contribution was in memory of his mom, Janet Krause on behalf of Barbara Gaudette, Fran & Rita Marderosian and Ron Krause & Family. Thank you all so much for your generous support in the fight against cancer. Wouldn't it be nice if we could win this battle!
At 2:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 59°F, there was no wind, the sky was clear and the visibility was poor in black thick fog in the Cove and over the ocean.
There was still a large sea swell we had to ride into (obliquely) on the way to the fishing grounds. The wind was south southeast at about ten knots with a chop of a foot over these swells. We left the fog at the Cove once we got a mile outside the gate. We never saw fog again for the entire round trip. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south southeast at ten to fifteen knots. It never blew harder. Seas in chops mostly a foot but did reach a couple feet when the wind was at it's strongest. Sea swells ranged from five to eight feet (more or less at times). The sky was nearly cloudless and sunny all day. The air temperature was mild. The visibility ranged from twenty to twenty-five miles (estimate). The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of just 53.1°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 50°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 72°F with a low of 57°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 83°F (with a low of 51°F).
The fishing was very good, the catching was excellent and landings were excellent. It was nearly a fish a cast all day long. And there were very few sub-legal fish. There might have been a total of fifteen to twenty sub-legal cod released and only three sub-legal haddock. There were no sub-legal pollock caught. Most legal fish landed were pollock and cod, in that order. All species of legal fish (except the cusk) were bigger, on average, than any trip this season to date. It was quite exciting. Every angler caught several fish over 10 pounds. Legal landings also included eight haddock and six cusk. We released two wolffish back to the ocean alive. One of the wolffish was probably twelve pounds or better but it was barely hooked. So when I tried to lift it out of the water it dropped off the hook (I didn't want to gaff and kill a fish we couldn't keep anyway). So I never got an official weight. Drifting was the best method, by far, for catching fish. All terminal gear worked well.
Fred Kunz (NH) was the fisherman of the day. He was high hook with the most legal fish (the most legal fish he has caught on a trip in at least two seasons or more). And he won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 16 pound pollock. He also caught the largest haddock of the trip weighing in at 6.25 pounds. I took a picture of Fred with his fish. This digital image appears on the left. Some of his other fish that I weighed included two pollock of 12 pounds each, a 10 pound pollock and an 11 pound cod. John Doryk (NJ) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 14.5 pound pollock. He also caught a 12.75 pound pollock and a 12.5 pound pollock. His largest cod weighed 11.5 pounds. Butch Amidon (VT) and Sam Readinger (PA) tied for third place with fish of 14 pounds each. Butch had two, a 14 pound pollock and the largest cod of the day at 14 pounds. Sam caught a 14 pound pollock. I also weighed an 11 pound pollock and a 12.5 pound pollock for Butch. Sam caught a double keeper catch that included a 13 pound cod and another cod of 6.5 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time.
Other Angler Highlights: K.C. Dowley (VT) caught a 13 pound cod and a pollock of 12.5 pounds, his two largest fish. Fritz Cybulski (CT) landed a 13.5 pound pollock, his largest fish. He also caught two cod that weighed 10 pounds each. Ken Lang (MA) caught the only other double keeper catch that I weighed. He double included two pollock, an 11.75 pounder and a 12 pounder. There might have been other doubles that were bigger but it was too busy to weigh them. And I don't believe the doubles ever reached a combined weight over 26 pounds. Some of Ken's other fish that I weighed included a 10 pound pollock, a 12 pound pollock, an 11 pound cod and a 10 pound cod. Blake Dowley (VT) caught a 12.5 pound pollock that I weighed. He also boated the second largest haddock at 6 pounds. Steve Luzzi (CT) caught a 12.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. His largest cod weighed 10 pounds. Bruce Smith (NJ) may have caught more cod than Fred did. Bruce certainly caught more cod than anyone until noon. I weighed four of his largest ones (but not all of them).These cod weighed 11 pounds, 10.5 pounds, 11 pounds and 10 pounds. Joe Sinkler (MA) was the angler who caught the largest wolffish today. The one I couldn't weigh. His largest fish was an 11.75 pound pollock. Mark Lewis (CT) caught the third largest haddock. It weighed 5.25 pounds. His largest cod weighed 10.75 pounds. I didn't weigh his largest pollock. Gavriel Judah (NY) landed an 11.5 pound pollock that I weighed. I believe he caught a larger pollock at the end of the day but I didn't weigh it. And I know it wasn't over 13 pounds. He landed the hard luck award for enduring a spate of three hours where everyone was catching fish around him while he enjoyed the good weather! I have to tell you, though, he was seen eating three bananas before his "no fish session"!
A number of anglers sponsored me, again, in my cancer bike ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. These anglers and their donations included Steve Luzzi for $10.00, Fred Kunz for $25.00, Fritz Cybulski for $25.00, John Doryk for $10.00, Sam Readinger for $20.00 and Bruce Smith for $25.00. Thank you all so very much for the support and trust. It is a wonderful cause. It's a great organization. None of your money goes to administrative costs. And they have done some wonderful innovative work that can't help but percolate into the medical community of the world.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the wind was light out of the east southeast, the sky was overcast and the visibility was good in haze over the ocean. It started to rain at 7:00 AM. It wasn't a hard rain. It was over before 8:00 AM. But it did rain a couple more times during the day. And it was foggy for a small spell. The sky remained overcast all day. It was cool and drizzly ashore. The air temperature never got close to 60°F. I believe I did see 56°F. The wind was very light today - all day.
On the fishing grounds, the wind was light and variable in direction all day. There wasn't a wind over five knots. The ocean was calm on the surface over rolling sea swells of three feet (more or less). The sky was overcast all day. The visibility ranged from a quarter of a mile to a mile in fog and occasional rain. The tide (current) was extremely light to moderate. The air temperature was mild/cool. The surface water temperature reached a high of just 51.4°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 54°F (with a low of 50°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 60°F with a low of 55°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 63°F (with a low of 54°F).
The fishing was excellent. The catching of cod was excellent. Landings in general fell into the very good (or a little better than that) category. They had no problem catching the bag limit of cod (as we did yesterday). But, today, they didn't have the other species we had to go with the cod. In fact, they released twenty legal cod back to the ocean alive. Legal landings also included five haddock, eleven pollock, two cusk, two mackerel and four herring. They drift fished all day. Bait worked the best.
Ian left me no notice as to whom was high hook. It was probably Ray Westermann (MA) as I consider him a bait fishing god. Ray did get the third largest fish, a 10 pound cod. He also caught an 8.5 pound cod that Ian felt compelled to weigh. His dory mate, Jon Griffin (MA), won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13.5 pound cod. Matt Yule (NH) landed the second largest fish, an 11.75 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Ken McLaughlin (ME) caught a 9 pound cod, the fourth largest fish of the trip. John Graff (VT) boated the hard luck award for being involved in the most tangled lines. He still caught quite a few fish.
At 2:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, there was no wind, the sky was overcast and the visibility was poor in haze and fog. 
I felt my way out of Perkins Cove in the dark and thick fog using radar alone. It was deathly still with zero wind and a small sea making up along the shore. We carried the fog all the way to the fishing grounds. The visibility ranged from about a boat length to almost five miles in the afternoon headed back to the barn. On the fishing grounds, it rained periodically throughout the trip. We had light southeast wind on the ride out and on the grounds. The wind dropped out about 10:00 AM. The surface of the ocean remained calm until 1:00 PM. At that same time, the wind came up out of the northeast and the rain settled in for the rest of the day. It rained all the way back to Perkins Cove. The wind blew up to fifteen knots out of the northeast with seas in chops to two feet. The tide (current) was moderate (perfect) all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of just 53.8°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 53°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 60°F with a low of 57°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 66°F (with a low of 51°F).
The fishing, catching and landings was excellent, the best trip of the season overall. It was a fish a cast all day long. The average fish was larger than normal but not as good as Tuesday's trip. Legal catching included mostly cod, so many that we reached our bag limit early. Some anglers started releasing their legal cod by 10:00 AM. And I believe that the total legal release count was somewhere north of fifty cod. Legal landings also included a lot of pollock to 15 pounds, twenty-four haddock and five cusk. Two wolffish were released back alive. We drift fished all day. All terminal gear worked exceptionally well.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook with the most legal fish. I do know that Bryan Lewer (FL) caught as many legal fish as Fred Kunz (NH) did on Tuesday with just a bare jig without a tube. This might be the most legal fish for any angler fishing a single hook on any trip this season so far. Bryan's largest fish was a 10 pound cod. He might also have had a 10 pound pollock that I didn't weigh. And, late in the trip, I weighed a cod of 9.5 pounds that he caught. The Don Johnson (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15 pound pollock. Bob Nixon (NH) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 12.5 pound cod. Another cod of Bob's that I weighed was an 11 pounder. The third largest fish was a 12 pound cod caught by Bethanie Johnson (MA). She was in second place with this fish from the morning and all through the day until Bob, at the end of the trip, jumped her with a cod a half pound heavier. I took a picture of Bethanie with her cod as, at the time, it was the largest cod of the trip. This digital image appears on the right. Bethanie also caught a cod of 11.5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Bruce Smith (NJ) caught the largest haddock at 5.5 pounds. His largest fish was an 11 pound cod. He also caught a 10 pound cod and a cod of 10.5 pounds. Paul Carr (MA) caught the first pollock of 10 pounds that I weighed. There were quite a few pollock of 10 pounds or a little more that came aboard that I didn't weigh (knowing I would see bigger fish later). Sam Readinger (PA) caught a 10 pound cod, his best fish. John Doryk (NJ) caught an 11 pound cod, his largest fish. Chris Porter (MA) landed the hard luck award for losing two jigs.
I received more donations today supporting my role in a cancer cure with the Pan-Mass Challenge. These anglers and their donations included Bob Nixon for $25.00, Dave Roemer (NH) for $20.00, Bruce Smith for $50.00 and Don Johnson for $15.00. Thank you all very much for your help and support.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, the wind was light out of the west, the sky was clear and the visibility was very good in some haze over the ocean. The rest of the day was much the same with light westerly winds and clear skies. The air temperature soared above 70°F. It felt like the start of summer.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at five knots or so in the morning. By afternoon, the wind had hauled out of the west, at five knots. The ocean was calm over two to four foot long rolling sea swells. The morning featured overcast skies that cleared after noon. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature went from mild to warm. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of just 52.9°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 75°F (with a low of 51°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 76°F with a low of 57°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 51°F).
The fishing was excellent but the catching wasn't up to Hammond standard, a rating of fair overall. Most legal fish landed were cod overall. Legal landings also included two haddock, two pollock and two redfish. The drift fished for the trip. Cod flies caught the most fish.
Gary Hammond, Jr. was high hook with eight legal. Most were cod around 5 pounds. Gary Hammond, Sr. won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 8 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 7.5 pound cod caught by Dan Keyser. T. J. Altomer landed the third largest fish, a 5.25 pound cod. Doug Groat landed the hard luck award for not catching a single legal fish and only one sub-legal fish! Ouch. And Bob Shultes also landed the hard luck award for not being on the boat due to a recent illness. Hopefully, he will be there next time.
Gary Hammond, Jr. donated $40.00 to help me in my fight with Pan-Mass Challenge to find a common cure for cancer. Thank you, Gary. I appreciate the support!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 58°F, the wind was light out of the northwest, the sky was clear and the visibility was excellent over the ocean. The wind blew lightly out of the northwest for most of the day ashore. The air temperature rose to a value of at least 82°F, maybe higher, our warmest day of 2014 so far. The sky remained clear all day. The visibility was excellent.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west northwest at five knots (at most) in the morning, went calm and then hauled out of the south southwest at five knots or less around noon and into the afternoon. The ocean surface was calm all day. The air temperature was warm. The sky was clear. The visibility was about fifteen miles in some haze. The (tide) current was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of just 53.9°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 83°F (with a low of 55°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 80°F with a low of 61°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 83°F (with a low of 48°F).
The fishing was excellent again today; the fishing conditions and the weather were perfect. However, the landings for legal groundfish was the lowest we have seen this year to date. A rating of poor. Legal landings included ten cod, one haddock, ten pollock and one cusk. There were nineteen sub-legal haddock released today. There were more sub-legal cod released than haddock. They drift fished for the trip. Everyone used jigs.
Dave Delevo (MA) and Eric Pysar (NY) shared high hook with two legal fish each. They also both shared in the second largest fish of the trip at 4 pounds. In both cases the fish was a cod. But Dave went a step further and won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish of the trip, a 5.25 pound cod. Bill Lillie (NY) tied for second place as well with a 4 pound haddock. Steve KoLonics (NY) landed the hard luck award for losing the most jigs.
Two anglers supported my cancer cure ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Those anglers were Scott Lillie and Larry Siok (MA). They both donated $25.00 each. Thank you both so much for the help. Much appreciated!
Captain Ian Keniston and Captain Jared Keniston our first (of the season) Sunday full day trip today. At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 62°F, there was no wind, the ocean was flat calm, the sky was clear and the visibility was very good over the ocean in some haze. It was a beautiful day ashore with an air temperature that got to 83°F, a clear sky, very little wind and good visibility.
On the fishing grounds, the wind was light and variable in direction. The ocean was flat calm for the trip. The sky was clear. The air temperature was warm (perfect). The visibility ranged over twenty miles. The tide (current) ranged from zero to moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of just 58.2°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 82°F (with a low of 60°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 81°F with a low of 67°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 86°F (with a low of 50°F).
The fishing was excellent again today; the ocean was like a table, there was no current and the weather was perfect - for humans. The catching of legal fish was poor. Legal landings included twenty-one cod, one haddock, one redfish, two mackerel, four herring and three cusk. They released one wolffish and four dogfish. This is the most dogfish we have seen on a trip this season so far. They drift fished for every stop. All terminal gear worked about the same.
Mark Doody (CT) was the fisherman of the day. He was high hook with five legal and he won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 5.5 pound cod. He also caught a "berried" lobster or a female lobster with eggs. Ian told me the lobster was about 1.5 pounds or a little more. But he did not weigh it. He was more concerned with getting a picture of it and getting back overboard. Which he did. The digital image of Mark and his lobster appears on the left.
The second largest fish was a 5 pound cod caught by Ron Covey (VT). Lee Sovie (NY) caught the third largest fish, a 4.5 pound cod. Joe Sweeney (CT) landed the hard luck award for landing nary a single legal fish despite catching seventeen fish for the day!
Mark Doody helped my Pan-Mass Challenge cancer fund raiser by donating $20.00. Thanks, Mark. I appreciate all the support I can get!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 64°F, there was no wind, the ocean was flat calm, the sky was mostly clear and the visibility was good over the ocean in some haze. Before 7:00 AM rolled around, the sky became overcast. It almost looked like it was going to rain. But it didn't. The sky remained overcast until around 2:00 PM when the sky cleared. We had no rain but it became hot and humid after noon. The air temperature hung well over 80°F most of the afternoon. There was no wind all day.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at five to ten knots. Seas were chops of a foot. The air temperature was mild to warm (unlike the hot humid weather ashore). The sky was a mix of sun and overcast conditions. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of just 57.4°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 84°F (with a low of 58°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 81°F with a low of 66°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 57°F).
The fishing was excellent again today; it was easy to tend bottom, the weather was perfect and there were very few tangled lines. The landing of legal fish was fair to poor. Most legal fish landed were haddock, twenty-five in all. Legal landings also included seven cod, three pollock, one redfish, eleven mackerel and a pile of herring. They drift fished and anchored. Bait worked the best today.
Ian neglected to tell me who was high hook. Bob Stuart (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 9.75 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 7 pound cod caught by George Harrington (NY). George also landed the hard luck award for losing two jigs. Adam Geras (NH) caught the third largest fish, a 6 pound haddock.
Captain Ian Keniston and I ran the marathon trip today. At 2:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 67°F, there was no wind, the sky was overcast, it was raining lightly and the visibility was good over the ocean in haze and precipitation.
We had a one foot chop out of the southeast on the ride to the fishing grounds. It was overcast with rain the whole way out. On the grounds, the wind picked up to fifteen knots out of the south. Seas increased to two feet in chops. Before noon, the wind dropped, hauled out of the southwest and died out altogether. Half way back to Perkins Cove the wind hauled out of the north northeast. But this was only a light wind ruffling the ocean surface. Calm patches remained along with the wind patches. We had a moderate tide (current). The sky was overcast with rain to begin. An hour into the fishing the rain stopped. It rained again just before we were ready to rap it up and head for the barn. The visibility ranged from fifteen miles in haze to one hundred feet in fog. The surface water temperature reached a high of 57.4°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 55°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 79°F with a low of 59°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 58°F).
The fishing and catching was very good today overall. We had one excellent drift. And I had two exploratory drifts that didn't net much. Landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were cod followed by pollock. We also caught the haddock bag limit before noon. This meant we ended up releasing haddock to 4 pounds. We also caught sixteen cusk. We released the same number of sub-legal haddock that we kept, one wolffish and one sea raven. We drift fished and employed the drogue. Drifting worked the best. All terminal gear worked well.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook. No one counted. Paul Pearson (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 16.5 pound cod. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest cod of the fishing season to date. I took a picture of Paul with my iPhone while he held his cod. This digital image appears on the right. He also won the boat pool for the second largest fish with Justin Philbrick (NH). They tied for the second pool, each with cod of exactly 12 pounds. Paul also had a 10 pound cod. Justin also landed a cod of 10.25 pounds, a 10 pound cod and the largest haddock of the trip at 6.75 pounds, only a quarter of a pound shy of a Maine state trophy.
Other Angler Highlights: Craig Belongie (MA) caught the first fish I could weigh, a 10 pound pollock. He also caught the largest cusk of the day at approximately 9 pounds (I didn't weigh it). Rich Gargan (NY) boated an 11.5 pound cod, his largest fish of the trip. David MacDonald (MA) caught a 9.75 pound cod, his largest fish. But he caught four haddock in a row that were over 4 pounds each. I will be eating one of those haddock tonight! John Baker (ME) caught the second largest haddock weighing in at 6 pounds. Dave Prebble (ON) landed the hard luck award for catching the least number of legal fish, a figure of about ten fish. Jeff Gellatly (ME) could have got this award for tangles, overwraps and reel malfunctions. Scott Button (NH) might have received the award for tangles. And Craig was in there in the tangles department as well. But, in the end, those three caught way too many fish to warrant any hard luck. So the Ottawa native got the shirt! Go Senators!
I had a support group of two helping me in my cancer fund raising bike ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. David MacDonald was one with a donation of $25.00 while Rich Gargan was the other with a $20.00 contribution. Thank you both very much for sponsorship. I very much appreciate it!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the wind was very light out of the northeast, the ocean was calm, the sky was clear and the visibility was excellent over the ocean. The ocean stayed calm all day with light winds that were variable in direction. The sky was clear and sunny until about 3:00 PM when clouds started to over spread the sky. By 6:30 PM, we started to see light rain. The air temperature just made it over the 70°F mark today. The visibility was very good.
On the fishing grounds, the wind was light and variable in direction. The ocean was very calm. The air temperature was warm. The sky was mostly sunny with a mix of clouds in the afternoon. The visibility was over twenty miles. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 59.6°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 49°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 63°F with a low of 58°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 73°F (with a low of 48°F).
The fishing was good (the current and calm weather made it hard to fish without tangles). Landings were poor. Legal landings included twelve cod, three haddock, three pollock, one cusk and a pile of snagged herring. Releases included a wolffish, a dogfish, a few silver hake, a redfish and many small pollock. They drift fished and anchored. Nothing seemed to work better than the other. All terminal gear worked about the same.
The word on the street was that Bob Mathew (NY) was high hook with five legal. Tom "Ollie" Bruyere (NY) was second hook with three legal. Ollie and Lance Rudiger (NY) tied for the second largest fish of the trip. Both anglers caught a 10 pound cod each. Brian Mailloux (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 14 pound cod. Andrew Bruyere (NY) caught the fourth largest fish, a 9 pound pollock. Karl Ostergaard (NJ) landed the hard luck award for getting the most tangled lines.
I received a nice $50.00 donation from Chloe & Aidan Bruyere (KS) supporting me in my cancer ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Thank you both so very much. It's a special thing to have the "River Rats" aboard. But to also help me out in this project is over the top (they gave $250.00 early in the year).
Captain Ian Keniston and I hosted the Dave Miller (MA) marathon trip charter today. At 2:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the wind was very light out of the southeast, the sky was overcast and the visibility was good at least.
The ocean was mirror calm when we left Perkins Cove to head to the fishing grounds. The ocean remained calm until we were over half way to our destination. The air temperature was mild, the visibility was very good and the sky was overcast. On the grounds, the wind was blowing almost ten knots out of the southeast. Seas were chops of about a foot. From our arrival on the grounds until we left, the southeast wind increased slightly. By the time we were ready to go back, the southeast wind had increased to fifteen knots with seas in chops of about two feet. Half way home, the wind hauled out of the south southeast and breezed up to twenty knots. Seas were chops of two to three feet or more. We carried these wind and sea conditions all the way back to Perkins Cove. The sky remained overcast all day - with no rain. The air temperature was mild to a bit humid and warm. The visibility was very good all day. The tide was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 57.4°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 56°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 66°F with a low of 59°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 55°F).
It's exciting to me to find a new spot. But it's more exciting when you don't expect it and when that same spot is found to be very productive. This is what happened to us on the second and fifth stops. The results of the total combination gave us an excellent day for legal landings. And our second best trip of the year. Of the two new spots, one was deep and held pollock that were bigger on average than any we have seen this season so far and good sized redfish. The second spot held the most haddock I have seen this year so far. In fact, we had to leave for fear of catching too many. For the day, we caught mostly pollock, haddock and cod, in that order. We limited out on haddock early even with a full boat of anglers. Legal landings also included a handful of nice redfish (no trophies) and six cusk. We released a lot of dogfish, all big ones. Most of these dogfish were on the surface or up high enough in the water column that they weren't too much of a problem unless someone was tangled with a fish on the way up. And we did have a couple big dogfish messes. It was perfect drifting for the first two hours of the trip. From then on all our best fishing was completed with the sea anchor, the first day of the season where we couldn't have done as well without it. For four hours of this trip anchoring and drifting did not work well. All terminal gear worked well for catching fish.
I started the day by weighing any fish that came over rail that was 10 pounds or better. After we started on the second stop, I didn't weigh any fish unless it looked bigger than 13 pounds.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook. Ron Tarentino (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 19.5 pound pollock. This is our largest pollock of the season to date. I took a picture of Ron with his big pollock. This digital image appears on the left. Some of his other fish that I weighed included a 15 pound pollock and a 15.5 pound pollock. Dave Miller and Dennis Pietro (NH) tied for boat pool for the second largest fish. They both landed a pollock of 17 pounds each. Dave caught his alone. Dennis caught his as part of a double keeper catch with another pollock of 10 pounds. To date, this is the Bunny Clark's second largest double keeper catch of the season. Dave started out on the first spot by catching all the biggest fish for the time. These fish were all pollock of 11, 10 and 10.5 pounds. The second spot blew those fish away. But that was also where he got the 17 pounder. He also caught a 14 pound pollock there. Dennis also caught a 10 pound pollock early and landed another double that included an 11.5 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Jeremy "Waahh" Lloyd (MA) landed our biggest double keeper catch of the season today. His double included a 15 pound cod and a 13.75 pound pollock. He also landed the hard luck award for being the sole hurler of the trip. He did reassure me that nothing landed on the boat! Rob Provost (MA) caught a 13 pound pollock and a pollock that weighed 12.75 pounds. Jim Higgins (MA) caught a 5.75 pound haddock. Jim's largest fish was a 15.5 pound pollock. Norman Leger (MA) caught a 14.75 pound pollock. Max Paquin (officially: Maxim Descenza Fuentes Paquin, Jr. - now residing in Kansas) caught a 14 pound pollock. He also caught a pile of haddock and was very upset when I made him start releasing them later in the day. He credited his success to his ability catching a fish of a very similar bite in his country of origin, Argentina, with his grandmother when he was a child. As if to press the point of not being a native born American, when his first legal haddock went back into the sea he used words that I didn't understand and of which he wouldn't define.
John Peduzzi (MA) caught our largest haddock of the year so far, a 7.5 pound Maine state trophy haddock. The fish wasn't very long but it was fat. I took a picture of this fish with John holding it. This digital image appears on the right. John's largest fish of the trip included a 15 pound pollock and a 14.5 pound pollock. Rodney Miller (MA) caught a double keeper catch that included a 12 pound pollock and a 13 pound pollock. Steve Saunders (MA) landed a double at the end of the day that included two pollock of about 12 pounds each (I didn't weigh them). His largest fish was a pollock of 13.5 pounds. Ron Anderson (MA) caught a 6 pound haddock, his "best" fish. Pete Daige (MA) boated the Bunny Clark's best haddock double of the season to date. This double included a 3 pound haddock and a 6.25 pound haddock. And it is worth noting that Shane Anderson (MA) was on the boat, he was fishing and he didn't win the boat pool - for once!
I had some help in the donation department sponsoring me in my cancer cure ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. The contribution was $30.00 from Dave Miller (he and his wife, Joanne, have already donated $100.00 this year). Thanks, Dave. You keep giving and giving. I appreciate that!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the wind was blowing out of the southeast at fifteen knots, the sky was overcast and the visibility was good over the ocean. It started to rain at 7:45 AM. The wind increased another five knots by 9:00 AM. The wind continued blowing at that strength for the morning and then died out. By 3:00 PM there was no wind at all. It rained all day, poured at times. The air temperature hovered around 60°F.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east southeast at fifteen to twenty knots. Seas ranged from four to six feet with higher seas at times. The wind dropped at the trip continued. It rained all day. The rain was light at times but also heavy and sustained. The air temperature was mild. The visibility ranged from a quarter of a mile to a mile in fog. The tide (current) was strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 56.2°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 58°F (with a low of 55°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 64°F with a low of 59°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 60°F (with a low of 57°F).
The fishing was poor. The conditions were such that it was hard to fish (the seas, the strong tide, a plague of mal de mer - the fog/seas - and the raining conditions). The bite was off. And the frequency of legal fish coming over the rail was poor. It was a poor day overall. We have had excellent fishing in the past on a day like this. But this wasn't the case today. Legal landings included eight haddock (two to one subs to legal haddock), four cod and one pollock. They anchored on every spot. All terminal gear worked about the same.
No one told me who was high hook. But I believe it was Phil Bienek-Cate (WV). And the reason I believe it was that everyone else was incapacitated with sea sickness and he had the largest bag of fillets. And it was real easy to see who had the most fillets today - unfortunately! So this made Phil the fisherman of the day as he also won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 4.5 pound cod. And, if you can believe it, Chris DeCapua (ME) took second place (in size) with a 3 pound haddock. I think that Chris was also second hook but I can't substantiate that. Eleven year old Gwen Bienek-Cate (WV) landed the hard luck award not because she was sea sick, which she was. Captain Ian gave it to her because she never once complained about the weather, the fishing, how she felt or where she was. This t-shirt was truly an award for her. And I suspect her attitude comes from a good upbringing.
Chris DeCapua made my day but donating $26.00 to support my efforts in raising money with the Pan-Mass Challenge to fight cancer. One hundred percent of this donation - like all these donations - will go to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Jimmy Fund) in Boston, Massachusetts with not one penny going to administrative costs and to help secure the best researchers to do the job. Thanks, Chris. I appreciate the effort.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 58°F, there was no wind, the sky was overcast and the visibility was good over the ocean. There was a little bit of light misty rain before the boat left the dock. There wasn't even enough rain to get the roads wet. It was a bit raw and cool most of the morning with overcast skies remaining into the afternoon. But there was no rain. And it warmed up to the point of t-shirts with a high over the reading I saw of 73°F. There was hardly any wind all day.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at five or more knots. The ocean was calm over a long rolling sea swell of three to five feet. The fog rolled in and out creating a visibility over the ocean of a quarter of a mile to three miles. The tide (current) was strong and into the wind. The air temperature was warm. The surface water temperature reached a high of 54.3°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 75°F (with a low of 56°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 77°F with a low of 58°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 56°F).
The fishing and catching of legal fish was fair (fishing) to poor (catching of legal fish). There is still a lot of bait on the fishing grounds. Maybe this is having a negative effect. But, for whatever reason, they only landed ten legal today including two redfish and eight cusk. Nary a single legal cod was seen today. Two wolffish were released. They drift fished for the trip. All terminal gear worked the same.
Chris Fishetti (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 8 pound cusk. Chris also caught the second largest fish, a 5.5 pound cusk. Roscoe Harmon (MA) landed the third largest fish, a 5 pound wolffish. Tyler Waterman (VT) landed the hard luck award for getting sea sick. Who knew?
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at ten knots, the sky was mostly clear and the visibility was very good over the ocean. The air temperature started off on the cool side but quickly warmed into the 60°s and, then, 70°s. The sky was cloudless to begin and then mostly sunny after that. The wind blew out of the northwest at ten to fifteen knots ashore in the morning and then there was no wind in the afternoon.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest for the whole trip. Wind strength maxed out at fifteen knots in the morning and less than five knots in the afternoon. The morning saw seas in chops of about a foot over rolling sea swells of two to three feet. The sky was mostly clear. The tide (current) was strong. The air temperature was warm. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 57.8°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 56°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 80°F with a low of 58°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 50°F).
The fishing and catching of legal fish was fair overall. The current played a part in the tougher than normal fishing. The bite was off mostly because of the closeness to full moon. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included two haddock and two pollock. They drift fished and used the sea anchor. The sea anchor was useless for catching fish. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
I didn't ask Ian as to whom was high hook. Nelson Dumont (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11.5 pound pollock. He caught his pollock as a double keeper catch with another pollock of 7 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. The second largest fish was a 10.25 pound cod caught by Aaron Baker (NY). Harvey Lucier (MI) caught the third largest fish, a 9.5 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Nick Beaulieu (ME) caught a 9 pound cod, the fourth largest fish of the trip. Sam Barrows (VT) landed the hard luck award for not being one with the motion of the ocean.
Elizabeth Bianchi (NH) & Jody Mattulike (NH) sponsored me in my cancer ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge by donating $25.00 to the cause. Thank you very much for your support. I appreciate it very much.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the wind was blowing lightly out of the northwest, the sky was clear and the visibility was excellent over the ocean. Again, the air temperature warmed up quickly this morning and was into the 70°s before half the daylight morning was over. The air temperature stayed warm all day with very little humidity, very little wind and sunny skies all day. The visibility remained excellent.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the north at five knots or less with less than a half a foot chop at the most on the surface. By mid morning the ocean was flat calm with very little wind. There was very little wind for the rest of the trip. The air temperature was warm to hot in the sun (it was like sitting on a mirror with the calm flat ocean and the sun directly overhead). The current was moderate to none. The visibility was over twenty miles. The surface water temperature reached a high of 61.6°F on the fishing grounds, the highest value we have seen this season so far. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 52°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 73°F with a low of 62°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 45°F).
The fishing was excellent. The catching of legal fish was good overall. Most legal fish landed were cod, far and away. Legal landings also included fifteen haddock, nine pollock and six cusk. They released thirty dogfish back to the ocean alive. Drifting was the only choice today. It was too calm to do anything else. Flies caught the most fish. Jigs came in second place.
Jim Budness (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish. I have no idea what his count was and neither does Ian. He caught the best double keeper catch of the day. His double included a 12.25 pound pollock and a 7 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. He also caught an 11 pound cod and a 10.5 pound cod. The 12.25 pound pollock was the second largest fish of the trip. The 11 pound cod tied for thrid with another 11 pound cod caught by Kurt Nelson (NY). Matt Savarie (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13.5 pound cod. This was almost the last fish of the trip! His largest fish to that point had been a 10 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Tim Williams (CT) lost a 10 pound cod (or better) on the surface. That was his largest fish of the trip. He and Seth Greenwood (NY) were probably second hook. Seth landed a 10 pound pollock and two cod of exactly 10 pounds each. Stephen Kinney (MA) landed the hard luck award for getting the most tangled lines.
At 2:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, there was no wind, the sky was clear and the visibility was good, at least, over the ocean.
We had a one foot chop for all but the last few miles to the fishing grounds, more than that for the last five. The wind blew out of the southwest lightly from the time we left the dock until we arrived on the grounds. The sky was partly overcast for the first half of the ride, perfectly clear for the second half. On the grounds, the wind continued to blow out of the southwest for most of the morning. The wind speed stayed around ten to fifteen knots with seas in chops of two feet or more. Some of these chops were tide generated. The wind abated for a bit before noon and then hauled out of the south southwest. The wind hauled back out of the southwest for the ride home. The wind speed, riding back, increased over fifteen knots (eighteen?) and generated chops of two to three feet at most in some places and then died out with ten miles left to go. The air temperature was not quite warm with the wind. The sky was clear and sunny all day. The visibility ranged around fifteen miles in haze. The tide was moderate but perfect for drift fishing. The surface water temperature reached a high of 54.4°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 55°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 84°F with a low of 62°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 87°F (with a low of 58°F).
The fishing was excellent, a fish a cast all day. The landing of legal fish was slightly less than excellent due to a number of sub-legal fish including forty-two haddock. Legal landings included pollock and cod, in that order. We caught quite a few cod in the 8 to 9 pound class. And the pollock average size was larger than we have seen it this year, very much like Thursday's trip. I weighed very few fish under 12 pounds so I could keep working the deck. Legal landings also included fifteen haddock, one redfish, ten cusk and two whiting. There were many double keeper catches today. Seven dogfish were released and one was kept and filleted. We drift fished for every stop. Only cod flies and jigs were used today. The bait never came out of the cooler today.
There was no way to tell who was high hook. Dean Stevens (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 18 pound pollock. His largest cod weighed 10 pounds. The second largest fish was a 16.25 pound caught by David Stevens (VT). He did not get in the boat pool. However, his pollock was part of a double keeper catch that also included a pollock of 10.75 pounds. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest double of the fishing season to date. The only other fish of his that I weighed was a 12 pound pollock. Matt Savarie (NY) and Chip Stevens (VT) split the boat pool for the second largest fish with two 16 pound fish, the third largest fish of the trip. Matt's was a 16 pound cod, the largest cod of the trip. I took a picture of Matt with his nice cod. This digital image appears on the left. Chip's was a 16 pound pollock. I also weighed a 13 pound pollock for Chip.
Other Angler Highlights: Ted Corey (VT) landed a 13.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. His largest cod weighed 11.5 pounds. Brian Stevens (VT) caught a 13 pound cod, best fish. His largest pollock weighed 11 pounds. Jonny Stevens (VT) caught an 11 pound cod as his biggest cod. Jonny caught quite a few nice pollock. Fifteen year old Laura Stevens (VT) out fished her father, Dean. Her success was largely due to the number of double keeper catches she landed. One of her doubles included an 11 pound pollock and a 7 pound pollock. Another double included a 9 pound pollock and a 10.5 pound pollock. I took a picture of Laura holding her biggest double. This digital image appears on the right. She also caught three keeper haddock and many cod.
Tricia Stevens (VT), on the first deep sea fishing trip of her life, did very well indeed. Her largest fish was a 15 pound pollock. Her largest cod weighed 10.25 pounds. Craig Stevens (VT) caught a double that included a 14 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock. Dan Bailey (NY) caught the largest haddock of the trip at 5 pounds. His largest fish was a 13 pound pollock. Liam Fahey (VT) caught the second largest Bunny Clark double of the season to day. His catch included a 15 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock, both on the same line. Steve Buyk (UT) and his daughter, Kirstin Stevens (UT), both received hard luck award t-shirts today. Steve for being the high hurler of the trip. Kirstin for being second hurler. Neither one wetted a line today! Ouch!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 68°F, the wind was blowing out of the west southwest at ten knots, the sky was mostly overcast (and clearing), the roads were wet from an earlier rain and the visibility was good in haze over the ocean. The rest of the day was perfect, albeit, a little windy. The wind, after 7:00 AM, blew out of the west to west northwest at fifteen to twenty knots with higher gusts. The air temperature soared to 80°F but, because of the wind, the air temperature felt perfect. The sky was clear and sunny all day. The visibility was very good only because of a little haze and some humidity.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at ten to fifteen knots in the morning. After noon, the wind hauled out of the northwest and blew five to ten knots. Seas ranged from two to three feet in chops throughout the day. The air temperature was warm. The sky was clear. The tide (current) was strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 57.5°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 82°F (with a low of 63°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 87°F with a low of 68°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 67°F).
The fishing was good (a strong tide and wind made the fishing a technical challenge a bit). The catching of legal fish was very good, bordering on excellent. Almost a fish a cast. Most legal fish landed were cod followed by pollock. Legal landings also included eight haddock and a couple of herring. They released nine dogfish back to the ocean alive. They drift fished, anchored and used the drogue. Drifting was best by far. Jigs and flies caught the most fish.
Rocki Kurucz (ME) was high hook with an undetermined number of legal fish. Some of his best fish included two cod of 13 pounds each, an 11 pound pollock, a 12 pound pollock and a 13 pound pollock. Frank Peterson (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15.5 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 15 pound pollock caught by Ken McLaughlin (ME). Ken also caught a pollock of 11 pounds. The third largest fish was a 14.5 pound pollock caught by Ken Keefe (NY).
Other Angler Highlights: Mike Harrison (ME) caught a bunch of nice fish including a 9 pound cod, a 10 pound pollock and two cod of 10 pounds each. Steve Moore (CT) caught a 13.5 pound pollock, his largest fish. Bob Key (PA) caught his usual quantity of nice sized cod. His largest fish was a 12 pound pollock. Russ Chapman (NY) landed a 10.25 pound cod as his best fish. Phil Ladd (ME) landed the hard luck award for catching nary a single legal fish! And he was tangled quite often to boot! Not good!
At 2:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 68°F, the wind was blowing lightly out of the northwest, the sky was clear and the visibility was excellent over the ocean.
The ride to the fishing grounds was a non-event. The ocean was calm, the wind was light out of the northwest, the sky was clear, the air temperature was warm and the visibility ranged to thirty miles, at least. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at about five knots. The ocean was one big wind patch without any calm slicks. Around 10:00 AM we had calm patches. By noon, it was flat calm. After noon, the wind hauled out of the south but not enough to create a chop. The ocean was calm with southerly wind patches all the way back to Perkins Cove. The air temperature was warm (it was the first trip this year that I sported a t-shirt from beginning to end). The tide was very strong to strong. The visibility ranged to thirty miles all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 60.8°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 81°F (with a low of 55°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 84°F with a low of 67°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 51°F).
The fishing was fair because of the strong current and calm seas. With more wind we might have been able to use the sea anchor. We never got that opportunity. So, either drifting or anchoring, the angle on the lines was just to much to land a fish without getting at least one other line involved. Despite this, the catching of legal fish was good - overall. Most legal fish landed were cod. Legal landings also included sixty pollock, twenty-one haddock, twenty-four redfish, fifteen cusk and a couple whiting. We drift fished and anchored. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook. I believe it was Ray Westermann (MA) or Bob Key (PA) but I didn't get a count. Fred Kunz (NH) was close with nineteen legal. Captain Howard Cutler (ME) and Jon Griffin (MA) were in there somewhere as second or third hook. I know Howard had thirteen legal (including three haddock) but I don't know how many Griff had. Some of Ray's best fish included a 9 pound pollock (the first fish I weighed today), an 11 pound pollock and a double keeper catch that included an 11 pound pollock and a 12 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. The 12 pounder tied for the third largest fish of the trip. Howard caught two pollock of 10 pounds each, his two largest fish. Neither Fred nor Griff caught a fish of 10 pounds or better.
Rick Turner (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13 pound pollock. Bob Key won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 12.5 pound pollock. He also caught a 10.5 pound pollock. Bob released five legal cod and six legal pollock (all about 5 or 6 pounds) back to the ocean alive. And he could have caught as many as twenty-seven legal total including five cusk and two haddock. Brett Blank (MA), David Cutler (ME) and Ken Keefe (NY) all tied for third place with Ray, all with 12 pound fish. Brett's was a 12 pound cod. David's and Ken's were both 12 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Dave Gray (VT) caught our first Maine state trophy redfish and our largest redfish with a specimen of exactly 3 pounds. For many years we haven't seen a redfish larger. In fact, some Bunny Clark seasons saw redfish smaller in size as the largest one. This is Dave's largest redfish ever. The caliper fork length of this fish was 17.75 inches which makes it one of our longest redfish ever. I took a picture of Dave with his nice red. This digital image appears on the upper left in this entry. Brian Kett (MA) caught a 10 pound cod, his largest fish. Ken Lang (MA) landed a pollock of 11.75 pounds, his best. Russ Winans (MA) caught a pollock of 11 pounds. Bob Polito (PA) boated an 11 pound pollock. Daileen Cutler (ME) landed the hard luck award for getting slightly sea sick (she hurled once), getting a few tangled lines and for losing a jig and two flies. However, she did get four legal fish including three keeper haddock. And she was healthy for most of the trip!
Russ Chapman (NY), part of a charter (my best charter) who started sailing with me on fishing trips with the Mary E in 1977, and Rick Turner helped me with my cancer fund raising with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Russ donated $25.00 while Rick gave a generous $70.00. Thank you both for your support. I appreciate it very much.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, the wind was light out of the west, the sky was clear and the visibility was excellent over the ocean. It was a beautiful day ashore with warm temperatures, light winds from the west northwest, sunny skies and an excellent visibility.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at five knots in the morning, went flat for a period and then hauled out of the south southeast in the afternoon. The wind never got to ten knots all day. The ocean was calm for the day. The sky was clear and sunny. The air temperature was warm. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 61.1°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 71°F (with a low of 51°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 77°F with a low of 61°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 73°F (with a low of 44°F).
The fishing good as the current wasn't as strong as it was yesterday. The catching of legal fish was good in the morning but slow after that. Ian called it a fair day overall. Most legal fish landed were cod by far. Legal landings also included eighteen pollock, nine haddock and three cusk. Two dogfish were released. They drift fished for the trip. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Ian didn't tell me who was high hook. Scott Menz (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13.5 pound pollock. He caught that pollock as part of a double keeper catch with another pollock of 12.75 pounds, the second largest fish of the trip, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. This is the Bunny Clark's fifth largest double keeper catch of the season to date. Rich Szepek (NY) and Bob Newell (NY) tied for the third largest fish of the trip, both fish weighing in at 12 pounds. Rich's fish was a 12 pound pollock. Bob's fish was a 12 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Jim Brady himself caught a 10 pound pollock, his largest fish. Jim Bollacker (NY) boated an 11 pound cod, the second largest cod of the trip. And Rich Szepek also landed the hard luck award for losing a jig because Gene Jablonski (NY) sawed it off with his line! Knowing Gene as I do, I'm sure Gene reached into his pocket to get the money to cover Rich's loss.
Stephen Guilmet (MA) came through, like he does every year, to support my cancer fund raising with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. His donation was $25.00 to the cause. Thanks, Steve. This is always very much appreciated!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, the wind was blowing lightly out of the northwest, the ocean was calm along the shore, the sky was clear and the visibility was excellent over the ocean. By 8:00 AM, the air temperature had risen to 61°F. By noon, the air temperature had reached the 73°F mark, the air temperature tempered by an on shore southwest breeze. The sky was clear to mostly cloudy all day. But the sun seemed to be available all day. The visibility was very good. And there was no humidity. It was a perfect, albeit, a bit cool, first summer day.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at five to eight knots, just turning over a white cap at times. The sky was clear all day with no lack of sun. The air temperature was warm. The tide (current) was strong to moderate late in the trip. The visibility was excellent, over thirty miles. The surface water temperature reached a high of 59.6°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 72°F (with a low of 47°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 75°F with a low of 57°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 74°F (with a low of 42°F).
The fishing was terrible in the morning. The current was so strong, the ocean was calm and the wind was so light that it was impossible to do anything but drift. And the drift was really too fast. The mornings average speed drifting over the bottom was two knots. That makes it possible for the most experienced anglers only. Although, Jared said his anglers did a really good job of it - despite the conditions. The tide lightened up in the afternoon but, by the time it did, it was time to go home. The catching of legal fish was fair. Most legal fish landed were haddock. Legal landings also included twelve cusk, five pollock and five cod. The released fourteen dogfish. Drifting was the method. They tried anchoring but the current swept all the lines aft, making it even more difficult to fish. All terminal gear worked about the same.
I wasn't told who was high hook. Danny Taylor (VT) caught the largest fish, a 7.5 pound cusk. He was not in the boat pool. Serena Quillin (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 7 pound pollock. There were really no third largest fish as all the rest were 5 and 6 pounds including the haddock! Ryan Chojnowski (MA) landed the hard luck award for not catching a single legal fish! It was also his birthday today so Jared thought this an appropriate gift!
Captain Jared Keniston and Alec Levine ran the afternoon (4PM - 8PM) half day trip. It was beautiful at the dock before they ventured out the gate. The sky was clear, the air temperature was warm, the visibility very good, there was very little wind and we had plenty of room on the boat for other anglers - plenty of room to fish. Everyone seemed happy.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at ten to twelve knots. Seas were chops of one foot or more. The air temperature was mild, cooler toward night fall. The visibility was excellent. The tide was moderate.
The fishing was very good. The fishing conditions were much better than they were on the day trip. The catching of legal fish was fair. Legal landings included one cod, a cunner and three cusk. Seven cod were released. They anchored and drift fished. Everyone used bait.
Maxine Garfinkel (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 9 pound cusk. Arnie Ulrich (NJ) caught the second largest fish, a 5.25 pound cusk. The third largest fish was a 5 pound cusk caught by Brittany Conger (MA).
Other Angler Highlights: Twelve year old Haley Rose (GA) caught the only legal cod. It weighed 4 pounds. Sean Conger (MA) landed the hard luck award for being out-fished by his sister!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 53°F, the wind was blowing lightly out of the northwest, the ocean was calm along the shore, the sky was clear and the visibility was excellent over the ocean. The day ashore was perfect. The air temperature got up into the low 70°s, the wind was light, the ocean remained calm, the sky was mostly clear and sunny and the visibility was excellent.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest but it was less than five knots. The ocean was calm all day. The sky was mostly clear. The air temperature started out warm but went to hot as they were fishing on a mirror calm ocean. The tide (current) was moderate to none. The surface water temperature reached a high of 59.6°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 72°F (with a low of 49°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 71°F with a low of 59°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 79°F (with a low of 41°F).
The fishing was very good. The catching of legal fish was good overall. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included a haddock, eleven pollock and one cusk. They released thirty-two dogfish, a wolffish and a redfish. They drift fished for the trip. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Brian Murphy (NH) was high hook with fifteen legal. His largest fish was a cod of about 8 or 9 pounds. Eleven year old Josh Foster (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11 pound cod. The second and third largest fish were caught by Kara Hopkins (RI). Her two fish were both cod. One weighed 10.75 pounds and the other weighed 10.5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: James Fowler (VT) landed a 10, 9 and 8 pound cod. Joe Lawley (PA) caught a 10 pound cod, his largest fish. Roger Hopkins (RI) landed the hard luck award t-shirt for getting into the worst tangle of the trip.
Blake & Pam Love (NH) have supported me in my Pan-Mass Challenge cancer fund raising drive every year. This year they donated another generous $100.00 to the cause. I so appreciate them and their support. Thank you very much!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, there was no wind, the ocean was calm along the shore, the sky was cloudless and the visibility was excellent over the ocean. The sky remained cloudless all morning and into the afternoon. After 2:00 PM, high thin clouds started to invade the area over Perkins Cove. By 5:00 PM, these veil of clouds had overspread the sky giving it a milky appearance with the sun, a bit muted, shinning through. The wind was either non-existant or very light all day. The ocean along the coast was calm, mirror calm all morning. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature was in the 70°s.
On the fishing grounds, there was no wind in the morning. The ocean remained mirror calm for the trip out and all morning. After noon, a wind freshened out of the south southwest. But this was only light wind leaving the ocean calm with wind ripples. The air temperature was warm - t-shirt weather. The sky was clear. The tide (current) was moderate. The visibility was over twenty miles. The surface water temperature reached a high of 59.8°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 74°F (with a low of 50°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 74°F with a low of 59°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 46°F).
The fishing was very good. The catching of legal fish was good overall. However, it was very good to excellent on two spots. If they had those two drifts all day long they would have had to come home early. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. legal landings also included two haddock, twenty-one pollock, two redfish, six cusk and one herring. They released one wolffish and nineteen dogfish. Ian didn't tell me if the dogfish went back in the same good state the wolffish went back in. Drifting was the method. Jigs and cod flies were best by far.
Joel Gaines (VT) was high hook with eleven legal. He did not catch a fish of 10 pounds or better. Andy Page (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13.5 pound cod. He caught this fish as part of a double keeper catch with another cod of 11.25 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. His second largest fish was an 11.75 pound cod, the third largest fish of the trip. Steve Shippa (VA) landed a 12 pound cod, the second largest fish of the trip.
Other Angler Highlights: Dan Killay (VT) caught a 10.5 pound cod and a 9.5 pound cod, his two largest fish. Norm Herrick (MA/ME) caught the largest pollock of the trip at 8.5 pounds. His largest fish was a 10 pound cod. Thirteen year old Lauren Shippa (VA) boated an 11 pound cod, her largest fish. Dennis Page (MA) caught a 10 pound cod, one of his few fish. Jeff Page (MA) landed the hard luck award t-shirt to share with his new bride, Caroline Page (MA). No one really had any hard luck today. It was just too nice a day!
At 2:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 62°F, the wind was blowing out of the south at less than ten knots, the sky was mostly cloudy and the visibility was good to very good over the ocean.
It wasn't a horrible ride to the fishing grounds. The weather wasn't nearly bad enough to alter the cruising speed for a more comfortable ride. The sea conditions averaged a little more than a foot or two in chops pushed by a southwest wind of ten knots or more. The sky was partly cloudy, the air temperature was warm and the visibility was good to very good in some haze. The seas had diminished to a foot or more by the time we got to the fishing grounds. But this was only because the tide was running with the wind. We had two foot chops most of the trip with three to four foot chops ahead of a fifteen to twenty knot southwest breeze on the ride back to Perkins Cove. The sky had cleared almost completely by 8:00 AM. We had sunny almost all the way back to the starting point. The air temperature was warm. The tide went from strong to moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 57.4°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 58°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 76°F with a low of 57°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 55°F).
The fishing was good to very good as was the catching of legal fish. For three or four hours the catching was excellent, a fish a cast for at least half of the anglers aboard. Most legal fish landed were pollock and cod, in that order with only seven less cod than pollock. Legal landings also included seventeen redfish, fourteen haddock and forty cusk. We released one wolffish and ten or so dogfish back to the ocean alive. We drift fished, used the sea anchor once and anchored once. Overall, drifting was by far the best. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Justin Philbrick (NH) was high hook with the most legal fish. His largest fish was the only wolffish of the trip. It weighed 10 pounds. Dana Ferrande (ME) was probably second hook. Dana won both boat pools for the largest fish and the second largest fish. He tied for the largest fish of the trip with Chris Galletta (NY), both anglers landing fish of 12 pounds each. Dana's was a pollock while Chris' was a cod. Dana also tied with Chris for the second largest fish at 11 pounds. They both had two 11 pounders. Chris has an 11 pound cod that was part of a double keeper catch with the 12 pound cod he caught. And Chris also caught an 11 pound pollock. Dana caught an 11 pound cod and an 11 pound pollock. Chris Galletta did not enter either boat pool!
Chris and his father, Steve, both on the Bunny Clark fishing together today, are some of the two best groundfishermen we take every year. They have the bait fishing expertise you get by growing up in the Long Island area and they have a lot of experience fishing off the New England coast. When Chris caught the double ( two cod of 11 & 12 pounds), I took a picture of Chris and Steve together with Chris holding the two cod. This digital image appears on the left.
Other Angler Highlights: Don Spencer (VT) would have given Ed Garrett (VT) a run for his money today. He did what I expect a solid fisherman to do; catch fish! I believe his biggest cod and pollock were both 9 pounds. John Baker (ME) caught a 10.5 pound pollock, his largest fish. George Knowles (VT) landed a 10 pound pollock as his biggest. Mark Girard (CA) boated a 10.5 pound cod, his largest fish of the trip. Lewis Hazelwood (MA) caught a 10 pound cod, his best fish. Larry Kabat (NH) also caught a 10 pound cod as his largest fish. Tim Rozan (ME) landed the hard luck award for catching the least number of legal fish, a count of nine. There was really no one who had bad luck today but I had to give it to someone!
Several anglers helped me with my cancer fund raising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. These anglers and their donations included Chris Galletta for $25.00, Dana Ferrande for $50.00, Don Spencer for $50.00, Mark Girard for $50.00 and Tim Rozan for another gift of $20.00. Thank you all so very much for your kind support. I really do appreciate your help!
Captain Ian Keniston and Captain Jared Keniston ran the extreme day trip today. At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 65°F, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at ten knots with gusts to sixteen knots, the sky was mostly cloudy and the visibility was good to very good over the ocean. It was a beautiful day ashore. The morning was sunny and very warm. The air temperature hovered around in the 80°s. The wind was puffy out of the southwest. Clouds started to move in during the mid afternoon. Ogunquit didn't get any rain (a little spritz at 6:30 PM is all). However, the surrounding towns (Sanford, Portsmouth, etc.) got thunder showers, heavy rain and strong winds.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at ten to fifteen knots. Seas were chops of two to three feet. After noon, the wind dropped to about ten knots with seas in chops over a foot. The air temperature was warm. The sky was clear. The tide (current) was moderate. The visibility ranged from ten to fifteen miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 60.5°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 82°F (with a low of 62°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 89°F with a low of 66°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 88°F (with a low of 64°F).
The fishing was excellent. All the physical conditions were perfect to tend bottom. However, the bite was off a bit. So the landings of legal fish was good for some and fair for others. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included fifteen haddock, five pollock and fifteen cusk. We also had our biggest dogfish day with approximately forty-five released. A big wolffish was also released. Drifting was the method. Jigs and cod flies caught the lions share of the fish.
Dave Harris (MA) was high hook with fifteen legal. I don't believe that Dave caught a fish of 10 pounds or better. Bill Pfau (OH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15 pound wolffish. This is the Bunny Clark's largest wolffish to date. Captain Ian didn't take a picture of it because he felt that handling it any more than he did might compromise the life of the fish. Nico Goeller (GDR) caught the second largest fish of the trip, an 11.5 pound pollock. Charlie Harris (MA) and Zach Freitas (MA) tied with the third largest fish at 9.25 pounds. Both fish were cod. Charlie also caught a 9 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Dan Wescom (VT) caught his first ever monkfish today. It weighed 4 pounds. Although it wasn't a big one, Dan wanted to record the event so Ian took a good picture of him with his catch. The digital image appears on the right. It was a cute little thing! John Carter (ME) caught an 8.5 pound cod and an 8 pound cod, his two best fish. Andrew Butters (ME) landed the hard luck award for getting sea sick after the first five minutes on the fishing grounds, taking a bunk and never emerging again until the end of the trip! Ouch!
At 2:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 62°F, there was no wind, the sky was mostly overcast, a few drips of moisture were falling from the trees, the roads were wet and the visibility was good to very good over the ocean. Five minutes later it started to rain. It rained until we left the dock.
We felt our way out of the Perkins Cove in the dark this morning. The fog was black thick and we had heavy rain. I had to fine tune the radars to take out the rain clutter but still be able to distinguish vessels on the surface of the water. We found the south southwest wind about ten miles out. The wind speed averaged about fifteen knots with seas in chops of about three.feet. We took a bit of a pounding but it wasn't so bad that anglers were getting thrown around. It rained from the moment we left the dock until we arrived on the fishing grounds.
On the grounds, it was raining lightly with a ten to twelve knot south southwest wind with a two foot chop. An hour after arrival the rain stopped. It never rained again all day. It was foggy most of the morning with less than a quarter of a mile of visibility. The fog lifted during the late morning to give us about ten miles or more until we left the grounds. We had twenty miles of visibility for most of the trip back to Perkins Cove. The air temperature was warm in the morning but a bit less so in the afternoon. This was because the wind hauled out of the north around noon. The minor temperature drop was associated with the wind. We had fifteen knots of northerly wind when we left the grounds. But for most of the ride back, we had north northeast winds of ten knots with two foot seas (chops). The current was strong all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 63.2°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 58°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 81°F with a low of 60°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 58°F).
The fishing only made it to the "fair" to "good" category because of the strong tide. Between the two to three foot chops, the hour of rain in the morning, the current and the wacky way the boat was drifting, it was a lot of work to keep your terminal gear fishing. For one half hour drift we covered 1.8 miles of bottom! I never did look on the GPS to see how fast we were moving. But I can tell you that that was the fastest drift I have seen this season.
The catching of legal fish was excellent, a fish a cast all day long. The only slower spot was in the morning when I stayed anchored a bit too long hoping we would get a larger fish over time. That didn't happen. And that was the last time I did that. Most of the day was spent drifting. Most legal fish landed were cod and pollock, in that order. There were very few sub-legal fish. Legal landings also included twenty-nine haddock and ten cusk. We released ten dogfish, seventeen sub-legal haddock and seven sub-legal cod back to the ocean alive. Jigs and flies were used exclusively.
I couldn't tell you exactly who was high hook but I would suspect it was either Steve Selmer (NH/ME) or Fred Kunz (NH). Regardless of who it really was, no one caught many more fish than anyone else. Ray Westermann (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 16 pound pollock. Ray's second largest fish was a pollock of 11 pounds. Fred Kunz won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 15.25 pound pollock. Fred's two largest cod weighed 12 pounds and 11.5 pounds. The third largest fish was a 14 pound pollock caught by Steve Selmer. He caught this pollock as part of a double keeper catch with another pollock of 10 pounds, the best double of the day. I also weighed a 13 pound pollock and an 11.5 pound pollock for Steve.
Other Angler Highlights: Steve Linn (PA) caught the first two fish I could weigh, a 10 pound pollock and a pollock of 10.75 pounds. Everybody caught a lot of nice sized market cod. Steve was no exception. Yoshito Umaoka (MA) landed a 10.5 pound cod, the first fish of his over 10 pounds that I weighed. Later, he caught two pollock of 12 pounds each, his two largest fish. Paul Smegal (MA) caught an 11.25 pound pollock and two cod of 11 pounds each. Joe Dressner (NY) caught the largest haddock of the trip weighing 5 pounds. He also caught the best cod double. His double included a 10.5 pound cod and an 8 pound cod. Joe's two largest fish were both pollock. One weighed 13 pounds and the other weighed 12 pounds. Jon Griffin (MA) caught a 10.5 pound pollock and an 11 pound cod, his best two fish. Jeff Hughes (VT) boated a 12 pound pollock, a 10.5 pound pollock and an 11.5 pound cod. I weighed a 10.5 pound cod for John Kenger (NY). This was John's first trip aboard the Bunny Clark. Sam Hughes (VT) landed the hard luck award for no other reason than I thought he would appreciate the shirt. No one had any hard luck today.
Steve & Gail Linn (PA) donated a generous $50.00 to my Pan-Mass Challenge cancer fund raising efforts today. They have been very generous to my particular cause over the years. They are also intimately related to the cancer problem. They have given so much more over the years. It's so generous of them to also give to my cause as well. Troopers to the max! Thank you both so very much!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, there was no wind, the sky was clear and the visibility was excellent over the ocean. It was a beautiful sunny day in Ogunquit all day today. The winds were very light. The air temperature was warm but not too warm. The sky remained clear. The visibility was excellent.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northeast at five knots in the morning, light and variable in direction in the afternoon. The ocean was as calm as a table for the trip. The sky was clear. The air temperature ranged from warm to hot. The tide was moderate. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 59.7°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 78°F (with a low of 53°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 72°F with a low of 59°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 54°F).
The fishing and catching of legal fish was excellent today. It was one of the, if not the, best extreme day trips of the season. Most legal fish landed were cod and pollock with many more legal cod than pollock. Legal landings also included one redfish, six haddock and twelve cusk. They released eighteen dogfish back to the ocean. Drifting was the method. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
There was no way to tell who was high hook. Justin Hopkins (RI) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 16 pound pollock. He caught a 9.5 pound pollock much earlier in the trip. The second largest fish was a 13.5 pound pollock caught by Jason Smith (NH). Mark Lavalliere (NH) caught the third largest fish, a 13 pound pollock. Mark also caught the largest haddock at 6.25 pounds, two pollock of 10 pounds each and a 12 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Ian Kiraly (NH) caught an 11 pound cod and a keeper double that included an 11 pound pollock and an 8 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. Joe Dressner (NY), who had an equally famous day yesterday, landed a 10 pound cod and a 12.5 pound pollock, his two best fish. At one point in the trip Joe hooked a double but lost one of the fish early in the fight. "Thank God", he said. "I don't think I could have reeled them both up!" I can't believe he even went fishing today after all the fish he caught yesterday. He told me he was going on today's regardless because he didn't want Jared to abuse him about it again when he came back in the fall! Roger Hopkins (RI) boated a 10 pound cod, his best fish of the trip. Mark Silk (NY) caught the largest cod of the day at 11.25 pounds. Garrett Caisse (NH) boated an 11 pound pollock. Kara Hopkins (RI) landed the hard luck award for being the sole hurler on the trip and for catching nary a single legal fish because of her malady. I guess the Hopkins family went home with all the prizes today!
"Jersey Tim" Hesselink (NJ) donated $25.00 to my cancer fund raising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Thank you, Tim. Always good to have you and Nancy up here in Ogunquit. All the best!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 53°F, there wasn't a breath of wind, the ocean was flat like a pancake, the sky was clear and the visibility was excellent over the ocean. It was another beautiful day ashore. There was little wind, if any, most of the day. The ocean was like a mill pond, very calm. I saw a high temperature of 82°F. It was hot in the sun. And it was sunny all day.
On the fishing grounds, there was no wind. The ocean remained flat calm for the trip. The sky was sunny and clear. The air temperature was warm/hot. There was no tide (current). The visibility ranged to about twelve miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 62.1°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 85°F (with a low of 52°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 80°F with a low of 59°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 49°F).
The fishing was very good to excellent all day. It was very easy to tend bottom and the weather was conducive to humans having a wonderful time on the ocean. No one was sea sick. The catching of legal fish was slow to start but did turn on around 11:00 AM. So the catching of legal fish was excellent at the end of the trip or in the last two hours. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included a redfish, eighteen pollock and nine cusk. They released seven dogfish. All seven haddock that were caught were sub-legal. They drift fished for the trip. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Norm Herrick (MA) was the fisherman of the day. He was high hook with twelve legal and he won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 16 pound cod. Charlie Turner (NY) landed the second largest fish, a 13 pound pollock. The third largest fish was a 12 pound pollock caught by Jim Olmsted (MA).
Other Angler Highlights: Connor Redden (NH) caught a 10 pound cod, his largest fish. Bill Murphy (NH) did one better with an 11 pound cod. Jerry Charron (ME) caught a 10.5 pound cod, his best fish. Forest "Butch" Hartford (NH) landed the hard luck award for getting a hook in his hand in a place where it couldn't be safely removed. Listening to him this morning about wanting a free t-shirt, I'm not so sure Butch didn't do it on purpose!
Norm Herrick donated a very generous $95.00 to my Pan-Mass Challenge cancer fund raising bike ride today. This is actually an event to support the Jimmy Fund that was founded in 1949 to help a young boy from Maine to beat cancer. In those days 85% of kids diagnosed with cancer died from it. Now only 15% of children with cancer die from it. I can't say enough good about the Jimmy Fund/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Thanks, Norm. I appreciate your support.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 62°F, there was no wind, the ocean was calm, the sky was clear and the visibility was good in haze over the ocean. Ashore, there was little wind and a bit more humidity than the last few days. The humidity was tolerable. The air temperature went to at least 83°F. The sky was sunny all day. The visibility remained good, at least, all day.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at five knots or less. The ocean remained calm all day. The sky was mostly clear but always sunny. The air temperature was warm. The tide (current) was moderate. The visibility ranged to fifteen miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 61.3°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 83°F (with a low of 57°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 86°F with a low of 62°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 52°F).
The fishing was very good to excellent. The conditions were perfect for humans fishing from the Bunny Clark platform. The catching of legal fish was very good in the morning, fair to good in the afternoon or "good" overall. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included twenty-nine pollock, five haddock and seven cusk. Fifteen sub-legal haddock and twenty-two dogfish were released. Drift fishing was the method. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Mark Doody (CT) was high hook with sixteen legal. He didn't land a fish of 10 pounds or better. But he did catch a world of shorts! Rodd Froebel, Jr. (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 12.5 pound cod caught by Ken Ung (MA). Dennis Wilk (MA) landed the third largest fish, a 12 pound cod. Carol Fournier (NH) landed the hard luck award for being the only angler to not catch a single legal fish.
I received a $50.00 donation from Linda Hamel (NH) helping me to raise as much money as I can to support cancer research through the Pan-Mass Challenge, an 192 mile charity cycling event, and the Jimmy Fund. Thank you very much, Linda. I appreciate your generous donation very much.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 66°F, the wind was out of the southwest at ten knots, the sky was clear and the visibility was very good in some haze over the ocean. The day ashore was hot and humid with a bit of haze. The air temperature soared to a high of 90°F at least. But it felt warmer than that. The sky was sunny. The visibility was good.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at ten knots in the morning. The wind increased to ten and fifteen knots out of the southwest in the afternoon. Seas were chops of two to three feet. The sky was sunny. The air temperature stayed just warm as the wind off the water provided its own air conditioning. The tide (current) was moderate. The visibility ranged from ten to fifteen knots. The surface water temperature reached a high of 60.4°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 84°F (with a low of 62°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 89°F with a low of 64°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 89°F (with a low of 62°F).
The fishing was good, only, as the conditions for fishing were not any better than that. And they caught a few more dogfish than normal (thirty-six total) - which solidified them into the "good" category. The catching of legal fish was poor all morning. It was excellent on the last two stops, a fish a cast. Those last two stops more than made up for the slow morning. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included forty-five pollock, three haddock, three redfish and four cusk. They released one wolffish back to the ocean alive. They drift fished and used the sea anchor. The sea anchor was the best by far. This is only the second time this season that the sea anchor has been the best choice. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Ian couldn't tell which angler was high hook. Chris Blow (VT) and David Martineau (NH) tied for the boat pool. Both anglers caught fish of 13.5 pounds and both fish were pollock. Chris caught his earlier in the trip and David caught his a little later. Chris also caught a pollock of 12.5 pounds, the third largest fish of the trip.
Other Angler Highlights: Steve LaPlante (CT) caught the Bunny Clark's second largest wolffish of the season to date. His fish was 11 pounds. Ray Fotion (VT) boated the largest cod of the trip at 12 pounds. His largest pollock weighed 12 pounds as well. Mark Thyng (NH) caught an 11 pound cod. Joe Martineau (MA) caught a 12 pound pollock, his largest fish. Our own Ken McLaughlin (ME) boated an 11.5 pound cod, his best fish. David Brown (MA) caught a 12 pound pollock, his best fish. Missie Reaineau (VT) landed the hard luck award for a condition that prevented her from fishing. And, yes, it's a common condition in rougher than normal seas.
Mark Thyng did me a great favor by donating to my Pan-Mass Challenge cause and doing his part to strike a blow against cancer. His donation was $40.00. Thank you so much for your support, Mark. I appreciate it.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was a balmy 70°F, the wind was out of the southwest at ten knots, the sky was clear and the visibility was good to very good in haze over the ocean. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at ten to fifteen knots. Seas were chops of two to three feet. The air temperature was warm. The sky was clear in the morning. High thin clouds started to move in by mid morning. For the ride home we had milky skies, gray seas and fifteen knots of south southwest wind. The tide (current) was strong. The visibility ranged from seven to ten miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 60.8°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 83°F (with a low of 68°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 89°F with a low of 69°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 90°F (with a low of 65°F).
The fishing was poor mainly because of the tide conditions. But the seas played a small part as did the few dogfish we caught. There was just no way to keep the lines on bottom without a severe angle. Anchoring and drifting created the most line angle. Using the sea anchor worked the best but it certainly wasn't perfect. The catching of legal fish was fair to good - if you knew the ropes. Some anglers did poorly. Four were too sea sick to fish. Most legal fish landed were cod. Legal landings also included eight haddock, twelve pollock, four redfish and two cusk. Jigs and flies caught the most fish. Most anglers were using bait and a cod fly.
Russell Mott (ME) made me look as good as I could look under the circumstances. Without Russell it would have been tomatoes for Tim, I'm afraid. Russell was the fisherman of the day. He was high hook with ten legal. And he caught the largest fish of the trip, an 11 pound pollock. Russell does not enter the boat pool. John Gorski (MA) was second hook with seven legal. Brendan Parker (ME) was third hook with six legal. Brendan's two best fish included a 9 pound pollock, the third largest fish of the trip, and an 8 pound cod, the largest cod of the trip. Steve Levine (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 9.5 pound pollock. He also caught a 6 pound cusk, the largest of the two that were caught.
Other Angler Highlights: Joe MacDonald (FL) won a side bet with his friends for the largest fish in the group. His fish was a 7 pound cod. Emile Manios (DE) was the high hurler of the trip. For this he earned the hard luck award t-shirt!
Alec Levine and I ran the afternoon half day (4PM - 8PM) trip. It felt like being in an oven ashore after being out on the ocean all day where the air temperature might have been as high as 70°F. It had to be 90°F ashore and very humid. We had the same weather on the fishing grounds as we did during the day trip. Seas, again, were two to three feet behind a wind of about fifteen knots from the south southwest that hauled more southwest before the trip was over. The air temperature was warm, perfect, with a nice mild breeze off the ocean. The sky was clearer than the day trip (with a nice sunset in the end). The visibility was ten miles max.
The fishing was excellent. The catching of legal fish was poor. I made a wrong move and ended up in an area where there hadn't been lobster gear last year only to find lobster gear today. Normally, we would expect to find quite a few cusk there. Not tonight. And I truly believe that the lobster gear has a lot to do with a decrease in local cusk populations. And, as is true with a short trip like the afternoon trip, I didn't have time to find another area. Still, I had high hopes. Those hopes didn't bring home the bacon this trip. We caught one cusk, lost another and released a sub-legal cod, two sub-legal pollock, three sub-legal redfish and a dogfish. We anchored for every stop. Only bait and cod flies were used.
Adam Boutin (CA) caught the largest and the only legal fish, a 9 pound cusk. Ken Boutin (MA) landed the hard luck award for easily reaching high hurler status. The conditions were perfect for his malady. It must have been contagious because we had a few others who were in the same boat, so to say! It was not my best afternoon trip. Nor was it the best weather.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was a balmy 73°F, the wind was out of the southwest at ten knots, the sky was clear and the visibility was good to very good in haze over the ocean. The day ashore was, again, hot, hazy and humid. The air temperature reached 90°F justly slightly inland from the shore in the morning and 90°F on the shore after noon. The wind blew from the southwest at fifteen knots or more most of the day. From about 2:00 PM on thunder showers to the west of us moved north. We avoided these thunder showers all afternoon until 6:00 PM, when the first rain drops started to fall. We had thunder and lightning but no really much of this. Mostly it was rain. It was still raining lightly when I left the Cove at 10:00 PM.
On the fishing grounds, for the morning trip, the wind blew out of the south southwest at ten to fifteen knots with seas in chops of two to three feet. The sky was sunny all day. The air temperature was warm, the sea water temperature keeping the air temperature down to reasonable levels. The tide (current) was moderate. The visibility ranged from seven to ten miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 63.0°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 84°F (with a low of 67°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 91°F with a low of 73°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 92°F (with a low of 67°F).
The fishing was good to very good with the conditions on hand. They didn't have the current we had yesterday. The catching of legal fish was fair to good. Most legal fish landed were cod. Legal landings also included twelve pollock and three haddock. They anchored for every stop. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish but bait and cod flies were the system of choice.
John Meara (CO) was high hook with ten legal. His two largest fish were a 10 pound pollock and an 8.25 pound pollock, the second and third largest fish of the trip. John's largest cod weighed 7 pounds. Heidi Ahrberg (CO) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11.5 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Dan Labrie (ME) caught the largest cod at 8 pounds. Chris Bentson (NJ) landed the hard luck award becoming the high hurler of the trip.
Captain Ian Keniston and Captain Jared Keniston ran the afternoon half day (4PM - 8PM) trip. Ashore, the wind had kicked with the advancing thunder showers headed in our direction. But it was still sunny over head. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at ten knots with seas in chops of two to three feet. However, the wind shifted out of the northwest to twenty-five knots or more in gusts when a line of thunder showers moved over them and out to sea. The winds dropped to a light breeze after that. The air temperature was warm. The visibility remained in a range of seven to ten miles.
The fishing was good, all things considered. The catching of legal fish was poor until the thunder showers went by. After that they started to catch fish, ending up with a good evening. Legal landings included seven mackerel, two cod and three cusk. They also caught three sub-legal pollock and two sculpins. They anchored and drift fished. Everyone used bait.
Alex Reid (QC) landed the largest fish of the trip, a 7.5 pound cusk. He did not enter the boat pool. Richard McLaughlin (TN) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 5.5 pound cusk. Of course, Dick didn't tell me he won the boat pool by default. He just told me he won the pool when he got off the boat. Wait until I see him again at Barnacle Billy's! The third largest fish was a 4.5 pound cod caught by Brian Barker (MA).
Other Angler Highlights: Charles Reid (QC) caught a 3.5 pound cusk, his largest fish. Gino BiGioia (MA) caught a 3.5 pound cod, his best fish. Liam Dolan (NH) landed the hard luck award for "almost" getting sea sick and for catching nary a keeper.
I received some support for my Pan-Mass Challenge cancer fund raiser in the form of a $30.00 donation from John Meara. Thank you so much for your help. I appreciate it so much!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 67°F, the wind was blowing lightly out of the south, the sky was mostly clear and the visibility was good in haze over the ocean. At 8:00 AM, the air temperature rose into the 70°s and the fog rolled in with it along the coast. It was foggy along the shore until noon when it backed off and remained as a fog bank about a mile off shore. After noon, the air temperature rose to 85°F. It was hot, hazy and very humid for the rest of the day. The sky was mostly clear. The visibility was restricted to the fog bank over the ocean, a mile out.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south southwest - barely. At most the wind blew five knots. The ocean surface was calm all day with rolling sea swells of two to three feet. The visibility ranged to a quarter of a mile but it was mostly much less than that. The sky seemed overcast because of the fog. The air temperature was warm in the morning and hot from noon on. The tide ranged from moderate to strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 62.7°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 79°F (with a low of 65°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 92°F with a low of 69°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 66°F).
The fishing and catching were good to very good overall. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included twenty-five pollock, seven haddock, one redfish and one cusk. They released four dogfish. Anchoring and drifting were the methods Ian employed. Jigs and flies caught the lions share of the fish.
Jon Pooley (MD) was the fisherman of the day. He was high hook with who knows how many legal fish. And he won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 14.5 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 13 pound cod caught by Bill Socha (NH). Norm Herrick (MA) caught the third largest fish, an 11.25 pound pollock. His largest cod weighed 10 pounds, the second largest cod of the trip.
Other Angler Highlights: Sue Utterstrom (ME) landed a pollock of 10.75 pounds, her biggest fish and the only other fish of 10 pounds or better. Joe Karpio (NY) landed the hard luck award for being the only angler without a legal fish! Ouch!
Captain Ian Keniston and Captain Jared Keniston ran the afternoon half day (4PM - 8PM) trip. It was still hot ashore with barely a breeze. The sky was clear with much sun as they headed to the gate. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southeast at five knots or less. The ocean was calm over a rolling sea swell of two to three feet. The first part of the trip had light rain. The rain was never a bother. They also had thunder and lightning storms around them but not on them. The visibility ranged from three to five miles in fog. The air temperature was warm.
The fishing was very good. The catching of legal fish was fair. Legal landings included two redfish, one cod and one haddock. They released a few sub-legal pollock, one sub haddock, three dogfish and five cod. Drifting was the method. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Steve Martineau (MA) was high hook with two legal, a 2.5 pound haddock and a .75 pound redfish. Joe Martineau (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 4 pound cod. Roger Masse (MA) landed the hard luck award for losing a jig.
I received two donations supporting me in my cancer fund raising cycling event with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. One was a very generous $250.00 from Pam & Herb Cook (NY). They were at Barnacle Billy's earlier this year but failed to find me. Maybe I was out fishing? Don't know. But they mailed me the check with a very touching letter as well. Bill Socha donated $30.00 to the cause. Thank you all so very much for your help. It does mean a lot, particularly for those who have the disease! And, most of all, it brings hope. Hope of a cure.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 68°F, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at ten knots, the sky was partly clear and the visibility was good in haze over the ocean. The wind dropped to light by 8:00 AM. Clouds started to move in. By 9:30 AM, the sky was overcast with showers in evidence around the horizon. We didn't see any rain until 11:00 AM. Showers remained light and intermittent in the early afternoon. By 3:00 PM, the rain was here to stay. The rain was continuous throughout the rest of the afternoon and long into the night after I left the restaurant at 11:15 PM. The air temperature reached the mid 70°s. The visibility was fair in haze and precipitation. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 63°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 76°F with a low of 64°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 59°F).
Hurrican Arthur was located ninety miles south southeast of Cape Cod by mid afternoon. The rain was a result of the bands coming from this system. Most of the wind on the coastal Cape associated with the hurricane was in the thirty to forty knot range.
It was an all restaurant day today. But I did spend some time on the Bunny Clark changing out sacrificial anodes (zincs) in the engine and a few filters. I had just changed the oil and crankcase filter the other night. Everything looks good for when we do eventually get off the dock!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the wind was blowing out of the north northwest at fifteen knots or better, the sky was overcast, it was raining and the visibility was fair to good in precipitation over the ocean. It stopped raining at about 7:00 AM. The wind increased to twenty-five knots out of the northwest in gusts. It may have blown harder at times. But it certainly wasn't the wind that was predicted. The wind started to let go during the late afternoon. By 8:00 PM, the ocean was flat calm. The air temperature was perfect. I don't believe we saw an air temperature higher than the 70°s. They sky was sunny all day. The visibility was very good at least. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 59°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 80°F with a low of 59°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 56°F).
So both fishing trips were canceled. The fireworks trip was not. So at 8:00 PM, I left the restaurant, went home, got changed and came back down to get the Bunny Clark ready. We left the dock at a little after 8:30 PM. The evening was lovely. The ocean was flat calm with a light breeze from the west. The sky was clear. The visibility was perfect. And the fireworks were spectacular. We anchored up but I ran a breast line so that all the passengers could see the show equally well. I think Ogunquit puts on the best show. This is true year after year. We were back in Perkins Cove by 10:00 PM.
My brother, Court Tower, donated $50.00 to help me with my Pan-Mass Challenge cancer fundraiser. I never ask. He just does what he feels is right. And that's good enough for me. A good guy, my brother. Thanks, Court. Much appreciated.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 65°F, the wind was blowing out of the west at ten knots, the sky was clear and the visibility was very good over the ocean. The wind blew out of the west all day. We had sustained winds of fifteen knots with higher gusts. The air temperature warmed into the lower 80°s. The sky held very few clouds and remained sunny and beautiful. The visibility was very good.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west at ten to fifteen knots. Seas were chops of two to three feet. The sky was clear and sunny. The visibility was close to excellent. The air temperature was no better than warm because of the wind off a surface water temperature of 62.0°F max, the high surface water temperature of the day. The current was moderate. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 85°F (with a low of 67°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 85°F with a low of 66°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 56°F).
The fishing and catching of legal fish was good overall. The fish were of a larger average size today. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included twenty-four pollock, one haddock (eighteen sub-legal haddock), one redfish and two cusk. There were seventeen dogfish released. They drift fished for the trip. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Jared couldn't tell me who was high hook. It was a morning bite. And the fish came fast and furious. It was a bit slower during the late morning and afternoon. So the catching ranged from very good/excellent to fair or good overall. Tristan Winslow (MA) caught the largest fish, a 14.5 pound cod. He was not in the boat pool. Willard McIlwain (MO) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 14 pound cod. The third largest fish was a 13.5 pound pollock caught by Zach Freitas (MA). Zach's largest cod weighed 10 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Fred Cummings (ME) caught the first good fish to weigh, a 10 pound cod. Matt Freitas (MA) boated an 11.5 pound cod, his biggest fish. Porker McLean (NY) caught a 12 pound pollock, his best fish. Jim Talbot (MA) boated an 11.5 pound cod. This was Jim's largest fish. Steve Gerlach (ME) landed the hard luck award for being the sole hurler of the trip. And, I'm told, this was an all day affair.
Captain Jared Keniston and Alec Levine ran the afternoon (4PM - 8PM) half day trip. It was beautiful at the dock before they ventured out the gate. The sky was clear, the air temperature was warm, the visibility very good, there was very little wind and we had plenty of room on the boat for other anglers - plenty of room to fish. The Bunny Clark was only half full. Everyone seemed happy.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west southwest at ten to fifteen knots with seas in chops of two feet, more or less. The visibility was very good. The sky was clear and very sunny. The air temperature was mild with the wind off the cooler than normal surface water temperature (59.6°F).
The fishing was fair but it was the best afternoon trip of the year for catching fish. Of course, we have only had five half day trips so far. And those trips were not very productive. Legal landings included six cusk, one mackerel, three silver hake, a butter mullet and one cunner. Sub-legal fish returned included five cod, six pollock, three sculpins, three sea ravens and four redfish. So there was plenty of action. The drift fished for the evening. Everyone used bait.
Steve Levine (ME) and Bob Cheeseman (FL) tied for high hook with two legal fish each. Bob started fishing with me the year the Bunny Clark was launched in 1983. He came fishing with me so often in those days that I had a rod with his name on it! Bob's two fish included a 5.25 pound cusk and a 5.5 pound cusk. The larger cusk was the third largest fish of the trip. Steve was the fisherman of the evening as he also won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 6.5 pound cusk. His other fish was a 5 pound cusk. Chris Reilly (NH) landed the second largest fish of the trip, a 5.75 pound cusk.
Other Angler Highlights: George Giunta (MA) caught a 5 pound cusk, his largest fish and the last of the legal fish for the trip. Tyler Cascella (CT) landed the hard luck award for being named the high hurler of the evening.
And I know I push the cancer cure thing with my involvement in the Pan-Mass Challenge. And I know at times you are probably thinking that I sound like a broken record. But for good reason I am deeply involved in the fight. And with a program like the one I just mentioned it's hard to give up trying to get funding for research. One of the reasons that it is so important to me just occurred at 1:00 AM this morning. A good friend of mine passed away at that time. His name was John Taylor. He was the brother in law of one of my best friends and excellent harpoon tuna fisherman (possibly the best), Steve Weiner. John was married to Steve's sister, Abby, a wonderful person. John was diagnosed in October. At the time, he had been complaining of back aches. Turns out he had contracted the disease much earlier. Thoughts are that it started in the lungs and then metastasized to his spine, ribs and brain. The back aches were a result of the cancer being much further along than it should have been. And very worrisome at the time.
John was younger than I by a few years. He was a wonderful family man, a great husband, a great father, very well rounded with a ton of common sense, very intelligent and just a great guy. He was successful in everything he did. He earned that right. I believe his daughter, Brook, is 22 years old now but I could be off by a year. She too has turned out to be a wonderful individual. I remember one time he needed a striker for his harpoon tuna boat. It was after 1996 when I had first started hiring other captains to run the Bunny Clark. At that time I had a well established captain in place and my work at Barnacle Billy's hadn't been ramped up like it is today. So I offered my services. I remember the day very well because the wind was out of the northeast. And I told John that I had never seen fish run (tuna swimming on the surface) in northeast wind. As it so happens, John found a bunch of fish running into the wind fifteen minutes after I said that. He saw them before I did. We were five miles northeast of Boon Island Ledge. He said; "Is that fish?". I knew right away that it was and that we had to get behind them. It was a big bunch with some fish deeper to the back. So I threw at a deeper fish and missed it. The bunch never went down! We rode right up through the middle of the fish as I pulled back the harpoon to get ready again. The next time I waited until I got a good shot. This time we were able to put a buoy out (only one boat on the coast used an electric harpoon in those days) and get ready again. I might have missed the third shot. But we put another buoy out, the only other tuna line we had on the boat, on the fourth shot. The bunch never went down. And, as far as I know, they probably ran right into the sunset. But we got two fish out of it and had one of my best days on the ocean with a very special person. I will miss John, his good humor (he used to call me "Senator") and his representation of the way a human being should be and act. I'm sorry for his family and friends and I'm sorry for me.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 67°F, the wind was light out of the southwest, the sky was clear and the visibility was very good over the ocean. It was a perfect day ashore with warm temperatures up to 84°F, light winds, clear skies and good visibility. We had a rain shower that started at 5:00 PM and lasted about an hour with no thunder or lightning. Afterward, the sky cleared and went back to weather we had before.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at ten or more knots in the morning with seas in chops of two to three feet. In the afternoon, the southwest wind picked up to fifteen knots or better with seas increasing to three and four feet. The sky was overcast all morning and sunny in the afternoon. The tide (current) was strong all day. The air temperature was warm, much cooler than ashore with the influence of the cooler surface water. The visibility ranged from five to eight miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 62.7°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 63°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 88°F with a low of 69°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 61°F).
The fishing/catching (of legal fish) was fair to good. This depended much on your fishing skill and fighting the conditions which included a strong tide, the chop and the dogfish. Most legal fish landed were pollock. Legal landings also included twenty-one cod, nine haddock, seven cusk and a cunner. They released three wolffish and thirty-eight dogfish. They drift fished and used the sea anchor. The sea anchor worked best - for the third time this season. All terminal gear worked about the same.
Leo Lamoureux (VT) was high hook with over twelve legal. His largest fish was a 12 pound pollock, the third largest fish of the trip. He also landed a double keeper catch that included an 11.5 pound pollock and an 8 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. Leo also caught the Bunny Clark's second largest wolffish of the season at 11.5 pounds. Ken McLaughlin (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13.5 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 12.75 pound pollock caught by Mike Broadbent (ME).
Other Angler Highlights: Jeff Lane (NH) caught a 9 pound wolffish, his largest. Nate Segedy (NH) landed an 11 pound pollock. Mark Veronesi (CT) boated a 10.5 pound pollock. He also landed the hard luck award for breaking his own pole. I didn't get the details. Jeff Guay (ME) caught an 11 pound pollock. Dick Lyle (PA) lost the first bluefin tuna of the year today. Of course, you can't lose what you didn't have. And Dick was certainly out-gunned by the size of the fish. In fact, Dick had almost been spooled when the fish broke off.
At 10:00 PM EDT (July 7, 2014) the air temperature was 73°F, the wind was out of the southwest at ten plus knots, it was raining, a thunder shower was commencing, the sky was overcast and the visibility was poor in precipitation over the ocean. When we left the dock at 11:00 PM, it was raining with very little thunder and lightning. Still, I had to adjust the radar so I could pick up objects on the ocean without the interference of the rain.
The trip to the fishing grounds was uneventful. Winds were out of the southwest at ten to fifteen knots with seas in chops of two to three feet. The rain stopped an hour after we left the dock and there wasn't enough wind to make the ride uncomfortable. On the grounds, the wind picked up to almost twenty knots. But this didn't last for more than two hours. Seas might have made it to four feet in that time but dropped when the wind backed off. The sky was sunny all day. The air temperature was warm (perfect for long pants and a t-shirt) but not too warm. The tide (current) was moderate. On the ride back to Perkins Cove the weather remained the same until we got half way back. At that point the wind hauled out of the south southwest (or maybe even south) and blew up to almost twenty knots with seas in chops of about four feet (more or less). We carried this stronger wind all the way to the dock. And it was still blowing like that when I got back home. The surface water temperature reached a high of 62.7°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 83°F (with a low of 68°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 92°F with a low of 73°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 88°F (with a low of 66°F).
The fishing was good to very good with a little more current than I would have liked. Also, we had our first blue shark attacks of the season losing three jigs in the process of trying to get the beasts close enough to the boat to retrieve the hardware. In all three cases we did get the sharks close enough to gaff the jig out. But all three tries amounted to futile attempts as best. The catching of legal fish was very good to excellent. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. I was able to avoid the large schools of pollock that are so prevalent offshore. We still caught lots of pollock but not quite as many pollock as we caught haddock, including many many sub-legal haddock. Legal landings also included one cusk and seven white hake. We released three sub-legal halibut, forty-four dogfish and two wolffish. We drift fished and motor drifted. Jigs & flies caught the most fish.
Dan Killay (VT) or Bryan Lewer (FL) was high hook. I know how many fish Bryan caught but I don't know how many fish Dan caught. With Dan it was a fish a cast. It was the most legal fish he has ever caught on a trip in his life. And he caught the most legal haddock of anyone aboard. Justin Philbrick (NH) was second hook but so close to high hook as to almost share the honor. He had caught seventeen legal fish before he brother, Jeff had landed his first one. It does take Jeff a bit of time to wake up in the morning!
Jeff Philbrick (NH) did come on strong at the end including winning the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 36 pound Maine state trophy white hake. This is the largest fish of the Bunny Clark season to date. It is, of course, our only trophy hake of the season as well. There have only been ten white hake landed on the Bunny Clark this season so far. The only other fish of note that I recorded for Jeff was a 6.25 pound haddock that he caught. The second largest fish of the trip was a 23.5 pound white hake caught by Justin Philbrick. He would have won the boat pool for the second largest fish with this hake. But he lost the fish ten feet down. It floated to the surface and we were able to retrieve it. But he lost the second pool because of it. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest fish of the season to date. And he landed the hard luck award because of these circumstances! Bryan Lewer won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the third largest fish, a 21 pound white hake. Some of his other special fish included an 8 pound halibut (the first one he has ever caught), an 11 pound cod, a cod of 10.25 pounds, a 10 pound pollock, a 5 pound haddock and a 6 pound haddock. Dan Killay won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the fourth largest fish, a 15 pound pollock. His largest cod weighed 13.5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: On our first drift of the day, at sunrise, Tim Rozan (ME) hooked into a thresher shark that jumped twice right in front of all of us. It wasn't a big shark. It looked to be about 100 pounds or a little better. But it was fun to watch. After the acrobatics, the fish took a run and broke off, never to be seen again. Tim's largest fish was a 12 pound cod. He also caught the first halibut of his life (like Bryan) too. His halibut weighed 9 pounds. I didn't get a picture of it because he was most intent on making sure it had the best chance of staying alive. Wouldn't it be nice if Tim caught that halibut a couple years later at 100 pounds! Larry Kabat (NH) caught our largest cusk of the season, so far, with one of 11 pounds. Lewis Hazelwood (MA) caught an 11 pound pollock, a 10 pound cod and a pollock of 12.5 pounds, his three largest fish. Rick Lemieux (ME) boated a 10 pound pollock and the second largest pollock of the trip at 14 pounds. Fred Kunz (NH) caught a 12 pound cod. His largest fish was a 14 pound white hake.
Dave Symes (ME) and dory mate, Jim A. Hall (ME), had their best fishing trip of the season today. The both caught a lot of haddock. Dave's best fish included a 10 pound pollock, a 10.5 pound cod and an 11 pound cod. Jim caught a 5.25 pound haddock as his best fish. He may have caught a fish of 10 pounds but I was pretty busy at one period during the trip. It might have been at that time that he caught his big one. He did get a bit of a late start as he was a bit under the weather by the time we got to the grounds this morning. We won't go into that. Rafik Bishara (MA) boated an 11.5 pound pollock as his largest fish. Paul Pearson (NH), an angler noted for big cod landings, brought a 13 pound cod to gaff, our largest cod of the trip. Josh Pearson (NH) caught our largest halibut of the day at approximately 14 pounds. I didn't weigh the fish because we wanted to get a picture and we wanted to make sure the fish would survive. So he opted for the shot instead of the scale. This digital image with Josh hold the fish appears on the right. His largest cod weighed 12 pounds.
Dick Lyle (PA) caught quite a few fish, his largest a 12 pound cod. His best fish, in my opinion, was a 7 pound Maine state trophy haddock. This is only our third trophy haddock of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. I took a nice picture of Dick which at present time resides on the index page of this site. The picture was that good. Steve LaPlante (CT) had his normal great day of fishing. And he lost one huge fish that I would have "given me right eye" to see. Alas, it was not to be. His best landed fish included a 6.5 pound haddock, a 12 pound cod and a 6 pound haddock. Steve Brown (ME) caught an 11 pound pollock as his largest fish. He caught a lot of short haddock as well as some keepers.
Special Note: Jeff McGuire (ME) put a treble hook into the palm of his hand before the trip yesterday. It was so deep that he might have had to go to the emergency room and miss the trip. He opted to yank the hook back out the way it went in. And, of course, it was messy. Despite the pain and the two dressings that had to be transfixed, he did very well and had a good time. He was dubbed "Ultra Trooper" by the crew for the trip. I, for one, would like to see how well he could do if he were healthy!
I received four donations supporting my cancer fund raising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Dave & Rebecca Symes gave a very generous (with all the other donations they have contributed this season already) $100.00, Jim & Linda Hargrove (ME) gave a very generous $250.00, I also received another donation from Tim Rozan for $25.00 and Dan Killay gave $25.00. Thank you all so very much for your help. I do so appreciate it.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 71°F, the wind was blowing out of the south southwest at eleven knots, the sky was mostly clear and the visibility was very good over the ocean. It was hot and humid today on the shore. But it was clear as well. And that was strange. I would have expected it to be hazy with all the heat this weather system gave us today. The air temperature got to 84°F, at least. The sky was sunny.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at fifteen knots (more or less) with seas in chops of two to four feet, depending. The sky was sunny. The air temperature was warm, perfect. The tide (current) was moderate. The visibility was good at twenty miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 62.1°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 85°F (with a low of 64°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 88°F with a low of 73°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 65°F).
The fishing/catching (of legal fish) was fair for most, good for those in the bow fishing with jig sticks. In fact, one individual caught as many legal fish as some of the anglers on the ultra marathon yesterday! But there were others who were sea sick and didn't fish at all. So landings could have been better. But it was all there for you if you had the know-how and fortitude to take advantage of it. Thankfully, there were some who did. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included fifteen cod, two haddock, four redfish and two cusk. There were better than sixty-one dogfish released. I believe that is the most dogfish we have seen so far this season on a single trip. But there were many more dogfish there that followed the groundfish to the surface and didn't take a bite. They drift fished all day. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Justin Perry (ME) was, far and away, the high hook with the most legal fish. His largest fish was a 12 pound pollock, the second largest fish of the trip. Matt Villarreal (FL) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13 pound pollock. Matt also caught a 10 pound cod, the largest cod of the trip. The third largest fish category was shared with two pollock of 11 pounds each. Our own Cam Bannister (ME) caught one while J.S.Francour (QC) caught the other. Cam also caught a 10 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Brian White (NE) caught a 10.5 pound pollock, his largest fish. Dylan Gavel (MA) was high hurler and landed the hard luck award for his condition.
Captain Ian Keniston and Captain Jared Keniston ran the afternoon half day (4PM - 8PM) trip. It was hot with very little wind when the Bunny Clark left the dock to head to the fishing grounds. On the grounds, the wind blew out of the south southeast at five to ten knots. Seas were chops over rolling sea swells of two to three feet. The sky was mostly clear. The tide was moderate. The visibility ranged to over fifteen miles.
The fishing was very good. The catching of legal fish was poor. Legal landings included two cod and two mackerel. They caught five sub-legal cod, a few sub-legal pollock and one redfish. They anchored for every stop. All terminal gear was used. Nothing worked particularly well.
Oliver Kenney (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 3.5 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 3.25 pound cod caught by Anthony Terry (MA). A.J.Terry (MA) caught the third largest fish, a 2.25 pound sub-legal cod. He also landed the hard luck award being the closest to getting sea sick.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 66°F, the wind was light out of the southwest, the sky was mostly clear and the visibility was good in haze over the ocean. It was a cooler day today than it has been with a high temperature just nipping at the 80°F with much less humidity. It was sunny for the major part of the day with only a small period of clouds that disappeared before there was time to think about it. The visibility remained very good in some haze.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west southwest at five to ten knots. The sea conditions included a one foot chop over a sea swell of two to three feet. On the ride home the wind flunked out altogether leaving a calm ocean with very light rolling swells. The air temperature was warm (not hot) with the light wind. The sky was a mix of overcast and sun. The tide (current) was moderate. The visibility ranged over twenty miles (very good) in some haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 65.0°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 63°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 82°F with a low of 66°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 55°F).
The fishing/catching was excellent today. And part of the reason for this was the fact that we had only seven anglers today. And there were very few dogfish, the sea state couldn't have been better for drifting, the weather was perfect and the air temperature was just right. Everyone used a jig and a cod fly combination. For one angler, it was a fish a cast all day long. The other anglers were close. The average number of legal fish per person was higher that what most of those who attained high hook status had all week! It was just a great day. Most legal fish landed were cod followed by half as many pollock. Legal landings also included one haddock and two cusk. Twenty-five dogfish were released. They drift fished for the day.
Ralph DeSimone (NJ) was high hook with an incredible number of legal fish. He caught the only legal haddock, a 6 pounder. And his largest fish, a 12 pound pollock, was the second largest fish of the trip. Jim "Chip" Chiapponi (CT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13.5 pound cod. Doug Towle (NH) took third place with a cod of 11 pounds. Bill Hazlett (MA) landed the hard luck of the day award for catching the most short fish, by far, of any angler aboard. He said this didn't matter (although he did catch quite a few legal fish as well); "The catch of my life will be waiting at the dock when we get in." I don't know, maybe he thought someone was going to leave him a big bluefin tuna by his wife's car!
Captain Ian Keniston and Captain Jared Keniston ran the afternoon half day (4PM - 8PM) trip. The weather at the dock was beautiful. On the fishing grounds, the wind was out of the north but just barely. At most they had five knots. The ocean was calm. The visibility had improved to over twenty miles with not much sign of the haze that was present earlier. The air temperature was warm.
The fishing was excellent, the catching was good, the landings of legal fish was slow. They caught the most sub-legal cod we have caught in two years tonight. However, only three cod were of legal size. Legal landings also included twenty-six mackerel. Anglers also released fourteen sub-legal pollock, six sculpins and three sea ravens. Drifting was the method. Everyone used bait and cod flies.
Jeff Savage (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 4.5 pound cod. Norm Savage (NH) caught the second largest fish, a 3 pound cod. The third largest fish was a cod of 2.75 pounds caught by Adrianna Hussey (ME). Brian Atkinson (VT) landed the hard luck award for getting a touch of the mal de mer.
Chip Chiapponi increased my donation total to the Pan-Mass Challenge by contributing $40.00 to the cause. Chip always helps me out. Every year. And I certainly appreciate it. Thanks so much!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 62°F, there was no wind, the ocean was calm, the sky was mostly clear and the visibility was very good over the ocean. It was a perfect day ashore. There was very little wind, the ocean was calm and the sky was sunny. Also, the air temperature was perfect. The highest temperature I saw was 77°F. It was never too hot but it wasn't cool either. However, sunset did bring cooler air temperatures. The visibility over the ocean was excellent.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the north at five knots or less. The ocean remained calm all day. The sky was sunny, cloudless for a period. The air temperature was warm. The tide was moderate. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 66.3°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 57°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 73°F with a low of 63°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 79°F (with a low of 53°F).
The fishing was excellent; the conditions were perfect for it. The catching of legal fish was good to very good. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included one haddock, fourteen pollock and six cusk. Forty dogfish were released. Drifting was the method employed. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish but bait worked okay as well.
Ian could not tell who was high hook. Bill Riley (NY) and Ryan Kirkpatrick (MA) tied for boat pool for the largest fish with the largest two fish (both pollock) of exactly the same size, 10.5 pounds. The difference was that Bill caught his as a single fish while Ryan caught his as part of a double keeper catch that included the 10.5 pound pollock and a 9 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. The third largest fish was a 10 pound pollock caught by Gregg DeForge (ME). Bill Gonevill (ME) landed the hard luck award for getting the dreaded mal de mer.
Captain Ian Keniston and Alec Levine ran the afternoon half day (4PM - 8PM) trip. It was beautiful weather when they left Perkins Cove. There was no wind, the air temperature was perfect and the sun was shining. On the fishing grounds, there was no wind either. The ocean was flat calm. The sky was clear. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature was warm. The tide (current) was moderate.
The fishing was very good; the conditions were just about perfect for tending bottom. The catching of legal fish was lighter than last night. Again, three legal cod were caught. But no mackerel were seen or caught. And the number of sub-legal cod had dropped to fifteen. The also caught a few sub-legal pollock, eight sculpins and five sea ravens. They drift fished for the evening. Everyone used bait. Some used bait with cod flies.
Rob Myers (MI) was the fisherman of the evening. He was high hook with two legal cod and he won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 9 pound cod. His other cod was the third largest fish of the evening at 3.5 pounds. Mark Dennett (ME) came in second with a cod of 8.5 pounds. Matt Pease (GA) landed the hard award for his consistency in catching the bottom!
Billy Wright (NH) donated $17.00 to help me in my cancer fund raising charge with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Billy, thank you very much for the support. I appreciate it.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 59°F, there was no wind, the ocean was calm, the sky was cloudless and the visibility was very good over the ocean. It was another perfect day with air temperatures just below 80°F, very little wind, a very calm ocean along the shore and sunny skies all day. Vacationers ashore were very happy today.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south at five knots or less. The ocean remained calm all day. The sky was sunny. The tide (current) was moderate (morning) to strong (afternoon). The visibility was about fifteen miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 67.0°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 56°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 80°F with a low of 62°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 52°F).
The fishing was very good, marred only by a stronger than normal current. There were very few dogfish to bother today. The catching of legal fish was very good overall. At times it was a fish a cast for those who knew how to swing a jig. At other times it wasn't quite that good. But a day just short of excellent? I'll take it every time. Most legal fish landed were cod followed closely by pollock. Legal landings also included one haddock and ten cusk. Eighteen dogfish were caught and released. Drifting was the method Ian employed. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Norm & Rob Herrick (MA) tied for high hook with sixteen legal each. And they each released eight legal cod (sixteen total) back to the ocean alive and unhurt. Rob didn't land a fish over 10 pounds. Norm's best fish included an 11 pound pollock, a 10 pound pollock and a pollock of 10.5 pounds. Chris Deschambault (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 14.5 pound pollock. He caught this fish as part of a double keeper catch with another pollock of 8.5 pounds, both fish on the same line at the same time. The second largest fish was a pollock of 13 pounds caught by Ron Croteau (ME). Randy Libby (ME) caught the third largest fish, a 12 pound cod, the largest cod of the trip.
Other Angler Highlights: Ian Croteau (ME) caught a 10 pound pollock, his largest fish. Adam Croteau (ME) did one better by catching an 11.5 pound pollock. But then Ian landed the hard luck award by impaling himself deep in the hand with a hook! If it had been me I would have gone for the bigger fish. Each to his own.
Captain Ian Keniston and Alec Levine ran the afternoon half day (4PM - 8PM) trip. It was beautiful weather, again, when they left Perkins Cove. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south at five to ten knots. Seas were chops of about a foot over long rolling sea swells of two feet. The air temperature was warm. The sky was clear. The visibility ranged to about fifteen miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate.
The fishing/catching was good to very good. Most legal fish landed were cusk, by far. Legal landings also included two cod and one mackerel. They drift fished and anchored. Everyone used bait. Some added a cod fly. No jigs were used.
Brian J. Bliss (MA) was high hook with five legal. His largest fish was a 7.25 pound cusk, the second largest fish of the trip. He also caught a cusk that weighed 5 pounds. Nelson Girard (ME) and Brian Bliss (MA) tied for second hook with three legal each. Nelson won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 7.5 pound cusk. Brian Bliss caught the third largest fish of the trip, a 6.5 pound cusk. Brian also caught a cusk that weighed 5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Brian Kroker (MA) caught the first fish Ian could weigh, a 4.25 pound cusk. Wayne Alarie (ME) caught the second one, a 4.75 pound cusk. Todd Creel (MA) boated a 3.5 pound cusk, his largest fish. Nick Dussault (MA) caught a cusk of 5 pounds, his best. Joe "Big Foot" Heneghan (MA) caught the largest cod of evening weighing in at 4.5 pounds. Chris Bliss (MA) landed the hard luck award for attaining high hurler status and for catching nary a legal fish. He was also the bachelor of the bachelor party this evening!
Three anglers contributed to my cancer fund with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. These anglers and their donations included Richard Roode (ME) for $25.00, Ron Croteau for $25.00 and Bill Murphy (NH) for $30.00. Thank you all so very much for your support. It really means something. And it certainly helps a great cause.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 66°F, the wind was blowing out of the south at ten knots, the sky was mostly clear and the visibility was good in haze over the ocean. It was a beautiful sunny day all morning and into the afternoon. By early afternoon, the wind had increased from the south and was gusting up to twenty knots along the shore. Later in the afternoon, we lost the sun to overcast skies. This had to be around 6:00 PM. The sky stayed overcast as the threat of showers hung over us but the rain never materialized. The air temperature went up over 81°F. And it felt muggy. The visibility was good in haze.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south southwest at ten to twenty knots on the ride in. Seas were chops of two to four feet. The tide (current) was strong. The sky was mostly clear and sunny for the trip. The air temperature was warm. The visibility ranged over fifteen miles. The surface water temperature reached a high of 64.5°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 62°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 85°F with a low of 68°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 64°F).
The fishing was good with the harder than normal conditions (tide, wind & seas). The catching of legal fish was fair to good depending on your expertise. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included seventeen pollock and three cusk. There were no haddock caught today, a first for many trips. And there were only eight dogfish caught, a new low as of late. They anchored and drift fished. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Jared couldn't tell me who was high hook. Ann Marie Jezak (NH) won the boat pool in the last five minutes of the trip for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10.5 pound cod. Jack Twomey (ME) had led the boat pool for most of the trip with a 10 pound cod. This fish ended up coming in second. The third largest fish was a 9.5 pound cod caught by Garrett Wood (NY).
Other Angler Highlights: Ernie Searles (NH) caught a 9 pound cod, the fourth largest fish of the trip. Brian Foss (NH) landed the hard luck award. He was the highest of hurlers today.
Captain Jared Keniston and Alec Levine ran the afternoon half day (4PM - 8PM) trip. It was still windy when the Bunny Clark left the dock to head to the fishing grounds. We had advised anglers of the potential for rough seas and sea sickness. And some decided not to take the trip because of it. On the fishing grounds, the wind had hauled out of the southwest but was blowing at fifteen to twenty knots. Seas had not increased from what it was on the ride in from the day trip. But seas were still around the four foot level in chops. The air temperature had dropped to mild with the wind. The visibility had dropped to around twelve miles. And it was overcast for the trip.
The fishing/catching of legal fish was fair. Legal landings included six cusk, four cunners and an eel pout. There were also fourteen sub-legal cod that were returned. They anchored for every stop. Everyone used bait except for Steve Levine (ME). He used a jig and caught six (or eight) short cod.
Tommy Petry (VT) was the fisherman of the day. He tied for high hook with Chris Petry (VT) - they both caught two legal fish each - and he won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 8 pound cusk. Tommy also caught the second largest fish, a cusk of 7.75 pounds. Chris caught the third largest fish, a 7 pound cusk.
Other Angler Highlights: Lily Bradshaw (VT) caught a 4.25 pound cusk. Lurenda Fuller (NY) caught a 6 pound cusk. Aurora Lamoureux (VT) caught a 3 pound ocean pout. She released the pout back to the ocean alive. Anthony Magaro (PA) was the high hurler of the evening and landed the hard luck award because of his condition.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 68°F, the wind was blowing out of the south southwest at ten knots, the sky was overcast, the ground was wet from where it had been raining much earlier in the morning and the visibility was poor in low lying fog over the ocean. The fog came in and out and finally left Ogunquit to hang offshore a couple of miles and sneer at us until the late afternoon. It remained foggy on Long Sands at York Beach at least until noon. The sky was sunny and mostly clear all day. It was hot and humid - muggy - with the highest air temperature that I noticed of 87°F. The visibility was suspect because of the fog bank offshore.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south at five to ten knots. Seas were rolling sea swells of two to three feet under a one foot chop. It was perfect weather. The tide was moderate. The sky was a mix of overcast and sunny. The air temperature was warm bordering on too warm. The visibility ranged from a quarter of a mile to three miles in haze and fog. The surface water temperature reached a high of 64.6°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 84°F (with a low of 64°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 86°F with a low of 71°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 87°F (with a low of 67°F).
The fishing/catching was very good to excellent. Not quite a fish a cast all day but close. The fish size average was much bigger than we has seen as of late. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included fifty-seven pollock, one haddock (fourteen sub-legal haddock were returned), four cusk and one redfish. There were seventeen dogfish released. Drifting was the method. Jigs and cod flies were a must if you wanted to catch fish.
Jim Feeney (MA) was the fisherman of the day. He was high hook with the most legal fish (just shy of twenty-six legal) and he won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 15 pound pollock. Some of Jim's other good fish included an 11 pound pollock, a 10.5 pound pollock and a 10 pound cod. The largest fish of the trip was a 15.5 pound pollock caught by Kevin Holm-Hansen (VT). He did not enter the boat pool. Ken McLaughlin (ME) caught the third largest fish, a 14 pound pollock. He also caught a pollock of 10 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Chris Cole (ME) caught a 13 pound pollock, the first fish Ian could weigh. Bob Pine (NY) caught an 11.25 pound pollock, a 12 pound pollock, a 10 pound pollock and an 11 pound cod as his largest fish. He also landed the hard luck award for losing two jigs. Mark Cote (ME) caught a 13.5 pound pollock as his largest fish. Some of his other good fish included a 10.5 pound pollock, a 12 pound pollock, a 10.5 pound cod and another 12 pound pollock. Will Hubble (ME) landed an 11 pound pollock as his biggest fish. Ted Heidrich (FL) landed a 10.5 pound cod, a 12 pound cod, an 11.5 pound cod and a cod of 10.5 pounds. Ted was the cod king of the trip. Tom Atchley (TN) boated an 11.5 pound pollock, his best fish . He also caught a 10 pound pollock. Jake Pine (NY) caught a 10 pound pollock, his best fish. Wayne Statham (QC) boated a 10 pound cod. Dan Myrand (ME) landed an 11.5 pound pollock.
I had quite a few donations supporting me in my 192 mile bike ride f to help my cancer eradication cause with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Those anglers and their donations included Jake Pine (NY) who donated $25.00, Dick Lyle (PA) for $25.00, Edward LaPlante (MA) for $25.00, Charles & Linda Nickerson (ME) for a generous $250.00 and Rick & Sue Towne (NH) for a generous $100.00. Thank you all so very much for believing that this is right thing to do and the support in my quest. I really appreciate your help.
At 10:30 PM EDT the air temperature was 74°F, the wind was blowing out of the south southwest at ten knots, the sky was overcast, we had a light rain and the visibility was good in haze over the ocean.
I took the Bunny Clark out of the Perkins Cove and for the first half hour on our journey to the fishing grounds. Captain Ian Keniston took the boat from there to the grounds. The ride to the grounds was fine as the wind was not much more than ten knots and the seas were not much more than a two foot chop, if that. We encountered fog just outside the gate and all the way to the fishing grounds. The air temperature was warm and comfortable (not too warm - perfect). On the grounds, the wind blew out of the south or south southwest at fifteen with gusts to twenty knots. Seas were chops/seas of three to five feet for the most part. It was nice that the wind didn't increase until we got to the grounds. The fog stayed with us all day, giving us a visibility of less than a quarter of a mile to a mile, more late in the day and up to seven miles within twenty miles of home, on the way back to Perkins Cove. The sun broke through the fog at about 10:00 AM and remained with us until about 5:00 PM. At 6:30 PM, we went through a line of showers on the ride home. There was no wind with these and no lightning. The air temperature was perfect all day or slightly cooler than t-shirt weather. The tide was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 65.2°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 67°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 85°F with a low of 71°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 86°F (with a low of 69°F).
The fishing was good. The reasons it wasn't better than that included the large number of dogfish caught (over fifty released - too many to count), the sea conditions and the bite (plenty of fish but apathetic to eating jigs or anything). The catching of legal fish would have been fair at best had we not had the excellent anglers that we did have. Legal landings settled into the "good" category ( for the large amount of time spent fishing) with these guys. I'm privileged to have such wonderful anglers on an offshore trip like this with me. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. I specifically avoided the large schools of pollock that are starting to set up to spawn offshore. The aim was not to get large quantities of fish. But the attempt to get "special fish" came off in the "variable success" category. Our attempt to get a halibut failed when a fairly large one was lost after it inhaled Steve LaPlante's B-2 squid. On the second run the mono chaffed on the teeth of the fish and was lost. Although we found larger haddock we never did get a trophy. And we did get some white hake but they were few and residential in quality. There were very few blue sharks. We may have lost one or two jigs to them. Legal landings also included fifty pollock, twenty-six haddock, four redfish, seven cusk and six white hake for ten anglers fishing. We drift fished, used the sea anchor and anchored. Anchoring probably worked the best. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Dick Lyle (PA) was high hook with the most legal fish. There was no question there. A couple of fish of his that I weighed included a 10 pound cod and a 10.5 pound cod. Bob Nixon (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 31 pound Maine state trophy white hake. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest fish of the season to date and Bob's largest groundfish of the season so far. I took a picture of Bob with his prize. This digital image appears on the left. I believe Bob's largest cod weighed 9 pounds. Jim Feeney (MA) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 17 pound white hake. Jim's largest cod weighed 12 pounds. Jon "Griff" Griffin (MA) won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the third largest fish, a 16.5 pound white hake.
Other Angler Highlights: Bryan Lewer (FL) released ten legal cod back to the ocean alive. I don't believe he boated a cod of 10 pounds or better. His largest fish was a pollock that weighed 11.5 pounds. Yoshito Umaoka (MA) may have been second hook. Yoshito is a very successful angler. His two largest fish included an 11 pound cod and a 14.5 pound white hake. Steve LaPlante (CT) boated an 11.5 pound cod and a 10.25 pound pollock, his two best fish. Ray Westermann (MA) caught our largest haddock of the day at 6 pounds. His largest fish was a pollock that weighed 15.5 pounds. All of the other anglers caught plenty of fish for the trip but nothing of 10 pounds or better.
And then there was David MacDonald (MA) who did not have the best of days. This mainly because of a malfunction with his insulin pump. It really wasn't a malfunction. It became detached from his body. He needs it attached as he is a type 1 diabetic. Reattaching it to his body wouldn't have been a problem except that he forgot the special tools he needed to do so. Besides this, the trip in the dark to the fishing grounds didn't help his equilibrium. This complicated things. As the day progressed his blood sugar level increased with no way to bring the level down. His attempt to drink water to maintain a better liquid balance failed. The water kept coming back up with his "other" condition. As we got closer to home David's blood started to become toxic. I called an ambulance to meet us at the dock, which was waiting when we arrived. So, once in Perkins Cove, priority number one was to get him off the boat for medical attention. He spent the night in the ICU at York Hospital in York, Maine, the next town over.
The next day I combined my daily bike ride with a visit to York Hospital to see David. In my shirt pocket was the hard luck award t-shirt I didn't feel appropriate to give him during yesterday's trip. So I did this in the ICU. He was disappointed in himself. But, as Ian and I agreed later, there is no other human being that we know of who would wait so long to get medical help. His actions were unselfish because he didn't want to compromise the trip because of his health issues. Part of my reason for going to see David in the ICU was to ask him if I acted responsibly in the situation. He told me that I did - which I still have doubts about. But, not knowing his condition well enough, I was following his direction. Oh, sure, I was asking him how he was doing all the time. But I couldn't do anything for him. And I could have waited too long for medical help. I guess we didn't. And I was told that this episode will have no long term effects. At any rate, it's behind us now. Next time we will both be better prepared. Of course, I hope there is no next time like this time.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 70°F, there was no wind, the sky was overcast and the visibility was poor in fog along the shore. With the fog and the overcast skies it was dark and dreary all morning. At 10:30 AM, it started to rain. This turned into a deluge of water that lasted about an hour. It sprinkled, rained hard and stopped for the rest of the morning and long into the afternoon. Sometimes the rain would be so hard that it seemed nothing would keep you dry. At other times it was just a light sprinkle. It was all over at 5:00 PM. We had not a drop of rain after that time. The air temperature was cool (mild) during the day, warmer after 6:00 PM. The wind blew on-shore all day.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south at five to ten knots. Seas were a left over gurge of three to five footers that were a cross between a sea and a chop. It rained most of the time on the grounds. They also had thunder and lightning (which we didn't have ashore) with rain heavy at times. Most anglers weren't prepared and got soaked. The tide (current) was moderate. The visibility was fair to poor in fog. The visibility range was less than a quarter of a mile to two miles. This lasted until the Bunny Clark ended the trip in Perkins Cove. The surface water temperature reached a high of 61.6°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 72°F (with a low of 64°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 76°F with a low of 69°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 62°F).
The fishing/catching (of legal fish) was good overall. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included thirty pollock, one haddock and one cusk. Twelve sub-legal haddock were released. There were only five dogfish caught and released today. Anchoring and drift fishing were the methods. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
John Teehan (MA) was voted the high hook for the most legal fish. The crew is not completely sure but he looked to be the best of the top three. Some of his fish included an 11.25 pound pollock, a 13 pound pollock and a 13.5 pound pollock. His two largest fish were the second and third largest fish of the trip. Mark Konish (NC) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 14 pound pollock. He also caught a 12 pound cod that Ian weighed.
Other Angler Highlights: Jim Dillenbeck (NY) caught a 10.5 pound pollock, his largest fish. Helen Markham (ME) landed the hard luck award being the high hurler of the trip.
We were supposed to be running a half day trip at 4:00 PM, but all but four anglers bailed because of the weather.
My "second favorite" Democrat, Jim Sheeran (MA), donated $20.00 to help in my fund raising efforts with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. This is an 192 my cycling event to raise money with the Jimmy Fund for cancer, research mainly. Thank you so much, Jim, for your continued donations every year. I appreciate it very much and the idle banter that goes along with every donation. I wouldn't miss it for the world!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 64°F, there was no wind, the ocean was calm, the sky was overcast and the visibility was good to very good along the shore. It was overcast for the first half of the morning, mostly sunny for the second half. The afternoon was a mix of sun and clouds. The air temperature got up to 80°F but it felt nice with the humidity level down from where it had been a couple days before. There was very little wind, variable in direction in the afternoon but light from the northwest in the morning.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at five knots or less. The ocean surface was calm over long rolling sea swells of three to five feet. The air temperature was warm, the air temperature still controlled by the wind off the cooler than normal ocean surface temperature. There was very little tide (current) today. The sky was clear. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles in some haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 64.3°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 61°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 81°F with a low of 67°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 56°F).
The fishing was very good, the catching (of legal fish) was good overall. Most legal fish landed were cod. Legal landings also included three haddock (fourteen sub-legal haddock were released), thirty-five pollock and eight cusk. Twenty-two dogfish were released. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked well.
Brian Tufts (VT) was high hook with thirteen legal. He had a few more sub-legal fish than that. His largest fish did not make the 10 pound mark. Len Rosberg (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 10.5 pound pollock caught by Ralph Small (NY). Dee Aleba (NY) landed the third largest fish, a 9 pound pollock. Meghan O'Connell (MA) landed the hard luck award for getting a touch of the mal de mer.
Captain Ian Keniston and Captain Jared Keniston ran the afternoon half day (4PM - 8PM) trip. The weather at the dock was perfect, light wind, warm temperatures, sunny sky and good visibility. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south at five to eight knots, the ocean was calm with a light chop on top. The tide (current) was moderate. The air temperature was warm. The sky was sunny. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles in some haze.
The fishing was very good. The catching of legal fish was fair. Legal landings included one cod and four cusk. Anchoring and drifting were the boating methods used. Everyone used bait.
Zach Rauch (MI) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 6 pound cusk. The second largest fish was a 5.25 pound cusk caught by Raphael Silva (QC). Twelve year old Giovanni Camejo (MA) landed the third largest fish, a 5 pound cusk.
Other Angler Highlights: Natalie Serrano (MA) caught a 3.75 pound cusk, her largest fish. James Rauch (MI) caught the only legal cod. It weighed 3 pounds. Dario Silva (QC) landed the hard luck award for getting sea sick. At least there is a cure for sea sickness!
I received several donations supporting my 192 cancer cure bike ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Malcolm & Kathie Jepson (CA) gave a generous $50.00 in the form of an "egift" on line, Ralph & Eleanor Small (NY) donated another generous $50.00 and Mark Konish (NC) gave $25.00. Thank you all so very much for your help in the endeavor. I really do appreciate it!
We canceled today's trip yesterday. After last night's trip, we pulled the engine hatches to find engine coolant in the pan under the engine, too much coolant to chance taking the boat to the fishing grounds today. Skip Dunning with NEDDA (Power Products) in Portland, Maine met me at the Bunny Clark this morning at 7:00 AM to assess the situation. It was the fresh water pump.
Maybe it's because I'm not on the boat as much as I used to be. Maybe it's "older" age. Maybe I just have too much on my mind. But, for some reason, I never thought the coolant problem would be the bearing in the fresh water pump. And it's so logical. And I've had it happen in four other engines over the years. I even adapted a Perkins fresh water pump for a Mercedes OM 314 diesel engine on a 57 foot sailboat I was running down in St. Thomas in the fall of 1980 just a week after John Lennon died. And yet the thought that the leak might be coming from the fresh water pump never entered my mind. Strange.
Skip Dunning came down to the boat at 7:00 AM, as promised. Within five minutes he had figured it out. And I noticed where the leak was coming from, generally, a week earlier. We had a coolant leak last year. It turned out to be a freezer plug that let go in the side of the head over the number 2 cylinder. I guess my mind wandered in that direction. That's no excuse. And those mistakes cost money. It cost us a few trips when I could have had the pump ordered and installed between trips. Live and learn? I think I keep re-learning the same things over and over. And I'm reminded of those who don't study history being doomed to repeat it.
The rest of the day was spent working at the restaurant and going back and forth between Skip and Power Products to get a pump air freighted to Perkins Cove tomorrow morning.
After all the morning business activities that I am involved in were completed, I started working on the Bunny Clark's engine. And by this I mean I started cleaning up around and under the engine. This to get a good look and to get a jump on getting something done that I wouldn't be able to do later. You know, the day job! At 11:00 AM, Ian Keniston showed up. He was there to help Skip Dunning (Power Products) replace the water pump. A half hour later, or so, Skip Dunning (much traffic coming from Portland) showed up. As I went back to the house to change into my other work clothes, Skip started to take the old pump off the engine with Ian's help.
The seals were gone in the old pump causing it to leak coolant into the engine pan. It was a longer than normal procedure as it's a gear driven fresh water pump involving pulley's, alternators and other little time wasting procedures. We never would have finished before the evening trip which we had canceled at noon. By 4:30 PM, we were able to sea trial the Bunny Clark on a flat calm ocean. We were ready to get back to fishing at 5:00 PM. Until tomorrow!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 62°F, there was no wind, the sky was mostly clear, the ocean was calm and the visibility was very good over the ocean. The ocean stayed calm all day. It seemed like the doldrums. The air was very still. It was mostly overcast all day, similar to yesterday. The air temperature was perfect. The visibility was good or better than that.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east at about five knots most of the day. The ocean was calm. The air temperature was warm, cooler than it was ashore. The sky was overcast for the trip. There was no tide (current). The visibility ranged to six miles in fog and haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 65.0°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 56°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 72°F with a low of 61°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 78°F (with a low of 56°F).
The fishing was very good with no current, very few dogfish and nice weather. The catching of legal fish was good overall. They caught very few fish in the early part of the trip but did very well at the end. Most legal fish landed were cod. Legal landings also included twenty-two pollock, seventeen cusk, two whiting and one haddock. They drift fished for the trip. The conditions were such that there was no other method that could be used (no current). Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Bill Murphy (NH) was high hook with ten legal. His largest fish was a pollock that weighed 10 pounds. David Archambault (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 16 pound pollock. He also caught a pollock of 10.5 pounds. The second largest fish was a 14 pound pollock caught by Mike Atkins (VT). Mike also caught an 11 pound pollock. John Broome (NH) landed a 12 pound cod, the third largest fish of the trip.
Other Angler Highlights: Steve Clark (NH) caught a 10 pound pollock and an 11.5 pound pollock, his two largest fish. Kevin Miranda (MA) caught a 10.5 pound pollock. Amanda Davidson (MA) landed the hard luck award for not catching a single legal fish!
Captain Jared Keniston and Alec Levine ran the afternoon half day (4PM - 8PM) trip. At the dock, there was just a very light wind from the east, the sky was thinly overcast, the air temperature was perfect and the visibility was good at least. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew lightly out of the east. The ocean was calm. The sky was overcast. The air temperature had dropped into the mild category. The tide (current) was moderate. The visibility ranged to twelve miles.
The fishing was excellent. There was no physical reason (including dogfish) to keep anglers away from getting their best chance to hook a fish. Unfortunately, the catching of legal fish was poor. In fact, the only legal fish caught this evening were squirrel hake, two of them. Sub-legal fish included a redfish, a cod and a sculpin (sculpins are legal to keep, most anglers don't). They drift fished all evening. Everyone used bait.
Garett Van Schaick (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a sub-legal cod weighing 1.25 pounds. He also caught a 1 pound squirrel hake, the second largest fish of the trip. David Darnell (CA) caught the third and fourth largest fish. These fish included squirrel hake weighing .5 pounds and a .25 pound redfish. Aaron Rice (MA) landed the hard luck award t-shirt for the most tangled lines.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 58°F, the wind was light out of the northeast, the bell buoy could be heard plainly, the sky was nearly cloudless, a sliver of a moon was hanging over head and the visibility was very good over the ocean. It was a beautiful sunny day ashore today with very few clouds and perfect temperatures hovering around the 75°F mark. We saw some fog roll in unexpectedly at 4:30 PM. But it never bothered before then and it didn't really settle in the Cove. The visibility was good until then. There was barely a breath of wind all day. The ocean remained flat calm.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northeast at five to ten knots with seas in chops of a foot to flat calm over a rolling sea swell of about two feet. What wind there was in the afternoon was blowing out of the east. The sky was overcast all day (the system off shore just reaching the fishing grounds but no closer than that). The tide (current) was moderate. The visibility ranged from three to five miles in the morning to a quarter of a mile to a mile in fog in the afternoon. The surface water temperature reached a high of 65.0°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 54°F). In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 73°F with a low of 61°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 51°F).
The fishing was excellent. The catching of legal fish was good and steady all day. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included thirty-eight pollock, six haddock, four cusk, five mackerel, three herring and two cunners. They released four dogfish and one wolffish back to the ocean alive. Drifting was the method. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Paul Dvoretsky (ME) was probably high hook with the most legal fish. Some of his better ones included a 10.5 pound pollock, a 10 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock. Barbara Austin (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 16 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 12 pound pollock caught by Andrew Park (NJ). Shane Park (NJ) caught the third largest fish, an 11.5 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Our own Sarah Cannon (ME - she is one of our best waitresses at Barnacle Billy's, Etc.) landed the hard luck award for catching nary a single legal fish. Oh, she caught a few small ones. But she didn't put one in the boat. In fact, she was the only angler aboard who didn't catch a legal fish. Ouch!
I received a $25.00 donation from "Birthday Boy", Ralph Trotto (MA), two days ago supporting my cancer fund raising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Ralph donates every year, mostly to add to his collection of PMC t-shirts that I have made up, a different one, every year. And each year the shirts represent a different motif. Thank you, Ralph, whatever the reason. I appreciate the support!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, there was no wind, the ocean was glass calm, the sky was mostly clear, a sliver of a moon was hanging eastern horizon and the visibility was very good over the ocean. More later.
