Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Tuesday, July 1, 2025, 8:00 AM EDT
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Proposed cod & haddock regulations for the 2025 fishing season (May 1, 2025 thru April 30, 2026):
Gulf of Maine cod
Gulf of Maine haddock
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining, the wind was blowing out of the east northeast at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was good in haze, some fog and precipitation.
It was sloppy in the outer cove when we left the protection of the channel as we headed to the gate. Leaving the gate behind us, I thought we would be lucky to make ten knots cruise. But once we got out a couple of miles, I was able to make thirteen knots. It was a beat and a slog, for sure, but it was okay. Not okay enough to allow anglers to sleep in the top bunks. But okay enough to allow sleeping in the bottom bunks. The wind was out of the east southeast at about twelve knots but diminishing slightly the further we went. Seas were old round chops of three feet with the occasional queer one over four feet. The air temperature was in the high 50s. The sky was overcast. The visibility was fair in fog for the whole ride to our destination.
On the fishing grounds, it stayed foggy all morning, lightning up after noon. We had about two miles visibility for most of the afternoon, just a few boat lengths in the morning. The air temperature reached a high of 58°F but was mostly 56°F. We had no rain all day until at the end of the last stop. However, the sky was overcast all day. Of course, it may have been that the thick fog made it seem like it was overcast in the morning. The tide (current) was light. The wind completely dropped out of the day an hour into the fishing. We had a glassy two to three foot roll for the rest of the day. The highest surface water temperature that I witnessed was 51.5°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 60°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 62°F (with a low of 56°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 64°F (with a low of 55°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 53°F).
The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were excellent. It was a fish a cast all day long. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. These were some of the biggest framed haddock we have seen all season. We had the boat's bag limit well before we finished. Another thing of note is that these anglers have all fished with me many times over the last thirty years on the Bunny Clark. I consider them professional experts, some of the best groundfishermen in New England. Three of this anglers told me that it was the best day of haddock fishing that they have ever had. It was really "that" excellent! It's certainly magical when you find the right spot, at the right time, with the most perfect biting weather that you could ever imagine with the perfect group of anglers. Legal landings also included forty-one pollock, twenty cusk, nine redfish, ten mackerel and a whiting. Released fish included nineteen small cod, two cod that would have been keepers if cod were legal to take, seventy-six legal sized haddock to 6.5 pounds, thirteen sub-legal haddock, more than seventy-one pollock including small legal pollock and a mackerel. The drift was perfect but did much better on anchor. All terminal gear worked well.
I had no idea who was high hook with the most legal fish. Everyone did so well. Mark Girard (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11 pound pollock. Other special fish that I weighed for him included a 7.75 pound Maine state trophy haddock, a 7.1 pound Maine state trophy haddock and another pollock of 7.5 pounds. The 7.75 pound haddock was the third largest fish of the trip. Don Johnson (MA) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, an 8 pound Maine state trophy haddock. This is the second largest haddock that Don has ever caught ( his largest weighed 8.25 pounds). It also ties for the Bunny Clark's sixth largest haddock of this season so far. I took a picture of Don holding his big haddock. This digital image appears on the left. Some of his other good fish included two haddock of 6.5 pounds each, a 6 pound haddock and a 7 pound Maine state trophy haddock.
Other Angler Highlights: Jim Feeney (MA) caught two haddock of 6 pounds each and a 6 pound cod. He probably had a bigger one that I didn't weigh. John Baron (MA) caught a 6 pound haddock, that I weighed, and, of course, many others that I could have weighed but didn't. Dave Burton (MA) landed a 7 pound cusk. His largest haddock weighed 6.5 pounds. He also caught a double that included, what looked like, a 5.5 pound haddock and a 6.5 pound haddock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. He gave them to me to give to Jane Staples, our top reservationist. I, in turn, filleted the two fish, put the fillets on ice immediately and gave the fillets to Jane after I left the boat this evening. You can't get fish any fresher than that. And she really appreciated it! Augie Nigro (MA) landed two haddock of 6.5 pounds each and a 6.25 pound haddock. Steve Selmer (NH) caught the best double of the day. His catch included a 7.1 pound Maine state trophy haddock and a 5.5 pound haddock! He also caught a 7.5 pound Maine state trophy haddock and two haddock of 6 pounds each. Steve LaPlante (CT) caught his largest ever haddock today, a 7.25 pound Maine state trophy. In the forty years that he has fished with me, that's the first trophy haddock that he has ever landed. I took a picture of Steve holding his trophy fish. This digital image appears on the right. Some of Steve's other fish that he caught included a 7 pound pollock, a 6.5 pound haddock and a 6.75 pound haddock. Fred Kunz (NH) missed securing a trophy haddock by a quarter of a pound, with a fish of 6.75 pounds. I also weighed a 6 pound haddock and a 6.25 pound haddock for him.
I received many donations today sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a cycling event across the state of Massachusetts for cancer research. The anglers and their donations included: Dave Burton for $50.00 (again; he has donated many times this year and in the past), John Baron for a generous $100.00, Jim & Angela Feeney for a generous $100.00, Steve LaPlante for a generous $100.00, Mark Girard for a generous $100.00 and Don Johnson for $60.00 (Don & family also donate every year and have already done so this year). Thank you all so much for your generosity, thoughtfulness and support. I know that this is important and that I should be doing this; the results speak for themselves. But I appreciate your backing and selfless motivation to help me all the time. It's this reinforcement that also means so very much to me!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was clear, there was a very light wind from the southwest, the ocean along the shore was flat calm but lightly ruffled and the visibility over it was excellent.
Ashore the wind blew out of the northwest. There was barely any wind to start but increased to fifteen knots by 9:00 AM and over twenty knots by noon. The early afternoon saw twenty knots of northwest wind with higher gusts, starting to peter out by 3:00 PM. By 6:00 PM, there was hardly any wind at all. Offshore, it blew out of the south, south southwest or west at ten knots with some reports as high as fifteen knots. The visibility was excellent all day. The sky was hazy clear with sun for the entire day. It was wonderful; very much like a summer day. The air temperature reached a high of 79°F, that I saw, in Ogunquit. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 83°F (with a low of 62°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 79°F (with a low of 57°F).
I spent a wonderful day at the restaurants. I had a bunch of stuff there that I had to do early and throughout the morning, going back and forth between the home office and the Cove. I was in the restaurants for good by 11:00 AM. I did a little office work but it was mostly talking to patrons and management. It was a very good day with much good work done.
My sister, Meg, works at Barnacle Billy's on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. So she was there today. It's always nice to have here there. Certainly, the regulars love her. And why not? She's Meg!
At 2:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 64°F, the sky was clear with a full moon above the horizon to the west, the wind was blowing out of the west at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was nearly excellent.
The full moon hung over my right shoulder as we headed down the channel and out of the gate to Perkins Cove. It was a beautiful morning with an air temperature of 64°F almost the whole ride to the fishing grounds. The visibility was excellent. The sky was clear with Venus ahead of us. The wind was light out of the southwest to start but increased as we progressed further offshore. A mile from the grounds, the southwest wind was blowing about fifteen knots with seas of about three feet.
On the fishing grounds, the wind continued to increase out of the southwest. By mid-morning wind speeds were about twenty knots sustained with seas of about four feet with the occasional queer one. The wind started to back off around noon. Gradually at first, by the time we were ready to head for the barn, there was very little wind. The wind was light out of the west when we started home. We carried light westerly winds and calm seas all the way home. The air temperature reached a high of 62°F. The tide (current) was light to begin and strong at the end of the last stop. The visibility had to be over twenty-five miles in some haze. The sky was cloudless. The surface water temperature reached a high of 55°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 85°F, I heard. But, in Matt Pedersen's truck driving around Ogunquit, he had a consistent reading of 88°F. He said that it was way too warm! In Boston, MassachuThsetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 89°F (with a low of 66°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 57°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 82°F (with a low of 60°F).
The fishing was good to very good. The larger than normal seas put some of our anglers under, it was a bit uncomfortable anyway and the tide was a bit too much in the end. However, the catching and landings were excellent. The fish did not care about the conditions. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. However, we were denied the boat's limit of haddock because the pollock bit so well. We only landed ninety-nine legal pollock. But we had to have caught and released twice as many sub-legal pollock. Legal landings also included nine cusk, thirty-two mackerel and two redfish. Released fish included a porbeagle shark, four cod over 6 pounds, two cusk, two small cod, a dogfish, eighteen sub-legal haddock and all those small pollock. I didn't even attempt to drift; we anchored for every stop. All terminal gear worked well.
John Gardner (NY) fought a porbeagle shark for about five minutes or so before his monofilament leader broke off his line after getting the fly above the jig caught as the shark swam away, stripping line out of the John's reel in the process. John never had a chance. We never saw another shark hookup again. Although Jeff Bailey (NY) observed a very large porbeagle shark free swimming as he was fishing off the bow.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook with the most legal fish. Everybody did exceptionally well - except for three who didn't fish much. Mike Kotash (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 18.5 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's largest pollock of the fishing season to date. Mike also caught the second largest fish of the trip, a 16 pound pollock. This fish is the Bunny Clark's second largest pollock of this year's fishing season so far. I caught the third largest fish of the trip, a 12.5 pound wolffish. I caught this fish as a double with a 4 pound haddock on the fly above the bait rig. At the time of this writing, this is the Bunny Clark's fifth largest wolffish of the season. The largest wolffish that I had ever caught before this only weighed 8 pounds! Kris Ostergaard (NJ) took a picture of me holding this cat before I released it back to the ocean. This digital image appears on the left. I was holding the mouth of this fish toward the camera so that you can see the teeth. Having one of these fish bite me would not be a pleasant experience.
Other Angler Highlights: Ted Elk (NY) caught a 7.5 pound pollock right off the bat this morning. Pete Backus (NY) caught a 6 pound cod, a 6 pound pollock and a 6.5 pound haddock, the three of his fish that I weighed. Jeff Richards caught a bunch of haddock in the 6 pound range. His largest haddock was a 7 pound Maine state trophy. I believe that this is the largest haddock that he has ever caught. John Kennedy (NY) caught an 8.5 pound pollock and was leading the boat pool for, at least, an hour or more. I weighed a 6 pound haddock for John. Three fish I weighed for Greg Mallott (NY) included a 6 pound haddock, a 7 pound pollock and a 9 pound pollock. Rod Langevin (NY) caught a 6.25 pound haddock and a 6 pound haddock. Tom "Ollie" Bruyere (NY) landed a 6 pound haddock, a 6.5 pound haddock and a 10.5 pound pollock. He caught the most legal haddock that he has ever caught on a single trip in his life today! Jeff Bailey caught a double that included a 9.75 pound cod and a 6.5 pound haddock. I had weighed a 6.5 pound pollock for him before he caught the double. Jeff's cod is the Bunny Clark's fifth largest cod of the season to date. Kris Ostergaard caught the largest haddock of the trip, a Maine state trophy of 8 pounds. This is Kris' largest ever haddock and a tie for the Bunny Clark's sixth largest haddock of the fishing season so far. I took a picture of Kris holding his prize haddock. This digital image appears on the right. Bob Tebo (NY) caught a 6 pound haddock, his biggest fish. Joe Valentino (NY) caught a 5.5 pound haddock that I weighed.
This crew has fished on the Bunny Clark for eighteen years. I started taking this crew as their captain, initially, back then. Captain Ian took over after that initial trip. They were never disappointed with Ian. Today, thought, was the first time any of them had seen haddock fishing as good as this. And this doesn't have so much to do with me as it does the sign of the times. The haddock have come back in a huge way. But it still amazes me with the average size of the haddock we have been seeing. It certainly amazed them!
I received three donations sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising project with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Mike Kotash donated his boat pool winnings in an extremely generous show of solidarity, of which I really appreciated. But it must have been a plan that was thought out in advance collectively as everyone clapped when he gave the money back after I presented it to him. The figure was a very generous $320.00. John Gardner threw in another $5.00 from the change for a jig that he bought from me earlier in the day to make a grand total of $325.00. Later, Rich Mallott gave me $200.00 towards my fundraising drive! Thank you all so very much for your most wonderful surprise and for the support you have all given me in the past. Your generosity today may be a surprise but your thoughtfulness never is. And I appreciate that more than you will ever know. You are a great crew. I'm only sorry, and a bit sad, that your primary captain was not here to enjoy the fishing with you. He always looked forward to this charter. But he was always anxious before the trip as he was concerned about catching you enough fish!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 59°F, the sky was clear, there was hardly enough wind out of the northwest to blow a candle out and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
It was a very nice day, albeit, a little on the cool side. The wind blew out of the west up to about ten knots during the day, maybe a little bit north of west. That probably made the air cooler than expected, the northerly lilt. Offshore, the wind blew lightly out of the west northwest until noon where it died out and started to blow out of the south and, then, southwest. Southwest wind speeds never got to the ten knot mark. The sky was clear all day with few clouds. The visibility was pretty close to excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw was 68°F, which was perfect for me. In Boston, MassachuThsetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 70°F (with a low of 59°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 53°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 53°F).
My day was spent in the restaurants. It wasn't the busiest day but it wasn't too slow either.
A couple of the harpoon tuna boats were out today. I don't know how they fared. But a buyer was in the Cove when I left to go home. So I'm assuming a fish or more was caught today. I'll find out tomorrow. The conditions today were perfect for harpooning.
I received a generous $250.00 donation from Ledgy Mitchell (NH) sponsoring me in my cancer quest with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Ledgy's donation was made in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site. Ledgy started supporting my cancer project a few years ago and has, since, sponsored me every year. Thank you so very much for your help! I appreciate it so much!
The day looked like it was going to be horrible. But it wasn't, really. It rained for the first half of the morning and was a bit drizzly for part of the second half. By noon, there was very little drizzle. The afternoon was, pretty much, rain free. The sky stayed mostly overcast all day with a peek at the sun through the clouds after 5:00 PM. The sky never did totally clear. It was cool all day with the air temperature only making it out of the 50s in the later afternoon. The highest air temperature that I saw was 61°F. The wind was light all day with periods of zero wind. The only time there seemed to be any wind at all was in the early afternoon where we might have had nine knots out of the southeast or east southeast. The ocean was calm along the shore for most of the day. Even the wind we did have didn't last much more than an hour. The visibility was very good to excellent. In Boston, MassachuThsetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 61°F (with a low of 57°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 53°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 48°F).
Today was, pretty much, a normal day for me. Most of the day was spent at the restaurants. Part of the morning was devoted to Bunny Clark stuff.
My daughter's family are visiting with us for the weekend. Last night, we enjoyed dinner with them at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. Tonight they (including my sister, Meg) had dinner at Barnacle Billy's while I worked at both restaurants. It was fun visiting them and visiting a wedding reception of high profile guests at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. during the same time period, both starting at 5:00 PM. My daughter's family leaves tomorrow morning.
It was a beautiful spring day today. The sky was clear all day with a bright sun. The visibility remained excellent. The wind was light all day. East at first, east southeast and, then, southeast in the later afternoon. The strongest wind I felt was at 5:00 PM when it was blowing eight to ten knots out of the southeast. It was cool all day again, much like yesterday but warmer with the addition of sun. The highest air temperature that I saw was 64°F. In Boston, MassachuThsetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 64°F (with a low of 56°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 73°F (with a low of 52°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 44°F).
Today was another restaurant day. I spent an hour down there starting at 5:30 AM but spent the rest of the morning at home. Some of the time was spent with my daughter's family. I also took time for a 10 kilometer run. I made sure my run was done before 10:00 AM so I could spend some time with the grandkids before they motored back to New Jersey. It was nice to have them here.
The restaurant was busier than yesterday, mostly because of the great weather. There were very few patrons inside at either restaurant. Most were on the deck, patio, garden and upper deck. It was such a nice day.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F outside the home office and 51°F where the Bunny Clark is docked, the sky was overcast, there was a hint of wind from the southwest, the ocean along the shore was calm and the visibility over it was very good in some haze.
We had an easy ride to the fishing grounds. There was zero wind, a very smooth ocean with no wind ripples and a large underlying swell of four to five feet. There was so much time between the swells that it was hardly noticeable. The visibility was excellent. The sky was clear. The air temperature stayed above 60°F for the whole ride. .
On the grounds, we had no wind until around noon. After noon, the wind started to blow out of the southeast. It stayed out of the southeast or south southeast for the rest of the day. We might have seen ten knots at most. The air temperature got up as high as 68°F. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles in haze. The sky was cloudless. Seas were a one foot chop after noon. The highest surface water temperature that I saw was 59°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 68°F. In Boston, MassachuThsetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 66°F (with a low of 55°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 51°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 67°F (with a low of 52°F).
The fishing was excellent if you included the dogfish, the catching was very good and landings were good at best. It was one of our slower days. It could have been our slowest day. We did, however, have several anglers sea sick enough to not be a participating angler today. Legal landings included seventy-five haddock, twenty-six cusk, three pollock, seventy-two mackerel and four redfish. Released fish included thirty-seven sub-legal haddock, seventy-six dogfish, thirty-eight small pollock, fifteen mackerel, two cusk, two sculpins, three porbeagle sharks, five small cod and one cod of about five or more pounds. We alternated between drifting and anchoring. Both methods had their moments. Bait worked best.
Nick Longo (MA/ME) was high hook with eighteen legal fish. Three of his fish that I weighed included two haddock of 5 pounds and a 6 pound haddock. Jeff Corey (MA) was second hook with the second most legal fish of the trip. Paul DeSousa (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 7.25 pound Maine state trophy haddock. This is Paul's biggest ever haddock. I took a picture of Paul holding his prize fish. This digital image appears on the right. Roy Carreiro (MA) caught the second largest fish, a 7 pound cusk. His 4.5 pound haddock was one of the first haddock that I weighed today. Bill Gelinas (NH) caught the third largest fish, a haddock that weighed slightly over 6 pounds. Bill also caught a 5 pound haddock.
Other Angler Highlights: Jack Doherty (MA) landed a 5.5 pound haddock, his best fish. Sye Davidson (WI) caught a 5.5 pound cusk, his biggest fish. Steve Pesce (ME) caught a few fish. But he was most noted for losing a 200 pound porbeagle shark right next to the boat. He had two on today.
I really think that, had there been a lot less bait (herring, mackerel & sand eels) and it wasn't so calm, we would have caught more fish. It was fun seeing all the bait on the machine and to see the whales feeding on them. But, I'm sure, our fishing suffered for it.
I received three donations sponsoring me in my cancer fund raising project with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Jack Doherty donated $20.00 before the boat even left the dock this morning, Tony Brewer (ME), one of the bow gods today, donated $20.00 and Paul DeSousa donated a generous $70.00. Thank you all so very much for your support and kindness. It means so very much to me. But it means more to those who are suffering from cancer and the researchers who are doing all the work.
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 59°F outside the home office and 59°F where the Bunny Clark is docked, the sky was mostly cloudy with a half moon shinning through high over the ocean, the wind was very light from the south and the visibility over the ocean was very good in some haze.
The sky was cloudy enough so as not to see the moon when we left the channel to the open ocean. The wind was blowing out of the south but there wasn't enough of it to bother. Three knots, mostly? The ocean was calm with an old chop hubble for the ride out. Although the sky was mostly cloudy the whole way, it was clear to the east where we saw the sun rise as an orange orb out of the ocean. We carried an air temperature of 60°F to our destination. The visibility seemed very good in some haze.
On the fishing grounds, there was very little wind. In order to set up an anchor heading, I had to drift first. The wind came up out of the south southeast late in the morning. We might have seen eight knots of south southeast wind in the early afternoon. This died out to about three knots or less before it was time to go home. The air temperature reached a high of 66°F. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The visibility ranged to over fifteen miles in haze. The sky was mostly cloudy to the point of being overcast at times but with a good view of the sun most of the day. There was enough sun to wear sunglasses. Seas were as much as a foot or two, mostly because of an opposing tide. The surface water temperature reached a high of 58°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was observed at 68°F. In Boston, MassachuThsetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 68°F (with a low of 59°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 56°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 67°F (with a low of 59°F).
The fishing was very good to excellent. The weather conditions and the tide did not bother today. There were too many small pollock and dogfish to make a perfect fishing day. The catching was excellent. Landings were good to very good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far, our best pollock fishing of the year to date. Legal landings also included eighty-one haddock, eighteen cusk, four redfish and eleven mackerel. Most of the day we couldn't get through the pollock to get to the haddock. Released fish included over two hundred and twenty-eight small pollock, five sub-legal haddock, six cod over 6 pounds, two small cod, over thirty-four dogfish, a wolffish and seven mackerel. We lost two porbeagle sharks. We drift fished and anchored. Anchoring caught the most legal haddock and almost all the dogfish. There were very few dogfish on the drift. And just about all our bigger fish were caught while drifting. All terminal gear worked well.
Dave Burton (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish. There was a period of about an hour where no one could touch him for numbers of keepers. I do believe that if he had only fished for that hour, he would still have had the most fish to take home. His largest fish was a 12 pound pollock. But he also caught a lot of good sized haddock including his biggest, a 7.1 pound Maine state trophy. This is the largest haddock that he has ever caught. I took a picture of Dave with his haddock. This digital image appears on the right. Wilson Nadler (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 16.5 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest pollock of the fishing season so far. Tim Blowers (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 15.5 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's fourth largest pollock of the fishing season so far. The third largest fish was a 15 pound cod caught by Nikki Szczepanski (VA). This is the Bunny Clark's second largest cod of the fishing season to date. I took a picture of Nikki holding her big cod before it was released alive. This digital image appears on the left. Of the six cod of "keeper size" that we caught today, she had three of them. Nikki's other two cod weighed 7 pounds and 7.25 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights:Paul Glowacki (NY) boated an 8 pound pollock, a 5 pound haddock and a 9.75 pound pollock. Mike Szczepanski (MA) landed the second biggest cod of the day at 10 pounds. This ties our sixth largest cod of the season so far. Mike also caught the largest cusk at 8 pounds and the third largest haddock at 6.9 pounds. Dave Bolak (NY) caught an 8 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Dexter Case (NY), an expert walleye fisherman, got the best double of the day. His catch included a 5 pound haddock and an 8 pound Maine state trophy haddock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time! I also weighed a 6 pound haddock for him. Fred Kunz (NH) caught twenty-eight legal fish. His largest was a 9 pound pollock. Glenn Cummings (NY) caught the only wolffish today. It weighed 10 pounds. His biggest haddock weighed 6 pounds and his largest pollock weighed 7 pounds. Greg Szczepanski (NY) caught a 9 pound pollock, his largest fish. Kelsey Oakley (NY) landed a 12 pound pollock and a 10 pound pollock, his two biggest fish.
I received three donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising project with the Pan-Mass Challenge. The anglers and their donations included Dave Burton for another $50.00 (Dave has contributed many times this year already), Dexter Case for $15.00 and Dave Bolak for $50.00. Thank you all so very much for your support and thoughtfulness. I do really appreciate the help and your encouragement!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining lightly, the wind was blowing out of the south at twelve knots and the visibility over the ocean was fair to poor in fog.
Thankfully, it didn't rain all day. It rained lightly for most of the morning with drizzle and fog for the rest of the morning. By noon, the rain was gone for the day. The fog hung around for about another two hours. Then, that was gone too. The sky did stay overcast all day. But the temperature rose. By mid afternoon, the air temperature had risen to 70°F. The wind blew out of the south all day today. By 5:30 AM, the wind was blowing about fifteen knots, more or less. This wind kept up all morning but started to drop off after noon. By 6:00 PM, the wind was very light out of the south. The visibility was very good after noon as well. In Boston, MassachuThsetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 78°F (with a low of 65°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 66°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 68°F (with a low of 60°F).
Two days on the boat makes me get behind in the restaurants. So I had a lot to catch up on. And I realized that I had forgotten to do a couple of things, after I got home at the end of the day. C'est la vie. They weren't critical things. But it will just increase the work load over the weekend. But I do have three days before we go out again on the Bunny Clark. It seems so strange to be only sailing three days a week.
I received a generous $250.00 donation from Andy Armitage (ME) sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Andy's donation was made in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site. With the donation he left a message that said: "Wishing you another tremendous year in your PMC cancer fund raising efforts. You are a hero, Tim Tower." I'm not sure I agree with the hero part. But I do appreciate the donation more than you know, Andy. But, actually, of all the people I know, I think you do know! Thank you so very much!
At 2:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 58°F, the sky was a thin overcast with a crescent moon hanging high off the horizon, the wind was blowing just enough to give is a southwesterly direction and the visibility over the ocean was fair in fog.
As I was coming back with the truck, after I dropped off the passenger manifest and the reservation list at the house, what wind we did have, dropped and the fog settled in so thick it was hard to see the road in front of me as I made my way back into the Cove. We left the Cove in a dungeon of fog. I could barely see the bridge before we went under. I never did see the can buoys at the entrance to Perkins Cove. I never did see anything once we left the bridge behind. GPS and radar alone got me out of the Cove and on the way.
We had thick foggy conditions all the way to the fishing grounds. Thee was no wind. The ocean was smooth and glassy on top with a small rolling sea underneath. Our visibility ranged to about three boat lengths, no more than that. The fog didn't seem that deep as I could see the crescent moon high and ahead of us for the first ten miles. We maintained an air temperature of 63 to 64°F the whole way to our destination.
On the fishing grounds, we were locked in fog for the whole time fishing. It wasn't until five miles inside of the area we were fishing that we ran out of the fog and into clear visibility. The wind was very light out of the southwest, southeast and south. We might have had two knots or just enough wind to produce ripples on the surface. The air temperature reached a high of 73°F. The tide (current) was moderate; into the wind at first and then with the wind in the afternoon. The sky was clear and sunny. The surface water temperature reached a high of 60°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 84°F. In Boston, MassachuThsetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 92°F (with a low of 68°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 92°F (with a low of 67°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 59°F).
The fishing was very good to excellent. The tide was never strong enough to promote tangling, the weather conditions were prefect and everyone had a great time. The catching was excellent. Landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock by far. We didn't get the boat limit but several anglers easily caught the bag limit of haddock. Legal landings also included forty-one cusk, ninety-four pollock, two redfish and a big cunner. Released fish included seven cod that would have been legal to keep had we been able to, nine small cod, seven cusk, more than twenty-eight haddock (most sub-legal), more than one hundred and eighty-two sub-legal pollock and twenty-seven dogfish. We drift fished and anchored. All terminal gear worked well.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook with the most legal fish. So many anglers did so well. Dave Stevens (AZ) caught the largest fish, a 17 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest pollock of the fishing season to date. I took a picture of Dave holding this nice pollock. This digital image appears on the left. The second largest fish was a 14.5 pound pollock caught by Dean Stevens (VT). He caught this as a double with a 5 pound haddock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time! These were the first two fish boated today. The pollock is tied for the Bunny Clarks sixth largest pollock of the season so far. Dean also caught an 8 pound cod, the largest haddock of the day at 6.75 pounds and quite a few haddock and pollock as well. Brayden Middlemiss (VT) caught the third largest fish, a 14 pound cod. This is the Bunny Clark's third largest cod of the fishing season to date. I took a quick picture of Brayden holding his good sized cod just before he released it back to the ocean alive. This digital image appears on the right. None of the anglers above entered the boat pools today.
Jonny Stevens (VT) and Bill Estabrook (ME) tied for the fourth largest fish, both with fish of 13 pounds. Jonny caught a 13 pound pollock but did not enter the boat pool Bill won the boat pool for the largest fish with the fourth largest fish, a 13 pound cod. Currently, this is the Bunny Clark's fourth largest cod of the fishing season as well. Bill's biggest haddock weighed 6.5 pounds. Hannah Smith (VT) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the sixth largest fish, an 11 pound pollock. Her largest haddock was 5 pounds or more. I didn't weigh it but it was definitely that big. She and Dave Haberl (VT) caught a lot of fish together. Dave's largest haddock weighed 5 pounds, officially, with his scale.
Other Angler Highlights: Gunner Stevens (VT) caught a pollock that weighed 10.5 pounds. Owen Sherman (VT) caught one of the larger cusk at 6.5 pounds. He also caught quite a few haddock. Will Fox (NY) caught an 8 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Rick Turner (NY) caught a 9 pound pollock, his best fish. However, he caught a haddock that looked to be about 6 pounds that I didn't weigh. Sebastian Tellez (AZ) caught a double that included a 9 pound pollock and an 8.5 pound pollock. His largest fish was a 9.5 pound pollock. Bill Kelson (MA) caught a lot of nice haddock. The largest of his that I weighed was 6 pounds, the largest haddock that he has ever caught. The unselfish angler that he is, he did let three good sized haddock back to the ocean alive, via one of the stern scupper holes! Ateon Whitney (ME) landed a 6.5 pound haddock, his best fish. He caught quite a few haddock with a jig. Jonathan Griffin (MA) and Roger Gavin (MA) fished as a team and caught a lot of fish today. But neither one caught a haddock much more than 5 pounds. Nor did they catch any good sized pollock; just a lot of them!
I received four donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising effort with the Pan-Mass Challenge. The anglers and their donations included: Gloria Gennari (MA) for a generous $100.00 (In Memory of Captain Ian Keniston and Rick Gelaznik (MA), Dave Haberl & Hannah Smith donated $50.00, Victor Tirrito (VT) donated $50.00 and Betsy McLaughlin (NY) donated a very generous $500.00 to the cause. I am humbled by your support for something I deem very important. Obviously, you do to. Thank you so very much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. It means so very much to so many. But I am particularly appreciative.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 69°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the south southwest at fifteen knots or more and the visibility over the ocean was very good in some haze.
The wind was the salient weather feature today. It blew out of the west at speeds over thirty knots. By 5:00 PM, the wind was starting to drop off. By 7:00 PM, we had about ten knots of wind out of the west. The sky was dotted with cumulus clouds all day. The ocean along the shore was feather white with chops moving out to sea. The visibility was excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw today was 78°F. In Boston, MassachuThsetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 85°F (with a low of 71°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 62°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 78°F (with a low of 59°F).
I spent the day catching up on things I could not get done over the weekend. It's also my day to open up Barnacle Billy's, both restaurants. So I was there at 4:30 AM, getting the restaurant ready to start the day. I got back home in time to post yesterday's report by 10:30 AM. I spent the rest of the day mostly at the restaurant, largely in the office.
Today was, what my father would have called, a "111" day. It was a beautiful Saturday, the best weather Saturday we have had since we have been open. The sky was clear all day, in fact, cloudless for most of it. The wind blew out of the west or west northwest lightly to start, flunked out and then blew very lightly out of the south. The visibility was excellent. The ocean along the shore was calm all day . The highest air temperature that I saw was 80°F. But it didn't feel that warm. In Boston, MassachuThsetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 80°F (with a low of 66°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 56°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 81°F (with a low of 54°F).
My day was spent with the restaurant, all aspects. I did spend some time working out in the morning between work. But there was nothing exciting to report. And I didn't see if the tuna boats were successful today. I didn't stay up late enough to see them come in. Until today, only twelve fish have been landed in Perkins Cove. That's way behind last year at this time.
The sky was overcast all morning with a hint of rain. It never really did rain after 9:00 AM. But it sure looked like it would. After noon, the clouds cleared and the sky was cloudless for a while. Around 2:00 PM, the wind blew out of the northwest at fifteen knots with higher gusts. It didn't reach off though as the closest weather buoy was showing southerly wind at ten knots. The sky became dotted with cumulus clouds. By 6:00 PM, the wind had dropped to just about nothing. The visibility was excellent all day. It was humid. I saw a high of 85°F. So it felt a bit too warm to me. And it also might have been warmer than that. But I didn't see it. In Boston, MassachuThsetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 94°F (with a low of 71°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 90°F (with a low of 65°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 89°F (with a low of 61°F).
I did about an hours worth of work on the Bunny Clark today. This came in the form of getting the boat provisioned for tomorrow and cleaning up; the engine room.
The rest of my time was spent working in the restaurant. I finally go caught up with all my office work there. So I had plenty of time to talk with the patrons, many of whom I have seen many times before. It was a wonderful day with just about everyone eating outside at both restaurants.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 69°F outside the home office and 65°F where the Bunny Clark is docked, the sky was clear, there was no wind, the ocean along the shore was flat calm and the visibility over it seemed excellent.
The ride to the fishing grounds gave us a setting that was completely devoid of wind. The ocean was glassy calm with a bit of old left over little rolling chops. The sky was nearly cloudless or cloudless. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature ranged to 70°F.
On the grounds, we had no wind until around 1:00 PM, when we saw a south southeast wind pipe up. It increased to about eight knots before we left to head back to Perkins Cove. The sky was clear all day with some high thin clouds here and there. The air temperature reached a high of 77°F. The tide was on the strong side of moderate. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 63°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 88°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 90°F (with a low of 76°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 97°F (with a low of 65°F). The high of 97°F breaks the previous record high for this date of 94°F set in 1888, 1975 and 2020. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 84°F (with a low of 66°F).
The fishing was nearly excellent. Had there been less tide, it would have been excellent. The catching was excellent. Landings were good. no better. Legal landings included eighty-seven cusk, sixty-seven redfish of really good size, six pollock, eighteen haddock and a couple of whiting. Released fish included well over a hundred mackerel, fifty-eight sub-legal pollock, forty-eight sub-legal haddock, three cod over 6 pounds, eleven small cod, nine dogfish, seven sculpins, a sea raven, a wolffish and a handful of herring. We alternated between drifting and anchoring. Anchoring helped with the current. Bait worked best.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook. It could have been Dick Lyle (NY), Phil Hibbard (ME) or someone else. I just don't know. Andy Morris (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10.5 pound cusk. He also caught a 2.25 pound Maine state trophy redfish, the largest redfish that he has ever seen. I took a picture of Andy holding his big redfish. This digital image appears on the left. David Moore (ME) should have won the boat pool with a wolffish that weighed (plus or minus) 18 pounds. Because we can't gaff them (kill them), Danny tried to lift it in the boat by the snelled hook leader. And, yes, the line broke and the fish swam to bottom. That fish could have eaten the fish that won the boat pool. The third largest fish was a 9.5 pound cusk caught by Roy Monty (NY). Both Andy and Ernie (see paragraph below) have fished with me for twenty years.
Other Angler Highlights: Mark Walsh (MA) started off the boat pool off with a 7 pound cod. His son, Shane Walsh (MA), caught the largest pollock at 9.25 pounds. Jenell Swimline (NY) caught a 7 pound cusk, her best fish. Ernie Searles (NH) boated his first ever Maine state trophy redfish. It weighed slightly over 2 pounds. I took a picture of Ernie with holding his prize redfish. This digital image appears on the right. Amy Finocchiaro (MA) caught an 8.5 pound cusk after catching the lion's share of mackerel today! If she never sees another mackerel it will be too soon!
We had Ethan Taulbee (ME) with us today from the Maine Department of Marine Resources measuring fish and completing angler surveys. He also helped us with the fish as well - and some of the cleaning afterward!. It was great to have him aboard. He seemed like just another of my crew members!
I received two donations sponsoring me in my cancer fund raising project with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Dan Potyrala (MA) donated a generous $100.00 in Memory of Captain Ian Keniston and his, father, Chet, and Cory Swimline (NY) also donated a generous $100.00 in memory of John Swimline. Thank you all so very much for the support and your generosity. It means a great deal to me but it means more to those we help, both in research and those with the disease.
At 2:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 79°F outside the home office and 76°F where the Bunny Clark is docked, the sky was hazy clear, the wind was light out of the southwest and the visibility over the ocean was very good in haze.
The ride to the fishing grounds was uneventful; just the way I like it. The wind was light out of the southwest. The wind might have blown up to eight knots. Mostly, it was less than that. The visibility was very good in some haze. The sky remained hazy clear with Venus clear enough ahead of us. The air temperature seemed to maintain 72°F for an air temperature the whole way to our destination.
On the fishing grounds, the wind kept dropping, not that it was blowing very hard anyway. By 10:00 AM, the only way you could tell that we had any wind was by looking at the wind streakes on the ocean's calm surface. After that time, the wind dropped out of the day. When I called the day, the wind was just starting to come up out of the west. The wind blew about ten knots out of the west with a one foot chop about two miles inside of the last stop. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles in haze. The air temperature reached it's highest value, 80°F, on the last stop, four degrees warmer than it had been all day. This should have given me a clue that the wind was going to come westerly. The tide (current) wasn't strong but it wasn't moderate either. The sky stayed clear and very sunny all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 65°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was reported as being 100°F. I didn't see it. At 5:30 PM, up at the house, it was 90°F. Hot enough for sure. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 102°F (with a low of 78°F). The high of 102°F, in Boston, breaks the previous record high for this date of 95°F set in 1976 and 2013. The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 100°F (with a low of 70°F). The high of 100°F, in Concord, breaks the previous record high for this date of 96°F set in 1870. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 99°F (with a low of 65°F). The high of 99°F, in Portland, breaks the previous record high for this date of 93°F set in 1976.
The fishing was very good. It could have been excellent if we didn't see so many dogfish and the tide was lighter than it was. The catching was excellent. Landings were good to very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. Legal landings also included thirty-five cusk, sixty-eight pollock, seven mackerel and four redfish. As near as I could figure, we released ninety dogfish and nearly two hundred small pollock. I really couldn't keep track of those two species. Also released were four cod over 6 pounds, eight small cod, three cusk, twenty-two sub-legal haddock and a mackerel or two. We alternated between drifting and anchoring. Drifting was the most productive. Anchoring seemed to bring more dogfish. All terminal gear worked well.
Dick "Fish a Cast" Lyle (NY) was high hook with the most legal fish. His best fish was a 6 pound haddock but he caught a bigger cusk I didn't weigh. He was also responsible for three of the eight small cod that were caught and released. Fred Kunz (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 14 pound cod. This cod ties for the Bunny Clark's third largest cod of the fishing season so far. I took a picture of Fred holding his cod before releasing it back to the ocean alive. This digital image appears on the left. Fred also won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, an 11.75 pound pollock. His largest haddock was probably 6 pounds. I never did weigh any of his haddock. The third largest fish was an 11 pound pollock caught by Brandon Stevens (VT). He also caught the largest haddock of the day at 6.75 pounds, a 9 pound cod and another haddock that weighed 6 pounds. He, Dave Burton (MA) and Fred Kunz were probably second hook.
Other Angler Highlights: Dave Burton caught a 9 pound cod, his largest fish. He had a couple of nice sized pollock that I didn't weigh. Steve Zimmer (NY) didn't have the day I expected him to have. Nor did he shine like he did on the last trip. But it wasn't a very good biting day anyway. And he really didn't do that badly; just not up to his standards. His two biggest fish that I weighed included a 7 pound cod and a 9 pound pollock. He did catch a haddock that looked to be about 6 pounds. I didn't weigh that fish. Johnny Mattson (VT) caught a 9.5 pound pollock and a pollock that weighed 10.25 pounds, his two biggest. Robert Riendeau (VT) landed two haddock that both looked big enough to be trophy fish. They weighed 6 pounds each. In fact, a lot of the haddock we caught today had the frames of 7 to 8 pound fish but weighed less. Luis Feliberty (NH) landed a 6.25 pound haddock. Tony Atchinson's (NH) best fish was a 6.5 pound haddock.
I received several donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. The persons and their donations included Peter Voorheis (NY) for a very generous $300.00, Dick & Kathy Lyle (NY) donated a generous $100.00, Dave Burton donated another $50.00 (this after another, another, another....), Fred Kunz (NH) donated again, this time for $45.00, Tony Atchinson donated $55.00 and Bob Reindeau (VT) donated $20.00. Wow, that is a lot of donations for a day. I'm truly humbled with your contributions! Thank you so very much.
Also, right out of the blue, I received an insanely generous $1,000.00 for my cancer project with the Pan-Mass Challenge from Elinor Payeur & Cathy Harrison. The donation was made in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site with the message: "In support of Tim and the PMC and in Loving Memory of Richard Payeur and Arnold (Harry) Harrison." I grew up in Ogunquit with Richard Payeur, so this is very special to me on top of the generousness of the donation. Thank you both so very much for your thoughtfulness, your continued support and, of course, your generosity. It really means a lot to me but so much to many others.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 77°F, it was humid, the sky was hazy clear, there wasn't enough wind to write about, the ocean along the shore was flat calm and the visibility over it was very good in haze.
Today was another,. what my father would have called, "111" day. The weather was perfect. The wind was light and variable in direction all day. Whatever direction the wind did blow today, there was hardly enough of it to blow a candle out. The sky was clear all day. The visibility was very good in some haze. The highest air temperature that I saw was 90°F. It was humid in the morning but the humidity waned in the afternoon. It was just a comfortable day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 93°F (with a low of 73°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 93°F (with a low of 70°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 90°F (with a low of 69°F).
I spent the day in the restaurant, early for less than an hour and, then, after noon. It wasn't that busy. Or, at least, it wasn't as busy as I expected it to be. It didn't bother me as I was able to catch up on two days away from the financial part of my involvement there.
At 2:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 71F, it was still a bit humid, the sky was mostly overcast, there was a hint of wind from the east (the bell buoy could be heard clearly) and the visibility over the ocean was very good to excellent, it seemed.
We had a choppy ride to the fishing grounds. The wind blew out of the northeast after we got out to the eight or ten mile mark. There wasn't really much wind until after that. I don't think it ever blew any harder than fifteen knots. But it was all of that. Seas were two to three feet in chops with the occasional queer one. The sky was mostly cloudy with some clear patches that never seemed to be overhead. We did see a beautiful sunrise. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature, although around 70°F at the dock, kept dropping the further we got out.
On the fishing grounds, the wind continued to blow out of the northeast at about fifteen knots or less. As the day progressed the wind speed kept dropping. Seas were two feet or more to start but diminished to barely a foot by noon and nearly calm before we headed back home. The air temperature started at 60°F but rose to a value of 65°F. The sky was mostly cloudy but we did manage to have the sun overhead a couple times. I'm probably going to wish I had sun screen on today. The visibility ranged to over twenty-five miles. The tide (current) was fairly strong for most of the day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 61°F
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was about the same as it was when I left in the morning. The air temperature dropped in Perkins Cove when the northeast wind came up. I believe it was about 65°F most of the day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 78°F (with a low of 61°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 58°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 54°F).
Today's theme was to take three anglers offshore to catch a halibut. I had never tried fishing for them during a new moon in northeast wind. But I was willing to try. After completing the trip, I wouldn't suggest doing it. They were there; I could see them on the machine. But getting them to bite was out of my realm of expertise. Maybe dead sticking might have worked. But there were enough dogfish to make me lose the desire to try. Everybody fished, including Danny and I. And it was a lot of fun.
The fishing was very good despite the tide and the few dogfish. The catching was fair. Landings were poor. But that wasn't the point of the trip. Legal landings included three cusk, eleven haddock and seven whiting. Released fish included four haddock, one halibut, nineteen dogfish and two wolffish. We drift fished, anchored and used the sea anchor. We saw our best chances on anchor. All terminal gear worked about the same but bait caught the most fish.
Danny DellaMonica was high hook with the most legal fish. His best fish was, what looked to be, a 5 pound haddock. David Cote (FL) had the two officially weighed biggest fish of the trip. Both were 9 pounds. One was a wolffish. The other was a halibut. I took a picture of Dave with the Bunny Clark's second halibut of the season. This digital image appears on the left. Karl Day (ME) caught a wolffish about the same size as Dave's. I didn't weigh it as he released the fish before I had a chance to put a scale to it.
Other Angler Highlights: Becca Day (OR) caught a handful of haddock and a good sized whiting. I might have hooked a halibut. It was a great strike but it lasted all of three seconds. I was caught unprepared. I used a single jig without a fly all day. I spent a good part of my day watching for and seeing some halibut on the sounding machine!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56F, the sky was clear, there wasn't enough wind to write about, the ocean along the shore was flat calm and the visibility over it was excellent.
Today was a beautiful day ashore, a day I would have loved to have gone harpoon tuna fishing. The air temperature rose to a very comfortable 73°F. The was very little wind all day. What wind there was, in the morning, was out of the northeast. It blew, at most, four knots? The died to nothing and almost immediately started blowing lightly out of the south. I noticed the wind was out of the south at eight knots at about the time I went to bed. The visibility was excellent. The sky was clear all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 71°F (with a low of 61°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 55°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 50°F).
I opened the restaurants this morning. Friday is my day to do so. I left at 9:00 AM to go back home. A good friend of mine, Andy Arimitage had told me he wanted to walk with me. I have been walking/running as much as I have time for lately. That isn't a lot of time with everything I have to do. Andy has been riding his bike to the tune of about four hundred miles a week, give or take. I used to ride almost every day with Andy and friends in the mornings. That stopped abruptly when I broke my spine in an accident early June of 2023. This is why Andy suggested the walk. Or so I was led to believe. In fact, six of my cycling friends showed up to do the walk instead of, what I was told, would just be Andy. My walks are six to eight miles. I took them on the six mile version that starts on the Marginal Way, goes 1.5 miles on the beach, to Route 1 through town and Shore Road to home. It was a very thoughtful thing for Andy to surprise me with. All these guys are top athletes and have become good friends over the years. I keep up with them all through Strava, text and email. But I have rarely seen them since the accident. So today was a great bonus. It was very fun. I was back at work by noon.
I spent the whole day in the restaurants. Business was steady for lunch, quiet in the later afternoon and steady again for dinner.
It rained periodically all day. There was much less rain in the afternoon. And there were periods in the late afternoon where the roads were wet with no precipitation. The visibility over the ocean dropped as the morning got underway. An offshore fog had developed by mid morning. The wind blew out of the southeast or south southeast for all of the morning and into the afternoon. Wind speeds over ten knots were seen all morning. After noon, the wind kept up for about an hour. Then it started to drop. By 4:00 PM, there was no wind at all. The sky was overcast all day. The air temperature reached a high of 63°F in Perkins Cove, after the wind dropped out of the day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 69°F (with a low of 58°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 64°F (with a low of 56°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 54°F).
It wasn't a great business day. But it was busy enough to enjoy many regular patrons at the restaurants. It was also a time where I could catch up on quite a few emails that we have gathered on the Barnacle Billy's account. Emails are supposed to be answered regularly by the staff. But sometimes they leave them for me. That's not always a good thing.
I worked until 8:30 PM mostly because I wanted to clear up a valet parking issue.
The day started off cloudy and foggy just outside the coast. There was no wind all morning. After noon, the wind came up out of the south southeast. Wind speeds were about eight knots. It was foggy along the shore until about 9:00 AM, when it cleared out. It was still hazy. The overcast skies turned to mostly cloudy skies with a peek at the sun every now and then. By 3:00 PM, the clouds had moved away and the sun shone down. The visibility was very good until around 4:00 PM, when the fog moved in again. It didn't seem to stay long. The air temperature was on the cool side with the wind, what little there was, blowing in off the water. Temperatures were in the low to mid 70s for most of the day, in the 60s for most of the morning. The highest air temperature that I saw was 78°F. That was in the shade in a wind protected area. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 77°F (with a low of 62°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 62°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 58°F).
I was down at the restaurants at 5:30 AM, working on a few things. By 10:00 AM, I was back down at the Cove after running ten kilometers that included Ogunquit beach. I had meetings that lasted until 11:15 AM. I got back to my normal restaurant work before noon. I also had about forty-five minutes getting the Bunny Clark ready to sail tomorrow. There isn't really much to write about. Business was slow in the morning, better in the afternoon. And it was all outside. There very few patrons in the dining room at either restaurant. People seemed particularly nice today, for some reason. They are always nice. Today was exceptional.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 61°F, the sky was clear, the wind was very light out of the west, the ocean along the shore was flat calm and the visibility over it was excellent.
The ride to the fishing grounds was so easy. We had excellent visibility the whole way. The ocean was as smooth as a baby's bottom over a three foot rolling long swell from the southeast. The sky was clear. The sun was bright. We carried an air temperature of 66°F the whole way out.
On the grounds, we had no wind until the last hour and a half of the day. When we did get wind, it was light from the south southeast. It was just ruffling the surface when we left to head back to Perkins Cove. The air temperature reached a high of 79°F. The tide (current) was moderate to light. The visibility ranged to over thirty miles. The sky was clear and sunny with few clouds. Seas stayed as long three foot swells all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 67°F, the highest surface water temperature we have seen this season so far but right about normal for this time of year. Maybe it was a little low for these conditions.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 80°F. In Boston, MassachuThsetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 83°F (with a low of 67°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 87°F (with a low of 55°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 78°F (with a low of 58°F).
If the dogfish didn't ruin your day, the fishing was nearly excellent. The drift was fine, the weather was perfect and there were few tangles - even with the dogfish. Usually the tangles are much worse with the number of dogfish that we saw today. The catching was good, excellent if you included the dogfish. Landings were fair. Legal landings included thirty-one cusk, eleven haddock, ten pollock, five redfish and four mackerel. Released fish included four sculpins, two porbeagle sharks, three small cod, one good sized cod, twelve sub-legal haddock, one mackerel, one sub-legal redfish and over one hundred and fifty dogfish. We drift fished all day. I would say that a well fished jig won the day today.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook. It could have been anyone. The legal fish were spread out around the boat fairly evenly. However, collectively, the team of John Andreychak (NJ), Brad Roche (NJ) and George Bright (NJ) walked off the boat with the most bags of fillets. George Bright won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 18.5 pound Maine state trophy cusk. This is the Bunny Clark's largest cusk of the fishing season to date. Its also the largest cusk that George has ever caught. George also caught the second largest fish of the trip, a 17.5 pound cod. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest cod of the season so far and his largest cod. I took a picture of George holding his cod before he released it back to the ocean, very much alive. This digital image appears on the left. The third largest fish was an 11 pound cusk caught by Dave Walker (VT). This is the Bunny Clark's fourth largest cusk of the fishing season to date. It's also the largest cusk that Dave has ever caught.
Other Angler Highlights: Keith Wells (TN) caught the first fish that I could weigh for the boat pool, a 4.75 pound cusk. His largest fish was a 7 pound cusk. Delaney Gray (ME) caught the next largest fish I could weigh for the pool, a 5.5 pound cusk. Brad Roche (NJ) caught the fourth largest fish of the trip, a 7.5 pound cusk. Fourteen year old Sam Martin (ME) caught a 7 pound cusk along with a surprising number of other legal fish. I believe that it was his first trip on the Bunny Clark. Its certainly his first trip with me. His mother told me that he fishes fresh water a lot. It showed.
I received three donations sponsoring me in my cancer fund raising project with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. John Andreychak (NY) donated a generous $100.00, Rebecca Dore (ME) also donated the same with the message: "In Memory of Glen Dore" and Marty & Elise Buskey (NY) gave $50.00, one of many $50.00 donations this year and years previously. Thank you all so very much for the support and your generosity. I feel so very lucky to know so many giving individuals who support this cancer project. It is so appreciated by so many! Cancer touches all of us, either directly or indirectly.
About two miles from shore, the engine made a loud noise that sounded like another boat was coming right up behind us to buzz us or something. I looked in back of us to find no boats there, just as the engine alarm system was going off, telling me I had reduced raw water pressure. I ended up calling my son, Micah, at work at Barnacle Billy's, to ask if he could grab our other boat, the Petrel, to come out and two me in. I wasn't sure of the problem but I certainly wasn't going to take the chance of overheating the engine or the exhaust system. So Micah came out, we threw him and tow line and Danny took the wheel behind the Petrel while I tried to make arrangements for getting the engine up and running. I also made a call to my wife, Deb, to cancel tomorrow's trip. I didn't know what the problem was but I knew I couldn't fix it until tomorrow. As it turned out, including me donning a survival suit to look under the boat at the raw water intake, the splined shaft that holds (and turns) the impeller had sheared off at the base inside the bronze pump casting. Grant Hubbard, from Finestkind Scenic Tours, helped me figure all this out and, alone, took the pump off the back of the engine. Phase two will start tomorrow.
After I wrote all this I noticed that I had received another $100.00 donation from Don Stedman (TN) supporting me in my quest for better cancer treatments with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Don & Rebecca Stedman have supported me for years and always dedicate the donation to their brother, Jim Stedman, in memory of. Thank you so very much for thinking of me again and this project to help fight cancer through sound genetic research. I believe in this team of researchers and I appreciate your help.
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