Bunny Clark Fishing Update

Monday, April 8, 2013

At 2:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 41°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the south southwest at fifteen knots or less and the visibility was excellent. The run to the fishing grounds was not uncomfortable. We were going into a left over four foot sea (approximately) from the south as we were heading south. I cut her back just a little from full cruise. And that was all we needed. We even had anglers sitting aft of the canopy top without oilskins (no spray). We had a ten knot or better southerly wind that hauled out of the southwest at around 7:00 AM on the fishing grounds. Wind speeds, again, were about ten knots or better with a one to two foot chop. By mid morning the wind hauled out of the west and died out. By noon, there was no wind and the ocean was flat calm. And the air temperature had to have increased twenty degrees at that time. Ian Keniston was filleting fish in a t-shirt. Until that time, the air temperature had been in the mid 40s. The sky was clear all day. The visibility was just shy of excellent. A light southerly wind chased us home with a lazy chop that might have measured a half a foot. The surface water temperature ranged from 39.4°F to 43.3°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 35°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 63°F (with a low of 46°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 63°F (with a low of 29°F) today.

The fishing was good to very good all day. The catching of legal fish was terrible all morning. We caught plenty of cod and would have had probably forty legal fish had we been able to keep cod over 19 inches. By noon, we had one legal haddock (3 pounds), one legal pollock (6 pounds), a 4 pound cusk and a mackerel. I was headed to another spot about four miles away. With 2.7 miles to my destination, I ran over a school of mackerel (on the sounding machine) associated with some haddock. We took a drift and picked up fifteen legal haddock and twelve sub-legal haddock. When the drift ended, I headed back to the spot and anchored on it. We stayed there for the rest of the day. For everyone but the two anglers on the bow, it was a fish a cast for the rest of the day until we hauled the anchor to head in. Most legal fish landed were haddock. We released another thirty or so cod that we could have kept had it been April 16. We also released eighty-five haddock under eighteen inches. But we had many more legal haddock than we had sub-legal haddock. Most anglers used bait. Those with jigs also did well but not as well as those with bait.

Ron Van Baaren (NY) was high hook with many legal haddock. His largest cod weighed 6 pounds. His largest haddock weighed 5.5 pounds. Dennis Boisvert (NH) tied for the boat pool for the largest fish with Rodney Cronin (NH). They both caught a 7 pound cod each, the two largest fish of the trip. Dennis also caught the third largest fish of the trip, a 6.75 pound haddock. This is also the largest haddock of the Bunny Clark fishing season so far. Dennis also caught a 6 pound haddock and a 5 pound haddock.

Other Angler Highlights: Frank Noble (ME) caught the first legal fish of the Bunny Clark fishing season in the morning, a 3 pound haddock. He was in the bow pulpit when he caught it. And, as tradition mandates, I took a picture of him with his first fish. The digital image appears on the upper left of this entry. Gary Bertone (MA) landed a 4.5 pound haddock and a 5.5 pound haddock. He caught two other haddock over 5 pounds but I didn't weigh them. Steve P. Sharpe (NH) landed a 5 pound haddock and a 5.5 pound haddock, his two best fish. John Baker (ME) caught the first legal pollock of the Bunny Clark fishing season today. It weighed 6 pounds and led the boat pool for most of the day. A digital image of John with his pollock appears on the right. Steve T. Sharpe (NH) caught a 5 pound cod, his largest fish. Adam Cross (ME) caught a 5 pound haddock, his largest fish of the trip. Celinar Perez (NY) landed the only cusk today at 4 pounds. She also landed the hard luck award t-shirt for getting the most tangled lines. And she caught a lot of haddock and the most sub-legal cod of the morning's fishing. I probably should have given the shirt to "Haddock" Jack Brouse (NH) who had a very slow morning (for him) and lost the biggest haddock (biggest fish) of the day right on the surface! Jack went from hero to zero between the time that he had the fish on the surface to the time he tried to lift the fish and lost it over the side. There's always next time, H.J.!

I received several donations helping this season's cancer fund raising efforts, my efforts, with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Dennis Boisvert gave $45.00, Celinar Peréz contributed $20.00, John Baker gave $20.00, Steve P. Sharpe donated $20.00 and Ron Van Baaren gave $20.00. Thank you all so very much for your contributions and support. It really means a great deal to me and to those suffering with the disease.

I need your help, badly:

Tuesday is the last day that comments will be heard about opening up the closed areas to commercial dragging (trawling). I would really appreciate it if concerned individuals would voice their opinions on opening these areas and say no to the outcome of having them opened. We can't keep taking spawning fish and expect New England's groundfish to recover. In fact, at this time, there are no recovering or recovered groundfish stocks. Some are showing the signs. But all this will be severely undermined by opening parts of the closed areas to commercial fishing, particularly dragging.

Your comments should really focus on keeping the closed areas closed. I am concerned with the Western GOM closure and the Cashes closure mostly but all the closed areas (including Georges Bank) should be addressed. The basic message is: the fish are in worse shape than the scientists are estimating. Few if any large females are being caught. These areas are providing important productivity benefits to cod, haddock, pollock, hake and flounders. The limited access that has been allowed through the special access programs or the scallop rotational access has not completely impaired these functions in these areas. The economic benefits that have been estimated for these access proposals are at best small and potentially significantly negative for the long term. Nothing should be changed until the comprehensive environmental review that is being done under the Omnibus Habitat Amendment is completed and through the public comment and approval process. Too much at risk at this critical time.

People should reference Framework 48 and “NOAA-NMFS-2013-0050” at the top of their comments. They can get them in by any of these methods:

1. On line at www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013-0050 and follow instructions

2. Fax to 978-281-9135 to attn of Melissa Hooper

They can also be mailed to John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator, NMFS, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930 but they need to get there by Tuesday so that is not reliable unless they are dropped off physically.

You should absolutely encourage others to encourage others—if each person calls or emails 5 others, the word can get out quickly. Numbers matter.

This is a really important thing to do if you are interested in bringing the groundfish stocks up to sustainable levels. This alone won't do it, of course. But if access into the closed areas is allowed by big commercial enterprises, the fish stocks may never recover in our life time - certainly not mine. I want to see a sustainable fishery for commercial and recreational interests. Opening up any of the closed areas is not in the long term best interest of anyone. It's more like killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Please, help if you can. Thanks so much.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 44°F, the sky was overcast, there was very little wind (if any), the ocean was calm and the visibility was excellent. It started to rain before 6:00 AM. But, without the wind, the rain came pouring straight down. Fred Kunz called me from his car at 5:15 AM as he was going to work and was caught in a thunder shower just outside of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southeast in the morning at five to ten knots. Seas were two to four feet. There really was no chop. The afternoon, the wind hauled out of the northwest and blew at about five to ten knots. Same seas. A few miles off shore headed back to Perkins Cove, the northwest wind was stronger and chops were about two feet. The sky was overcast all day except right at the end of the trip. The air temperature was mild. There was no visibility in the morning (fog). The fog lifted late morning and improved to a quarter of a mile. The afternoon provided three or more miles in visibility. The surface water temperature reached a high of 41.5°F. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 52°F (with a low of 42°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 73°F (with a low of 45°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 63°F (with a low of 42°F) today.

The fishing was very good to excellent all day. Most legal fish landed were haddock. And there were less sub-legal haddock than there were on yesterday's trip. Legal landings also included nine pollock, one redfish and one wolffish (about 6 pounds) that was released back to the ocean alive. They drift fished and anchored. Both had merits. All terminal gear worked well today.

Steve Shugars (ME) was high hook. He also had the most haddock with a count of twenty-four. He released eight legal cod (twenty-one inches and up) back to the ocean alive - we won't be allowed to keep cod until April 16. His largest haddock weighed 3.5 pounds. Nick Marchant (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 7.5 pound pollock. That's him with the pool fish in the digital image on the left, taken by Captain Ian. Nick's two other good fish included a 6 pound pollock and a 5 pound haddock. The pollock was the third largest fish of the trip. Josh Brown (ME) caught the second largest fish, a 6.5 pound cod that was released back alive.

Other Angler Highlights: Joey Landry (ME) caught a 4 pound haddock, his nicest fish. Charlie Coleman (ME) couldn't balance his equilibrium with the existing ocean weather state. He was presented with the hard luck award t-shirt at the end of the trip. He wore it when I met the boat at the dock at the end of the trip. He certainly looked sharp in that signal green shirt!

Steve & Stacy Shugars did me a solid today by donating a generous $100.00 to my cancer fund raising Pan-Mass Challenge bicycle ride coming up the first weekend in August. I've always appreciated Steve as a customer - it doesn't hurt that he's an excellent fisherman. But both Steve and Stacy have always supported me in my cancer fund raising efforts. Thanks so much. I do appreciate your help!

We have been having steering difficulties since the Bunny Clark was launched this year. The steering was getting bad on Monday but today it was terrible. I was able to get Dave Pease and Vic Togliatti down to the boat when she came in at 5:00 PM. By 7:00 PM, they had taken the old helm unit out and replaced it with a new one that I keep up at the house for just these kinds of situations.

Also, if you responded to my plea of help yesterday, thank you very much. We are doing a rather poor job of managing the groundfish stocks in New England. Someone has to have some common sense and realize that it isn't global warming or fish migration to Iceland that is decreasing the stocks of groundfish in our waters. It's our inability to cope with vast technological advances in commercial fishing/recreational fishing activity in New England. The fishing grounds have become contracted because of what we know. And we, the fishermen, don't know enough to slow down on the catching. I know that sounds very negative. But I am worried about the future of our fishery and about our kids being able to have a healthy fishery in the future. Anyone who thinks there are plenty of fish in New England waters just isn't old enough to realize what it can be. At the very least we need closed areas.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 44°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining (the rain started falling at 2:30 AM), there was no wind, the ocean was calm and the visibility was fair or better than that in precipitation and haze (fog?). There was no wind to speak of all day long. When there was a slight breeze it was on-shore. It stopped raining a bit earlier than mid daylight morning. The sky remained overcast all day. Right around 8:00 PM, it started raining again. It rained on into the night. The air temperature got up to at least 48°F in Ogunquit. The visibility after mid morning was very good at least. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 55°F (with a low of 42°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 54°F (with a low of 45°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 60°F (with a low of 43°F) today.

The early part of the morning was consumed with Bunny Clark stuff (the fishing report, picking up the new Coast Pilot at Jackson's Hardware, shipping the old helm unit to Rose Marine (Gloucester) to be rebuilt and changing a fuel filter on the Bunny Clark). The rest of the morning was spent on Barnacle Billy's stuff, a lot of stuff. By the time I got home, showered and got back to Barnacle Billy's, it was 1:00 PM. I worked my regular shift until 4:30 PM and called it a day after that.

The business was very slow today. And normally I would have been on a marathon trip. So I took advantage of an early night out and picked up the Maine Coast Cycling Club's ride out of Sanford Airport at 5:45 PM. We rode until 8:00 PM. At 8:05 PM it started to pour rain. Not a drop of rain had fallen on the ride. Two minutes after I got into the truck to drive home it started to rain. Lucky. Sometimes you have to be to get by. I rely on it a lot.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 45°F, the sky was overcast, the streets were dry, the wind was very light from the northeast, the ocean was calm and the visibility was very good at least. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east northeast at five to ten knots or more with seas in chops of a foot or two. [Ashore, the wind blew out of the northeast up to ten or more knots in the morning but was light and variable in direction during the afternoon.] The sky was overcast most of the day and fully overcast (and raining) when the Bunny Clark arrived back in Perkins Cove. The visibility was very good all day (ten miles or better). The air temperature was mild. The surface water temperature reached a high of 41.2°F. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 53°F (with a low of 40°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 49°F (with a low of 42°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 48°F (with a low of 38°F) today.

The fishing was very good but the catching of legal fish was good overall. Most legal fish landed were haddock. But they caught and released almost as many cod that would have been legal had the cod season been open today. Legal landings also included three pollock and six redfish. They anchored and drift fished. Anchoring caught the most fish. All terminal gear worked well.

Chris Leach (NY) was high hook with the most legal fish and cod that would have been legal on a different day. His keeper haddock count was ten fish. Tom Murphy (VT), a former haddock killer, won the boat pool for the largest fish with the two largest fish. One was a cod that weighed 6.75 pounds. The other was a haddock of the same weight. This is a tie for the largest haddock of the Bunny Clark fishing season so far. Joe Post (MA) caught the third largest fish, a 5.5 pound haddock. Rob Bennett (NY) landed the hard luck award for getting the most tangled lines.

Dawn Beckwith (ME) donated a generous $100.00 via egift (on line at www.pmc.org) to help me with my cancer fund raising drive. This with the Pan-Mass Challenge, an 192 mile cycling event with the Jimmy Fund. Dawn has supported me every year since I started this event. And she is such a peach for doing so. I appreciate your help very much, Dawn. Thanks a lot!

Friday, April 12, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 37°F, the sky was overcast, it was spitting rain, the wind was blowing from the northeast at twenty knots and the visibility was good over the ocean. It was a miserable day overall. It didn't blow as hard as they said it would along the shore (twenty knots or more out of the northeast). But offshore, where we would be fishing, it blew a little harder and seas were two feet larger (seven feet every six or seven seconds on average). However, it was the cold that got to most people along the coast. The air temperature actually dropped a few degrees during the afternoon to maintain about 35°F or a degree less. I couldn't tell you what the high temperature reading was in Ogunquit today - but it was highest during the morning. It rained in the early part of the morning, stopped with an overcast sky until noon and then started raining/sleeting/snowing. It poured during the mid afternoon. Drizzle and light rain was the scene after sunset. The visibility was good during the day but fair in fog/haze after sunset. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 39°F (with a low of 34°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 43°F (with a low of 38°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 40°F (with a low of 31°F) today.

I spent the morning working at the desk and on Barnacle Billy's restaurant stuff. I went in to work at Barnacle Billy's at noon. I stayed until 6:00 PM. Business was better than yesterday (any day could have been) but not nearly as good as it was on the same Friday last year. It was a miserable day but the fires were nice in the dining room. I had dinner at 7:00 PM, took a short nap and then drove off to pick up bait at 10:00 PM. I was done packing bait away at midnight.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 35°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining and snowing lightly, the wind was blowing from the northeast at twenty plus knots and the visibility was good over the ocean. The rain/snow stopped well before sunrise. There was no more precipitation for the rest of the day until Yale scored their second goal sometime around 9:00 PM. The heavens were already crying for Quinnipiac! After 5:00 AM, the wind dropped off quickly. It hauled out of the north around 6:00 AM and was barely blowing ten knots by 9:00 AM. The rest of the day the wind was light and variable in direction. At sunrise, the seas along the shore were a solid ten feet or better. Seas diminished to about six feet by noon but were still giving us a good show when running up on the rocks along the shore. The air temperature was mild all day. The visibility was very good at least. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 48°F (with a low of 33°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 51°F (with a low of 36°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 51°F (with a low of 32°F) today.

Today was a routine Barnacle Billy's day. I did Bunny Clark stuff most of the morning. At noon, I went into work at Barnacle Billy's restaurant. I left for the evening around 9:00 PM.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 40°F, the sky was overcast, the roads were dry, the wind was light out of the west southwest and the visibility was excellent. The day was mostly cloudy with very occasional rain showers. You could see the rain showers in different places over the ocean headed off shore. It rained a bit before 8:00 AM. Again, light and intermittent. We saw no rain again until 11:30 AM, when a light rain shower showed up long enough to get the roads wet. The afternoon was mostly sunny. It was a cool day overall with high temperatures up to 51°F at least. The wind blew out of the west up to fifteen knots or more on land.

On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west northwest at five knots mostly, in the morning. They had one ten minute period with ten knots. The afternoon was flat calm with no wind. The wind never reached off the land for more than three miles out to sea. The sky was mostly overcast as it was ashore. The most sun was seen in the afternoon. The air temperature was mild with a cool breeze when there was wind. There was a one foot chop at most. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 41.0°F. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 50°F (with a low of 39°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 55°F (with a low of 42°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 54°F (with a low of 28°F) today.

The fishing/catching was good overall. No better than that. The surprise of the day was the number of dogfish that were caught and released. Forty-five or more of the green eyed little demons! This is the most dogfish I have ever heard of catching in April on the Bunny Clark. And not the kind of record I am happy about. Apparently, other party fishing boats were catching many more dogfish. Yikes. Other than dogs, the most legal fish caught today were haddock. If you could have kept cod, those numbers would have been greater than the haddock count. Most of these cod were between nineteen and twenty-three inches (or 2.5 to 4 pounds). Legal landings also included seven pollock, twenty-four redfish and one cusk. There was no drift for most of the day. For this reason alone, it would have been hard to get out of the "good" category for catching. But the good thing about a lack of movement is that you don't have to spend time with the anchor. So they covered a lot of territory today. All terminal gear worked about the same.

Ray Washburn (VT) was high hook with over nine haddock and a greater number of "would be" keeper cod. I'm not sure if he caught any redfish or not. But no one caught as many fish as Ray did. Ray's largest haddock weighed 4 pounds. John Russell (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 7.5 pound pollock. His second largest fish was a pollock of 6 pounds. Buzz Leonard (ME) and Dave Woskie (MA) tied for the second largest fish of the trip. Both Buzz and Dave caught pollock of 7 pounds each.

Other Angler Highlights: Bruce Hart (CT) caught a 6 pound cod, his largest fish. His largest haddock weighed 4.25 pounds. This was the largest haddock of the trip. Troy Tandy (NH) landed the hardest luck of the day award for landing the most dogfish - in early April, no less. Ouch!

I received three generous contributions to myPan-Mass Challenge cancer fund raising event today. Buzz Leonard donated $60.00, John Russell gave $55.00 and Ray Washburn gave me a crisp $50.00 dollar bill. Thank you all so very much. This helps a great deal and I appreciate your support!!!!!

I rode with the Maine Coast Cycling Club group ride in Kennebunkport. There were two groups that rode today, a faster and a slower one. I ended up completing about thirty-seven miles. The rest of the day was spent at Barnacle Billy's restaurant. After last years start, the air temperature seemed cold with not as much activity. It was nice sitting in front of one of the two fire places that have been blazing non-stop since we have been open.

Boston Marathon, Monday, April 15, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 34°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the northwest and the visibility was excellent. It turned out to be a beautiful spring day with sunny skies and cool to mild temperatures. The temperature dipped to 33°F at 6:30 AM but was up to 46°F by 9:00 AM. The air temperature did get up to the low 50s but felt even warmer in the sun and out of the wind. The wind, although northwest in the morning, hauled out of the east and southeast before noon. By early afternoon, the wind was blowing out of the southwest along the shore. We had winds up to fifteen knots. Eight or nine miles off shore, winds were fairly light and variable, a very different wind day outside. The visibility was excellent. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 51°F (with a low of 31°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 49°F (with a low of 38°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 59°F (with a low of 25°F) today.

I spent most of my time at Barnacle Billy's restaurant today.

There were no record times set at today's Boston Marathon. In fact, the times were quite slow as compared to other years. And the U. S. runners didn't do as well as I thought they might. But, of course, the worst part about the event was the devastation from bombs exploding after the four hour mark in the race, the time when the majority of runners start coming to the finish line. My running friend, John Mixon, was twenty-five yards from the blast near Marathon Sports when it happened. The concussion from the blast blew out the window at my friend, Colin Petty's, store (Marathon Sports) on Boylston Street. And it pushed John Mixon into others and damaged his ears. John was actually the first responder until the EMTs showed up and kicked him out. We were texting back and forth until they shut down all the cellular service in the city. So I didn't get all the gory details. Nor did I really want to hear them. A senseless tragedy for no pertinent reason.

Tuesday, Cod Season Begins, April 16, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 40°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the south at twelve to fifteen knots and the visibility was excellent. The wind blew out of the south all day. The wind velocity started about at about ten knots and gradually increased until we had gusts to over thirty knots at around 6:00 PM. The wind decreased gradually after 6:00 PM. The clouds moved in after noon and became overcast late in the day. We even had a light sprinkle of rain around 6:30 PM. It might have rained lightly after that but it wasn't sustained. The air temperature was cool along the coast (I never did see a thermometer). The visibility was good over the ocean in some haze. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 57°F (with a low of 37°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 64°F (with a low of 39°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 68°F (with a low of 37°F) today.

\ I spent the day working at Barnacle Billy's restaurant, mostly in the office.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was mostly cloudy, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at twelve to fifteen knots and the visibility was excellent. The wind hauled out of the northwest at fifteen knots or more, the sky cleared and chops were about two to three feet in a following sea on the way to the fishing grounds. On the grounds, the wind had dropped off somewhat. The northwest wind came on again after we had been there for an hour, probably fifteen knots or better. This wind died out to just about nothing around noon. We had calm seas for a while until the wind hauled out of the south. We had very light southerly wind for the rest of the trip and for the ride home. The skies remained clear for the day. The air temperature was cool in the early morning (low 40s), mild most of the morning and warm when the wind died. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature ranged from 41.5°F to 44.5°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 63°F (with a low of 43°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 66°F (with a low of 47°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 64°F (with a low of 35°F) today.

The fishing was excellent today but the catching was good at best. Most of the day was a pick. We had three very slow spots and one very good spot that helped greatly near the end of the trip. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. Legal landings also included thirty-three cod, eighteen redfish and four cusk. We released four wolffish and one 2.5 pound halibut, our first halibut of the Bunny Clark fishing season. We drift fished and anchored (it wasn't a day for the sea anchor). Probably most legal fish were boated while on anchor. All terminal gear worked about the same.

Justin Philbrick (NH) and John Baron (MA) tied for high hook with about seventeen legal fish each. John won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 6.25 pound cod. He also boated our biggest haddock of the day at 5.75 pounds. And he caught our first halibut of the Bunny Clark fishing season, a previously mentioned 2.5 pounder. This is the first Atlantic halibut he has ever caught. But he has caught quite a few halibut in Alaska. Not to take away from John's fishing prowess, but I have heard that anyone can catch a halibut in Alaska! Anyway, the halibut was released back into the ocean alive completely unscathed. A picture of John and his flatfish appears on the left (taken with my iPhone). Guy Hesketh (CT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 7.25 pound wolffish. His largest cod weighed 5.5 pounds. The third largest fish was a 6 pound cod caught by Tony Palumbo (MA).

Other Angler Highlights: Jackie Paskal (ME) caught nine legal haddock. Her largest one weighed 5 pounds. She had another I weighed that was a 4 pounder. And she might have had a couple other bigger ones I didn't weigh. Nick Palumbo (MA) caught a 4.5 pound cod, the largest fish that he caught today. Nine (almost ten) year old Trever Johnson (MA) landed the hard luck award for being the sole (soul) hurler.

I had an outpouring of support today for my cancer fund raising efforts with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Nine year old Trever Johnson started out the day by donating $50.00 of (I'm assuming) his savings, Tony Grotton (ME) gave $10.00, John Baron contributed $20.00, I received an anonymous donation of $10.00 and a very generous donation of $250.00 from Mark & Maureen LaRocca (NY). Thank you all so very much for your help with this. It's something that is very tangible in all the vast improvements they have made in cancer research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. And, of course, I truly believe in the positive efforts of the Jimmy Fund. I truly appreciate this support.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 34°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind, the ocean was calm and the visibility was excellent. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east at five knots all morning. After noon, the wind hauled out of the southeast and blew up to ten knots or more. The sky was sunny in the morning/early afternoon, overcast during the late afternoon. Seas were chops of two feet (more or less) with the strongest wind. The air temperature was mild. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 42.2°F. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 49°F (with a low of 32°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 63°F (with a low of 45°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 63°F (with a low of 28°F) today.

The fishing and catching was very good overall, excellent on the first stop, slower for the last two stops. This was the second best trip of the season for numbers of fish. Only the first marathon trip had more. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included twenty-eight haddock, twenty pollock, thirty-one redfish and four cusk. They released six dogfish back to the ocean alive. They drift fished for most of the day. They anchored once. All terminal gear worked well.

Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. His son, Ryan Keniston, had over twenty legal. But upon asking him, he told me that others had just as many. But he was stoked when I talked to him at the dock. Mark LaRocca (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 12 pound pollock. This is the largest fish that has been caught on the Bunny Clark this season to date. Ian took a picture of Mark with his fish. This digital image appears on the right. The second largest fish was an 11.5 pound pollock caught by Bob Bowie (ME). The third largest fish was a 9 pound pollock caught by Ken Lang (MA). All three fish are presently the largest fish that have been caught on the Bunny Clark this year so far.

Other Angler Highlights: Sean Murphy (MA) caught a 7 pound pollock, the first fish that Captain Ian weighed. Matt Dingle (ME) landed the hard luck award for losing the most jigs of the trip with a count of two.

I received a nice donation of $20.00 from Steve Murphy (MA) helping me with my cancer fund raising strategy with the Pan-Mass Challenge at the dock today. Thanks, Steve. It wasn't like the old days today but only because I wasn't aboard to abuse you!

Friday, April 19, 2013

At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 48°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the south at fifteen knots (at most), the roads were dry and the visibility was good to very good in some haze. When we left the dock to head for the fishing grounds, the wind was blowing out of the south at eighteen knots. Seas were three or four feet in long chops. Ten miles out we ran into fog. The fog stayed with us all the way to the grounds, on the fishing grounds all day and didn't leave us until we were ten miles from the fishing grounds on the ride back to Perkins Cove. When we arrived on the grounds in the morning, the wind was blowing out of the south at eight knots with barely a chop over a left over three or four foot rolling swell (old chop). Sometime during the morning the wind hauled out of the south southeast. Wind speeds were five to ten knots mostly. The wind velocity did pick up to fifteen knots or greater at the fishing days end. But it actually, dropped a bit on the ride home. Still, seas had built to three feet in chops. We saw the sun sometime after 9:00 AM through the fog. We had overcast skies at the same time we lost the fog on the ride home. At that time the visibility had improved from a couple hundred yards or less to fifteen miles. The air temperature was mild/cool in the morning and mild/warm in the afternoon. [The air temperature ashore in Ogunquit reached 70°F.] The highest surface water temperature I observed on the fishing grounds was 42.2°F. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 65°F (with a low of 46°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 75°F (with a low of 53°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 50°F) today.

The fishing and the catching of legal fish was very good bordering on excellent, our best trip of the season to date. Most legal fish landed were cod (all over 21 inches). Legal landings also included the most redfish I have seen in a while (we were not targeting redfish - believe me!), the most pollock we have seen this year to date, eleven haddock (we never did fish any haddock bottom) and twelve cusk. We released seven dogfish, seven sea ravens and two wolffish. We drift fished for the trip except for the last stop. All terminal gear worked very well or better than that.

I could not tell you who was high hook today. There was no way in hell I was ever going to find out. I started to mention it to Ian about counting fillets just for curiosities sake. But he gave me "the look" and I figured it was just as well. Bob Pedro (CT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 17 pound cod. This is the largest cod of the Bunny Clark fishing season so far and the largest fish caught on the Bunny Clark this season. I took a picture of Bob with his nice cod. The digital image appears on the left. Bob's largest pollock weighed 7 pounds. Bob's brother, Chuck Pedro (the charter master), won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, an 11 pound cod. Pat Allen (CT) caught the third largest fish, a 10.25 pound pollock. Pat caught this fish as part of a double keeper catch with another pollock of 10 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. Pat also caught a 7 pound pollock.

Other Angler Highlights: Randy Courtemanche, Jr. (MA) boated the largest cusk weighing in at 7.25 pounds. His largest cod was a 6 pounder. Mark Reed (CT) caught a cusk of 5.75 pounds. Dave West (CT) caught three nice pollock weighing 6.25 pounds, 7.5 pounds and 8 pounds. John Finn (CT) caught a pollock just shy of 10.25 pounds. And Mr. Finn also lost the biggest fish of the day (He tried to tell me he had the bottom. Tisk tisk!). John Hijeck (CT) landed a 7.5 pound cod. Dave Ferrari (CT) boated a pollock of 9.75 pounds, his largest fish. He was the only angler to lose a jig today. Al Thibodeau (CT) landed a double keeper catch that included a 9 pound pollock and an 8 pound pollock. Joe Duquette (CT) boated the biggest haddock at 5.5 pounds. Craig Pedro (CT), Bob & Chuck's brother, landed the hard luck award for attaining high hurler status. The only other angler on the boat who even felt queazy was Chuck!

I received three donations supporting my cancer fund raising with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Bob Pedro gave $20.00, Richard O'Connor (MA) gave a generous $100.00 and Pat Allen donated $20.00. Thank you all very much for your support. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 53°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining steady, the wind was blowing out of the west at ten knots and the visibility was good to very good in precipitation. The rain stopped in Ogunquit some time around 9:00 AM and never rained again. On the fishing grounds, the wind was light from the west. Maximum wind speeds were no higher than ten knots, mostly about five knots. Seas were swells of three to five feet with a light chop on top. The air temperature was mild. The sky was mostly overcast with a glimpse of the sun now and again. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 42.2°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 57°F (with a low of 41°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 65°F (with a low of 44°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 62°F (with a low of 37°F) today.

The fishing/catching was good to very good overall. Most legal fish landed were cod and haddock, an equal number of each. Again, most fish were small (the theme this spring). Legal landings also included sixteen pollock, nine redfish and one cusk. There were five dogfish released. They anchored and drift fished. Both had their opportune times. Jigs, flies and bait all worked equally well.

Ray Clark (VT) was the fisherman of the day. He was high hook with a figure over sixteen for legal fish and he won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 8 pound pollock. Ray also caught the second largest fish, a 7 pound pollock. The third largest fish was a 6 pound cod caught by Marty Latulippe (VT).

Other Angler Highlights: Jim Bolen (ME) landed the largest haddock at 5.25 pounds. His son, Ben Bolen (NH), caught the second largest haddock of the trip at 5 pounds. Paula Cole (NY) landed the hard luck award for not being able to cope with the motion of the ocean.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 34°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at fifteen knots plus and the visibility was excellent. Ashore, it was cool all day long. I never did look at the thermometer but the high couldn't have gotten out of the 40s. The sky was clear (cloudless at times), the wind was blowing out of the northwest up to twenty knots, died out and then hauled out of the southwest in the afternoon. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at five to ten knots. The ocean was fairly calm over two to four foot rolling swells in the morning and one to two foot swells in the afternoon. The wind hauled out of the southwest when they were almost back to Perkins Cove. The air temperature was mild. The sky was clear and sunny all day. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 42.0°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 52°F (with a low of 31°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 50°F (with a low of 37°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 52°F (with a low of 34°F) today.

The fishing was very good. The catching of legal fish was fair to good. At times it was just a pick. At other times it was steady. In the end they caught quite a few legal small fish. Most legal fish landed haddock, by far. Legal landings also included twelve cod, thirteen pollock, thirty-six redfish and three cusk. They released one wolffish, four dogfish, three sea ravens and two sculpins. They drift fished and anchored. All terminal gear worked well.

Mike Usilton (PA) was high hook with sixteen legal fish. He also caught the most legal haddock with a count of twelve. His largest fish was a 5.5 pound haddock, the third largest fish of the trip. Jim Donnelly (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 8.5 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 6.25 pound haddock caught by Joe Saracina (ME). Tim LaBombard (NH) landed the hard luck award today. He was the high hurler of the trip.

I received four solid donations supporting my cancer fund raising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. These wonderful anglers and their donations are as follows: Joe LaBombard (NH) for $40.00, Jim A. Hall (ME) for $20.00, Ray Washburn (VT) for another generous $50.00 (he's up to $100.00 so far - thanks!) and Dave & Rebecca Symes (ME) - they support me every year - for $50.00. Thank you all so much for making my day! I appreciate the help you give me (not really me) for such a worthy cause. It just means a lot. Thanks again.

Monday, April 22, 2013

At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 33°F, the sky was overcast, the roads were dry, the wind was light out of the east and the visibility was excellent. When we poked our nose out of the gate, the wind had piped up to fifteen knots out of the northeast, maybe more. And it was sloppier than I had expected as well. It was dark so I couldn't judge. However, about ten miles out, the wind backed off and the seas dropped. At first light we had a one to two foot chop with a northeast wind of ten to fifteen knots, maybe less. The average wind speed was fifteen knots for the day (more or less). The wind started out of the northeast and ended out of the east northeast. And it pumped all day. One minute it looked like it was going to air on, the next minute it looked like it was going to die out. Seas were two to four feet in some kind of a chop/sea combo. The sky was sunny all day. The air temperature was cool. The visibility was excellent. The highest surface water temperature I observed on the fishing grounds was 42.2°F. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 47°F (with a low of 31°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 49°F (with a low of 36°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 53°F (with a low of 24°F) today.

The fishing was excellent today; the lines tended perfectly on every spot. For total poundage I would give the day a "good" rating (the fish were smaller than normal). For numbers of legal fish landed it was very good, excellent (a fish a cast) on the second stop of the day. It was our second best trip of the fishing season to date. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. The next two most prevalent species included redfish and pollock, in that order. There were also thirty-five legal haddock and five cusk caught. We released eight dogfish, four sea ravens and two sculpins. Drifting, anchoring and using the sea anchor were the methods employed. We were most successful with the anchor in the morning and the sea anchor in the afternoon. Actually, this was the only trip this year that we have had (fishing) success on the sea anchor. Had we not had it this afternoon we would not have been nearly as successful overall. All terminal gear worked well but bait caught the most haddock and flies caught the most pollock.

I could not tell you who was high hook today. It could have been Steve Selmer (NH/ME), Dan Bailey (NY), Marc Bellaud (MA), Cindy Aubin (NY) or Keith Aubin (NY). It would have been, and was, too hard to tell. Cindy won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a pollock of 10.5 pounds. Some of her other fish included a 9.5 pound pollock, the third largest fish of the trip, an 8 pound pollock and a double keeper catch that included a 7 pound cod and an 8.5 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. Dan Bailey (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 10 pound pollock. He caught this pollock as part of a double keeper catch with another pollock of 8 pounds. I also weighed a 7.5 pound pollock and a 6.25 pound pollock for Dan earlier in the trip.

Other Angler Highlights: Joe Dressner (NY) caught a 5.75 pound cod and a 5 pound pollock in the first half hour of the day. Jack Young (PA) caught a 6.25 pound pollock around that same time. And Jack lost a really big haddock right on the surface, the last legal fish to be pulled from the bottom on this day. He really needed a hug but I didn't want to give him the wrong impression by doing so! Guy Hesketh (CT) landed twenty legal. He too caught a double keeper catch worth weighing. His fish were both pollock of 8 pounds each - bookends! Some of his other fish included two pollock of 7.25 pounds and an 8.25 pound pollock. Kelly Caldwell (NJ) landed an 8.25 pound pollock, her largest fish. She also caught a 5 pound haddock. Ty Kashmiry (ME) caught an 8 pound pollock and a 7 pound pollock, his two largest fish. Mike Usilton (PA) caught four haddock in a row. His largest haddock was the second largest haddock of the day at 5.5 pounds. Eric Caldwell (NJ) caught the largest haddock of the day at 6 pounds. Jim Donnelly (PA) caught the fourth largest fish of the trip, a 9.25 pound pollock. Keith Aubin (NY) tied with his wife, Cindy, for the largest cod of the day at 7 pounds. And I gave Guy Hesketh the hard luck award t-shirt for losing three jigs. Two were the Bunny Clark's and one was his.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

From 2:00 AM to 6:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 41°F, the sky was overcast, the roads were dry, the wind was out of the east northeast at fifteen knots and the visibility was good to very good in haze or something. At 7:00 AM, it started misting and, shortly afterward, it started to rain. The fog/haze moved in around 9:00 AM. It rained with very limited visibility on the ocean all day. The sky, of course, remained overcast. The air temperature ashore was raw/cold all day. On the fishing grounds, Captain Ian reported easterly winds of twenty knots, more or less, during the trip, less on the way to the fishing grounds. Seas were four to six feet (mostly from offshore swells) with one or two foot chops on top. The air temperature was mild (warmer by seven degrees from what we experienced on the coast). The visibility ranged from one to five miles in precipitation, fog and haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 41.7°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 42°F (with a low of 32°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 43°F (with a low of 41°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 41°F (with a low of 29°F) today.

The fishing/catching of legal fish was just excellent today. It was the best trip of the year so far. Most legal fish landed were cod, haddock and pollock in that order. It was just non-stop and about as good as it gets except for legal fish size. The legal fish remain small and resident in nature - even the pollock. They caught five legal redfish today. There was one wolffish and two dogfish released. They drifted only once (untenable) but anchored for the rest of the trip. All terminal gear worked well.

There was no way we were going to know who was high hook. Norm Herrick (MA) was the fisherman of the day. He could have easily been high hook. But he also won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish and he caught the second largest fish and the third largest fish as well! When an angler gets the three largest fish of the trip we call it an "ace". This is the first ace we have seen in two seasons! His pool winning fish was a 15 pound pollock, the largest pollock of the Bunny Clark fishing season so far. His other two fish included a pollock of 8.5 pounds and another pollock of 8.25 pounds. He also caught a pollock of 6.25 pounds at the very beginning of the trip. It was a great day to be Norm Herrick!

Other Angler Highlights: Shaan Rankins (CT) caught a 6.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Our own Dave Hutchins (ME) landed a 6 pound cod, the second largest cod of the trip. Joe Dressner (NY) caught the largest cod at 6.25 pounds. Louis Hazelwood (MA) boated a pollock of 7.25 pounds. Dan Tozloski (MA) caught a 7.5 pound pollock. Charles Parker (CT) landed the hard luck award for being the highest of hurlers. But he wasn't really bad.

I received four donations helping me with my Pan-Mass Challenge cancer fund raising bicycle ride today. Norm Herrick gave a generous $50.00, my mother, Bernice "Bunny" Clark Tower, also gave a generous $50.00, my brother, Court Tower, donated $20.00 and Dan Potyrala (MA) contributed $25.00. Thank you all so much for the welcome support. This is a great thing you do, allowing me to be your emissary for the cancer charge. I appreciate your faith in me.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

From 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 43°F, the sky was overcast, the roads weren't dry but it hadn't been raining for a while, the wind was out of the north northeast at fifteen to twenty knots and the visibility was fair to good in haze.

We buried the bow a couple of times in the Outer Cove (of Perkins Cove) before we hit the gate (the start of the ride to the fishing grounds). It was dead low water and the seas showed as twelve feet in that shallower area. Of course, the wind was north northeast so the seas were right on the nose. Many anglers wondered what they had gotten themselves into at that point - I'm sure! And we were in the dark, before sunrise and there wasn't a good visibility in the misty rain. After we got into deeper water and started to bear off to the south, the seas became much further apart and the Bunny Clark was taking them on the beam or nearly so. It was rolly but it wasn't horrible - to me. The wind blew out of the north northeast at about twenty-five knots, more or less. Seas were about ten feet from the east with chops of two or three feet from the north northeast. The visibility ranged out to six miles once we got a mile off shore. The sky was overcast and the air temperature felt raw.

It was fairly windy on the fishing grounds as well. We might have had some gusts to thirty knots but it was mostly twenty to twenty-five. Seas were close swells of ten feet (more or less) and we had that same two to three foot chop from the north northeast. A confused sea indeed. The visibility was still about five or six miles, maybe less. The wind dropped gradually throughout the day. By noon, we had light northerly winds with no chop and a sea swell of about seven feet. By 1:00 PM, there was no wind. By 2:00 PM, the wind started to blow out of the south. We started to see the sun at 10:00 AM. By the time the wind hauled out of the south, the visibility had improved to twenty-five or more miles, the sky had very few clouds, the air temperature had warmed to mild temperatures and most anglers felt glad to be alive. The highest surface water temperature I observed on the fishing grounds was 42.2°F (again). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 42°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 69°F (with a low of 43°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 41°F) today.

The fishing was excellent today but the catching of legal fish only made the "good" category. And it was only good in the morning. The afternoon left us with fair catching. The more the wind died, the less fish came aboard. We might have caught one legal fish on the last drift, a perfect drift, of the day. Most legal fish landed were cod, by far. Legal landings also included twenty-one haddock, twenty-six pollock and six redfish. We released four dogfish, one wolffish, two sea ravens and one sculpin back to the ocean alive. I switched fishing methods all day, investing most of my time with the sea anchor. And the sea anchor provided us with the best fishing. The anchoring was close in productivity. Drifting just gave us fair fishing. We had no terminal gear that worked wonders today.

Either Craig Yerxa (ME) or Rick Gelaznik (MA) was high hook with between fifteen and twenty legal. Craig caught the first fish of the day that I could weigh, a 5.5 pound cod. His largest fish was a 7.5 pound pollock. I weighed a 5 pound pollock and a 7 pound pollock for Rick. His 7 pounder was his biggest fish of the trip. Jon Griffin (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10.25 pound cod. His largest pollock weighed 8 pounds. The second largest fish was a 10 pound pollock that I caught as a double keeper catch with another pollock of about 7 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. I fished for a half hour near the end of the day. (I only caught three keepers) Ray Westermann (MA) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the third largest fish, a 9.25 pound pollock. Ray was most proud of the dogfish he caught!

Other Angler Highlights: Fred Ostrander (MA) caught a 9 pound wolffish, the largest cat I have seen this year so far. Steve Brown (ME) caught the largest haddock of the trip weighing in at 6 pounds. His largest cod weighed 5.5 pounds. Paul Smegal (MA) caught the second largest haddock at 5.5 pounds. Sam Breault (NY) landed a 7.25 pound pollock, his best fish. Mike LaPell (NY) caught a 9 pound pollock, a tie for the fourth largest fish of the trip. Eric Piper (VT) landed the hard luck award for spending most of his fishing day in the Hotel Bunny Clark. I don't believe he even picked up a fishing rod today!

I received six donations towards my cancer fund raising efforts with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Dennis Piper (VT) gave $20.00, Rick Gelaznik (MA) donated $20.00, Fred Ostrander (MA) gave $20.00, Ray Westermann donated a generous $60.00 (after giving another generous donation of $100.00 earlier in the year), Paul Smegal (MA) gave $20.00 and Rick Turner (NY) contributed $25.00. Thank you all so much for your support in this project. It does a great deal of good. And it means a lot to me and those with the disease.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 53°F, the sky was overcast, the roads were wet from rain (it wasn't raining at the time), the wind was blowing out of the south at ten knots or so and the visibility was very good. The sky was overcast until around daylight. At that time you could see the blue on the western edge of the sky. By 8:30 AM, the sky was mostly clear and the roads were dry (important to a cyclist). It was breezy around Ogunquit all morning with westerly or northwest winds up to twenty knots. This wind didn't reach even a mile off shore. The air temperature got up to 71°F in the early afternoon. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west at ten knots in the morning, went calm and then hauled out of the southwest at five to eight knots. Seas were swells of four to six feet (but mostly six feet). Late afternoon saw the wind drop out of the day with a calm glassy ocean (and the larger than normal swell. The sky was overcast all morning on the fishing grounds, clear in the afternoon. The air temperature was mild. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 43.0°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 45°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 66°F (with a low of 48°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 61°F (with a low of 47°F) today.

The fishing was excellent again today; there wasn't much tide, the weather conditions were great and then lines tended perfectly. The catching of legal fish left a lot to be desired. It was our slowest day of the season to date, a fair catching day. Legal landings included fourteen cod, eleven haddock, four pollock and four redfish. They drift fished and anchored. Ian told me that all terminal gear fished "equally poor". Ouch.

Ian didn't tell me who was high hook. I didn't ask but probably should have. Kenny Milton (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 9.5 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a pollock of 6 pounds caught by Brandon Milton (NH). Debbie Milton (NH) landed the hard luck award for not catching a single living fish, legal or sub-legal. Ouch again!

Friday, April 26, 2013

At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 42°F, the sky was clear with a big full moon over head, we had a five knot northeast wind and the visibility was excellent. It was a nice ride to the fishing grounds for once. Winds were light out of the east northeast and seas were chops of a foot over four to six foot long rolling sea swells. As the day progressed, the wind hauled counter clockwise so that, by the time we were headed home, the wind was out of the north northeast. The wind never got any stronger than ten or twelve knots. Sea swells remained the same all day but the chop might have increased to about two feet around 10:00 AM. Regardless, it was a wonderful full day to be out on the water. The sky was clear all day, cloudless at times. The air temperature was cool with the wind. The visibility was about twenty miles - dawn to dusk. The highest surface water temperature I observed on the fishing grounds was 43.3°F. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 53°F (with a low of 33°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 52°F (with a low of 44°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 61°F (with a low of 27°F) today.

The fishing was perfect. The lines couldn't have tended any better, the weather was great and there were very few tangles. The catching of legal fish was good overall, just good. The first two morning drifts were very good, it slowed to good afterward, fair for two hours and then good again at the end. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. Legal landings also included thirty-nine cod of twenty-one inches or greater, twenty-two pollock, one redfish and one cunner. The cod and pollock ran small but the haddock were mostly four pounders with some larger ones. Drifting and anchoring were both employed but most fish were caught on the drift. All terminal gear worked the same.

Steve Wiater (MA) was high hook with nineteen legal. His largest fish was a 5 pound haddock. Paul "Chico" Astorino (MA) was second hook with eighteen legal. I believe he caught the most legal haddock with a count of fourteen. Quite a few anglers had a keeper count in the double figures. Sean McMahon (MA) and Bill Lewis (MA) tied for the largest fish of the trip. They each caught pollock of 10 pounds, exactly. They split the Club pool for largest and second largest fish of the trip. Sean caught the two largest cod of the trip at 6 pounds and 7.5 pounds. Bill also caught the fourth largest fish of the trip, an 8.25 pound pollock. Bill Bolotin (MA) won the Club pool for the third largest fish with the third largest fish, an 8.5 pound pollock. Bill was probably third hook with sixteen or seventeen legal.

Other Angler Highlights: Tom DiNicola (MA) caught the first good sized haddock of the day. It weighed 6.25 pounds. George Sweet (MA) caught a 7 pound pollock, his largest fish. Al "Hacksaw" Hanson (MA) caught a 5.75 pound haddock and a 5.5 pound haddock. Gloria Gennari (MA) caught a haddock that weighed 5.5 pounds. Barry Juhasz (CT) landed a 6.75 pound haddock, his biggest fish. I thought for sure the fish was a trophy as it was so long. Rick Gurney (MA) caught the Bunny Clark's first trophy fish of the season, a 7.1 pound Maine state trophy haddock. I took a picture of Rick with his fish. The digital image appears on the left. And, Ben Barzousky (MA) landed the hard luck award for catching the least number of legal fish, two! In the twenty or more years he has been fishing with me this is the least number of legal fish he has ever caught on a trip. He deserved the shirt!

I received several donations helping me fight cancer with the Jimmy Fund and the Pan-Mass Challenge. These donors and their donations included Barry Juhasz for $20.00, John Truskowski (MA) for $20.00, Gloria Gennari with a generous $50.00 donation, Sean McMahon for $20.00 and George Sweet with another generous donation of $40.00. Thank you all so very much for your sponsorship and help. It's humbling to see so many people who believe as I do. I so appreciate it.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 37°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind, the ocean was calm and the visibility was excellent. Ashore, the day was beautiful. There was a hint of northwest wind in the morning, a period of calm (very calm) on the ocean and then a wisp of a southwest breeze in the afternoon. The sky was sunny all day but the light southwest wind kept the coastal community cool in the shade. Out of the wind and in the sun, it almost felt like spring! On the fishing grounds, the ocean was calm all day. There too the wind was very light out of the southwest, just enough to ripple the surface of the ocean. The sky was clear, the air temperature was warm/mild and the visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 43.2°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 57°F (with a low of 34°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 56°F (with a low of 42°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 29°F) today.

The fishing was excellent and the catching of legal fish was very good overall. All the fish were small today. Most legal fish landed were haddock by far. Legal landings also included twenty-four cod, two pollock, two redfish and a cusk. Fish that were released included one small halibut, one dogfish, two sea ravens and two sculpins. They drift fished all day. Bait caught the most fish by far.

Ian was unable to tell me who was high hook. There was too much going on. Was it Justin Morton (NH), everyone asked? I don't know. Justin did tie for the largest pollock of note, a 6 pounder. And 6 pounds tied for the third largest fish of the trip. Amy Finocchiaro (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 7 pound cod. The second largest fish was a huge framed haddock, a 6.5 pounder that would have been a trophy fish in spawning mode. It was certainly long enough. The haddock was caught by Donna Moran (NY). Ian took a picture of Donna so anyone could see what a big fish it really was. This digital image appears on the right. Hal Flanagan (MA) was the other angler with the third largest fish, a tie for the largest pollock (only other legal pollock), at 6 pounds.

Other Angler Highlights: Melissa Morton (NH) caught a halibut of about 3 pounds, more or less. She lost the fish right on the surface next to the boat. But Jared saw it and noted its size. That's our second small halibut of the season to date. Brandan LaPensee (ME) landed the hard luck award for not letting the calm ocean sooth his stomach. Imagination (the inner ear?) does funny things.

Two anglers gave donations to my wife, Deb, to give to me to put towards the Pan-Mass Challenge, a cycling event to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. The donors were Rich Fifield (VT) and Asa Porter (VT). They both gave $20.00 each. Thank you both so very much for your contributions. I really appreciate your help.

I also received a very generous donation of $200.00 sponsoring my Pan-Mass Challenge ride from Richard & Elinor Payeur (FL). Richard & Elinor have supported me for seven years in this event. And I am very appreciative of this fact. Thanks so much!

I also received two donations of $20.00 each. One from Rich Fifield (VT) and one from Asa Porter (VT). Thank you both so very much for your help.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 40°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind, the ocean was calm and the visibility was excellent. Although a little cool in the morning (the air temperature got down to 38°F in Ogunquit), the sky was so clear and the lack of wind made the air temperature seem warmer than it was. I never did get a look at the thermometer. After noon, a southwest wind of ten knots cropped up along the coast to cool things down a bit. On the fishing grounds, the wind was light and variable in direction. The ocean was calm all day. The sky was clear. The visibility ranged from ten miles in haze during the morning and twenty-five miles or more in the afternoon. The air temperature was mild. The surface water temperature reached a high of 45.5°F on the fishing grounds, due mostly to the calmer than normal sea state. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 34°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 63°F (with a low of 44°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 71°F (with a low of 31°F) today.

The fishing was excellent yet again. There was very little tide, no wind, lines tended perfectly and the drift was good (too slow at times). The catching of legal fish was fair to good. Good in the numbers of haddock caught but a steady pick all day long. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. Legal landings also included fourteen cod, nine pollock, one redfish and nine cusk. They drift fished for the trip. All terminal gear worked equally well.

Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook (I don't care what anyone said, I believe it was Richie Carlson)! Uncle Buck won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 9 pound pollock caught by Harrison Calamari (NY). And there was a tie for third. Both Luke Brennan (NY) and Greg Carlson (NY) landed a 7 pound pollock each. Curt Calamari (NY) landed the hard luck award for the most tangled lines!

Monday, April 29, 2013

At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 46°F, the sky was slightly overcast with a hazy moon over the ocean, the wind was light out of the southwest and the visibility was very good at least. More later.

The ocean was calm when we went through the gate headed to the fishing grounds. Two or three miles out we hit, what seemed like, southerly wind of five knots or less. There might have been a chop of a half a foot but it might not have even been that much. The sky was hazy thin overcast, the air temperature was cool and the visibility was good to very good in some haze. On the fishing grounds, there was a light southerly wind with a calm surface to begin. Southerly winds of five knots later, south southwest winds up to ten knots and then southerly winds in the afternoon. On the ride home, the wind was out of the south at ten to twelve knots with seas in chops of a foot or more. The sky alternated between hazy clear and clear. For an hour it was actually overcast. The visibility stayed good to very good in some haze. The air temperature was cool with the light wind. The visibility was about twenty miles - dawn to dusk. The highest surface water temperature I observed on the fishing grounds was 44.3°F. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 37°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 68°F (with a low of 48°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 71°F (with a low of 40°F) today.

The fishing/catching was as close to excellent as you can get without actually making it. We had two good to very good spots where fishing was slow to a fairly steady pick. Every other spot was excellent, a fish a cast. All the legal fish, except for the haddock, were smaller than we normally see them this time of year. And we released plenty of sub-legal fish. Most legal fish landed were haddock and cod, in that order. Legal landings also included fifteen pollock from 5 to 9 pounds, forty-one redfish and thirty-three cusk. We released two wolffish, twenty-two dogfish and one sculpin. We drift fished, used the sea anchor and anchored. Drifting and anchoring worked the best. All terminal gear worked well.

There is no way I could know who was high hook. Some of the anglers had the best day they have ever had (with the exception of cod size) on a groundfishing trip. And there was one who only caught seven or eight legal for the trip (Bob, to be mentioned later). Dick Sanders (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10.5 pound cod, the third largest cod caught on the Bunny Clark this season so far. There was a tie for the second largest fish. Both Vince Ephault (PA) and Greg Fitzgerald (VT) caught a 9 pound fish, sharing the boat pool. Vince's fish was a 9 pound pollock while Greg's was a 9 pound Maine state trophy haddock! This is the largest haddock the Bunny Clark has seen for two seasons. Vince also caught a 7 pound pollock, his second largest fish of the trip.

Other Angler Highlights: Steve Selmer (NH) caught twelve legal haddock while using a jig today. His largest fish was a 7 pound pollock. I weighed a 6.75 pound cod and a 7.25 pound cod for Pat Collins (NY), the largest two cod of the morning. Gary Zawislak (PA) boated a 5.5 pound haddock, the first big haddock of the day. Jeff Tague (PA) caught the most haddock of the trip. His largest late morning fish was a 6 pound haddock, the largest haddock to that point in the day. Later, he caught a haddock that weighed 8.25 pounds, a Maine state trophy by 1.25 pounds. This is the second largest haddock of the 2013 Bunny Clark fishing season so far. Randy Rivette (NY) caught two pollock in a row. The first weighed 7.5 pounds. The second weighed 7 pounds. Ron Kordish (PA) caught the third largest haddock of the trip. His fish weighed 6.75 pounds. Bob Ephault (PA) landed the hard luck award for the most tangled lines and the least number of legal fish. Well, I had to think of something in order to give the shirt away!

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 40°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind and the visibility was just shy of excellent. The weather was perfect in Ogunquit. The sky was clear all day, the air temperature was mild/warm, the ocean was calm and the visibility was excellent. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew light out of the southeast all day. The ocean remained calm for the trip. The air temperature was warmer than it was on the grounds yesterday, warm, mostly, but mild in the morning. It was sunny all day. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 47.2°F on the fishing grounds, due mostly to the calmer than normal sea state. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 36°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 61°F (with a low of 47°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 72°F (with a low of 42°F) today.

The fishing/catching of legal fish was excellent today, the best Bunny Clark trip of the season so far. The average fish size was also bigger than we have seen. And some of the pollock looked like new fish as well as some of the cod. Most legal fish landed were cod followed by haddock and pollock, in that order. Legal landings also included thirteen redfish and forty-three cusk. They released fifteen dogfish, one sea raven and one sculpin. Drifting was the total days method (no anchoring or sea anchor). All terminal gear worked well.

There was no way to tell who was high hook. Greg Fitzgerald (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 19.5 pound pollock. This is the largest fish that has been caught on the Bunny Clark so far this season. Captain Ian took a picture of Greg with his long skinny pollock. This digital image appears on the left. Greg also caught the largest haddock of the trip at 6 pounds. Nick Ignazio (NY) landed the second largest fish of the trip, a 15.5 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest pollock of the fishing season so far. He also caught the Bunny Clark's second largest cod of the fishing season so far as well. His cod weighed 11 pounds. Nick's largest haddock weighed 5 pounds. And his second largest pollock weighed 10.5 pounds. There was a tie for the second largest fish of the trip. Chuck Peck (ME) caught a 14 pound pollock, Adam Casey (NY) caught a 14 pound pollock while Matt Steves (NY) also caught a 14 pound pollock. Chuck's pollock was caught as a double keeper catch with another pollock of 9 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time! This ties for the second largest double keeper catch of the Bunny Clark fishing season. Adam Casey (NY) also caught a double keeper catch to tie with Chuck for the second best double. Adam's was the same as Chuck's and included a 14 pound pollock with a 9 pound cod. Matt's pollock was also caught as part of a double keeper catch along with another pollock of 12 pounds! This is the largest Bunny Clark double of the season to date.

Other Angler Highlights: Rafik Bishara (MA) caught one of our largest cod of the season with one weighing 10.25 pounds. Dan Payne (ME) caught a pollock of 11.5 pounds. Howard Field (ME) caught a 12.5 pound pollock. Larry Kabat (NH) boated a 10 pound pollock. Dave Peck (ME) caught an 11.5 pound pollock. Dick Sanders (NY) landed a 10 pound cod, his largest fish and one of the Bunny Clark's largest cod this season. And Chuck Peck had the added bonus of winning the hard luck award because of his penchant for getting into every tangle he could find today!

I received several donations helping me fight cancer with the Jimmy Fund and the Pan-Mass Challenge today. These donors and their donations included John Davis for $10.00, Dan Payne for a generous $50.00, Rick Ellenwood (NY) for $20.00, Matt Steves for $30.00, Adam Casey for $25.00 and Bernie Gage (VT) for a generous donation of $50.00. Thank you all so very much for your sponsorship. I appreciate this more than you know.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 37°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind and the visibility was excellent. The ride to the fishing grounds was just perfect. The ocean was flat calm, the sky was clear with a partial moon overhead, the air temperature was cool but the visibility was just shy of excellent. On the grounds, the ocean was calm with a light northerly wind. This wind died out by 9:00 AM or so and left the surface smooth and glassy. Sometime early afternoon, the wind hauled out of the south but only as a ripple until it was time to go home. We carried southerly winds of ten knots (more or less) with a one foot chop all the way from the fishing grounds to Perkins Cove. The air temperature went from cool, to mild, to warm, to mild (when the wind came up it dropped the air temperature). The sky was clear (mostly cloudless) all day. The visibility was very good in some haze. The highest surface water temperature I observed on the fishing grounds was 45.7°F. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 63°F (with a low of 32°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 60°F (with a low of 45°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 74°F (with a low of 31°F) today.

The fishing was very good, excellent in the morning and good with a stronger than normal current in the afternoon. The catching of legal fish was excellent, our best day of the season to date. Most legal fish landed included haddock, cod, redfish and cusk, in that order. Legal landings also included forty-two pollock, two sea ravens (yes, we kept them) and one mackerel. We released over forty-eight dogfish (most went back alive) and two sculpins. We had a porbeagle shark (mackerel shark) around the boat in the morning. We thought it would take one of the fish on a hook but it never did. The shark was about 300 pounds, estimate. It certainly would have been a handful on a line. [This has happened for four trips in a row. The sharks have ranged from 200 to 400 pounds - estimate] We drift fished for the trip. All terminal gear worked well.

Jim Feeney (MA), Carlos Shacar (MA), Fred Kunz (NH) and Chris Porter (MA) all tied for high hook. They were larger than life today. Don Stancil (PA) caught the largest fish of the trip, a 13 pound pollock. He caught this fish as part of a double keeper catch with another pollock of 10 pounds. Don ties with two other anglers from yesterday's trip for the second largest double keeper catch of the Bunny Clark season to date. Don couldn't win the boat pool with the Bunny Clark's largest fish of the trip because it came off the hook before hitting the surface. As pollock sometimes do, it floated to the surface and we were able to motor over to it and gaff it in the boat. Gus Carter (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish of the trip, an 11.5 pound pollock. Jim Feeney won the boat pool for the second largest fish with third largest fish, an 11 pound pollock. Fred Kunz caught the largest haddock of the day at 6.25 pounds but he lost a trophy haddock of between 7 to 9 pounds on the surface earlier in the morning. Chris Porter caught the most legal haddock of his life today with a count of thirty-one. Carlos tied with another angler for the second largest boated haddock of the trip with one of 6 pounds.

My favorite story of the day concerns ten year old Stephen Feeney (MA), Jim's oldest son. Although he has been deep sea fishing twice before, this was his first marathon trip. It was a perfect day for him as it was flat calm, he doesn't get sea sick and he was a darn good fisherman besides (I wonder who he takes after? Is Anglea Feeney that good a fisherman?). After the day was over Steve had boated over twenty-one legal haddock, including his first haddock ever and two double keeper catches of haddock, his first legal cod, his first legal redfish, his first cusk, his first pollock and his first dogfish. What a day for your first offshore trip. I took a picture of Steve with his first haddock (a 3.5 pounder) and his first redfish (a 1.5 pounder) caught as a double keeper catch, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. This digital image appears on the right.

Other Angler Highlights: Joe Hlavac (CT) boated the first fish I could weigh for the pool, a 7.5 pound pollock. This turned out to be his largest fish of the trip. Bob Mayer (ME) caught the second largest fish I could weigh, another pollock, this one of 6.5 pounds. Wobby Barnes (MA) caught an 8 pound pollock and a 9.5 pound pollock, his two biggest fish. Ted Harris (PA) caught an 8 pound pollock, his largest fish. Steve Stanvick (MA) tied with Carlos for the second largest boated haddock with another 6 pounder. Graham Gichiengo (MA) landed the hard luck award for getting the worst tangle and getting his jig cut off (and lost) because of it!

I received several Pan-Mass Challenge donations today. The best was a very generous donation of $1,000.00 from Chris Porter. He does a charity thing with his company every year for the Jimmy Fund and sponsors me with some of the proceeds. Thanks so much, Chris. This is super thoughtful and generous. Other anglers and their donations included Fred Kunz for $5.00, Don Stancil for a generous $50.00, Carlos Shacar for $25.00 and Jim & Stephen Feeney for $30.00. Thank you all so much for your wonderful support and help. It means so much to so many - in knowledge through research alone!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT, the air temperature was 44°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind, the ocean was flat calm and the visibility was excellent. The sky was sunny all morning. By 11:00 AM, ten miles inland (South Berwick, Maine), it was 71°F while along the coast it might have reached 60°F. The wind was about five to ten knots out of the east northeast at mid morning. After noon, the east northeast wind piped up to fifteen knots and the air temperature dropped to 54°F and that's where it remained for the rest of the day. At 2:00 PM, the wind was blowing out of the east northeast at twenty knots (more or less). The sky started getting cloudy around noon. At 3:00 PM, it was overcast with that same strong wind off the ocean.

On the fishing grounds, the wind was either non-existent or blowing lightly out of the southwest. This was in the morning. By noon, the wind had hauled out of the east. On the grounds, the wind blew up to ten and fifteen knots but increased a bit on the ride home. By the time the Bunny Clark was outside Perkins Cove the wind velocity had dropped substantially. The air temperature was mild to warm in the morning but cooled right down with the easterly wind. The sky was clear in the morning and overcast in the afternoon, as it happened ashore. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 45.7°F on the fishing grounds, due mostly to the calmer than normal sea state. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 39°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 47°F (with a low of 47°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 36°F) today.

The fishing was very good to excellent today. The catching of legal fish had dropped off from yesterday. The rating on catching was good. There was a very slow period when there was no drift in the morning. It would have been very good fishing overall otherwise. Most legal fish landed were cod. All fish landed were small. Legal landings also included forty-eight redfish, twenty-three haddock, three pollock and twenty-six cusk. They released five dogfish, three sculpins, one sea raven and one wolffish back to the ocean alive. They drift fished and anchored. All terminal gear worked about the same.

Paul Revels (NH) was high hook with over twenty legal including seven cod, two haddock, a few cusk and enough redfish to make the mark or go over it. Don Stancil (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 8.25 pound wolffish. This fish, of course, was released alive after weighing. John Gorski (MA) caught the second largest fish, a 7.5 pound pollock. Paul Smegal (MA) caught the third largest fish, a 6 pound cod. Steve Brown (ME) landed the hard luck award today for launching his rod over the side on the first spot. Ian told me that he took it well. But he must have been churning inside for a bit before he got used to it.

And another day went by without Ken Fowler (PA). He was supposed to come up with his friends. But what kind of friend allows his friends to come up to get abused on the Bunny Clark alone without a defender? I must note that there were no huge redfish caught, no big cod lost and no one that even got a hook in his hand to "take it for the team".

Friday, May 3, 2013

At 3:00 AM EDT, the air temperature was 43°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at fifteen knots with higher gusts and the visibility was excellent. When we poked our nose out the gate, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at fifteen to twenty knots. Seas were a swell/chop of four feet, more or less. The sky was clear with a crescent moon leading the way to the fishing grounds. The visibility was excellent. On the grounds, the wind blew out of the northeast at fifteen to twenty knots all morning. Seas ranged from five to seven feet in swells under a one to two foot chop. The sky was mostly clear all day with some clouds. The air temperature was cool with the wind. The visibility was pretty much excellent all day. The wind died out at the end of the trip. For the last half of the ride home we had no wind with six foot rolling chop/swells. The highest surface water temperature I observed on the fishing grounds was 45.5°F. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 58°F (with a low of 38°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 53°F (with a low of 44°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 32°F) today.

The fishing was fair; we had a lot of current (tide) that created frequent tangles. That, along with the conditions, made it more challenging than normal to catch fish. And we lost a few haddock due to the swells. Despite this, the catching of legal fish was good at least. Most legal fish landed were cod and haddock, in that order. Legal landings also included nine pollock, fifteen redfish and sixteen cusk. We drift fished, used the sea anchor and anchored. Anchoring worked the best. All terminal gear worked about the same.

I couldn't tell you who was high hook. Tom Edick (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 9 pound cod. He also caught a 6.25 pound haddock and a 6 pound pollock. Ted Harris (PA) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, an 8 pound cusk. Ted also caught the only wolffish, a 5 pounder, and the largest haddock at 6.5 pounds. The third largest fish was a 7.5 pound pollock caught by Mark Coleman (NY).

Other Angler Highlights: Roger Wilson (NY) caught the first fish that I thought could be a contender in the boat pool. His fish was a 6.25 pounder. Greg Carlson (NY) caught a 7 pound cod and a 5.5 pound haddock, his two best fish. Art Buchanan (PA) caught the second largest cusk. It weighed 7.25 pounds and was also the fourth largest fish of the trip. Anthony Cipriani (NY) caught a 7 pound cod, his largest fish. He also came up with half of a 5 pound haddock. A porbeagle shark took half the fish and a brief run before swimming off. Dave Gray (VT) landed the hardest luck of the trip award. It was not his day. He lost four jigs, one to a good sized porbeagle shark. And he lost three bait rigs. Plus, he got into some horrific tangles. And he didn't catch many fish. I am used to Dave catching the most and biggest fish! And, to top it all off (as if he needed something else to prove his hard luck), he left for Vermont while leaving his tackle box on the dock!

The only thing that marred the last few days of fishing was the absence of one Ken Fowler (PA). He was supposed to be with us (and his friends) for the last three days. Alas, he had something that kept him home. I wonder if he'll remember how to fish if he does finally make it back up to Maine and the Bunny Clark? I wonder if I'll remember what he looks like? There was a place in my heart that just felt empty during the last three days. Ah, don't worry, Ken. I'll get over it. It will take some time but I will get over it.

I received several Pan-Mass Challenge donations today. Mark Coleman gave $25.00, Rob Lawrence (NY) donated $30.00, Ted Harris gave a generous $50.00, Dozing Don Stancil (PA) gave another generous $50.00 donation (He gave me $50.00 yesterday as well!), Tom Edick (NY) contributed a generous $65.00 and Art Buchanan (PA) gave $20.00. All this money is headed to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute where one hundred percent will be used for cancer research in Boston, Massachusetts (no part of any donation goes to administrative costs - unlike every other charity I have ever heard of). Thank you all so very much for your sponsorship, your wonderful support for what I do and your help. I do so appreciate it!

Saturday, May 4, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 38°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind, the ocean was calm and the visibility was excellent. On the fishing grounds, the wind was out of the east at five to eight knots. Seas were long rolling swells of six feet under a wind chop of about a foot. These wind and sea conditions remained for the duration of the trip. The sky was clear and sunny all day. The air temperature was on the cool side of mild in the shade and nice in the sun. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 45.3°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 56°F (with a low of 36°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 52°F (with a low of 44°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 35°F) today.

The fishing was very good. They saw none of the current that we saw on the marathon trip the day before, there were many less dogfish, the weather was better and there were less sub-legal fish. The catching of legal fish was fair to good. It was better for those anglers who go groundfishing more frequently. Most legal fish landed were cod. Legal landings also included twenty-nine haddock, seven pollock, four redfish, seven cusk and one monkfish. They released eight dogfish, three sea ravens and a sculpin back to the ocean alive. They anchored and drift fished. Anchored worked the best. [They landed most of their legal fish on anchor.] Bait worked better than jigs.

It was impossible to tell who was high hook today because most were pooling their fish under a single number. Arnie Ulrich (NJ) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 14 pound monkfish. This is the largest monkfish caught on the Bunny Clark this season so far. He also caught the largest cod of the day weighing in at 8 pounds. This cod was also the third largest fish of the trip. Doug Hoard (NY) caught the second largest fish, a 9 pound pollock.

Other Angler Highlights: Leo Lamoureux (VT) caught a 7 pound pollock, the fourth largest fish of the trip.

Bethanie Johnson (MA) landed the hard luck award for leaving her stomach on the dock today. I'm really not sure, though, if she deserved the hard luck award as much as her father did. This morning, when they were putting their gear in the vehicle to head up to Maine, Don, her father, clipped the eccentric lever on the reel as he was placing the rod in the bed of the truck. When they landed in Ogunquit and took the rod out of the truck, there wasn't a bit of line on the reel! Apparently , the wind had caught the trailing line and pulled all the line off the reel as they drove down the road from Massachusetts. He ended up having to use one of my Pro Gear reels in place of his Newell reel on his rod for the trip. Maybe that's why his name doesn't appear with one of the top three fish of the day!

Sunday, May 5, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 35°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind, the ocean was calm and the visibility was excellent. On the fishing grounds, the wind was light and variable in direction. The ocean was calm over long rolling sea swells of four to six feet. The sky was sunny all day. The air temperature was mild. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 46.2°F on the fishing grounds, due mostly to the calmer than normal sea state. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 56°F (with a low of 33°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 53°F (with a low of 40°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 29°F) today.

The fishing and catching of legal fish was excellent today, our best fishing trip of the season so far. Most legal fish landed were cod and pollock in that order. Legal landings also included sixteen haddock, three cusk and one keeper halibut. They released four dogfish, three sea ravens, two sculpins and one big wolffish. They drift fished all day. All terminal gear worked well.

No way to tell who was high hook. Chris Albert (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 22 pound legal halibut, our first of the season and our earliest keeper halibut in many seasons. This is also the first halibut that Chris has ever caught. Ian took a picture of Chris with his great fish. The picture appears on the left. Chris also caught a 10 pound pollock, a tie for the fourth largest fish of the trip. Jamie Tandy (NH) caught the second largest fish of the trip, a 15 pound wolffish. This is the largest wolffish that has been caught on the Bunny Clark this season to date. The third largest fish was an 11 pound pollock caught by Scott Cates (ME).

Other Angler Highlights: Joe J. Saracina (ME) tied with Chris for the fourth largest fish with his 10 pound pollock. Leo Heptig (ME) landed the hard luck award for failing to be one with the ocean. Actually, he and his stomach never did agree with what he was up to today. Why am I here?

I was contacted by John Mandelman, Ph. D., one of the top research scientists at the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts. I have worked with John before in various cod studies. He is a very dedicated, bright and thoughtful person. He asked if I would put this "shark survey" link on my web site. He is involved in a shark project and he needs at least 300 more people to fill out the survey. It's pretty simple and doesn't take long. The people who would qualify for the survey are any and all people "who fish for leisure in the marine environment". The link is here: shark survey.

Monday, May 6, 2013

At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 39°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the southwest and the visibility was excellent.

The wind was light out of the south southwest when we made it through the gate to the open ocean. And there was a six or seven foot swell as well. The sky was clear and so was the visibility. On the fishing grounds, with had light south southwest winds, a six foot (or more) long rolling sea swell under a very light chop. We never did get any wind over five knots today. The sky was sunny and clear in the morning, a beautiful sunrise with the sun appearing from under the eastern ocean. At 8:00 AM there wasn't a cloud in the sky. By 10:00 AM, the sky was clouding over. By noon, the sky was overcast and the visibility had decreased a few miles. Sometime during the early afternoon, the wind hauled out of the south southeast. The fog rolled in on the ride home at 3:00 PM. We carried foggy conditions all the way to Perkins Cove. The south southeast wind picked up to ten knots with a one foot chop. The visibility was about a quarter of a mile. The air temperature was mild all day, cool on the ride in. The highest surface water temperature I observed on the fishing grounds was 47.6°F. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 58°F (with a low of 35°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 55°F (with a low of 43°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 74°F (with a low of 30°F) today.

The fishing was very good. It could have been excellent but we had a strong tidal current in the afternoon. The catching of legal fish was excellent, our best fishing trip of the season so far. Most legal fish landed were pollock and cod. Legal landings also included thirty-two haddock, seventeen redfish and five cusk. We released two wolffish (to 9 pounds), quite a few pollock, quite a few legal cod, a sea raven and four dogfish. We drift fished most of the day. We did try anchoring once but it wasn't nearly as good. All terminal gear worked well.

Mike Schetter (NY) was high hook with the most legal fish anyone has landed on a single Bunny Clark trip in years. Bryan Lewer (FL) was second hook. He released a large number of cod over twenty-one inches (the legal size limit on the Bunny Clark) back to the ocean alive. Justin Philbrick (NH) was third hook and released the most sub-legal haddock. Fred Kunz (NH) was fourth hook.

Fred Kunz won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 17.5 pound pollock. This is also the second largest pollock of the Bunny Clark season to date. He also caught the largest cod of the trip with a 14 pounder. This cod was the third largest cod of the day. Some of his other fish included two pollock of 11 pounds each and a 10.5 pound pollock. Dan Wescom (VT) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 15 pound pollock. Dan caught the first fish I could weigh for the boat pool early this morning, an 8.75 pound pollock. He caught an 11 pound pollock shortly afterward.

Other Angler Highlights: Randy Clark (VT) boated a 9 pound pollock, an 11 pound pollock and two pollock of 11.5 pounds each, his largest fish of the trip. Tad Horner (VT) caught a 9.25 pound pollock (early) and a 10 pound pollock, his two best. Scott Allison (NJ) landed an 8.5 pound cod early in the day. His largest pollock weighed 10 pounds. Tony Mazziotti (NY) also caught a 10 pound pollock as his largest fish. Micah Tower (ME) fished on the Bunny Clark for the first time this season. He had a porbeagle shark that looked to be about 400 pounds bite a cod of his in half as he was bringing the fish to the surface. The shark came close enough to the boat to free gaff but I wasn't there. Nor would I have probably done so. Justin Philbrick (NH) caught the largest haddock of the trip, a 7.5 pound Maine state trophy. I took his picture with this fish. The digital image appears on the right. He caught the largest double keeper catch of pollock for the season to date but the big one got off the hook and swam away (all but two of the one hundred or so pollock we released today swam right to bottom). He did, however, manage to get a double keeper catch that included a 12 pound pollock and a 13 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest double keeper catch of the season to date. The only other fish of his that I weighed today was a 12 pound pollock. Justin did win the hard luck award for losing two jigs. Well, I had to give it to someone! Mike Schetter boated a 13 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock. The 13 pounder was his biggest fish of the trip. Bryan Lewer landed a 12 pound pollock, his largest fish. Tim Stinson (VT) caught a 10 pound cod and a 10 pound pollock. The cod was the second largest cod of the trip.

Tim Stinson (VT) sponsored me with $25.00 to help in my fund raising drive for a cancer cure with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Thanks, Tim. Nice having you aboard today. I very much appreciate your help. Thanks so much.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 44°F, the sky seemed clear, there was no wind, it was too foggy to see if the ocean was calm (or if the sky was clear) and the visibility was poor in fog. The fog cleared out by 7:00 AM. By 9:00 AM, the air temperature was 54°F, the sky was cloudless, the wind was light, the ocean was calm and the visibility was very good at least. Four miles inland at 10:00 AM, the air temperature was 70°F. On the fishing grounds, the wind was light and variable in direction during the morning. The ocean was calm with an underlying long swell of two feet or so. After noon, the wind came up out of the south. It blew about ten knots or more with seas in chops of one or two feet. The visibility started out at ten miles in the morning but improved to twenty plus after noon. The sky was clear and sunny. The air temperature remained mild all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 47.6°F on the fishing grounds, due mostly to the calmer than normal sea state. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 67°F (with a low of 43°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 72°F (with a low of 47°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 37°F) today.

The fishing/catching (of legal fish) was excellent today. Anyone who loves to catch groundfish would have loved to have been on the boat today. It was a fish a cast all day. The fish weren't always legal but there was plenty of action. Most legal fish landed were cod and pollock, in that order. Legal landings also included ten haddock (there were ninety-six sub-legal haddock released today). Along with one hundred and eighty-two sub-legal cod (cod under 21 inches), they released fifteen dogfish, four sea ravens and three sculpins. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked exceptionally well.

Peter Grant (ME) was high hook with a count of keepers you only usually see on a marathon trip. He didn't have a fish approaching 10 pounds. Chris DeSorvo (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11 pound pollock. His second largest fish was a pollock of 10 pounds. Dave Buck (NH) caught the second and third largest fish, both fish caught as a double keeper catch, both fish caught on the same line at the same time! His two pollock weighed 10.5 pounds and 10.25 pounds.

Other Angler Highlights: Tim Divoll (ME) caught the first fish Ian could weigh. It was a pollock of 9.75 pounds. Mike Chickering (ME) caught another pollock of 9.75 pounds a couple hours later. Todd "Cat Killer" McDonald (NH) landed the hard luck award for losing too many good fish, some on the surface!

There was a donation for the Pan-Mass Challenge accepted today. The gift of $30.00 was from Ed Floyd (VT). This before the Bunny Clark left the dock. Ed, I appreciate your concern and your donation. Thank you so very much! I also very much appreciated your comments at the end of the trip. Thanks again.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was a balmy 56°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the south and the visibility seemed excellent. On the ride to the fishing grounds and on the grounds, the wind blew lightly out of the south or southeast (more from the south in the morning and more southeast in the afternoon). Wind speeds might have gotten to ten knots but I doubt it. And the seas were about a foot at most. We had clear visibility for the early part of the morning but the fog closed in about mid-morning. We had black thick fog for about two hours before disappearing for the day. The visibility was very good for the rest of the day. The sky was mostly clear and sunny all day. The only time we didn't have much sun was in the fog and with a little cloud cover in the afternoon. The air temperature was mild most of the day. The highest surface water temperature I observed on the fishing grounds was 49.7°F. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 47°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 66°F (with a low of 53°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 49°F) today.

The fishing was very good - less tide could have made it better. The catching of legal fish was excellent, a fish a cast all day. In fact, it doesn't get any better unless you had a few big cod mixed in, which we didn't. And I suppose we could have landed more legal haddock. Most legal fish landed were pollock and cod, in that order. We increased our keeper size on the cod to twenty-three inches but that didn't help. We were done keeping them by 10:00 AM. Legal landings also included eleven haddock (we released fifty-seven sub-legal haddock), eleven redfish and seven cusk. It was the first day we didn't see a mackerel shark. We released over fifty dogfish (most went back alive). We drift fished all morning and early afternoon. We anchored during the late afternoon. All terminal gear worked well. Flies caught the most pollock.

High hook could not be determined. Cliff "The Fish Monger" Crandall (CT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13.5 pound cod. George Smart (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 12 pound pollock. His largest cod weighed 9.5 pounds. The third largest fish was an 11.25 pound pollock caught by John Baker (ME). He also caught an 11 pound pollock later in the day.

In case you might want to know, Ed Garrett (MA), Don Spencer (VT) had the best day he has had in years. In fact, I can't remember him having a better day. Maybe this is because, at my age, I just can't remember anything! He caught about thirty cod of legal size (of course most of them were returned alive) and his pollock count was through the roof. And, if you had been here, he might have given you a cod or two. That's just the kind of true Vermonter he is. He even caught a haddock for his lovely wife. Don had the best double keeper catch of the trip. This catch included a pollock of 10.5 pounds and another of 9.5 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. His largest cod weighed 10 pounds.

Other Angler Highlights: Rob Bentley (ME) caught a pile of fish. The only fish of his that I weighed was a pollock of 8.75 pounds that he caught early in the trip. Andrew Kerns (PA) caught a 9 pound cod, his best fish. I'm sure he had a 10 pound pollock. J. R. Girard (CA) boated the second pollock of 10 pounds or better. His fish weighed 10 pounds. Clint Crandall (ME) caught an 8 pound pollock. One of his bigger fish. Dewey Kerns (PA) caught the second largest cod at 11 pounds. His largest pollock weighed 10.5 pounds. Wade Estabrook (ME) landed a pollock of 10.5 pounds, his largest fish. He also landed the hard luck award for being the only angler to lose a rig - probably to a dogfish.

Some much needed Pan-Mass Challenge donations arrived at the Tower Household today via the Bunny Clark. My sponsors and their donations included George Smart for $22.00 and Rob Bentley for $20.00. Thank you both very much for your support. I think it's important and I appreciate your help.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the sky was overcast, it had been raining only an hour earlier, there was no wind, it was too foggy to see if the ocean was calm and the visibility was poor in fog. Ashore, the fog hung around at least until mid morning or later. It rained very lightly most of the morning, stopping at 11:00 AM. There was no rain again until 3:00 PM when it poured down with thunder and lightning for about forty-five minutes. The sky was overcast all day even after the fog cleared out. The air temperature stayed around the mid 50s along the shore but into the 60s inland. On the fishing grounds, the wind was light out of the southeast all day. They were in the fog all day. The visibility ranged from a quarter of a mile to fifty yards. The sky was overcast. The ocean was calm or a two or three foot rolling sea swell. The air temperature was mild. The surface water temperature reached a high of 51.3°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 51°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 63°F (with a low of 53°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 55°F) today.

The fishing/catching of legal fish was excellent today. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far, followed by cod. Legal landings also included nine haddock and one cusk. They released one wolffish, lost a big mackerel (porbeagle) shark, returned twenty-one dogfish and a sculpin. They drift fished all day. All terminal gear worked well.

High hook could not be determined. Ray Westermann (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 20 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's largest pollock of the fishing season to date and our first slammer (pollock of 20 pounds or better). Captain Ian took a picture of Ray with his fish. This digital image appears on the left. Ray also caught a 12 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 14 pound pollock caught by Ally Fuehrer (ME). She also caught the best double keeper of the trip. This double included a 10 pound pollock and a 10.5 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. She also hooked into a mackerel shark. She had brought it right up to the surface but it started rolling and dropping, it's skin finally cutting off the main (Spectra) line. For this, the loss, Ian gave her the hard luck award t-shirt. The third largest fish was a 13.5 pound pollock caught by Mark Girard (CA). He also caught the largest haddock of the trip. It weighed 6.25 pounds.

Other Angler Highlights: Tim Williams (CT) graced us with his presence today. His largest fish was a 13 pound pollock, the fourth largest fish. He caught a lot of fish. Jon Griffin (MA) caught the largest cod, weighing in at 8 pounds. Two of his largest fish included a pollock of 11.5 pounds and a 12 pound pollock. John Russell (ME) landed a 10 pound pollock and a 12 pound pollock, his two biggest fish. Rob Fuehrer (ME) boated a 12.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Chuck Lennon (MA) caught an 11 pound pollock, his best.

I received a generous donation of $60.00 from Mark Girard supporting me in my Pan-Mass Challenge bicycle ride for cancer, taking place the first weekend in August. Thanks a bunch, Mark. It was great having you and your son aboard. I only wish I could have you aboard more often. All the best!

Friday, May 10, 2013

At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 53°F, the sky was overcast (I think), it wasn't raining, there was no wind and the visibility was poor in black thick fog. When I got to the Cove, there wasn't a breath of wind and it was a dungeon of fog. In fact, it was so thick, standing at the wheel, I had to feel for the windows in order so see where I could stand. In reality, I had to use the radar to go down the channel leading to the gate. You could see the footbridge but, beyond that, you could not see a thing. The fog lightened up a bit once we were a couple of miles off shore. It was a smooth ride to the fishing grounds with very light northwest wind and a calm ocean.

On the fishing grounds, we had fog all morning. We lost all the wind at 8:00 AM and were left with a calm surface over a three foot long rolling sea swell. The sky seemed clear during the later part of the morning but the fog was thick enough as to conseal it. Around 2:00 PM, the fog cleared so we could see two miles or more. A little after three it socked back in to less than a quarter of a mile. This at the same time the wind struck from the south southwest. The wind blew less than five knots, when it did blow, and hauled out of the south southeast for the ride home. Fog invaded the coastal area again after sunset. The air temperature was mild. The highest surface water temperature I observed on the fishing grounds was 52.5°F. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 50°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 69°F (with a low of 56°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 55°F) today.

The fishing wasn't great; we had a strong surface current (tide). The catching of legal fish suffered only because of the captain's choice of fishing areas. That was in the morning. I moved out of the area we were in during the late morning, a fairly long move. By noon, we were into the fish. From noon until it was time to go home we had very good to excellent fishing and catching of legal fish. This gave us a good to very good day overall for legal landings. Most legal fish landed were pollock followed by cod. Legal landings also included twenty haddock and three cusk. We released forty-four sub-legal haddock, forty-one dogfish and lost a mackerel shark near the boat. We drift fished mostly, anchored once. All terminal gear worked well.

High hook could not be determined. Howard Kaulfers (PA) won the boat pool for the lagest fish with the largest fish, a 14 pound pollock. He caught this as part of a double keeper catch with another pollock of 10.5 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. This is the third largest double keeper catch of the fishing season to date. Howard also caught a 5.5 pound haddock, a 5.25 pound haddock and a 9.5 pound pollock. Chris Curtiss (NJ) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 13.75 pound cod. The third and fourth largest fish were both caught by Liam "Big Fish" Kennedy (NJ). His two fish were a 12.5 pound pollock and a 13 pound pollock.

Other Angler Highlights: Fred Frabel (NJ) hooked into a mackerel (porbeagle) shark early in the trip. The shark grabbed a haddock that Fred was bringing up to the surface. It didn't give too much of a fight. We were working it to the boat when it started to take a run and the line broke. Although Fred caught a lot of pollock, his best fish was a 5.5 pound haddock. Loren Kaulfers (PA) caught a lot of fish. Four of his fish that I weighed included a 9.5 pound pollock, an 8.5 pound cod, the largest haddock of the trip at 6 pounds and a pollock of 10.5 pounds. Kory Kaulfers (PA) boated a 9 pound pollock, his best fish. Mike Niola (NY) landed a 12 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Ken Kaulfers (PA) caught a 10.5 pound pollock and an 11.5 pound pollock, his two largest fish. Charlie Henkel (NJ) landed the hard luck award for getting the worst tangle of the day.

Several Pan-Mass Challenge donations came in today from the anglers on the charter. Their names and donations included Fred Frabel for $25.00, Liam Kennedy for $20.00 and Doug Rogers (NJ) for $25.00. Thank you all so very much for your help on this project. It means a lot.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 53°F, the sky was overcast, it wasn't raining (the roads were dry), there was no wind and the visibility was fair to good in some haze. At 6:50 AM, it started to pour down rain. This lasted for only a short time but it continued to rain lightly for another fifteen or twenty minutes. There were a couple hours of dry with overcast skies in the morning. We had light rain for most of the early afternoon. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south southwest at ten to fifteen knots. The sea state was a mixture of chop and short swells of two to four feet. Left only with a chop, it would have been two feet only as a match for the wind. However, it must have been blowing harder outside. The sea conditions they did have made for quite a few equilibrium problems. They had no rain until the ride back to Perkins Cove. The air temperature was mild. The sky was mostly overcast. The visibility ranged from three to ten miles in fog/haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 50.3°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 51°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 72°F (with a low of 59°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 57°F) today.

The fishing/catching of legal fish was excellent today. Unfortunately, there were probably ten anglers who were sea sick and didn't take part in the fishing. Most legal fish landed were pollock and cod, in that order. Legal landings also included a cusk. No legal haddock were caught today (only two sub-legal haddock were released). This is the first time a legal haddock hasn't been caught during any trip this season. There was only one other species caught, three dogfish. They were released. They anchored for every stop. All terminal gear worked well.

High hook could not be determined. Tamanee Meader (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 12 pound pollock. The second largest fish was an 11.5 pound pollock caught by Brian Mathey (NH). Jon Neurock caught the third largest fish, a pollock of 11.25 pounds.

Other Angler Highlights: Mike Herrington (NH) caught an 11 pound pollock. Luke Martin (VT) caught a 10 pound pollock, his largest fish. Christina Martin (VT) landed the hard luck award for getting more than a touch of the mal de mer.

Sunday, Mother's Day, May 12, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, the sky was overcast, it wasn't raining (the roads were dry), there was no wind and the visibility was poor in fog. It started to rain at 6:30 AM EDT. It rained almost continuously, sometimes hard, until 11:00 AM, when it stopped for good for the rest of the day. By noon, the sun was coming out. The afternoon was perfect with sunny skies, warm temperatures and light winds out of the southwest. The wind kicked up out of the west around 6:00 PM and blew twenty plus knots but then settled in to a moderate ten to fifteen knots. With this the air temperature started to drop. The visibility went from poor in the morning to excellent in the early afternoon. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 48°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 73°F (with a low of 51°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 46°F) today.

Monday, May 13, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 43°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the west at fifteen knots and the visibility was excellent. The day was a bit cool with a strong westerly wind (twenty to twenty-five knots all day), sunny skies and clear visibilities. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west at ten to fifteen knots with higher gusts in the morning. In the afternoon, the wind hauled out of the southwest at ten knots or more. Seas were three to five feet in chops in the morning, reducing to two and four feet in the afternoon. The air temperature was mild all day. The visibility was excellent. The tidal current was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 49.6°F on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 57°F (with a low of 41°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 60°F (with a low of 46°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 56°F (with a low of 39°F) today.

The fishing/catching of legal fish was very good to excellent. Most legal fish landed were cod (the total bag limit attained) followed by pollock. Legal landings also included eight haddock and twelve cusk. They released forty sub-legal haddock, half as many sub-legal cod, eight dogfish, two sculpins and a cunner. Anchoring and drift fishing worked the best (each had its time). All terminal gear worked well.

Jim Sanford (NY) was high hook with a considerable number of fish. Actually, he might not have been high hook but he does keep an accurate count so it certainly looked that way. This would make him the fisherman of the day as he also won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11.5 pound pollock. Tom Ward (CT) caught the second largest fish and tied for the third largest fish. These two fish included a 10.5 pound pollock and a 10 pound pollock. Dennis Moriearty (MA) tied with Tom for third place. Dennis also caught a 10 pound pollock.

Other Angler Highlights: Jim Boyd (NH) loves haddock. He caught nine of them, none of which were legal. For this, Ian gave him the hard luck award. At least now, we will be able to see him coming from a great distance - if he indeed wears the shirt!

I received a generous $50.00 donation supporting me in my cancer fund raising efforts with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. The contribution came from one of my special anglers/friends, Don Spencer (VT). Thanks so very much for your help, Don. It was great having you become one of the most successful anglers of the trip the other day. And I appreciate the donation!

Tim Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The fishing was very good. The catching of legal fish was excellent. Except where I was experimenting (because we had plenty enough fish to do so), it was a fish a cast all day long. Most legal fish landed were pollock (by far) followed by cod. Legal landings included twelve haddock, eight redfish, three cusk and three white hake (our first three white hake of the season). We released about fifty legal cod under twenty-two inches, fifty-six sub-legal haddock, our second largest wolffish of the season, a few whiting and seventy legal pollock (alive). Larry Irish (FL) had two mackerel (porbeagle) sharks on his line and we had another swimming around the boat an hour later. Larry lost both sharks, one after five minutes of fighting it. It was not meant to be as the monofilament leader was severely chaffed and the fly above his jig was gapped! We drift fished, anchored and used the sea anchor. We slammed the fish drifting but didn't do much on anchor or the sea anchor. Jigs and cod flies caught all the fish.

Bryan Lewer (FL) was high hook with exactly twenty legal fish more than Fred Kunz (NH), who was the Bunny Clark's second hook. This only because Fred was fishing with a "specially made fly" that had no hook on it! He only discovered the fly's condition after fishing with it for most of the trip. So while Bryan had ten double keeper catches, Fred had no doubles. And, of course, sometimes fish want just the fly. There is no doubt in my mind that it would have been a battle between the two had both anglers had the same equipment! Bryan released all but five of his legal fish including twelve legal cod to 10.5 pounds. The rest of Bryan's weighable fish included another cod of 10.25 pounds, an 11.5 pound pollock and a pollock of 10.5 pounds (all released alive). Fred's largest fish was a pollock of about 10 pounds that I didn't weigh.

Doug Caputo (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 14 pound pollock. His largest cod weighed 9 pounds and he also caught a pollock that weighed 12 pounds. Larry Irish won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 12.5 pound wolffish. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest wolffish of the fishing season to date. Larry also caught one of the bigger double keeper catches of the day. This double included a 10 pound cod and a 10 pound pollock, both fish on the same line at the same time. Another fish of Larry's that I weighed was a pollock of 10.75 pounds. And he boated the Bunny Clark's largest redfish of the season so far weighing 1.9 pounds. Actually, this redfish tied with another for size at 1.9 pounds caught by Michael Menghi (CT) today. Both fish were just a tenth of a pound away from attaining Maine state trophy status. The third largest fish was a 12.25 pound white hake caught by Nikki Bleau (VT). This is the Bunny Clark's largest hake of the season so far. Nikki's largest pollock weighed 10.5 pounds.

Other Angler Highlights: Mark Lucca (CT) boated the first fish I could weigh, an 11 pound pollock. Dody Bleau (VT) landed an 11 pound pollock an hour or so later. He also landed the hard luck award for losing two jigs! Ron Krause (MA) caught a 10 pound pollock, his largest fish. Norm Shink (MA) landed an 11 pound pollock.

I was sponsored by three anglers today in my quest for a cancer cure with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Dody & Nikki Bleau were the first to contribute. They had just gotten married and had added a trip on the Bunny Clark to their honeymoon. Their donation was a generous $50.00. Ron Krause gave his annual much appreciated $20.00 donation. Thank all very much for your support of me on this project.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 40°F, the sky was clear, the wind was just barely blowing out of the west and the visibility was excellent. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest from five to ten or more knots out of the southwest in the morning. After noon, the wind hauled out of the south and blew up to twenty knots (late). Seas were one to two feet to two and three or more feet in chops. The visibility was excellent in the morning to good in haze in the afternoon. The sky was clear for the day until around 3:00 PM when it clouded up. It was raining lightly when they got back to Perkins Cove. The sky remained overcast for the rest of the night. The air temperature was mild with the wind (it was warm ashore until the overcast skies arrived). The surface water temperature reached a high of 50.2°F but dropped to 48°F by 3:00 PM on the fishing grounds. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 35°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 67°F (with a low of 44°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 29°F) today.

The fishing and catching (of legal fish) was excellent today. Most legal fish landed were cod in the 7 to 8 pound range. There were half as many pollock caught today as cod. In fact, they stayed with the lower size limit of twenty-two inches and still reached the bag limit by noon. Legal landings also included nine good sized haddock, four redfish and two cusk. They released one porbeagle (mackerel) shark - not intentionally, three sub-legal haddock, almost a hundred legal cod and a sea raven. No dogfish were caught today. They drift fished all day. All terminal gear worked well.

High hook could not be determined today. Dody Bleau (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10.5 pound pollock. He also caught a 10 pound pollock, a tie for the third largest fish. And he had a mackerel shark on that he fought and got within thirty feet of the boat before breaking it off. The shark hit the fly, eighteen inches above the jig, biting it off at the dropper loop. Dody never lost the jig. A thirty foot flying gaff might have done it! The second largest fish was a 10.25 pound pollock caught by Lindsey Mercer (MA). This pollock was caught as a double keeper catch with another pollock of 8 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. She also caught a good sized haddock of 5.5 pounds. Jason Metres (VT) tied with Dody for third place, also catching a 10 pound pollock. He was one of the anglers to catch a good sized haddock as well. It weighed 5.5 pounds. And, Jason landed the hard luck award for losing a jig.

Other Angler Highlights: Rich Lusis (FL) caught the largest haddock of the trip. It weighed 6.25 pounds. The second largest haddock weighed 6 pounds and was landed by Christian Gezotis (MA).

Thursday, May 16, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 40°F, the sky was clear, the wind was just barely blowing out of the west and the visibility was excellent. There wasn't a breath of wind heading to the fishing grounds. The ocean was very smooth over three to five foot short left over swells from the wind the night before. The visibility was very good in some haze and the air temperature was fairly mild. On the grounds, the wind started as soon as we got there. Not much wind; maybe five or ten knots from the west. Seas were chops of a foot over the persistent swells. The wind got up to fifteen knots before letting go in the afternoon. The wind hauled out of the southwest before heading home, died out again and then came northwest (seven miles from Perkins Cove) to twenty or more knots for the rest of the ride home. The air temperature was mild even with the wind. The sky remained sunny with some clouds for the duration of the trip. The visibility was excellent. The highest surface water temperature I observed on the fishing grounds was 49.5°F. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 78°F (with a low of 44°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 82°F (with a low of 53°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 43°F) today.

The fishing/catching of legal fish was excellent today. We concentrated on haddock first, pollock after the haddock and ended with cod. Of course, we caught a mixture of these species all day wherever we went. Most legal fish landed were pollock followed by cod and haddock, in that order. In the afternoon, we had to take breaks to re-group. Legal landings also included four redfish and ten cusk. We released quite a few legal cod and pollock during the last two hours of the trip. There were only two fish caught today that were 10 pounds or over and yet the average size (excluding the haddock) was probably 8 pounds. The sub-legal haddock count was sixty-eight as near as I could figure. It might have been more. We didn't see a single dogfish or mackerel shark. We anchored for haddock at dawn. The rest of the day was spent drifting. All terminal gear worked well.

High hook could not be determined. I don't even know who had the most haddock. I do know that Dave Gray (VT) had five haddock caught on a jig. Dan Bingell (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15.5 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 12 pound pollock caught by Ryan Marsh (CT). Dave Bingell (CT) caught the third and fourth largest fish, both cod, at 9.25 and 9 pounds. John Digertt (CT) landed the hard luck award for the most tangled and broken lines!

Four donations were made to my Pan-Mass Challenge bicycle ride for a cancer cure today. The donors and their gifts included Dan Bingell for $20.00, Jim Millovitsch (CT) for $40.00, Mike "Perfectly Round Rock" Kalwara (CT) for $20.00 and a very generous donation of $100.00 from Brett Marsh (CT). Thank you all so much for your kindness and support. I really do appreciate it.

Friday, May 17, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at ten knots or less and the visibility was excellent. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest up to fifteen knots. Seas were chops of a foot or more. The wind dropped off later in the morning leaving the ocean calm for the rest of the fishing trip. The tide (current) as moderate to strong. The sky was clear. The air temperature was warm without the wind. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 52.6°F The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 66°F (with a low of 45°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 70°F (with a low of 54°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 69°F (with a low of 47°F) today.

The fishing and catching of legal fish was excellent. All the fish caught today were smaller on average, like yesterday's trip. Most legal fish landed were cod. Legal landings also included eight haddock, twenty-seven pollock, one redfish and seven cusk. There were no dogfish seen today. Drifting was the best method. All terminal gear worked well.

High hook could not be determined. David MacDonald (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 10.75 pound pollock caught by Len Rosberg (MA). Steve Campo (CT) caught the third largest fish, a 10.25 pound pollock. Jim Bartholomew (CT) landed the hard luck award for getting a touch of the mal de mer and because he brought the dreaded bananas.

Vince DeBari (NJ) helped me with my Pan-Mass Challenge cancer fund raising drive by donating $40.00 to the cause today. Thanks, Vince. Looking forward to seeing you in the fall!

Saturday, May 18, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 45°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind, the ocean was calm and the visibility was excellent. On the fishing grounds, the ocean was flat calm until 10:30 AM. After that, the wind kicked up from the northeast and east to ten knots or more. Seas were chops of one to two feet. They carried easterly winds of ten knots all the way back to Perkins Cove. The air temperature was mild. The sky was clear until after noon, overcast for the ride back in. The visibility was about fifteen miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 51.6°F The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 58°F (with a low of 41°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 67°F (with a low of 51°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 74°F (with a low of 37°F) today.

The fishing/catching (of legal fish) was excellent overall. Most legal fish landed were pollock of a slightly larger size than we have been catching as of late. The second most prevalent legal fish landed was the cod. Legal landings also included seven haddock. The only other species of fish that was caught today was one sculpin that was released. There were no dogfish seen today. The method employed was drift fishing. All terminal gear worked well.

High hook could not be determined. Chris Hjerpe (CT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 12.5 pound pollock caught by Neal Hickey (ME). He caught this fish as part of a double keeper catch with another pollock of 10 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. Butch Leclerc (ME), who, by the way, was like a man possessed catching fish today (high hook?), landed the third largest fish, a 12 pound pollock. He also caught a pollock of 10.25 pounds.

Other Angler Highlights: Chris Serino (MA) caught our fifth Maine state trophy haddock of the season today. This fish weighed 8 pounds, 1 pound over the minimum acceptance weight for a trophy haddock in Maine. It was his best fish of the trip. Captain Ian took a picture of Chris with his special fish. The picture appears on the left in this days entry. Brian Giblin (CT) caught a pollock of 11 pounds. Adam Towle (NH) boated a pollock of 10.5 pounds. Lee Landry (ME) caught an 11 pound pollock and an 11.5 pound pollock, his two best fish. Ashley Valcourt (NH) boated an 11.5 pound pollock. Nick Butler (ME) answered the calling for the hard luck award (at least in Ian's mind) for living the next couple of days only as a bachelor.

Captain Ian Keniston and Captain Jared Keniston ran the afternoon half day (4PM - 8PM) trip. The sky had become overcast before they left the dock for the trip. The wind had hauled out of the southeast, a change from the easterly wind they sailed in from on the full day. On the grounds, the wind picked up to fifteen knots. Seas were chops of two to three feet. And, from anglers coming off the boat at the end of the trip, it was colder and wetter than they had expected it would be. The sky remained overcast all evening. The air temperature, as they said, was cool. The visibility was about ten miles in haze or light fog (ashore, it felt like the fog was going to roll in at any time - but it never did).

The fishing was very good but the catching of legal fish was on the slow side. Legal landings included two cod and four mackerel. They released twenty-five sub-legal pollock, a sculpin, a sea raven and a redfish. They anchored for every spot. No particular terminal gear worked better than another.

Bryan Lewer (FL) was high hook with four mackerel and a 4 pound cod. The cod was legal, of course, the second largest fish of the trip and was released back to the ocean alive. Steve Amos (NE) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 7 pound cod. The third largest fish was a sub-legal cod of 1.75 pounds caught by Micah Tower (ME) - fresh from the Hawaian long-line fleet.

Other Angler Highlights: Andy Morgan (NE) caught a one pound sub-legal cod. Leanne Golfin (VT) landed the hard luck award for catching nary a single legal or sub-legal fish.

I received a generous $50.00 donation from John Lambert, Jr. (NY) sponsoring me for my Pan-Mass Challenge bike ride for cancer in August. John has supported me since I started raising money for cancer research seven years ago. Thanks so much, John, for your belief in me and this project of mine. I certainly appreciate it.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, the sky was overcast, there was no wind, the ocean was calm and the visibility was good to very good in some haze. On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east at five to eight knots in the morning. By afternoon, the wind was out of the northeast at five to eight knots. Seas were chops of a foot or less. The sky was overcast all day (as it was ashore). There was no rain (as it was ashore). The air temperature was mild. The visibility ranged from ten to fifteen miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 50.7°F The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 57°F (with a low of 49°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 63°F (with a low of 50°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 47°F) today.

The fishing/catching (of legal fish) was excellent today. Most legal fish landed were cod. In fact, they had to raise the minimum size limit to twenty-three inches so they wouldn't go over the bag limit. They caught less than half as many legal pollock today, the second most prevalent species of legal length landed. Legal landings also included four haddock, two redfish and seven cusk. They released a dogfish, a sculpin, two sub-legal haddock and quite a few legal cod back to the ocean alive. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked well.

High hook could not be determined today. Justin Morton (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15 pound pollock. He also caught an 11 pound cod and had the two largest fish of the trip for most of the day. The 11 pound cod tied with three other fish of 11 pounds for the third largest fish of the trip. The second largest fish was a 13 pound cod caught by Don Bragdon (ME). Don also caught a 10 pound cod. Richard Gipp (NY) caught an 11 pound pollock, Joel Delary (VT) caught an 11 pound cod and John Lambert, Jr. (NY) caught an 11 pound pollock to tie with Justin for the third largest fish of the trip.

Other Angler Highlights: James Davenport (CT) boated the largest haddock of the day weighing 6.75 pounds, only a quarter of a pound shy of a Maine state trophy. His largest fish was a 10 pound pollock. Bill Terrio (NY) boated a 10.5 pound cod, his best fish. Mike Kingsbury (VT) took home the fillets from his 6 pound haddock that he caught this day. Ken Gipp (NY) landed the hard luck award for catching the only dogfish in three days!

The only other thing I can say is that Keith Borkowski (ME) was missing from the spring trip (today) that he usually shares with his buddies: James, Dave Lybass and Don Gilbert. They told me when they got back to dock that it might be best if Keith were not included, at least in the spring outing. They seemed to have much better luck without him!

Several donations sponsoring me in my cancer ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge came in today. The sponsors and their donations are as follows: Justin & Melissa Morton (NH) for $40.00, Ron Terrio (NY) for $25.00 and Gary Vincze & Mary Ann Donovan (CT) for a generous $100.00.

Monday, May 20, 2013

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the sky was overcast, the streets were wet but it wasn't raining, there was no wind, the ocean was calm and the visibility was fair in fog and haze. By 6:00 AM, the fog had rolled in along the shore, making the visibility poor at best. More later.

The Wednesday, May 22 extreme day trip has ten spots available, there are five fishing spots available on the Friday, May 24 extreme day trip, the boat is wide open for the Saturday, May 25 full day trip and the Monday, Memorial Day, May 27 extreme day trip has not a soul signed up as of this writing. Be there or be square. The fishing this last week has been excellent - not as many haddock but more cod and more pollock. For reservations or more information, you can call 207-646-2214.