Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Tuesday, June 19, 2018, 3:00 AM EDT
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At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 35°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the northwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The wind blew lightly out of the northwest in the morning and then lightly out of the south in the afternoon. The on-shore wind was enough to keep the air temperature down lower than predictions. The highest air temperature that I saw was 57°F, although I know it was higher just a short ways inland. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 67°F with a low of 44°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 38°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 33°F).
It was another day at the restaurant but not before I gave my morning up for a long awaited, long bike ride. Tomorrow's another day.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the southwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Ashore, the wind blew out of the northwest all morning at ten knots or so, hauled out of the southwest around noon and then blew out of the west northwest up over twenty knots later in the afternoon only to peter out by sunset. The air temperature reached a high of at least 89°F. The sky was mostly sunny all day. The visibility wasn't quite excellent and dropped to good in haze by mid afternoon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 89°F with a low of 58°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 90°F (with a low of 41°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 90°F (with a low of 49°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew lightly out of the southwest to begin and then slowly increased to twelve knots or better. Seas were calm to chops of one to two feet. The visibility ranged from three to ten miles. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The air temperature reached a high of 61°F. The sky was sunny and clear all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 46°F.
The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were very good, another great day of fishing. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The cull was 50/50, legal haddock to sub-legal haddock. Legal landings also included three pollock. Released fish included a few sub-legal pollock, eight cod from 5 to 7 pounds and quite a few small cod. They drift fished and anchored. Both disciplines worked equally. Bait caught the most fish.
Captain Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. Too much action. Neil Hickey (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 7 pound cod. Neil also caught the largest haddock of the day at 5 pounds. The second largest fish was a cod of 6 pounds, three of them. Bob Pelletier (ME) caught two 6 pound cod while Christa Wacker (MN) caught one 6 pound cod. Paul Edmonds (ME) landed the hard luck award for getting a little green around the gills.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 66°F, the sky was mostly cloudy, the wind was light out of the southwest and the visibility over the ocean was very good. The air temperature increased again today, the second day of summer. Or so it felt. I saw 79°F. The sky was overcast for most of the morning, clearing by 10:00 AM, overcast again by noon. We had a light periodic rain in the early afternoon, clearing again, overcast by 5:00 PM and rain into the night. We had no wind all day. The ocean along the shore was flat calm. The visibility was very good all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 90°F with a low of 61°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 62°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 50°F).
So another marathon trip foiled, the first time in my life that I had a week without once being aboard the Bunny Clark. But if you can't go, you can't go. So I put it out of my mind. And, thankfully, no one mentioned it to me today. It was good, in a way, as this was the opening of Barnacle Billy's, Etc. So I had last night to do last minute orders and all day to help get everything ready. Then I was able to greet patrons as they came through the door. We open that restaurant on the first Thursday in May. I was usually on a marathon trip so I never really had the opportunity to be in this position before. But, for me, today, I would rather be taking a haddock off the hook for a happy angler! But I truly enjoy both businesses.
Captain Ian Keniston and Anthony Palumbo ran the extreme day trip today. At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 50°F, the sky was mostly cloudy with a deep orange/red eastern horizon, the wind was light out of the east and the visibility over the ocean was very good at least. The wind stayed very light all day. Mostly from the east, the wind never showed any teeth today. Because of the wind direction, we never had much visibility after sunrise. The visibility was good to fair over the ocean for the presence of a fog bank a couple miles off shore that materialized by mid afternoon. By late afternoon, the fog had crept "in on cats paws" and had enveloped Perkins Cove. This fog remained with us until at least 9:00 PM. The sky was overcast with periods of sun in the morning and peeking through for a brief time in the afternoon. We had no rain despite predictions to the contrary. The air temperature briefly touched 65°F but dropped to 60°F just before the fog rolled in. The air temperature reached almost 80°F only four miles inland. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 82°F with a low of 57°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 60°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 66°F (with a low of 50°F).
On the fishing grounds, the visibility was hazy or foggy during the time there. During the morning, the visibility ranged from two to four miles. After noon, the fog set in and gave them a quarter of a mile or less in visibility. The wind was light and variable in direction. The ocean was flat calm. The sky was overcast or appeared so. The air temperature reached a high of 58°F. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 48°F, the highest we have seen it this year so far.
The fishing was excellent, the catching was a fish a drop and landings were very good. Landings would have been excellent had there not been so many sub-legal haddock in the mix. Still, the haddock bag limit was attained even with only keeping the larger ones. Most legal fish landed were haddock, about thirty percent of all the haddock caught. Legal landings also included twelve pollock, four redfish and three cusk. Our largest wolffish of the season was released today along with twelve cod from 5 to 9.5 pounds and quite a few sub-legal cod, pollock and haddock. They anchored and drift fished. Bait worked best.
Dan Morin (NH) and Mike Morin (NH) were high hook today. Dan caught the second largest fish of the trip, a 9.5 pound cod. Lewis Hazelwood (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 14 pound wolffish. This is the Bunny Clark's largest wolffish of the fishing season to date. Captain Ian would have taken a picture of this fish. It was a perfect specimen. But it was so active, a proper picture couldn't have been taken unless the fish was subdued. So it was released instead, Ian afraid that it might die in the process. Lew also caught a 4 pound haddock, his largest. The third largest fish was an 8 pound cod caught by Matt Rudin (MA). Matt also caught a 4 pound haddock, his largest of that species today.
Other Angler Highlights: Tim Rozan (ME) caught the largest pollock of the Bunny Clark season today with one that weighed 7.5 pounds, our fourth largest fish. Captain Ian Keniston dropped down once and caught the largest haddock of the day today at 5 pounds. Paul Blaine (NY) caught a 4.5 pound haddock, his best fish. Mike Graham (MA) boated a 1.5 pound lobster. This is our first lobster of the fishing season. Ian took a picture of Mike and his catch. This digital image appears on the left. Matt Rudin landed the hard luck award for losing a bait rig to the harder than normal bottom, the only equipment loss of the trip. I know, this doesn't see worthy enough for the award but someone had to get it!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F (it was 68°F at 2:00 AM!), the sky was clear, the wind was howling out of the west at twenty-eight knots with higher gusts (stronger earlier) and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The wind continued out of the west for a while, ashore, and then hauled out of the northwest. Wind speeds were up to twenty knots or more. The earlier part of the afternoon saw lighter winds out of the northwest. The air temperature ranged up to 72°F by early afternoon and then dropped to the lower 60°s with a wind shift out of the south. The wind blew out of the south at ten knots or more on into the night. The sky was mostly clear all day with much sun. The visibility was excellent most of the day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 75°F with a low of 58°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 53°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 51°F).
Without the Bunny Clark sailing, I could concentrate on Barnacle Billy's restaurant. It was very busy. And I'm sure it was busy because of the great weather.
The day ended on a very sad note when I found out that one of our employees had passed away that morning due to a drug overdose. He has been working for us for quite a few years on and off. He had been battling a heroin addiction for many years. Last year he came to me looking for a job. He was straight and appreciative of the opportunity, as he called it, of working for us. And he was good. He was a very good guy, a nice person, one of the best - except for this problem. He had no problems last fall. And he had no problems this year until about ten days ago. He became guarded, couldn't look me in the eye, nervous, borrowing money and showing all the other signs. I regret that I didn't do anything. I was contemplating his situation when I got the news. I had planned to talk to him. I never got the chance. His parents called us. So too bad. Such a wonderful person. Addiction is definitely a disease. Anybody who doesn't think so just doesn't understand.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was good in some haze. The air temperature hung around the 60°F mark all day. The highest air temperature that I saw was 62°F. It could have been higher, I'm sure. But I didn't see it. The morning saw a light southwest wind, a northwest wind showed up around noon which was followed by light easterly wind in the afternoon. The ocean along the shore was calm all day. The sky was overcast all day with rain starting around 11:00 AM. It rained periodically all day, sometimes hard, mostly light and sometimes not. The visibility was good for most of the day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 67°F with a low of 50°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 63°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 67°F (with a low of 49°F).
Today was a slower than normal day at Barnacle Billy's restaurants. The weather prediction and the weather were big factors in today's business. Sundays are huge order days for me. So I was in the office for most of it. We are also changing our ordering and ordered items somewhat which took an extra couple of hours.
My daughter, Halley, and her fiancé, Nick, were here from New Jersey. So we ate dinner at Barnacle Billy's with my son and very good friends. It was a great way to end a challenging weekend.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 49°F, the sky was mostly clear with a half moon hanging high over the eastern horizon, there was no wind, the ocean along the shore was mirror calm and the visibility over the ocean seemed very good. To the south, north and east of us, towns had fog. We did not. At sunrise, the sky cleared and was mostly clear for the rest of the day. There was a layer of high thin clouds over part of the sky in the morning but those disappeared in the afternoon leaving a cloudless sky. The wind blew out of the north northeast at dawn. Eight knots was the most it blew. In the afternoon, the wind blew out of the southeast up to twelve knots or so along the shore. The high air temperature in Ogunquit, that I saw, was 61°F. It was cooler in the afternoon with the onshore breeze. The visibility was very good all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 61°F with a low of 48°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 73°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 43°F).
I worked at the restaurants for part of the morning and all of the afternoon, leaving work at 5:00 PM to get ready for the offshore trip tomorrow.
I still have a Bruins hangover after their loss in Tampa Bay. They were out-coached. They were the better team. It was their series to win or lose. They took too many penalties, did foolish things when they were losing and, to Tampa's credit, couldn't contain the first period. Problem is I haven't another NHL team I would rather watch. But I do love hockey. Maybe after I get over this hangover I'll find a team that might interest me. I like Tampa but not as much as I did two weeks ago!
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 43°F, the sky was occluded, there was no wind, and the visibility over the ocean was poor in black thick fog.
Another foggy still morning had me leaving the Cove via radar and chart plotter alone. After leaving the bridge behind I never did get a visual on anything until the green nun at the gate to Perkins Cove. We carried the fog with us for a few miles until we could start to see the half moon ahead, through the fog and over the eastern horizon. Then we were clear of the fog. We had good visibility, clear sky, mild temperatures, large swells under a calm sea and full cruise all the way to the fishing grounds.
On the grounds, the sky was clear, the wind was light from the east and the surface was calm. Underneath, however, we had a seven to ten foot rolling sea swell. These swells never left us all day. But they were so far apart, it didn't matter anyway. Before mid morning, the fog rolled in a stayed with us all day. When we left for home at the end of the fishing we carried the fog all the way back to Perkins Cove. The fog was shallow above allowing us to tell where the sun was at all times. The wind hauled out of the southeast just at the time the fog arrived. The southeast wind changed to southerly wind on the ride back home. We might have had as much at ten knots at times but certainly no more than that. The air temperature reached a high of 52°F. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 45.5°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 59°F with a low of 45°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 38°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 40°F).
The fishing was very good. It could have been excellent if the tide hadn't been so strong. The catching was very good. Landings were good to very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock. We released a few more haddock than we landed but the cull was about fifty/fifty. Legal landings also included forty-two pollock, a halibut and fourteen cusk. Released fish included six cusk, a wolffish and forty-seven cod from 5 to 13.5 pounds. We alternated between drifting and anchoring. All terminal gear worked well.
Fred Kunz (NH) was high hook with the most legal fish - we suspect. Fred counts his fish. His mind is sharp and he is a numbers man. And I've tested him over the years. He is always right. John Baker (ME) could have been high hook. It seemed that every fish he caught was legal. And he had a fish a drop all day. The problem with determining John's high hook status is that he gives so many fish away. So high hook was either John or Fred. Fred caught the first fish I could weigh, an 8 pound cod. He went on to land the Bunny Clark's largest pollock of the season at 13.5 pounds, release two cod of 10 pounds each and land two other pollock that weighed 10 pounds each. Fred caught the most haddock but most of his haddock were too small to keep. Fred's pollock was the third largest fish of the trip.
On the third spot, before the fog rolled in, John Baker dropped to bottom and hooked, what he thought was a big fish. After a while reeling, his carpal tunnel wrist problem started to hurt. He asked Ian to take over. which he did. Turning to Ian I asked him what it felt like. "Well, I'm gaining all the time but it doesn't feel like a fish." Indeed it looked like he was reeling in a rock. It wasn't until there was about forty feet to go that it acted like a fish. But that only lasted for a few seconds. When I did get a visual, I realized it was a halibut, coming straight up, head first with it's mouth agape. Thank God Paul Pearson (NH) was there. I needed another gaff man and Paul is big, strong and is blessed with much hunting and fishing common sense. I put the first gaff into the fish's head. I thought I had done well until the fish started to twist. But this gave Paul some time to put the other gaff just in the right place. Both of us hauled the fish over the rail on top of me! This was okay as long as the fish was in the boat! At 58" and 98 pounds, this is the largest halibut that has ever been landed on the Bunny Clark. A fish of a lifetime, for sure. Paul was the only man strong enough to weigh the fish. He lifted the fish up by the scale and I positioned it in such a way that I could get the exact weight. It almost bottomed out the scale.
John won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, the 98 pound Maine state trophy halibut. I took a picture of John, his halibut and Paul holding it. This digital image appears on the right. John's largest pollock weighed 11 pounds. His largest cod weighed 9.5 pounds. Tom Duff (PA) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 14 pound wolffish. This wolffish is a tie for the Bunny Clark's largest wolffish of the fishing season so far. Lew Hazelwood (MA) caught one the same size last week. Tom also caught the largest cod of the day at 13 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Jason Plourde (NH) caught the most legal haddock. Jason was using bait. Had everyone been Jason, we would have had the bag limit by noon. Thankfully, not everyone was Jason. His father, Gary, fished right next to him and did well. Dana Decormier (NH) caught a 12 pound cod, his largest fish. One of his pollock weighed 8 pounds. And he might have caught a bigger pollock. But, by the time he did, I was through weighing pollock unless they were over 10 pounds. Sam Readinger (PA) caught a 10 pound cod, his largest fish. His largest pollock weighed 8 pounds. Paul Pearson landed a 13 pound pollock, his largest fish. Ray Washburn (VT) caught some of the biggest haddock. But I don't believe we caught a haddock as large as 4 pounds today. His largest fish was probably a 10 pound cod. Ray did well, as his always does.
On the last stop of the day, a drift, Dana Decormier hooked into, what I believe, was a halibut. He fought it for quite a while. He lost it half way off the bottom. Dana found the end of his line jigless with a 7 or 8 pound cod on the fly above where the jig used to be. Upon lifting the cod with his rod, the cod fell off the line with the fly in it's mouth. And promptly swam away. For this, "Almost Halibut Decormier" landed the hard luck award t-shirt.
The Decormier Family donated $25.00 to help me fight cancer with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Dana and his family have sponsored me for many years in this cycling event, one of my most loyal helpers in the cause. Thanks so much. I do appreciate this!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 46°F, the sky was occluded, there was no wind, and the visibility over the ocean was poor in black thick fog. Amazingly, the fog hung around the shore all day long. It certainly influenced the coastal weather keeping it over fifteen degrees cooler than it was only three miles inland, making it seem like the sky was overcast and making it feel damp and gloomy. I never saw the air temperature broach the 52°F degree mark in the Cove but it got up to at least 65°F only four miles away. The wind blew lightly out of the southeast all day, bathing the shoreline in cool ocean air. That wind direction held the fog in here. The sky was cloudless four miles inland. It seemed all the world was overcast in Perkins Cove. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 63°F with a low of 47°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 41°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 46°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south at five knots all day. The ocean was calm over rolling sea swells of two to four feet. The air temperature reached a high of 52°F, as it did in Perkins Cove. The tide was light to moderate. The sky seemed overcast but I'm sure it was just thick fog making it seem that way. The visibility ranged from a quarter of a mile to a hundred feet. The surface water temperature reached a high of 48°F.
The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and landings fell into the category of good. There were many sub-legal fish released today. The sub-legal fish were mostly haddock and pollock. But there were also a few cod. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The cull was two to one, sub-legal haddock to legal haddock. For every three haddock caught one was legal. And there was a lack of haddock in the 4 pound range. That was also the case yesterday. Legal fish landed also included four small pollock, four good sized redfish and one cusk. Released fish also included eighteen cod from 5 to 10.5 pounds and one wolffish. They alternated between drifting and anchoring. Bait worked the best today.
Joe Columbus (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish, a redfish ahead of Sam Readinger (PA), who was second hook today. Joe's largest fish was a 10 pound cod, the second largest fish of the trip. He also caught a 7 pound cod. Jared Jacobs (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10.5 pound cod. He also caught the largest haddock we have seen in a week at 6 pounds. Steve Shugars (ME) came in at number three with a 9 pound cod, the third largest fish today.
Other Angler Highlights: Billy Cuccio (NH) caught the first fish that Captain Ian could weigh, a 6.5 pound cod. Dan Gamboa (NH) landed the hard luck award for feeling so "under the weather" that he never wetted a line. That's tough.
I received two donations sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge today, an two day 192 mile cycling event to fight cancer with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Most people know the fund raising arm of the DFCI as the Jimmy Fund. One donation was a generous $100.00 from Steve Shugars & Co. The other was a $30.00 donation from Joe Columbus. Thank you both for the support you have shown me over the years. I really do appreciate it. But not as much as those who are looking for a solution to the cancer puzzle.
Captain Ian Keniston and I ran the marathon trip today. At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 46°F, the sky seemed overcast with the fog present, there was no wind, and the visibility over the ocean was fair to poor in fog.
Yet another foggy morning. When I got up this morning, the fog was black thick along the shore. Two hours later, the fog had cleared enough so that I had a clear visual shot down the channel, through the outer cove and to the gate. The light northeast wind had cleared the fog away along the shore. A half mile later we were back into it again. Five miles later we were out of it again looking at a sliver of a moon hanging over the horizon. The ocean was fairly calm until we got within two miles of our destination. The wind went from very light to fifteen knots of northeast wind with a two foot chop.
On the fishing grounds, the wind was blowing hard enough out of the northeast that I decided to anchor. Seas were no more than two feet but I figured the wind would be blowing harder later. It didn't. Fifteen knots with a two foot chop over a three foot swell was the worst it ever got. The wind started to drop by 8:00 AM. The wind gradually died out all morning. By noon, the ocean was fairly calm. The wind hauled out of the south southeast by 1:30 PM. This wind breezed up to almost fifteen knots with a two foot chop and chased us all the way home. The fog stayed with us all day but it wasn't tight like it has been. The visibility ranged from a mile or two to six or seven miles. The air temperature reached a high of 52°F. The tide (current) was strong to moderate to strong. The sky remained overcast all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 46.8°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 71°F with a low of 49°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 43°F).
The fishing, catching and landings were excellent today. Most legal fish landed were haddock by far with the best cull we have seen all year. Only ten percent of the fish we caught today were sub-legal. And there were many of them. In fact, we set a limit of nineteen inches caliper fork length before a fish could be kept. We would have had the bag limit by 10:00 AM otherwise. There were not many haddock over 4 pounds but there were a pile in the 3 pound category. We didn't see as many pollock as we did on Tuesday's marathon with only ten kept. And we certainly didn't see any halibut either. Legal landings also included six cusk, two redfish and a cunner. Probably the biggest difference between this trip and all the other trips this season were the numbers of market cod we released, the most, by far, all year. I had an exact count of one hundred and fifty-two cod from 5 to 18.5 pounds that were released back alive. We also released a wolffish that was about 10 pounds. It wasn't hooked very well and fell off the hook before I could get it aboard to weigh it. We anchored for most of the morning but then went to drifting for fear of going overboard with the haddock count. All terminal gear worked well today, a really excellent fishing trip all around.
If you counted cod over 5 pounds, Justin Philbrick (NH) would have been high hook. If you count legal fish, Dody Bleau (VT) was high hook. He released more keeper haddock than most caught today. And he caught a number of haddock he kept, including most of the bigger haddock landed today. Some of Dody's fish included a 10.25 pound cod, a 13.25 pound cod, the largest pollock of the day at 7.5 pounds and a 5 pound haddock. Dody released a 4 pound haddock because it was the last fish we could keep before the bag limit was caught and he "didn't want to be the guy" to boat the last keeper! Justin won the boat pools for the largest fish with the largest fish and the pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish. His two fish were both cod. One weighed 18.5 pounds and the other weighed 17 pounds, the two largest cod caught on the Bunny Clark this season so far. I took a picture of Justin with his biggest cod. This digital image appears on the left in this entry. Some of the other fish of his that I weighed included three cod of 12 pounds each, a double that included two cod of 10 pounds each (both fish caught on the same line at the same time) and five other cod of 10 pounds or more that I refused to weigh. He also released a 4 pound haddock after the bag limit had been reached. And I could tell that that hurt!
Charles Haas (KS) caught the third largest fish, a 14 pound cod, the fourth largest cod of the Bunny Clark fishing season so far. Three other fish of his that I weighed included an 11 pound cod, an 11.25 pound cod and an 11.5 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Nikki Bleau (VT) landed the largest haddock of the day at 6 pounds. I took a good picture of her that will end up on the home page of the web site when I get a chance. Her two largest fish were an 11 pound cod and a 12.5 pound cod. Sam Readinger (PA) caught the first good double of the day. His double included an 8 pound cod and a 9 pound cod. I took a picture of him holding both fish before they were unhooked and released. This digital image appears on the right. Some of his other good fish included a 12 pound cod, an 11.5 pound cod and a 13 pound cod. His largest haddock weighed 4.5 pounds. Dean "Patches" Brady (NH) probably caught the most haddock. Albeit, most were small. I didn't weigh his largest cod which was probably 11 pounds. I did weigh a 9.5 pounder that he caught early in the trip. His two largest haddock weighed 5.5 pounds and 5.25 pounds. Chase Haas (KS) landed a few keeper haddock and some cod. But most of his focus was trying to hold it altogether in the Hotel Bunny Clark. He landed the hard luck award for his malady!
I received a generous $50.00 donation from Dody & Nikki Bleau sponsoring me in my cancer fund raising cycling event called the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Dody & Nikki donate to my cause every year. They are always great fun to fish with. Thanks so much, you two. Looking forward to fishing with you again!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky overcast, the wind was blowing out of the west at ten knots or more and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Ashore, the wind continued out of the west at fifteen knots sustained with frequent gusts up to over twenty knots. The sky cleared by late morning and then became clear for the rest of the day. After noon, wind speeds dropped and the direction changed out of the southeast. By 5:00 PM, the wind was light out of the east. By 1:00 PM, Perkins Cove had reached a high of 66°F before dropping with the wind shift out of the southeast and east, sending temperatures down in the afternoon, lower, into the night. The visibility remained excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 70°F with a low of 52°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 66°F (with a low of 42°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 65°F (with a low of 45°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind never reached off. Winds were light and variable in direction all day. The ocean was calm over a two to four foot rolling sea swell. Without the wind, the air temperature reached a high of 65°F, the highest air temperature we have seen offshore this year to date. The tide (current) was strong. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles in some lingering haze. The surface water temperature also reached a new high showing a value of 49°F in the afternoon. The sky was overcast in the morning but sunny and clear in the afternoon.
The fishing was nearly excellent (the strong tide making it less than the high mark), the catching was excellent and landings were very good. Legal landings were haddock, by far. The cull was very good with a two to one mix of legal to sub-legal haddock. The bag limit was reached by the end of the trip. Legal landings also included eleven pollock around the 4 to 5 pound range, two cunners and one redfish. Released fish included seventy-five cod from 5 to 14.5 pounds. There was a porbeagle sighting, the shark swimming around the boat but not going after a hooked fish. They drift fished and anchored. All terminal gear worked about the same.
Ian couldn't tell who was high hook. Chris Silver (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 14.5 pound cod, a tie for the third largest cod caught on the Bunny Clark this season to date. There was a tie for the second largest fish of the trip at 10.5 pounds, both cod. Lewis Hazelwood (MA) caught one and Dody Bleau (VT) caught the other. Dody also caught a 9.5 pound cod. Lew also caught a cod that weighed 10 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Richard Gipp (NY) caught the largest haddock of the day at 6 pounds. This is a tie for the Bunny Clark's largest haddock this season. There are five anglers on the B.C. who have caught haddock this large. Nick Keller (NY) caught a 9 pound cod, his largest fish. Chris Samuel (ME) landed the hard luck award for being a touch under the weather.
The Bunny Clark was boarded by the U. S. Coast Guard on a routine inspection, making sure the boat was following the fishing rules and checking safety equipment. It took a hour but, in the end, the boat passed with flying colors. We do appreciate the Coast Guard. They have a daunting task with trying to stop drug trafficking, policing the fishing rules for all the different fishing sectors (commercial and recreational) and trying to keep boats safe for passengers, hands and captains.
I received a generous $50.00 donation from Chris Silver sponsoring me in my cancer fund raising cycling event called the Pan-Mass Challenge today. I have a really good friend, right now, who has a son with brain cancer. The battle is not going well despite all that is being done. And at no time has this fight been so close to my heart as it is right now. I can't imagine how I would deal with the same situation if it were my son. Thank you, Chris. This means a lot to me, a whole lot. All the best to you.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 38°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at ten knots, and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Ashore, the day seemed to warm up quickly. It was 50°F in now time. But that's about where it ended. The wind increased just a little bit more out of the east (ten knots or so). This kept the air temperature along the shore in the lower 50°s. The highest air temperature that I saw was 52°F. The visibility was excellent. The sky was clear until about 10:45 AM, when it started to cloud over. By noon, the sky was overcast. The sky remained overcast for the rest of the day. We never did get any rain. But we did get a light drizzle at 2:00 PM. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 53°F with a low of 49°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 54°F (with a low of 35°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 55°F (with a low of 35°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east at five to ten knots and then increased during the trip to ten and fifteen knots. Seas rose from a foot to two to three feet in chops by the end of the trip. The air temperature stayed at 52°F for the trip. The sky was sunny in the morning and overcast in the afternoon. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The tide (current) was very strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 46°F.
The fishing was good to very good (current), the catching was excellent and landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock but there were many small haddock. The ratio was two to one; for every legal haddock caught, two were released. Legal landings also included three pollock and a yellowtail flounder. Released fish, besides the haddock, included eighteen cod from 5 to 12.5 pounds and a few small pollock. There was one porbeagle shark attack. The shark hit a fish coming up but didn't get hooked. They anchored on every spot. The current was too strong to drift. All terminal gear worked equally well.
There was no way that Captain Ian could tell who was high hook. There was way too much action. At least a third of the boat was not fishing because anglers weren't prepared for the colder than normal air temperatures. And, yet, they still attained the haddock bag limit before heading in. So much was happening, too much to get a fish count for anyone.
Steve Collins (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 12.5 pound cod. The second largest fish was an 8 pound cod caught by Aaron Hodsdon (ME). Third place was shared by two anglers, both with cod of 7 pounds each. One of the anglers was Sam Zannini (NH) and the other was Sue Utterstrom (ME). Mason Melcher (NH) got sea sick and landed the hard luck award.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 37°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind, and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The wind was light all morning, predominantly from the east. This gave us a cool breeze on shore, the air temperature never getting any higher than 55°F. The afternoon saw the wind haul out of the south. Wind speeds got up to ten knots by sunset. The sky was clear and sunny all day. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 54°F with a low of 48°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 66°F (with a low of 35°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 57°F (with a low of 37°F).
The town was busy this Mothers Day. It shows you what a little good weather will do.
I received a $25.00 donation from Helen Hennigan (MA) sponsoring me in my quest for a cancer free world with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. The donation came in the form of an "egift" through the PMC web site via credit card. Thank you very much, Helen. Your gift is very much appreciated!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 50°F, the sky was mostly overcast, the wind was blowing out of the south at twelve knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Ashore, the sky stayed mostly overcast and overcast for the morning and part of the early afternoon. The sky cleared and was mostly sunny after 3:00 PM. The wind blew out of the south at ten knots, more or less, all day long. This kept the air along the coast cool, about ten to twenty degrees cooler than it was inland. The high air temperature in Ogunquit reached 63°F. The visibility was good in haze. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 67°F with a low of 49°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 78°F (with a low of 46°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 49°F).
On the fishing grounds, the visibility was obscured by fog. For most of the morning the visibility ranged to a quarter of a mile, max. The fog cleared by afternoon to improve the visibility by ten and fifteen miles. The wind blew out of the south at ten knots all day. The air temperature reached a high of 52°F. The sky overcast in the morning and sunny in the afternoon. The tide (current) ran a river, very strong, all day. Seas were chops of about a foot or more over sea swells of two feet. The surface water temperature reached a high of 47°F.
The fishing was good to very good (the current), the catching was excellent and the landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The bag limit was easily attained even with an increased keeper size length. The haddock cull was one to one, haddock over nineteen inches to haddock under that length. Legal landings also included fifteen pollock and one cusk. Released fish included eighty-six cod from 5 to 19 pounds and two wolffish. There were also a few small cod and small pollock released. They anchored and drift fished but were forced to anchor with the stronger current at times. All terminal gear worked well but bait caught the most haddock.
Si Hediel (NH) was high hook with the most keeper haddock, a count of twenty-nine, not including the legal haddock he released. Bill Allen (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 19 pound cod. This is the largest cod of the 2018 Bunny Clark fishing season to date. He also caught a 12 pound cod, the second largest fish of the trip. There was a tie for the third largest fish at 11 pounds, both cod. Jack Judge (ME/CT) caught one and Kevin O'Brien (MA) caught the other. Jack also caught a cod that weighed 10.5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Harley Swanson, Sr. (ME) caught a 10 pound cod, his largest fish. The largest haddock of the day was a 6 pounder caught by Bob Olivo (NJ). This ties with five other anglers this year so far for the largest haddock caught on the Bunny Clark this season. Tony Martin (NH) caught a 10.5 pound cod, his largest fish. Mark DeWolf (NH) caught a 4.25 pound haddock, the second largest haddock of the trip. Jeff Millet (NJ) landed the hard luck award for getting the most tangled lines.
I received two donations sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge today, a cycling event to raise money to help cure cancer. One donation was from Jack Judge for $30.00. The other was a very generous $100.00 donation from Larry & Diane Cross (NY). Thank you all so very much for your support in this project. I appreciate it very much but not nearly as much as those who suffer from the disease. And, who knows, it will probably help someone you love!
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was hazy clear, the wind was light out of the south and the visibility over the ocean was good, at least, in some haze.
When I turned the corner at the gate I could see Boon Island light flashing away. We carried good visibility all the way to the fishing grounds. The air temperature cooled to 52°F only a couple of miles out. The wind was light out of the south. The sky was overcast.
On the fishing grounds, the wind was still light out of the south. Seas were chops of a foot or so. There was zero current when we first started fishing. But that changed an hour later. The tide (current) was between moderate and strong today. The air temperature reached a high of 56°F. The wind increased out of the south to fifteen and twenty knots by late morning. Seas increased to two to three feet in chops. As the day progressed, the wind kept working around clockwise. By 2:00 PM, the wind was firmly established out of the southwest. Twenty knots at first, the wind slowly dropped away. When the southerly wind picked up, the fog came with it. We were in the fog for a couple of hours. It was gone by noon. The sky was mostly clear all morning, mostly overcast during the afternoon. We could see the remnants of thunder storms dissipate as they got out to us. We had light rain on the way back to Perkins Cove with very little wind around the rain storms and reduced visibility. The most visibility we had all day was about ten miles. The surface water temperature reached a high of 49.3°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 85°F with a low of 58°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 51°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 50°F).
The fishing was no better than good with the tide and three foot chops. The catching was excellent. Landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. Most of the haddock were of legal size today. We had no problem getting all the haddock we could legally take. Legal landings also included thirty-five pollock to 10.5 pounds, sixteen redfish and four cusk. We caught a lot of cod today. We released one hundred and thirty-seven cod from 5 to 13 pounds back to the ocean alive. Released fish also included four wolffish and one halibut. We drift fished and anchored. All terminal gear worked well.
I don't know who was high hook but Chris Curtiss (NJ) caught the most legal haddock. In fact, he caught the most haddock, period. His largest fish was a 10 pound cod. Kory Kaulfers (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 16.5 pound halibut. This is the second halibut caught on the Bunny Clark this season so far. I took a picture with my iPhone with Kory holding the halibut before releasing it. This digital image appears on the left. Kory fished alone in the bow all day. Liam Kennedy (NJ) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 13 pound cod. Some of his other fish included a 4 pound haddock and an 11 pound cod. Kevin LaMorticella (NJ) caught the third largest fish, an 11.5 pound cod. Kevin also caught a cod that weighed 10 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Vinnie Struble (NJ) caught the largest pollock of the trip at 10.5 pounds. He also caught a 10 pound cod and an 11 pound cod. Howard Kaulfers (PA) caught a 10.5 pound cod. John Carlon (NJ) caught the largest haddock at 5 pounds. His two largest pollock were 8 and 9 pounds. Jim "Sitting Fish" Mathews (NJ) boated a cod that weighed 10.5 pounds. Bill Fox (NJ) caught a 10 pound cod, his best fish. Gene Luke (NJ) landed the hard luck award for most tangled lines. There were really no issues with tangled lines. But I had to give the shirt to someone!
I received five donations from anglers on today's trip sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge, an 192 mile cycling event designed to raise money to fight cancer. Those wonderful individuals and their contributions included Vinnie Struble for $20.00, Kory Kaulfers for $20.00, Kevin LaMorticella for $20.00, Ken Kaulfers (PA) for $30.00 and Liam Kennedy for a generous $55.00. Thank you all so very much for your support and generosity. I enjoyed your trip very much today and certainly appreciate your kindness in the cancer fight.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, the sky was hazy clear, the wind was out of the northeast at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good. Ashore, the day had a mostly overcast sky with sun in the morning, overcast skies and sun with mostly clear skies after 5:00 PM. The wind blew out of the northeast up to fifteen or more knots in the morning, dropping to just about nothing by sunset. The highest air temperature that I saw was 55°F with wind bringing the cool air off the water. The visibility was good in haze. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 62°F with a low of 50°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 44°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 56°F (with a low of 48°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east at fifteen knots in the morning and dropping to five knots out of the east in the afternoon. The sky was mostly overcast but they did have some sun in the morning. The air temperature reached a high of 51°F. The visibility ranged from five to ten miles in fog in the morning to fifteen and twenty miles later in the day. The tide (current) was strong. Seas were chops of two feet (dropping during the day) over swells of three to five feet. These "swells" were actually wind generated chops from a stronger wind offshore. These dropped to two to three feet in the afternoon along with a one foot local wind chop. The surface water temperature reached a high of 49°F.
The fishing was good as the conditions just were not the best. The catching was excellent. Landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock. There was no problem getting what was needed. The haddock cull was about fifty percent good keeper sized fish. Legal landings also included three pollock. Released fish included one wolffish and thirty-five cod. They anchored and drift fished as the conditions dictated. All terminal tackle worked well but bait was best for the haddock.
There was, again, no way to tell who was high hook with the most legal fish. There was too much going on. Phil Brown (NY) and Jeff Gellatly (ME) tied for the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish at 8 pounds. Phil's was a pollock while Jeff's was a cod. The third largest fish was a 6 pound pollock caught by Jeff.
Other Angler Highlights: Nate Woodsum (NH) caught the largest haddock at 4.5 pounds. Hannah Brown (NY) landed the hard luck award for getting a touch of the mal de mer.
I spent most of the afternoon with NBC's Kerry Sanders shooting a piece about the lack of teenage workers/employees in local restaurants and businesses. He interviewed me on camera as well as my top manager, Matt Pedersen, who does all the hiring for Barnacle Billy's (original). Kerry worked at the Viking, a local restaurant up town, in 1974. So he had some local knowledge. The piece is going to air on May 27 at 6:00 to 7:00 PM. I received a generous $50.00 donation sponsoring me in my cancer fund raising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. The donor was Vince DeBari (NJ), a long time angler and a long time contributor to the cancer cause. I only wish I were on the boat with him today. Vince caught a 26 pound halibut with me that was just an inch under the measure and had to go back. This happened a couple of years ago. Thanks very much, Vince. All the best. See you in October!
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 48°F, the sky was overcast, there was no wind and the visibility over the ocean was very good.
We had a clean clear shot out of the Cove, down the channel and out through the gate. We had good visibility, mild air temperatures, fairly calm seas and overcast skies all the way to the fishing grounds.
On the grounds, the wind was still light out of the south southwest. The ocean was fairly calm with only a light wind chop. Later in the morning, the wind died and the ocean went glassy. By 2:00 PM, the wind had hauled out of the southeast and then south. Half way home,.the southerly wind increased to about ten knots. And there it remained until landing in Perkins Cove. Half way through the morning, the fog rolled in. It as foggy for about three hours. When we didn't have fog, the visibility ranged from three miles in the morning to ten miles or more in the afternoon. The tide (current) was slightly stronger than moderate all day. The air temperature reached a high of 56°F. The sky was overcast in the morning with some sun at times. There was more sun in the afternoon but it was still mostly cloudy. The surface water temperature reached a high of 48.5°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 71°F with a low of 51°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 48°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 71°F (with a low of 47°F).
The fishing was excellent. The catching was good in the morning and excellent in the afternoon. Landings were a little better than good overall, light in the morning and much better in the afternoon - thanks to running into a school of pollock at 1:00 PM. Most legal fish landed were haddock. The haddock cull was six to one; for every seven haddock caught, six were of legal size. And we caught many larger haddock than we have seen, mostly over 3.5 pounds. Legal pollock were right behind the haddock. We also caught nine cusk. Released fish included sixty-eight cod from 5 to 14 pounds (many of which, over 10 pounds, I did not weigh), four wolffish, very few cod smaller than 5 pounds, five sub-legal pollock and a dogfish. We drift fished and anchored. All terminal gear worked well.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook. Everyone did equally well. To me, there were no stand outs. The largest fish of the trip should have been a halibut in the 30 to 50 pound range. Alec Adams (ME) was the angler. He brought the fish half way off bottom only to have it swim right back to bottom. He reeled the fish back almost to the half way point again only to lose it! I didn't abuse him about losing the halibut too much. Alec might have caught the most good sized haddock or, even, the most legal haddock. Some of his fish included cod to 10 pounds, a 5.5 pound haddock, the second largest haddock of the trip, two haddock of 5 pounds each and a 14 pound pollock, our second largest pollock of the fishing season so far. With the pollock he tied for the second largest fish of the trip and shared the boat pool with Philip Brown (NY) who caught a 14 pound cod. Some of Phil's good fish included an 11 pound pollock, a 10 pound pollock and a double keeper catch that included a 10 pound cod and a 12 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time.
Bruce Fortier (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 16.25 pound pollock. This is the largest pollock that has been caught on the Bunny Clark this season so far. I took a picture with Bruce holding his big pollock. This digital image appears on the right. Bruce caught the largest haddock of the day at 5.75 pounds. Some of his other good fish included a 12.75 pound cod, a 10 pound cod and a 13.25 pound cod. A porbeagle shark grabbed one of his haddock but never got hooked. And the haddock only showed a few teeth marks of the skin, not cutting into the fillet.
Other Angler Highlights: Paul Pearson (NH) caught a lot of cod in the 10 pound range. Two that I weighed were 11 pounds and 10.5 pounds. He brought a cod of about 13 pounds up to the boat but it was hooked so lightly I wasn't able to lift it out of the water before I lost it. It was not the pool fish but it was close! Hannah Brown (NY) might have caught the largest wolffish of the Bunny Clark season today. You can't legally keep wolffish so I couldn't gaff it. But I wouldn't have been able to anyway. The fish was just out of reach when it dropped off the hook. To me it looked about 14 to 16 pounds. Maybe bigger. Her first fish that I weighed was a 9.5 pound cod. But she went on to catch larger cod that I didn't weigh, a 10 pound pollock and a double that included an 11 pound cod and a 5 pound haddock. Larry Cross (NY) boated an 11.5 pound pollock. I believe he caught larger cod that I didn't weigh but weren't big enough to contend for the boat pools. Jon Tesnakis (NY) caught a 12.75 pound pollock, his largest fish. His largest haddock weighed 4.75 pounds. Some of Mark Thyng's (VT) largest fish included a 13 pound cod, an 11.25 pound cod and a 10.5 pound pollock. He lost two jigs today. One he lost on the bottom. The other he lost on a big fish of unknown species. Because of his loses, he landed the Bunny Clark's hard luck award t-shirt!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, the sky was mostly overcast, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at twenty knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The wind continued at twenty knots out of the northeast until dawn where it piped up even a little more. Gusts on the anemometer showed peak wind volleys of twenty-six knots. This didn't last. By 10:00 AM, the wind had already backed off a skosch. By noon, wind gusts were about fifteen knots. The northeast wind was blowing ten knots by 1:00 PM. The wind was light out of the southeast by sunset. The sky was clear all day, the visibility was excellent and the highest air temperature that I saw in Perkins Cove was 59°F. The wind off the water made it very cool today except in sheltered sunny locations - like the west side of the deck at Barnacle Billy's in the early afternoon! In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 65°F with a low of 47°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 40°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 43°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northeast at fifteen to twenty knots. Seas were chops of three to five feet. After noon, the wind backed off to five and ten knots out of the northeast with two to three feet in chops. The air temperature reached a high of 54°F on the fishing grounds. The sky was sunny in the morning and overcast in the afternoon. The visibility was thirty miles or better. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 50°F.
The fishing was fair (seas). The catching was excellent. Landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The cull was two to one; for every three haddock caught, one was legal. Legal landings also included four pollock and a cusk. They had three or four porbeagle sharks around the boat. They broke off a halibut on it's first run to the bottom after getting it almost to the boat. Released fish included fourteen cod from 5 to 12 pounds and one wolffish. They anchored and drift fished. All terminal gear worked well but bait was best for the haddock.
Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. Mark Thyng (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13 pound wolffish. This is the second largest wolffish of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. The second largest fish was a 12 pound cod caught by Lewis Hazelwood (MA). Steve Dickmann (MA) caught the third largest fish, a 9 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Yvon Duquette (ME) landed the largest haddock of the day at 5 pounds. Mario Dion (NH) landed the hard luck award by being involved in the most tangles.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 36°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the northeast and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Ashore, the sky was clear, or mostly so, all morning. The sky became overcast completely around 1:30 PM. By 2:15 PM, we were feeling light rain but not enough rain to get the roads well. By 4:00 PM, we had a steady light rain. It rained on into the night but never truly a hard rain. The wind blew out of the east all day. It never blew more than ten knots. The air temperature in Perkins Cove only reached a high of 56°F. Mostly it was slightly colder than this. The visibility was very good before the rain, good to fair/good in precipitation. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 55°F with a low of 46°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 62°F (with a low of 35°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 57°F (with a low of 37°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east at five to ten knots. The high air temperature for the day was 56°F. The visibility ranged from ten to fifteen miles in haze. The tide (current) ranged from moderate to strong. The seas were one foot chops or less over swells of two to three feet. The surface water temperature reached a high of 49°F.
The fishing was nearly excellent. The catching was excellent. Landings were good today, a notch down from what it has been. However, the last spot was very good, so good that Ian left them biting. Most legal fish landed were haddock. They did not catch the haddock bag limit today, one of the only trips this season (including the last marathon trip) where this has been the case. There were, however, a lot of short haddock today, the cull being two to one, short haddock to keepers. Legal landings also included six pollock, one redfish and six cusk. Released fish included twelve cod from five to 10.25 pounds and two wolffish. They anchored for every stop. All terminal gear worked about the same.
John Casey (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish. In fact, he had to help Shawn Sullivan (NH) complete his haddock bag limit! That's the kind of friend that John is! Mike Rygiel, Jr. (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10.25 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 9 pound cod caught by Bill Austin (NH). Mike Rygiel, Sr. (MA) landed the third biggest fish of the trip, a 7 pound cod. Mark Austin (NH) landed the hard luck award for allowing the ocean to have it's way with his equilibrium!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good at least. The sky was mostly overcast all day with periodic light rain after noon. The rain was so light that it only made the roads wet once. After that, the rain seemed to dry out before it hit the ground. After 5:00 PM, the sun was out until sunset and the sky stayed clear on into the night. The wind started out southwest but turned west and then west northwest by noon. Wind speeds were fifteen knots or so around noon but dropped off during the afternoon. The wind blew lightly out of the northwest at sunset and beyond. The air temperature got up as high as 78°F in Perkins Cove. It was also very humid. The visibility ranged from good to very good in haze. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 81°F with a low of 54°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 49°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 79°F (with a low of 49°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at ten to fifteen knots. Seas were chops of two to four feet. As the day progressed, the wind let go and the seas dropped. By the time they were ready to "head her to the barn", the wind was less than five knots and the seas were less than a foot chop over close period swells of two to four feet. The air temperature reached a high of 59°F. The visibility ranged from an eighth of a mile in fog to ten miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was mostly overcast. The surface water temperature reached a high of 49°F.
The fishing was good (surface water conditions), the catching was excellent and landings were very good. They ended up just shy of the bag limit for haddock only because there were so many smaller haddock caught in place of the haddock of better size and because four or five anglers didn't fish for fighting the dreaded mal de mer. Still the cull was two to one, subs to legal fish. Most legal fish landed were haddock, of course. Legal landings also included three pollock, six redfish, three cusk and a cunner. Released fish included forty-eight cod over 5 pounds, a few short pollock/cod and one wolffish. They drift fished and anchored. All terminal gear worked well but bait worked best for haddock.
Art Kemler, Jr. (PA/ME) was the fisherman of the day. He was high hook with the most legal fish and he won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10.5 pound wolffish. Chris Deschambault (ME) caught the second largest fish, a 10 pound cod. The third largest fish was an 8.5 pound cod caught by Mark Weldon (NH). Melissa Holmwood (ME) landed the hard luck award for being the most sea sick. Ouch!
Jon Li (NJ) did me a "hard solid" by sponsoring me in my cancer fund raising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge, an 192 mile charity cycling event. Thank you so much, Jon. I appreciate the nod and the generous $50.00 contribution!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 50°F, the sky was clear, the wind was very light out of the west, the water was so calm along the shore that you could float a scallop shell upon it and the visibility over the ocean was very good. Ashore, it was a beautiful day. The wind was light in the morning, from the west. By noon, the wind had hauled out of the south. By 3:00 PM, it was blowing about ten knots. That's, pretty much, all we got for wind in Perkins Cove. The sky was cloudless all day. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature reached a high in Perkins Cove of 78°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 80°F with a low of 57°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 79°F (with a low of 46°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 44°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west at five knots in the morning. Seas were swells of two to three feet. After noon, the wind hauled out of the southwest and blew from ten to fifteen knots. Seas were chops of one to two feet over the same two to three foot swell. The air temperature reached a high of 63°F, the highest air temperature we have seen this season so far. The visibility was thirty miles or more. The sky was clear and sunny. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 54°F, the highest we have seen it this year, to date.
The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. They had no problem reaching the bag limit. The cull flipped today with a 1.5 to 1 ratio, keepers to haddock less than eighteen inches fork length. Legal landings also included four pollock, four cusk and a cunner. Released fish included fifty-eight cod over 5 pounds, a few smaller cod and pollock and one wolffish. They drift fished all day. Almost everyone used bait today. But both (jigs, bait and cod flies) worked well.
There was no way that Ian could discern who was high hook with the most legal fish. Keith Weber (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 9.5 pound pollock. Tamanee Meader (NH) and Tim Tobias (MI) tied for second place, both with cod of 9 pounds each. Steve Brown (ME) landed the hard luck award today for being the magnet for other lines ensnarled with his. I can't tell you any more about this. I wasn't there.
A good friend of mine's son died of brain cancer early this morning. I didn't find out about it until I got back from a late morning bike ride (training for the PMC). Needless to say it's been a pretty sad day for his family and ours. It had been over two years since the initial diagnosis. One, of course, thinks of your own son at this time. And after all I have done to help in the research, I would still find it difficult to know where to start if it were my son. And the whole thing brought me in close contact with my son this afternoon. A short conversation, a hug and truly being thankful that it isn't our turn - yet. Life is a very tenuous thing. Sometimes you just don't think close enough along those lines. It wasn't the best reminder for me today.
I received two donations supporting me in my cancer charity ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Both were $5.00. One was from Fran Leavitte (NH). The other was anonymous. Thank you both very much for freely giving when asked! I really do appreciate it very much!
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, the sky was clear, the wind was very light out of the northwest and the visibility over the ocean seemed excellent.
I had another clean shot out of Perkins Cove this morning. No fog to contend with, I still left the light on at the helm and used radar alone to steer down the channel, out to the outer cove and the dogleg, left, through the gate. This new Furuno color radar we put in this season is really unbelievably accurate in tight spaces. Remarkable, really. After leaving the gate, we had a little bit of a swell from the south that disappeared at the ten mile mark, leaving us with a calm surface and no swell. We had no wind, mild air temperatures, calm seas, very good visibility and mostly clear skies all the way to the fishing grounds.
On the grounds, there was no wind and the ocean was flat calm. These sea conditions remained for the whole fishing trip and for half the ride back home. The ocean's surface was glassy. The tide (current) was light for the first two or three hours of fishing, moderate after that. The visibility ranged to over fifteen miles. It was hard to tell because there was nothing on the surface big enough, at a distance, to tell. The air temperature reached a high of just 60°F. The sky was mostly cloudy during the fishing with a various peeks at the sun from time to time. The sky was overcast by the time we were ready to head home. The surface water temperature reached a high of 47.8°F. During the ride in we had periodic rain showers and variable winds up to five or six knots. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 67°F with a low of 54°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 69°F (with a low of 46°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 50°F).
The fishing, catching and landings were excellent today. It was very rare to drop to bottom and not immediately get a fish on the line. Of the fish we could keep, there were very that were sub-legal in size. We only had seven short haddock and a couple pollock that were two small. I only counted forty-five cod over 5 pounds that we had to released. And there were very few cod under 5 pounds (ten, maybe?). Most legal fish landed were haddock. We kept the keeper size to nineteen inches fork but even that didn't help us extend the bag limit past noon. Many of our haddock were 3 to 4 pounds. We had our best day of the season for pollock landings as well, way ahead of our second best trip. The pollock were of good size. But you could also tell that they were on the move as they were way up in the water column. [Thank God for good sounding machines!] Besides the larger cod, the other releases of note were two wolffish of decent size. We drift fished the entire trip. All terminal gear worked well.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook. Everyone did extremely well. Ed Robichaud (FL/ME) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the largest fish of the trip, a 20.5 pound pollock. He didn't enter the boat pool for the largest fish. This is the largest pollock that the Bunny Clark has seen this season so far. I took a picture with Ed holding his prize. This digital image appears on the left. Ed also caught two pollock of 11 pounds each and another pollock that weighed 16 pounds, our third largest pollock of the season to date.
Kevin Viel (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 17.5 pound cod. This is the Bunny Clark's third largest cod of the fishing season to date. Some of the other fish that Kevin caught an I weighed included a 5 pound haddock, a 10 pound cod, a 13 pound cod and a 14 pound pollock. Mark Majewsky (MN) boated the third largest fish, a 17 pound cod. He also caught two cod of 12 pounds each and many haddock.
Other Angler Highlights: If you counted cod over 5 pounds, legal sized haddock, pollock and wolffish, Fred Kunz (NH) was probably high hook. He led both pools for all but the last hour and a half of the day. Some of his fish included a 9 pound wolffish, a 10.5 pound cod, a 15 pound cod, a 12 pound pollock and a 14 pound pollock. John Baker (ME) caught a fish or two a cast. I don't believe he brought his line to the surface once without a fish. No halibut today as he did last time out but he did catch some good sized haddock, pollock and cod. Some of his fish that I weighed included an 11 pound wolffish, a 10.5 pound pollock, a 5.25 pound haddock and an 11 pound cod. Fred Tardie (MA) caught three good cod that I weighed before releasing. These cod weighed 11.5 pounds, 13 pounds and 10 pounds. His largest pollock weighed 12 pounds. Jim Quinney (NH) caught the largest haddock of the trip at 6 pounds and also tied with six other anglers for the largest haddock of the Bunny Clark fishing season (so far) with this fish. One of his last haddock of the trip was a fish that had to be a trophy (7 pounds or greater). He tried swinging it over the rail only to have it fall off the hook in mid swing, bounce off the pulpit and into the water. That was the biggest haddock of the season, truly. Jim also landed the hard luck award for breaking the tip off his rod while swinging in an 11 pound pollock - five minutes before I called the day! Ouch!
Rory Casey (MA) caught the most good sized haddock of the trip. He fished with only a bare bait hook with no fly above the sinker. After the first hour of fishing he told Ian, who was at the cutting table, that; "I'm going to have to switch to a jig." Ian asked him why. "I'm catching too many fish!" Funny.
I was sponsored by several people today in my quest for a cancer free world with my involvement the Pan-Mass Challenge, a charity cycling event taking place the first Saturday of August. These people and their donations are as follows: Kevin Viel for a generous $70.00, Jason Ridolfi (NY) for a generous $50.00, an anonymous, very generous, donation of $100.00, Dan Bailey (NY) for $30.00 and John Baker for $25.00. Thank you all for your generosity and support. I very much appreciate it but not as much as the family's do who's representative's lives are on the line. All the best to you all!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 53°F, the sky was overcast, there was no wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was very good at least. Ashore, the sky stayed mostly overcast until about 10:00 AM, when the sky opened up to a cloudless day. The sky remained cloudless, or nearly so, until sunset. The air temperature was 60°F by 8:15 AM. The high temperature reached a value of 78°F in Perkins Cove. It felt warmer than that. It was still 73°F at 6:00 PM. There was very little wind. What wind we did have was from the south. The visibility was very good to excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 75°F with a low of 54°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 53°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 53°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at five to ten knots. Seas were one foot chops or less over a two foot long swell. The air temperature reached a high of 63°F. The tide (current) was strong. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The sky was sunny all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 54°F.
The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, as it has been. I feel like a broken record when I sit down to write this part of the update. There are a lot of haddock around. I don't know how long it's going to last. But, right now, the haddock fishing couldn't be much better. The cull today was 50/50 shorts to legal fish. Although legal fish today, on the Bunny, were eighteen inches fork length. They still caught the bag limit. Legal fish landed also included four pollock, one redfish, fifteen cusk and five mackerel. Released fish included forty-six cod over 5 pounds, a few small cod and pollock. Drifting was the boating method employed. All terminal gear worked well but bait worked best for haddock.
Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. Hank Small (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11.5 pound cod. The second largest fish was a wolffish of 11 pounds caught by Trish Compitella (NY). Dan Bailey (NY), today's cod king, caught the third largest fish, a 10 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Mike Gonzalez (MA) caught a 9.5 pound cod, the fourth largest fish of the trip. James Ferreira (OH) landed the hard luck award for getting into the most tangled lines.
I received two donations sponsoring my cancer ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge. One was a $5.00 "pink laces" donation from Bill & Ann (I'll print their last names later). The other was a $25.00 from Steve Guilmet (MA). Steve has contributed to my cause since I started "riding for cancer" in 2007. Thank you all so much for your help and support. It means a great deal to me.
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, the sky was clear with an (almost) half moon hanging over the eastern horizon, the wind was strong enough out of the northeast to hear the bell buoy in the bed room but weak enough that nary a leave rustled and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Getting out of Perkins Cove this morning was simple. Once out the gate, the ocean had a small chop out of the northeast, with the wind, over a two to three foot long swell. A few miles out, the wind hauled out of the southeast. We seemed to be fighting a current the whole way out but it might just have been that the boat was trimming to the head for so many anglers in the forecastle! Whatever. The visibility was clear, the air temperature mild and the sailing smooth for the ride to the fishing grounds.
On the grounds, the wind blew lightly out of the southeast, then lightly out of the northeast and then backed out of the south southeast. Winds increased from the south southeast for the ride home. By 3:00 PM, wind speeds were twelve knots with a one to two foot chop over three foot long rolling sea swells. By 4:30 PM, the south southeast winds had increased to fifteen knots or more with seas and swells of two to three feet. The sky was mostly cloudy during the first part of the morning and nearly cloudless near the later part of the morning and through the afternoon. The air temperature reached a high of 58°F. The tide (current) was light. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 49.2°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 68°F with a low of 53°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 59°F (with a low of 49°F).
The fishing, catching and landings were excellent today, our best trip of the season. Most legal fish caught were haddock followed by pollock. The haddock cull was nine to one, legal to sub-legal haddock. I thought this might be the case so I raised the minimum size to control the situation. Our last landed haddock was caught at about the same time as I called the day. Legal landings also included six cusk and four whiting. We hooked on to two porbeagle sharks. Lost both. Released fish also included fifty-seven cod over 5 pounds, a handful of sub-legal pollock and a dogfish. We drift fished and anchored. All terminal gear worked well but bait caught the most haddock.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook with the most legal fish. Everyone did extremely well. If you included cod over 5 pounds, Dick Lyle (NY) would have been the man. Some of his fish, that I weighed, included a 13.75 pound pollock, a 5.5 pound haddock, an 11 pound cod and a 10 pound pollock. Jason Ridolfi (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 17 pound pollock. Ed Vross (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 16 pound cod. Ed also caught the third largest fish, a 14.75 pound cod. And, Ed landed our largest haddock of the day and the Bunny Clark fishing season, a 6.5 pounder. It was twenty-seven inches caliper fork length, our longest haddock by far.
Other Angler Highlights: Chuck Lennon (MA) caught the best haddock double today. One of the haddock weighed 5 pounds while the other weighed 5.5 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. His largest pollock weighed 14.5 pounds. His largest cod weighed 13 pounds. Lisa Clemons (NY) landed a 10 pound pollock, her largest fish. She caught a pile of haddock while using bait. Wobby Barnes (MA) also caught a 10 pound pollock and a 9.5 pound cod. Peter Lussier (NY) released a 12 pound cod and a 12.5 pound cod. Jeff Reisdorf (NY) joined seven other Bunny Clark patrons this season by landing a 6 pound haddock. Ray Westermann (MA) caught the Bunny Clark's largest cusk of the season to date with a 10.5 pounder. He also caught a 10 pound pollock or two. His largest haddock weighed 5.5 pounds. Jonathan "Griff" Griffin (MA) caught his bag limit of 5 pound haddock, a first for an angler on the Bunny Clark this season. Joe Dressner (NY) released an 11 pound cod, his largest fish. And Peter Lussier landed the hard luck award for no good reason at all.
I received at $20.00 donation from Ed Vross sponsoring me in my cancer fund raising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Thank you very much, Ed. I appreciate the support, the reason for the support and the talk on the ride home. All the best!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was cloudless, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at nearly fifteen knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good. Ashore, the wind blew out of the west at twenty knots or more, dying out in the afternoon. The day was warm but dry with a high air temperature of 90°F in Ogunquit. The sky was cloudless most of the day, clear in the morning and hazy clear in the afternoon. The visibility ranged from very good to good in haze. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 88°F with a low of 54°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 90°F (with a low of 46°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 88°F (with a low of 50°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at fifteen knots or more with seas in chops of two to four feet. The wind dropped as the day progressed leaving them with southwest winds of five knots and seas in chops of one to two feet. The air temperature reached a high of 64°F. The visibility ranged from ten to fifteen miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was mostly overcast. The surface water temperature reached a high of 53°F.
The fishing was good to very good (seas), the catching was excellent and landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far, again. The cull was two to one, small haddock to haddock over eighteen inches fork length. Legal landings also included five pollock. Released fish included forty-nine cod over 5 pounds and a few small pollock and small cod. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked equally well today.
Ray Westermann (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish. His largest fish was an 11 pound cod, the second largest fish of the trip. John Pirog (CT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11.5 pound cod. The third largest fish was a 10.5 pound pollock caught by Richard Bronder (ME). He also landed the hard luck award for losing two jigs and breaking his pole after hooking up with a large porbeagle shark only to lose the shark during the initial part of the fight!
Other Angler Highlights: Jonathan "Griff" Griffin (MA) caught the largest haddock at 5 pounds.
I received two donations sponsoring my ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge, an 192 mile cycling event to support cancer research with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts or, as it is better known, the Jimmy Fund. One donation was for $20.00 from Art Kemler, Jr. (PA/ME). The other was a very generous $500.00 donation given via "egift" through the PMC site from Mark Girard (CA). In the note to me he wrote: "My donation, thoughts and prayers go out to honor the son your friend lost to cancer." This was a special gift for a number of reasons. Thank you both so very much for your support and help. I appreciate it very much but others will feel it in the help and hope that this brings to them.
Captain Ian Keniston, Anthony Palumbo and Eric Donovan hosted the Jonathan Neurock full day trip charter today. At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 66°F, the sky was partly cloudy, there was a very light wind out of the southwest, the ocean along the shore was calm and the visibility over the ocean was very good. Ashore, the wind was light from the west northwest until around 2:00 PM, when we got a sea turn out of the east. Still, winds were light, pumping, actually. The easterly wind would come across the parking lot in a puff and then it would die out. This went on all afternoon and into sunset. The high air temperature was 84°F in Perkins Cove before the sea turn. By 4:00 PM, the air temperature had dropped to 70°F. The sky was a mix of sun and clouds with a hazy tinge to it. The visibility was good. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 89°F with a low of 61°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 57°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 75°F (with a low of 57°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west at less than five knots in the morning. After noon, the wind was light and variable in direction, less than five knots. The ocean's surface was calm over a rolling long sea swell of two feet. The air temperature reached a high of 64°F. The visibility ranged from fifteen to two miles, ten to fifteen miles in the morning in haze to two to three miles in fog after noon. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 54°F.
The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. Most of these anglers had never seen as many haddock caught on a boat in their lives. Some haven't been out with us for a while. There were more legal fish, by far, than sub-legal haddock today. Legal landings also included three pollock and a cusk. Released fish included thirty-two cod over 5 pounds, a halibut and a wolffish. They had porbeagles around the boat most of the day. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked exactly the same.
Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. There was too much action to tell. Don Litchfield (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 18.5 pound halibut. This is only the third halibut we have been able to get in the boat this season to date. It's also the second largest halibut of the year so far. But it was in and out of the boat quickly as it was sub-legal in size. This is the first halibut that Don has ever caught. Captain Ian took a picture of Don holding his halibut just before releasing it. This digital image appears on the right. Don also caught the third largest fish, a 10 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 10.5 pound cod caught by Jonathan Neurock (NH).
Other Angler Highlights: Matt Sands (MA) landed the hard luck award for just being a batchelor. He meets his demise in June. [I'm only kidding about the demise part!]
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 53°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at fifteen knots or less and the visibility over the ocean was very good. Ashore, the wind blew out of the east at fifteen to twenty knots almost all day long. The air temperature never got out of the 50°s in Ogunquit, the highest I saw was 56°F. The visibility deteriorated during the day from very good to fair to good in haze and mist. We had a light sprinkle of rain at 9:00 PM. Other than that, the day was dry. The sky was overcast all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 61°F with a low of 50°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 64°F (with a low of 48°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 58°F (with a low of 48°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east at fifteen to twenty knots. Seas were chops of four to eight feet in chops/seas with the occasional queer one. The high air temperature was 54°F. The tide was light to moderate (thankfully); the seas could have been bigger. The sky was overcast all day. The visibility ranged from ten to fifteen miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 54°F.
The fishing was fair (the sea conditions certainly compromised technique), the catching was very good and landings were good. The weather conditions took the fishing, in general, down a notch. Most legal fish landed were haddock. The haddock cull was two to one, short fish to legal haddock. The haddock bag limit was not reached today but it was close. Legal landings also included three pollock. It was a great day for the cod bite with seventy-seven cod over 5 pounds released. That's quite a bit higher than it has been lately. They anchored for every spot. Bait worked the best for everything today.
Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. There was too much catching to figure it out. Art Kemler, Jr. (PA) should have won the boat pool with a cod over 20 pounds. But he lost the fish right on the surface. You can't gaff cod so the fish will live to grow bigger in the future. It would have been our largest cod of the season. Art's two largest boated (and promptly released) fish were cod of 10 and 12 pounds. Marty Latulippe (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest weighed fish, a 17 pound cod, our sixth largest cod of the Bunny Clark fishing season so far. The third and fourth largest fish were both caught by Dan Potyrala (MA). They included a 14 pound cod and a 13 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Joe Buchas (CT) caught the first fish to be weighed for the boat pool. This fish was a 10 pound cod. Carol Mansfield (MA) landed the hard luck award for a hard case of the mal de mer. She took a bunk in the Hotel Bunny Clark and never came back out until the boat landed back in Perkins Cove at 5:00 PM. Ian never did see what she looked like as she left the boat so quickly when they docked. That's tough.
I received two donations sponsoring me in my cancer fund raising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. One was a very generous $100.00 donation "In Memory of Alexis [Clark]" from Randy Clark (VT). The other was a $25.00 donation from Dan Potyrala (MA), who's father, Chet, was the reason I got involved with the PMC in the first place, twelve years ago. Thank you both so very much for your honest contribution to something so enormous and so helpful to those who are suffering right now. All the best to you both!
Captain Ian Keniston, Anthony Palumbo and Eric Donovan ran the extreme day trip today. At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 49°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing lightly out of the east and the visibility along the shore was fair in mist, fog and haze. Ashore, we had light easterly winds in the morning, maybe ten knots at most. After noon, there was very little wind. The flags in the Cove were limp. Late in the day the wind hauled out of the south and blew up to ten knots. The sky was mostly overcast all day. The sun peeked through a hazy sky in the afternoon but the air temperature was cool. Perkins Cove never did get above 58°F. What is remarkable is that we had the same high and low temperatures for two days in a row! The visibility over the ocean became good but good in haze. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 59°F with a low of 50°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 64°F (with a low of 48°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 58°F (with a low of 48°F).
The ride to the fishing grounds was a bit tough as they had the left over slop from yesterday with an east wind of ten knots or better on top of the seas that they had to head directly in to on the way to the fishing grounds.
On the grounds, in the morning, they had a left over two to five foot rolling sea under a chop of about a foot. The afternoon, saw no chop with a smaller swell of two to four feet. The sky was mostly overcast all day. The air temperature was mild - Ian didn't give me a temperature value. The visibility ranged from ten to fifteen miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 53°F.
The fishing was fair to good (surface water conditions), the catching was very good and the landings made it to the category of "good". Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. But today, much like yesterday, the legal haddock were smaller. Ian was forced to go with the normal keeper sized haddock of seventeen inches in order to bring home some fish. And the take in numbers was a bit smaller as well. But as the haddock were smaller, the cod were bigger and the cod count was huge today. They released one hundred and twelve cod over 5 pounds today, the most we have seen inshore all season. Besides the haddock, legal landings included four pollock, a redfish and one halibut. Anchoring and drifting were both used. Bait worked best for the haddock. Jigs and flies worked well for all species. And a jig took the halibut.
Ron Gosselin (NH) was high hook with the most legal haddock. His count was around fifteen or more. Dave Powell (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 56 pound halibut. This is our second largest halibut of the fishing season to date and our ninth largest halibut of all time caught on the Bunny Clark. It came up like a stone all the way to the boat, just like the 98 pounder we caught earlier in the season. But this fish, when gaffed, went ballistic. It was flipping a foot or more off the deck after being hauled over the rail. Anglers had to be cleared away so that they wouldn't get hurt. There is really no way to quiet a fish like that down once it's on the deck. So Ian just waited before going further. This is Dave's first halibut. The first time Dave sailed on the Bunny Clark, he was so tangled that he told himself that he would never sail on the Bunny Clark again. The fishing conditions were horrible that day. But he did come back a few more times, today becoming his best trip ever with a fish of a lifetime. Ian took a picture of Dave and Anthony Palumbo (right) holding the halibut after it had been subdued. This digital image appears on the left.
There was a tie for the second largest fish at 16 pounds each. Dale Jackson (ME) caught a 16 pound wolffish while Joe Columbus (MA) caught a 16 pound cod. Both fish had to be released as it isn't legal to keep cod or wolffish at the present time. Dale's wolffish is the largest wolffish that has been caught on the Bunny Clark this season so far. Captain Ian took a picture of Dale holding the wolffish. I cropped it to show the teeth. This digital image appears on the right in his entry. Dale also caught a 15 pound cod, the fourth largest fish of the trip.
Other Angler Highlights: John Russell (ME) caught a 12.5 pound cod, his largest fish. Ron Gosselin (NH) caught a 14 pound cod, the fifth largest fish of the trip. Harrison Goldsmith (MA) landed the hard luck award for getting a touch of the mal de mer.
I received another sponsorship donation from Joe Columbus for my efforts raising money to fight cancer with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Joe has helped me with this cause since I started and gives several donations a season. This one was for $25.00. I very much appreciate his generosity and thoughtfulness. A real help. Thank you!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind to write about, the ocean along the shore was flat with light wind patches and the visibility over the ocean was fair to good in a thick haze. The day warmed up quickly. At 7:00 AM, the air temperature was already 61°F. In Perkins Cove, the air temperature reached a high of 77°F. The sky was clear all day, cloudless all morning and a few cumulous clouds after noon. The sun was bright. The wind blew lightly out of the south southwest most of the day. Well inland, the wind was out of the northwest. The visibility was good in haze. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 85°F with a low of 58°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 87°F (with a low of 51°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 86°F (with a low of 54°F).
I went on a long training bicycle ride after working at the restaurant until 6:30 this morning. I went back to work in the restaurant after noon. There I stayed until 6:00 PM working in the office, mostly. It was good to get a lot of that office work completed.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at ten knots or more and the visibility over the ocean was very good. Ashore, it was not as warm as it was yesterday but the air temperature did get up to 65°F in Perkins Cove. The wind was light out of the east all morning, southeast, light, in the afternoon. We had a bright sun in the morning and a hazy sun in the afternoon. The visibility was good in some haze. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 69°F with a low of 60°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 53°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east at ten knots in the morning. The sea state was a two to four foot swell under a one foot chop. After noon, the wind was southeast at a speed less than five knots with no chop and a long rolling swell of two to three feet. They had a mix of sun and clouds all day. The air temperature reached a high value of 64°F in the afternoon (without the wind). The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles in haze. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 56°F.
The fishing was very good, the catching was excellent and landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. In fact, they got back into the bigger haddock again with the bag limit for the boat attained and legal haddock being released. I do not believe there was but one haddock of 4 pounds or slightly better. The cull was one and a half to one, legal to sub-legal haddock. Legal landings included two pollock and three cusk. Released fish included eighty-eight cod over 5 pounds and six cusk. No huge cod but a lot of nice sized ones. They anchored initially but drift fished the rest of the day. All terminal gear worked well but bait was best.
Bob R. LePage (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish. In order to attain that lofty position, he had to abandon the jig and move to the dark side. Yes, readers, if you can believe it, Bob fished with bait all day! I couldn't believe it myself until his father, Bob (who was also on the trip) confirmed this for me. Young Bob was smiling on the outside. But deep down inside you know he regretted this transgression. He did catch the most haddock he has ever caught, though. But I wonder, when I see him next, if he will be able to look me directly in the eye? Hey, Bob, would you like a bait rig, a cushion for the bench and a warm glass of milk with your clams? Paul Chontofalsky (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10 pound cod. He also caught the second largest fish, also a 10 pound cod. The third largest fish was a 9.5 pound cod caught by Bill Suelke (PA). Bill also caught a cod that weighed 8.5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Chris Tankred (OH) caught a 9 pound cod, the fourth largest fish of the trip. Andrew Kerns (MT) caught an 8 pound cod, his biggest fish of the trip. Mitch Falconer (MA) landed the hard luck award for being drastically out-fished by his female dory mate, Marjorie President (MA). He admitted to me after the trip that he didn't feel good all day. Was this because he was sea sick or was it the drubbing he got from Marjorie?
Mark Coleman (NY) did me a solid today by donating a generous $40.00 to help me with my cancer fund raising ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Mark has sponsored me since the time he found out I was riding in this event. Thank you so much, Mark. I really appreciate your support.
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, the sky was clear, the wind was very light out of the south and the visibility over the ocean was very good.
There was a moon that was nearly full hanging in the sky well over the southern horizon when I headed down to the Cove this morning. Likewise, the channel was lit right up with light when I headed down it to open water. It was a smooth ride to the fishing grounds with very little wind, a calm surface and a little bit of a left over short swell from last night's southeast wind. It wasn't long before we left that swell behind leaving us with a very comfortable ride to the fishing grounds. A mile before we arrived at our destination we were enveloped in fog.
On the grounds, the fog remained with us all morning. By noon, it was starting to dissipate. The fog was gone by the time we were ready to head for the barn. The visibility ranged from four to ten miles on the ride out, a quarter of a mile or less in the fog and at least fifteen miles for the ride home. We had a south southwest wind of about ten to fifteen knots, starting up at the time we arrived on the grounds. Seas were chops of two feet, more or less. The sky was mostly clear, sunny above the fog and shining down on us. The air temperature reached a high of 58°F. The tide (current) was strong in the morning, moderate around noon and light after that. The surface water temperature reached a high of 53.2°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 83°F with a low of 56°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 86°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 52°F).
The fishing was just good today. For some reason, maybe moon related, we had a lot of tangles, the most I have seen this season when I have been on the boat. Some of this was also due to the concentration of anglers on the stern. And some was due to dissimilar sized jigs and fishing lines. The catching was excellent. Landings were very good overall. Most legal fish landed were pollock and haddock, about an equal number of each. There were very few sub-legal haddock today. And the haddock in general were of very good size. I think everyone caught a haddock over 4 pounds and everyone caught a fish of 10 pounds or better. I stopped weighing fish under 13 pounds a half hour into the fishing. Legal landings also included four cusk. Released fish included forty-seven cod over 5 or 6 pounds, two wolffish, a few short cod, fifteen dogfish and quite a few sub-legal pollock.We drift fished and anchored. All terminal gear worked well.
Andrew Kerns (MT) was probably high hook with the most legal fish. But that's just a guess. I didn't count his fish. He set the mark for the largest double of the Bunny Clarktoday with one that weighed 7.25 pounds, a Maine state trophy. He also caught a 6 pound haddock. I didn't take a picture of his big haddock because I discovered it in the bow fish box a half hour after he caught it. When I found it, the fish had already been bled and was a little discolored.
Chris Tankred (OH) might have been high hook if you counted cod over 5 pounds. He caught a lot of cod. And he caught a lot of market cod doubles. His largest fish was a cod I released that I estimated would have been 13.5 pounds. Chris caught another one that size later on.
Bill Suelke (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 20.5 pound pollock. This is a tie for the Bunny Clark's largest pollock of the season to date. I took a picture of Bill holding his pollock. This digital image appears on the left. The largest cod of his that I weighed was 11 pounds. Dan Nye (MA) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 16.5 pound pollock. The third largest fish was a 15 pound pollock caught by Ny Nhath (VT). Ny also caught a 13.5 pound wolffish, the Bunny Clark's fourth largest wolffish of the season so far. He caught several cod over 10 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Wade Will (MA) caught the second largest haddock of the day, a tie for the second largest haddock of the Bunny Clark fishing to date. I took a picture of Wade holding his prize. This digital image appears on the right. He also caught a 5 pound haddock and a 6 pound haddock. Ray Thomas (MA) caught a 12.5 pound cod and a 12.5 pound pollock, his two biggest fish. He also lost his rod overboard but we caught it back as part of a tangle on the opposite side of the boat! Jessica Nhath (VT) landed an 11.5 pound pollock, one of her bigger fish. Bill "Bloomers" Murphy (MA) caught a 12 pound pollock, his largest fish. He should have won the boat pool with a porbeagle shark he brought right to the boat. But, somehow, he blew it by letting the jig hook drop out of the shark's mouth just before it got within gaffing range. Jim Saunders (NY) boated another 6 pound haddock today. This is the largest haddock he has caught in many years. Charlie Tankred (OH) boated a 12 pound pollock, his biggest. Jim Jarvis (MA) released a 13.5 pound cod. This was his biggest fish. Bob Gorghan (NY) caught a 12 pound pollock, his biggest fish. He lost a haddock right next to the boat that looked like it weighed 7 pounds. It could have been more. His largest landed haddock weighed 5 pounds. Paul Chontofalsky (PA) was too busy gloating over his beloved Eagles to land anything too big. I did note his catching of a dogfish and a few smaller (deflated) haddock! Jordan Linton (OH) boated a cod double that included one that weighed 9 pounds and another that weighed 12 pounds. His largest fish was a 14 pound pollock. His largest haddock weighed 5 pounds. He also landed the hard luck award for being the sole hurler of the trip. But, by God, as bad as he felt, he kept fishing!
I was sponsored by several people today funding my cancer fund raising event called the Pan-Mass Challenge, a charity cycling event for the Jimmy Fund taking place the first Saturday of August. These people and their donations are as follows: Paul Chontofalsky for $25.00, Bill Suelke for $25.00, Chris Tankred for $30.00 and a generous $100.00 from Charlie Tankred. Thank you all so much for your help and support. It means a lot to me and I can tell that it means much to you as well.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the sky was mostly clear, the wind was light out of the south and the visibility over the ocean was at least ten miles in haze. Ashore, the air temperature warmed up to 80°F. It could have been warmer. I didn't camp out near the thermometer. However, it was also humid and muggy. Uncomfortable. Unless, of course, you were sitting on the deck of Barnacle Billy's with a rum punch in hand! The wind was light out of the south southwest all day. We might have had a maximum of ten knots but I didn't see it. The ocean along the shore remained calm. The visibility was good or fair to good in haze and an offshore fog bank. The sky was mostly clear in the morning, becoming overcast by noon, a light rain between 2 PM and 2:30 PM and then mostly sunny again later in the afternoon and early evening. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 79°F with a low of 64°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 83°F (with a low of 67°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 62°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at five to ten knots. Seas were chops of a foot over a longish rolling sea swell of two to three feet from the south. The air temperature reached a high of 61°F. The visibility was poor in fog. The seeing distance, at best, was a quarter of a mile to a half mile. The sky was overcast or appeared that way. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water reached a high of 56°F.
The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock. The bag limit was reached without a concern for catching it. The largest haddock was probably 4 pounds. Ian didn't weigh any. The haddock cull was one to one, keepers to released fish. Legal landings also included three pollock and two cusk. Released fish included forty-one cod of 5 pounds or better, a few small cod and a few small pollock. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked well but bait worked best for haddock.
Joe Selmer (NH) was probably high hook with the most legal fish (and cod?) but it could also have been Steve Selmer (NH) or Shaun O'Connor (ME). I talked to Shaun after the trip. He was impressed by the number of cod he caught. Joe's best fish was a 10 pound cod. Emily Sullivan (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 14 pound cod. She caught this cod as part of the double that also included a 10 pound cod, one cod on the fly, the other caught below on the jig. It might be the second largest double of the Bunny Clark season to date. We don't start recording doubles until the total weight equals 25 pounds. So far I only have recorded Andrew Kerns (MT) 26 pound double that was caught on Thursday.
The second largest fish was a 12.5 pound cod caught by Shaun O'Connor. After that just about everyone else caught a 10 pound fish of some species for third largest. So Ian really couldn't find one fish that was the third largest.
Other Angler Highlights: Steve Selmer's largest fish was a 9.5 pound cod. Joe Sukatski (CT) landed the largest pollock at 10 pounds. Dean Harp (CA) caught a 10 pound cod, his largest fish. Shannon O'Connor (ME) landed the hard luck award for having a total foul weather gear blow out. Ian has to give "the shirt" out to someone even if a little poetic license has to be initiated.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 65°F, the sky was mostly clear (much like yesterday morning), there was no wind, the ocean was calm along the shore and the visibility over the ocean was fair to good in fog and haze. Ashore, the haze and fog disappeared by 9:00 AM. The visibility was very good. It was much less humid today than it was yesterday. It might have had something to do with the easterly wind along the shore. There wasn't much wind. I don't believe I saw even ten knots. The ocean along the shore was calm. The sky was a mix of sun and clouds but mostly sunny in the afternoon. At one point, around noon, it almost looked like it was going to rain. But that didn't happen. The air temperature rose to 78°F in Perkins Cove, the highest air temperature that I saw. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 81°F with a low of 57°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 87°F (with a low of 58°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 83°F (with a low of 55°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at five knots or less. The ocean was calm with no discernable sea swell. With no wind, the air temperature reached a high of 65°F, the highest air temperature on the grounds we have seen this season so far. The visibility was very good or more than twenty miles. The sky was mostly sunny. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 58°F.
The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The haddock bag limit wasn't caught but most haddock were caught while using bait. And there were quite a few jig fishermen today. Most converted over to bait later in the day. The haddock bag limit was almost caught by the end of the trip. The haddock cull was three to two. In other words, if five haddock were caught, three were keepable haddock. Legal landings also included five pollock, seven cusk and one cunner. Released fish included fifty-six cod, two wolffish, a few short pollock and a few very small cod. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked well but jigs caught the most cod and bait caught the most haddock. A marked difference between the two.
Matt Wood (NY) was high hook for the most legal fish with twenty haddock. Even Matt went to the dark side, fishing bait after a fashion. Ron Croteau (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13.5 pound cod. He also caught the third largest fish, an 11.5 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 12.5 pound wolffish caught by Ernad Dalic (VT). Ernad also caught a wolffish that weighed 10.5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Adam Croteau (NH) caught two cod of 11 pounds each. Joe Skatski (CT) landed the hard luck award t-shirt for "tumbling into the boat this morning". Don't ask.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, the sky was cloudless, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The sky stayed nearly cloudless all day, even until sunset. The wind blew out of the east at ten to fifteen knots along the shore, diminishing to an even ten knots after the mid afternoon. The air temperature didn't impress anyone today with a high reading in Perkins Cove of 61°F. The visibility was very good all day in some haze. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 60°F with a low of 50°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 69°F (with a low of 48°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 48°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east at fifteen to twenty knots. Seas increased from three to five feet to four to six feet in chops and then started to diminish after noon. At the end of the fishing, the wind had dropped to ten and fifteen knots with seas in chops of three to five feet. The air temperature reached a high of 58°F. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was nearly cloudless. The surface water temperature reached a high of 57°F.
The fishing was fair to good (the sea state and wind), the catching was very good and landings were just fair. The easterly wind got the cod biting so well that it dropped the haddock landings by more that fifty percent today. Haddock were, by far, the most prevalent legal species kept. But cod over five pounds made up the bulk of the hookups. In fact, if you were using a jig, cod was all you caught. The haddock cull went backwards as well with twice as many sub-legal haddock caught as legal haddock. Easterly wind is not the greatest wind for haddock anyway. Legal landings also included eleven pollock (6 pounds the largest) and eleven cusk. Released fish included a few small pollock and cod and one wolffish. They anchored and used the sea anchor. Although lines tended better on the sea anchor, the catch rate for both disciplines was the same. All terminal gear worked well but bait caught the most haddock by just a skosch.
Nick Miller (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 12 pound cod. Nick also caught the only wolffish at 9 pounds. The second largest fish was an 11.5 pound cod caught by Josh Sparks (ME). Jared Dunstan (MA) caught the third largest fish, a 10 pound cod. Travis Sparks (ME) landed the hard luck award for getting too green around the gills and for catching no fish because of his condition.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 50°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the southeast at seventeen knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good to excellent. The visibility didn't last. The wind picked up in speed, the visibility became hazy and the intermittent spates of rain showed up around 8:00 AM. There wasn't much rain in the morning, except late. But, by noon, it was raining fairly steady. It rained mostly all afternoon. There were periods where it didn't rain but there was so much mist coming across the parking lot, it might as well have been raining. The wind blew harder out of the southeast as the day progressed. Fog, mist, haze and rain made the visibility over the ocean just fair. By noon, the wind had hauled out of the east and had increased to twenty knots sustained with a few higher gusts. The wind continued from that direction at that much velocity until I went to bed just before the Capitals/Golden Knights started. The air temperature stayed cool all day. The highest air temperature that I saw in Perkins Cove was 52°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 53°F with a low of 49°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 52°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 51°F (with a low of 46°F).
I spent most of the morning working at Barnacle Billy's restaurant. We had a few problems I had to resolve but I also had a lot to do in the office. And I needed a rainy day to become emotionally invested in office work. I was back home before 10:00 AM. But I still had quite a bit to do at the office at home. After noon, I was back at Barnacle Billy's doing my normal thing. I worked there until 5:00 PM, when I left to get the boat ready to sail on the marathon trip tomorrow.
My son, Micah, has rigged up our lobster boat, the Petrel, for tuna fishing this season. He has the stand and the mast on the boat for harpooning. He is going to start with that and, maybe, go hooking for tuna later in the season. He worked on the Petrel for a few weeks this winter getting the boat painted and the deck ready for the work that goes into catching tuna on a regular basis. Someone asked me where he was going to sell his fish. I told that person that he has to catch one first! I wish him the best of my heart felt luck! Micah is a good fisherman. I'm sure that if he wants to succeed that he will. No doubt in this father's mind anyway.
I was sponsored today with a very generous $500.00 donation from Betsy McLaughlin (NY) towards my cancer fund raising cycling event with the Pan-Mass Challenge. She has supported me in my cancer research efforts since I first started working on this project in 2007. Sometimes she has donated twice. The event and the fund raising is something that is close to my heart for a number of reasons. And, of course, those who help me in this venture feel much the same. And that means a lot to me. And it certainly encourages me to do more. Thank you, Betsy. Your help is so very much appreciated!
Captain Ian Keniston, Captan Ally Fuehrer and I hosted the Lighthouse Fishing Club marathon trip charter today.At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 47°F, the sky was overcast, there was no wind in Perkins Cove to write about and the visibility over the ocean was fair in fog, mist and haze.
When I got up at 1:00 AM this morning, all you could hear were the waves crashing up on the rocks. Normally, we hear the bell buoy but the sound of the waves covered that with no problem. Indeed, when we headed down the channel in the dark, on our way to the fishing grounds, we had the sound of the seas, the spume on the surface of the water and ten foot waves guarding our exit out. The waves make up much higher in the shallower water of the outer Cove. And had it been any less than high water, I probably would have waited for daylight. But the high tide helped. And I knew that once we had a mile under our belts and plenty of sea room, I would be much more comfortable for the cruise.
Having said that, it was a long long ride to the fishing grounds. I had an idea after our last trip on Thursday that I felt could improve the size of the fish, particularly the pollock, but would yield many more cod than I wanted. And, maybe, we would get plenty of haddock. But it was a long ride out. It was particularly long because we had an eight to ten foot short swell that wouldn't allow me to cruise any faster than twelve knots. In the dark, I couldn't go faster then eleven. So it was the longest ride to the grounds this season. The air temperature was mild and there was good visibility. There was very little wind from the northeast and a little more northeast wind after the half way mark. But there were times, even at twelve knots, that I had to pull the throttle back to prevent the Bunny Clark from launching into space over the top of a queer one.
On the grounds, the seas were larger than they were at the Jeffrey's Ledge buoy, as reported over the weather channel on the VHF radio. We had eight to twelve foot seas almost all morning. It wasn't a dangerous condition but it did make some anglers sick who, otherwise, might have been fine. And the seas height might have been helped by the strong tide as our drift took us in the direction the seas were coming from. The tide ran a river in the morning, moderate around noon and light during the afternoon. Near as I could tell the visibility ranged out to about fifteen miles. The air temperature reached a high of 59°F. The sky was overcast almost all day. We did see some sun for about an hour. On the ride home we saw some sprinkles of rain. The wind was out of the northeast at ten knots in the morning, light with a calm surface over the big swells and light east southeast to ten knots out of the southeast for the ride home. The surface water temperature reached a high of 55.1°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 61°F with a low of 49°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 62°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 55°F (with a low of 46°F).
The fishing was good to very good (the seas and the strong tide kept it from being excellent). The catching was spectacular with very few small fish. Landings were nearly excellent. If you included cod (which you can't keep), landings, too, would have been spectacular. Most fish caught today were, far and away, cod. But most of the cod were over 12 pounds. In fact, I rarely weighed a cod over 12 or 13 pounds. Most legal fish landed were pollock, enough so that I had to leave them. Between the savage cod and pollock bite, the haddock didn't have a chance. As a result, the haddock took a back seat in the landings department. And the fact that almost everyone was using a jig and a fly most certainly cut the haddock landings in half. There were very few sub-legal haddock. But there were no real big ones either. And part of me didn't expect to see as many haddock due to the northeast wind. So we had the most cod and pollock for a trip this season so far. Legal landings also included five redfish (when we strayed into deep water) and four cusk. We released a wolffish of about 6 pounds. We drift fished and anchored. It didn't seem to make much of a difference except that we did catch more haddock on the tail end of each anchor stop. All terminal gear worked well but bait was best for the haddock and the cod flies caught most of the pollock.
I believe that Bill Lewis (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish and cod. Some of the fish of Bill's that I weighed included an 18 pound pollock, a 15.5 pound pollock, a 16 pound cod, a 13 pound pollock, a 14.5 pound pollock and a 16.5 pound pollock. He had to have caught thirty to fifty cod over 10 or 11 pounds. Sean McMahon (MA) won the Club pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 26 pound Maine state trophy pollock. This is the largest pollock of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date and our first trophy pollock this year.I took a picture of Sean holding his trophy. This digital image appears on the left. I believe his largest haddock was 4 pounds. Al Hanson (MA) won the Club pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 24 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest pollock of the fishing season to date. I took a picture of Al holding his big pollock. This digital image appears on the right. Other fish of Al's that I weighed included a 21 pound pollock and a 13.5 pound pollock. His 21 pound pollock is the fifth largest pollock of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. Bill Kelson (MA) won the Club pool for the third largest fish with the third largest fish, a 23 pound pollock. This pollock is the Bunny Clark's third largest pollock of the 2018 fishing season so far. His second largest fish was a pollock that weighed 20.5 pounds.
Our fourth largest fish today was a 22 pound pollock caught by Rick Gurney (MA). This pollock is the fourth largest pollock caught on the Bunny Clark this season so far. Rick was one of the high hooks of the day as well. Some of the other fish of his that I weighed included a 14 pound cod, a 13 pound pollock, a 19 pound pollock, an 18 pound pollock and a 14 pound pollock. Dick "The Cod King" Carpenter (MA) caught a 21 pound pollock to match the size of Al's second largest fish. Dick's fish ties our fifth largest pollock of the fishing season so far (with Al). Some of Dick's other fish included a 12 pound cod, a 13 pound cod, a 14 pound cod and, yes, a 15 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: George Sweet (MA) lost more big fish than he caught. It was really tough to keep a fish on the line anyway with the big seas. Some of George's fish included a 17.5 pound pollock, a 17 pound pollock and a 15 pound pollock. Jody Goff (MA) caught a 12.5 pound pollock, his largest fish. Steve Rapkowicz (MA) caught a 17 pound pollock, his largest fish. Tom Nazzewski (MA) landed a 19 pound pollock, his largest fish. Barry Juhasz (CT) boated a 13 pound pollock and released a 15 pound cod that he caught. Steve Marko (MA) landed a 16 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Mike Kruscyna (MA) caught the largest haddock at 5.5 pounds. His largest fish was an 18 pound pollock. Two other fish of his that I weighed included a 12 pound pollock and a 12 pound cod. Ben Barzousky (MA) caught a 5 pound haddock and lots of big market cod. Bill Bolotin (MA) caught a 15 pound cod, his biggest fish today. Ted Dzbenski (MA) landed a 13 pound pollock and a 5 pound haddock. Shane Hosley (MA) landed a 20 pound pollock, his largest fish. He also attained high hurler status and landed the hard luck award t-shirt.
I was sponsored by several people today helping me in my cancer fund raising efforts with the Pan-Mass Challenge, a charity cycling event taking place the first Saturday of August. These people and their donations are as follows: Steve Rapkowicz for $25.00, Mike Kruscyna for $25.00, Jody Goff for $35.00, Bill Kelson for $25.00, Sean McMahon for $25.00 and Barry Juhasz for $25.00. Thank you all so very much for your support and help. Very much appreciated!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, the sky was mostly overcast, there was no wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was good to very good. Ashore, it was cool all day. The highest air temperature that I saw was 61°F but, after 4:00 PM, it was back in the mid to high 50s. The sky was partially overcast for most of the morning and mostly sunny in the afternoon. The visibility was very good, maybe excellent. There was very little wind all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 62°F with a low of 53°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 71°F (with a low of 51°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 50°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northeast in the morning. Wind speeds were light, five knots or so. After noon there was no wind. The ocean was smooth on the surface with two to five foot long rolling sea swells underneath. The air temperature reached a high of 64°F. The visibility ranged over twenty miles. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was overcast in the morning and sunny in the afternoon. The surface water temperature reached a high of 60°F, the highest surface water temperature we have seen this season so far.
The fishing was nearly excellent - in the bow. Not so much in the cockpit. There were a few too many tangles but not so many that it wasn't good. The catching was very good, maybe better than that. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were haddock. But most fish caught were cod. There were as many cod over 5 pounds today caught today as there was on the marathon trip yesterday and we were many miles apart from yesterday's trip. The haddock cull was one and a half to one, sub-legal to legal haddock or for about every three haddock caught, one stayed in the boat. Legal landings also included thirty pollock, eight redfish, nine cusk, a mackerel and two cunners. They drift fished most of the day. If they anchored it wasn't mentioned. Everyone used jigs and cod flies. No bait was used.
Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. Tom "Ollie" Bruyere (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15 pound cod. He also caught an 11 pound cod. Ollie used to be my roommate my first year in college. I didn't realize how much easier life was in those days! The second largest fish weighed 14 pounds. There were two, both cod. Mike Mallott (NY) caught one as part of a double that also included a 10 pound cod. Mike Kotash (NY) caught the other. Mike also caught the Bunny Clark's fifth halibut of the season today. It weighed 12 pounds. It was too small to keep, of course. Ian didn't take a picture of it, for to do so might have compromised its life in this particular circumstance. He caught another cod that weighed 11 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: John Beaudoin (NY) caught a 13 pound cod. John Denny (NY) caught a 12 pound cod, his largest fish. Conrad St. Laurent (ME) boated the largest pollock of the day at 11 pounds. His largest fish was an 11.5 pound cod. Warren Putnam (NY) caught an 11 pound cod. Bob Williams (NY) landed the hard luck award for getting the worst tangle of the trip!
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 53°F, the sky was clear with half a moon hanging low over the eastern horizon, the wind was blowing out of the south at almost fifteen knots and the visibility over the ocean seemed very good.
Before I even got to the Cove this morning, I knew we weren't going to go as far as we did on Tuesday's trip. The wind was already blowing out of the south at fifteen knots. And the weather prediction gave thirty knots in gusts in the afternoon. It was going to be hard enough making time against the wind, never mind the two to three foot chops. The half moon was higher over the east southeast horizon when we maneuvered out the gate and into the open ocean. We took a lot of spray on the ride to the fishing grounds. The air temperature was mild, though. The visibility was good.
On the grounds, the seas were two feet, more or less. The seas remained about the same all morning. The wind was out of the south. As the day progressed, the wind kept backing clockwise. By noon, the wind was south of southwest. This wind direction remained with us for the rest of the day. Wind speeds increased from noon. But the winds were pumping, leaving us with less wind for a while and more wind afterward. Up and down. Sustained winds reached twenty knots on the ride home. Seas were chops of three to four or more feet. The air temperature reached a high of 60°F. The sky was overcast for part of the morning, sunny in the later morning/early afternoon and overcast for the last three hours of our day. The tide (current) was moderate. The visibility ranged to twenty miles, more or less. The surface water temperature reached a high of 55.5°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 72°F with a low of 54°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 72°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 50°F).
The fishing was very good, the catching was very good and landings were good overall. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. Most haddock were on the small side of legal. But we did have a few 4 pounders and one that should have been a 9 pound haddock had it not been so long and skinny. The haddock cull was two to one, legal haddock to shorts. Most fish were probably cod over 5 pounds. There were very few small cod. Besides the haddock, legal landings included one whiting, seventeen pollock, six cusk and our first porbeagle shark of the year. It's about time. Besides the cod, released fish included one teenager halibut, fifteen dogfish and a wolffish. We alternated between drift fishing and anchoring. Everyone fished with a jig and a cod fly. We would have caught many more haddock, I believe, had more anglers been using bait.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook with the most legal fish or the most legal fish and cod over 5 pounds. Everyone was pooling the fillets. Dave Miller (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 200 pound porbeagle shark. We had to weigh it in pieces after it had been bled. So it would have weighed more had we been able to weigh it whole.
Dave hooked the shark a couple of hours after arriving on the fishing grounds. He had a good sized cod on the line at the time. But as Dave reeled up it seemed bigger than that occasionally. Of course, I assumed it was a halibut. So I stood beside Dave with gaff in hand. From the angle I first saw the fish, I thought it was a halibut. But that quickly changed when the fish changed angles. I alerted Ian as Dave brought the shark right up next to the boat. The fish was decidedly green. And we felt it when both Ian and I sunk two gaffs into it's tail, lifting the tail out of the water as quick as we could. Then the shark proceeded to beat Ian and I up with the gaff. Both Ian and I kept ducking so we didn't get a gaff end in the face or head as we bobbed and weaved. We crossed gaffs once (with my hand in between them) and Ian's gaff broke. Had it not, it might have broke my hand. With one gaff left, mine, Rodney Miller took the gaff from me while Ian went for another gaff. In the meantime, Ally came with a tail rope. When Ally had the tail rope secured, I knew we had landed the shark. Between Ally, Ian, Rodney and I, we got two tail ropes on it before easing our remaining gaff out of the fish. Then Ally took the helm and towed the shark backwards for about fifteen minutes until it became subdued while Ian and I organized the deck. As Ally steered, bringing the sharks head to the surface, I put a flying gaff into it and held it while Ian bled it. Ten minutes later, it was in the boat.
This is the first time that Dave has hooked and landed a porbeagle shark. At 200 pounds, this is the fifth largest porbeagle the Bunny Clark has ever landed. I took a picture of Rodney (left), Dave (middle) and Steve Saunders (right) with the shark in front of them. This digital image appears on the left. One of Dave's cod weighed 12 pounds. He might have caught a larger one. He also caught the Bunny Clark's largest monkfish of the season, so far, at 5 pounds.
Dennis Pietro (NH) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 17.25 pound pollock. He also caught the only wolffish of the day. It weighed 12 pounds. The third largest fish weighed 16 pounds. We caught two. Both cod. John Peduzzi (MA) caught one, the first one, early in the trip. Rob Provost (MA) caught the other 16 pound cod, late in the day, as part of a double, the 16 pounder caught on the fly and a 6.5 pound cod on the jig. John also caught a 12 pound cod that I weighed for him. Rob also caught a cod that weighed 15.5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Mark Jolin (MA) caught our sixth halibut of the year on the next to last stop, while on anchor. It weighed 15 pounds. I took a quick picture of Mark holding this fish (with my iPhone) so we could get it back in the water quickly. It swam quickly away. This digital image appears on the right. His largest pollock weighed 13 pounds. His largest cod also weighed 13 pounds. Jim Higgins (MA) caught a 12 pound cod. Jeff Smith (MA) caught a 12.75 pound cod, his largest fish. Rodney Miller caught a haddock that should have been a trophy. It was twenty-eight inches caliper fork length. We have caught 9 pound haddock in the past with this length. Rodney's was only 6 pounds, long and skinny. I took a picture of Rodney with his fish. I will post this at some time in the future. It's a good picture. Steve Saunders caught our largest whiting of the Bunny Clark season (so far) today. It weighed 2.5 pounds. Steve also caught the largest double of the day. His double included a 15.5 pound cod and an 8.5 pound cod. Ron Anderson (MA) caught a 13.5 pound cod, his biggest fish. Norman Leger (MA) landed the hard luck award for having the most tangled lines!
I had several donations today sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a bike ride across the state of Massachusetts to raise money for cancer research. Those individuals and their donations are as follows: Dave Miller for a generous $200.00 in memory of my father, Billy Tower, and Ian's mother, Christine Keniston, Dave Miller, again, for $25.00, Steve Saunders for $25.00 and Dennis Pietro for $25.00. Thank you all so much for your support and believing that the donation should be passed forward by me. I certainly appreciate it all! Of course, others do so much more!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was clear with crescent moon higher over the eastern horizon, the wind was blowing out of the south southwest at six knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good. Ashore, we had some west southwest wind to fifteen knots or better in the morning, hauling out of the west at ten knots by noon and then dropping to nothing near sunset. The air temperature rose to near uncomfortable levels for a Bunny Clark hoodie around 9:00 AM. By 1:00 PM, the air temperature in Perkins Cove had reached 80°F. The sky was mostly sunny all day. The visibility over the ocean was very good in some haze, making me believe that we still had some southwest wind offshore. And, indeed, we did! In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 81°F with a low of 55°F). 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 78°F (with a low of 52°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at ten to five knots. Seas were a one foot chop over a diminished swell of two feet. The air temperature reached a high value of 64°F. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was clear and sunny. The surface water reached a high temperature of 59°F.
The fishing was excellent, the catching was very good and landings were good to very good. Most fish caught were cod from 5 to 17 pounds, slightly more than landed haddock today. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The cull was better for legal haddock than sub-legal haddock by just a few. It was almost a ratio of one to one or fifty percent legal. Legal landings also included a monkfish, eighteen pollock and four cusk. Drifting was the method. Almost everyone used jigs, like the last few days.
Ian could not determine high hook, the angler with the most legal fish. There was too much going on. Karl Dence caught the largest fish of the trip with a 17 pound cod, a tie for the Bunny Clark's fifth largest cod of the fishing season to date. Cod were not favored in the boat pool today. The boat pool for the largest fish was tied with two pollock of 15 pounds each, a tie for the second largest fish of the trip. Mike Brady caught one while Mario Gabreil caught the other.
Other Angler Highlights: Scott Menz caught a 13.5 pound cod, one of the first fish to be weighed today. Tom Penny landed a double that included a 14 pound pollock and a 7 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. He also caught a 14 pound cod. Bob Morrison landed a 12.5 pound pollock. Mike Biggs landed a 13 pound pollock. Jim Bollacker caught a 13.5 pound cod, his best fish. Gene Jablonski caught a cod slightly smaller at 13 pounds. Phil Jackson caught the Bunny Clark's second largest monkfish of the season at 4.25 pounds. Mike Brady was the sole hurler today with the most tangled lines. He landed the hard luck award after the fishing was completed for the trip!
Rich Szpeck was sorely missed by the Jablonski fan base today!
Jon Tesnakis was visiting Ogunquit with his lovely wife, Karyn, this weekend. He brought up canolis for both Ian Keniston and I, two separate boxes. I was warned he was coming and had asked if he would bring some of the Italian treats with him when he came. I had never had a canoli before Jon showed up with them on one fishing trip years ago. They have become a special treat for me since - but only when he shows up for fishing. I went to pay for them but Jon would have none of that. He wanted that money, $25.00, to go to the Pan-Mass Challenge to support my cancer fund raising efforts. So with every bite of a canoli, I will be saluting the choice of a better outcome in cancer research! Thanks, Jon, for everything you do for me and the Bunny Clark.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, the sky was cloudless with crescent moon still higher over the eastern horizon, there was no wind to write about, the ocean along the shore was calm and the visibility was excellent. Ashore, the wind started to blow out of the northwest about mid morning. Wind speeds of fifteen knots were common for most of the day, dying out near sunset. The sky was a mix of sun and clouds. The visibility was very good. The air temperature rose in the morning and was 80°F by 1:30 PM. Another warm day with the northwest wind tempering it a bit. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 80°F with a low of 62°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 46°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 78°F (with a low of 46°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of west at five knots all day. The ocean was calm. The sky was a mix of sun and clouds. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate. The air temperature reached a high of 66°F, the highest air temperature on the fishing grounds this season so far. The surface water temperature reached a high of 58°F.
The fishing was excellent, the catching was very good and landings were good. Most fish caught and most legal fish landed were haddock. Cod came in second with forty-eight fish released between 5 and 11 pounds. Legal fish landed also included seven pollock and five cusk. Released fish also included a few small cod, a few small pollock and two wolffish. They drift fished and anchored. All terminal gear worked about the same.
Rich Egar (NH) was high hook with the most legal fish. Sefik Kosut (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 10 pound wolffish caught by Tony Barila (AZ). The third largest fish was a 9 pound cod. Ian couldn't remember who he weighed it for and, because he didn't give out the weight, no one could identify the angler. But all wasn't lost, Ian caught a 9 pound pollock himself to make sure a name was attached to the third largest fish!
Tony Barila landed the hard luck award for getting in the most tangles.
Deb cooked up the porbeagle steaks that Dave Miller gave me after the trip on Thursday. They were excellent, like the most tender, moist swordfish steak you ever had. Thanks, Dave! What a treat!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 53°F, the sky was cloudless with a sliver of a moon hanging high over the eastern horizon, there was no wind, the ocean along the shore was calm and the visibility was very good at least. Ashore, the wind blew out of the north northwest at ten knots for most of the morning. By 11:00 AM, the wind had already dropped and was hauling out of the south. The wind blew out of the south at light speeds for the rest of the day. The sky was sunny and clear all day. The visibility was excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw in Ogunquit was 67°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 72°F with a low of 60°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 43°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 47°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the north at ten to five knots during the early part of the trip, hauling out of the southeast during the late morning and through the afternoon. Wind speeds during the afternoon were no more than five knots. Seas in the morning were chops of a foot at most. The ocean was calm in the afternoon. The air temperature reached a high of 65°F. The visibility was excellent. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was sunny all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 59°F.
The fishing conditions were perfect for humans using rod and reel, the catching was good and landings were fair, our slowest day of the year but leaving room for a potentially slower day on some future fishing time. So it wasn't bad fishing. The fish were there. The bite was off, is all. Too nice. Most legal fish landed were haddock. There were a few more haddock released than there were kept. There were as many cod over 5 pounds, released, today as there were haddock landed. Legal fish landed also included nine pollock and two cusk. Released fish, besides the cod, included a wolffish. They drift fished and anchored. All terminal gear worked about the same. But there was only one jig fisherman. They might have caught more pollock/cod had there been more jig fishermen.
David Moore (ME) was high hook with the most legal fish. David caught nothing of size today. There was a tie for the boat pool winner for the largest fish of the day. The weight was 16 pounds. Jason Cunningham (ME) had a 16 pound cod while Chris Helander (ME) landed a 16 pound pollock. Chris also caught the third largest fish of the trip, a 14 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Rich Lusis (ME) caught and released a 12.5 pound cod. Gene LaFrance (MA) boated an 11 pound pollock, his largest fish. Thomas Penny, IV (ME) landed the hard luck award for being the only angler who didn't catch a legal fish today. He might be the only angler on the Bunny Clark season who fished the whole day and wasn't able to bring home a fillet from a fish he caught! Ouch!
I received three very generous donations from individuals who care about my cancer research fund raising bike ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge this weekend. One was a for $250.00 from Justin McGuinness (GA) In Memory of Pamela McGuinness, another was a $50.00 donation from Michael & Kerry (MA) and the last was $100.00 "egift" from Dan Killay (VT). Thank you all so very much for your help and support. It means much to me and more for the cause. All the best!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, the sky was a mix of clear patches and clouds, the wind was blowing out of the east at ten knots but tipping the needle to thirteen knots in gusts, the ocean had small white caps marching toward the shore and the visibility was excellent. Ashore, the wind dropped after sunrise. The wind blew out of the east and then hauled out of the southeast and dropped to less than five knots. The on-shore breeze kept the air temperature down in the Perkins Cove area. Warmest air temperature that I saw was 67°F. I'm sure it was a lot warmer where the wind off the water didn't have an influence. The sky was cloudless after 8:00 AM and remained so for most of the day. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 64°F with a low of 58°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 72°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 67°F (with a low of 51°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southeast at ten knots but started dropping as soon as they got to the fishing grounds. By 11:00 AM, the wind had already dropped to five knots. At the beginning, the sea state included chops of two feet but I'm sure some of that was the left over stuff from the earlier easterly wind. After the late morning, the ocean was calm. The air temperature reached a high of 73°F, which seems a little too high to me. If so, this is, by far, the warmest day that we have seen on the fishing grounds this season so far. The tide (current) was moderate to strong, typical of us coming on to a new moon. The sky was clear and sunny. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The surface water temperature reached a high of 61°F, the highest surface water temperature of the season so far.
The fishing conditions were very good (tide), the catching was very good and landings were good to very good, much better than yesterday. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The haddock cull was one to one, legal fish to sub-legal haddock but favoring the legal side of things. Legal landings also included nine pollock and two cusk. Released fish included sixty-six cod over 5 pounds and one wolffish. There were also a few small cod and pollock released as well. They drift fished for the trip. All terminal gear worked well.
Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. But, I'll bet, if you included cod over 5 pounds, it was Marty Buskey (NY). Marty fished unfettered in the bow pulpit all day long with a fish a cast. He caught most of the legal pollock. Indeed, his three biggest fish were all pollock including two of 11 pounds each and one 11.5 pound pollock.
Cody "Subaru" Holland (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15.5 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 14 pound cod caught by Ken Lang (MA). Ken also caught a cod that weighed 10.5 pounds. Sekou Roland (PA) caught the third largest fish, a 12 pound wolffish. Sekou also caught a pollock that weighed 10 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: John Russell (ME) boated an 11.5 pound cod, his largest fish. He also caught an 11 pound pollock. Bob Audler (IN) caught and released an 11.5 pound cod. Jim Waterhouse (ME) caught a 10.5 pound cod, his biggest fish. Heidi Roland (PA) landed the hard luck award for getting a touch of the mal de mer.
I received two donations sponsoring my cycling ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge, an event to fund the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachsetts. One hundred precent of every rider (me) raised dollar goes directly to the cause, none to administrative fees. Marty & Elise Buskey donated $25.00 (he usually donates in increments of $25.00 throughout the year). Bob Audler donated a generous $50.00 to the cause. Thank you all so very much for your support and for thinking of me specifically. Means a lot!
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the sky was partially clear, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at fifteen knots and the visibility was excellent.
The wind was already blowing out of the west at ten to fifteen knots when I got down to Perkins Cove at 2:30 AM. I thought to myself; "here we go", as headed down the channel and out the gate. But it really wasn't a bad ride. We had a one to two foot that we were taking on the starboard quarter of the bow with only a slightly diminished cruising speed heading to the fishing grounds. The visibility was very good, the sky was cloudless and the air temperature was mild.
On the grounds, the wind blew out of the west southwest for the first couple of hours. By mid-morning, the wind had hauled out of the southwest and was blowing a sustained fifteen knots. By early afternoon, the wind freshened to twenty knots sustained. Seas had been about two feet before but increased to three and four foot chops in the increase in wind speed. The ride home gave us higher gusts but not the sustained twenty-five knots that was predicted. The air temperature reached a high of 63°F. The sky was nearly cloudless all day. The tide (current) was light in the morning and moderate in the afternoon. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles in haze. My father always called this kind of a day a smokey souwester. The surface water temperature reached a high of 57.5°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 80°F with a low of 54°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 83°F (with a low of 43°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 84°F (with a low of 47°F).
The fishing conditions were very good. The conditions would have been excellent had we had a better sea state. But it didn't matter as the catching was nothing short of excellent. For almost everyone it was a fish a cast all day. The problem was that the fish were ninety percent cod from 6 to 14 pounds! Many doubles were caught, so many that I stopped writing them down unless they totaled over 24 pounds for both fish. Landings were good, no better than that. We probably released ten cod, maybe, of less than 5 pounds. Almost every cod we caught was a good sized market cod. There were too many to actually count. But the total overall average size had to be 10 pounds. And the count was double of any other trip this season. Most legal fish landed were haddock with about half as many legal cod. The haddock cull was exactly two to one; for every three haddock caught, two were legal. Legal landings also included six cusk, five mackerel and a whiting. Released fish, besides all the cod, included a few sub-legal pollock and two wolffish. We alternated between drifting and anchoring. I threatened to use the sea anchor but that never happened. If you weren't fishing with a jig today you were not catching haddock. All the haddock came on bait today, a few on cod flies. Cod took every kind of terminal gear today and pollock were mostly flies, what few we caught.
I don't know who was high hook but, if you included cod over 6 pounds, it had to be Fred Kunz (NH) or Craig Belongie (MA). Fred was bringing fish up continuously faster than anyone but Craig caught more doubles than anyone. So it was hard to separate the two anglers from catch totals. Some of Craig's fish included a 14.5 pound cod, a 10.5 pound pollock, a 15 pound cod and a double that included an 8 pound cod and an 11.5 pound cod, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. Craig's 15 pound cod was the third largest fish of the trip. Fred won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 16.5 pound cod. Some of his other fish that I weighed included an 11.5 pound cod, a 12 pound pollock, a 13 pound pollock, a 14 pound pollock and a double that included two pollock, each one weighing exactly 11 pounds each.
Rory Casey (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 27.5 pound cod. This is the largest cod that Rory has ever caught. It's also the Bunny Clark's largest cod caught this season to date. I took one picture with my camera before Rory tossed the cod back alive. This digital image appears on the left. Rory also caught a double that included an 11.5 pound cod and a 13.5 pound cod, the second largest double caught on the Bunny Clark this season so far.
Other Angler Highlights: John Epolito (NY) caught the first haddock that was big enough to weigh. It was also the first fish I weighed today. The haddock was 4.5 pounds. John caught a 12 pound cod later in the day. This is the largest cod that he has ever caught. Todd Adams (NH) landed a 14 pound pollock, his best fish. Some of his other fish included a 12 pound cod, a 13 pound pollock and a 12.5 pound cod. Rich Kiblin (NY) caught a 10.5 pound cod. He actually caught larger fish that I didn't weigh. Kiefer Hockey (NY) caught a 13 pound cod and a pollock that I weighed in at 11.5 pounds. George "The Terrible Tangler" Smart (NY) caught a 12.5 pound cod. Chris Patterson (NY) boated a 10 pound pollock and released an 11 pound cod that he caught. Jackie Thomas (NY) caught a 12.5 pound pollock, her largest pollock. Her best fish was a cod that weighed 13 pounds. It was caught as part of a double with another cod that weighed 6 pounds. Mike Thomas (NY) caught a double that included a 10 pound cod and a 10.5 pound cod. Luke Mielnicki (NY) caught a double that included a 10 pound cod and an 11 pound cod. Brad Smart (NY) caught the largest haddock of the day at 6 pounds and the largest wolffish of the day at 11 pounds. His biggest fish was a 13 pound cod. Bob Foster (NY) caught a 14.5 pound cod, his biggest fish. Dakota Steele (NY) caught a 14 pound cod near the end of the day. This was his biggest fish of the trip. Rob Hoover (NY) had a hard day today, very hard. In fact, he could not coordinate the motion of the ocean with his equilibrium and, thus, was sea sick all day. He never wetted a line. I felt bad for him.
Several people sponsored me in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a cycling event to raise money for cancer research with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, today. Those individuals and their donations include: Joe Kessler, III & Christine Schubach (MA) for a very generous $150.00, Rory Casey for a generous $60.00 and Craig Belongie for $20.00 (Craig has been supporting this cause through me for years). Thank you all so very much for your help, understanding and generosity. I believe in this Institute and all the good it has done for those I love. I certainly appreciate your support.
Captain Ian Keniston, Anthony Palumbo and Ally Fuehrer ran the extreme day trip today. At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the sky was eighty percent clear, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at ten knots and the visibility was excellent. Ashore, the sky was sunny and warm in the morning. The air temperature quickly rose to 70°F and then to 75°F by noon. At that time the sky started to show signs of clouding over. The sky was overcast by 1:00 PM, raining by 1:30 PM. We had intermittent rain showers for the next few hours. By 6:00 PM, the showers had passed and the sun came out in a mostly clear sky. The humidity was fairly high for the lower temperature that we saw as the high for the day. The visibility was good to very good, less so in the rain. The wind blew lightly out of the south. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 77°F with a low of 59°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 54°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 82°F (with a low of 62°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at ten to fifteen knots. Seas were chops of one to two feet most of the day. The high air temperature for the trip was 64°F. The sky was clear during the morning but became overcast after noon. Periodic light rain was the scene during the afternoon. The visibility was excellent in the morning but got reduced to three and five miles in the rain and some haze. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 56°F.
The fishing conditions were very good, excellent if the sea state didn't bother. The catching was excellent and landings were very good. The haddock bite was the best we have had for at least two weeks with no problem getting the bag limit. There was a constant haddock bite on every stop. The cull was two to one, legal haddock to sub-legal. Legal landings also included six pollock and two cusk. Twenty-seven cod over 5 pounds were released as well as a wolffish and a few small cod and pollock. There were quite a few mackerel that were also caught, most kept. They anchored and drift fished but found anchoring to be most productive. All terminal gear worked well.
Ron Neil (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish. More than that, though, he caught the first Jensen's Skate I have ever seen one caught on rod & reel. Closely related to the barndoor skate, it has a similar morphology but is smaller and has a short tail. It's also called a short tail skate, as I knew it from growing up around dragging as a kid. They are very rare and only found between Nova Scotia and Cape Cod. And that's the only place in world where they are found. Where barndoor skates can range up to five feet in length, the Jensen's reach a maximum size of a foot and a half. Ron's skate weighed 4 pounds. They really don't get too much bigger. They are aggressive and will bite a hook as this one did. I messaged Mark LaRocca who fishes commercially with his father for skates off the Long Island area. He had never seen one. It's been so long since I had seen one that I had to consult a taxonomic key! Ian took a picture of Ron holding the skate before releasing it alive. This digital image appears on the right.
Josh Gadbois (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 12.5 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 12 pound cod, caught and released alive by Jackie Fung (MA). She also caught a 4 pound haddock, the third largest haddock of the trip. John Mayol (NE) caught the third largest fish, a 10.5 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: George Hartman (VT) caught the second largest pollock at 10 pounds. Donna Reardon (MA) boated a 5 pound haddock, a tie for the biggest haddock of the day. She shared her title with Larry Halliday (FL) who also landed a 5 pound haddock. Sue Schoenig (ME) landed the hard luck award due to the fact that the fishing conditions didn't suit her gastric demeanor!
Captain Ian Keniston, Ally Fuehrer and I ran the marathon trip today. At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 61°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the west at fifteen knots and the visibility was excellent.
The wind was westerly once we got past the gate. But the wind wasn't very strong. Probably ten knots with seas in chops of a foot or more. Maybe two, occasionally. The visibility was excellent and we made good cruising speed to the fishing grounds.
On the grounds, the wind blew out of the west with seas in chops of one to two feet. The wind increased for an hour before starting to back off. The wind backed off gradually until after noon. The wind died out by 1:00 PM. The ocean was calm. Mid afternoon saw the wind haul out of the northwest. Light at first, when we headed home the wind increased to ten and fifteen knots. I'm sure the northwest wind was blowing earlier in the day but it didn't reach off to the fishing grounds. The sky was nearly cloudless all morning, mostly cloudy in the afternoon. The air temperature reached a high of 66°F. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The visibility ranged to twenty-five miles. The surface water temperature reached a high of 57.5°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 79°F with a low of 57°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 60°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 75°F (with a low of 54°F).
The fishing conditions were very good. The catching was very good for most of the day with very fair catching for three spots. Landings were good only. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. No other species was as prevalent. The haddock cull was a little more than fifty/fifty favoring the sub-legal haddock. Legal landings also included twenty-three pollock, six redfish, twenty-eight cusk, four red hake and two whiting. Sixty-one cod from 5 to 13 pounds were released back to the ocean alive. We drift fished and anchored. Bait caught the most haddock but it was hard to tell as most were baiting their jigs and cod flies.
Either Ray Westermann (MA) or Jonathan "Griff" Griffin (MA) were high hook with the most of everything, including legal fish. Griff won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 16 pound Maine state trophy cusk. This is the Bunny Clark's largest cusk of the season to date. I took a picture of Griff with his trophy cusk. This digital image appears on the left. Chuck Lennon (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 21 pound pollock. This is Chuck's largest pollock this season and tied for the Bunny Clark's fifth largest pollock this season. The third largest fish of the trip was a 14.5 pound pollock caught by Ray Westermann.
Other Angler Highlights: Dave Bingell (CT) landed the Bunny Clark's largest whiting of the season so far, a Maine state trophy of 4.25 pounds. This is the sixth largest whiting that has ever been caught on the Bunny Clark. I took a picture of Dave with his huge whiting. This digital image appears on the right. Artur Debski (NJ) landed a 12.5 pound Maine state trophy cusk. This is his largest cusk, ever, and the Bunny Clark's second largest cusk of the season so far. Brett Marsh (CT) caught two pollock of 10.5 pounds and a 13 pound cod his three biggest fish. You could tell that Brett was a little rusty as, on the first 10.5 pound pollock, he required Dan Bingell's (CT) help to bring the fish to the surface! Mark Lemczewski (NJ) caught the largest haddock of the day at 5.5 pounds. Dan Bingell caught an 11 pound cod, his biggest fish. Bob Bingell (CT) caught a 12.25 pound cod, his biggest fish, today. But he never really felt like fishing after that, his first fish of the day. Most of the day he spent "relaxing" on the bench seat near the helm. He never appeared to be sea sick but I gave him the hard luck award t-shirt anyway mainly because of his participation level.
Brett Marsh and Dan Bingell sponsored me in my Pan-Mass Challenge, cycling event to fight cancer for $25.00 each today. Thank you both very much for your help. It was great having you aboard today without the donation. But the donation was a great gesture at the end! All the best to you both!
I also received another donation from Bob Audler (IN) in the form of an "egift" through the PMC site for a generous $100.00, "In Memory of My Late Father-in-Law, Curt Bishop, who passed due to an aggressive & ugly cancer last year." Bob had already given a donation of $50.00 on June 11. Thanks so much for your generosity, Bob. I know how you feel and I appreciate the fact that you chose me as your vehicle for fund raising!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the northeast enough to clearly hear the bell buoy over a mile away and the visibility was very good, at least. Ashore, the day was cool most of the day before rising to 70°F in Perkins Cove around 2:00 PM, the highest air temperature that I saw all day. After 5:00 AM, it started to rain. The rain was light, a misty drizzle is all. But it was just enough for an umbrella or a hat to keep the rain off the lenses of your glasses. It rained periodically and light until about noon, remaining overcast until about 2:00 PM, when the sky cleared and the sun came out. The sky was clear and sunny for the rest of the day. The wind started out of the northeast at ten knots, died out to nothing and then hauled out of the southwest after noon to blow up to fifteen knots and turning to the south and dropping out. The visibility was good in the rain to excellent afterward. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 64°F with a low of 54°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 74°F (with a low of 49°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 52°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northeast from ten to five knots to calm. The ocean stayed flat before hauling out of the southwest at five to fifteen knots. Seas were chops of two feet with fifteen knots of wind on the ride back to Perkins Cove. The high air temperature for the day was 57°F. They had light rain in the morning with sunny skies and a very good visibility in the afternoon. The visibility in the morning ranged from five to ten miles in the rain. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 55°F.
The fishing was very good to excellent, the catching was very good and landings were good. Almost every legal fish they caught was a haddock. Only four pollock, a cusk and two whiting were caught that were keepers today. The haddock cull was one to one, shorts to legal fish. Released fish included forty-nine cod and three wolffish. They drift fished all day. Bait caught the most haddock.
Gary Vincze (CT) was high hook with the most legal haddock. Carol Morse (ME), one of my favorite long time anglers, caught the two largest fish today, a double with both fish caught on the same line at the same time. With the larger fish, both were cod, she won the boat pool for the largest fish. The double included a 12.25 pound cod and a 13 pound cod. This double is the second largest double of the Bunny Clark fishing season so far. Carol also caught a double that included a 10 pound cod and a 9 pound cod. The third largest fish status was shared at 11 pounds. There were three other anglers who caught cod of 11 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Chris Gatehouse (CT) caught a cod of 11 pounds. Adam Morse, Carol's son, caught two cod of 11 pounds each. Tom Pfeiffer (NY) caught and released a 10 pound cod. Alec Adam (ME) caught a 10.5 pound cod, his largest fish. And, no, he didn't get a halibut on his line today, even for a second. But who knows how many halibut might have been looking at his hooks today? Barry Ano (NY) landed the hard luck award for the "worst tangle in his own line".
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 58°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at five knots and the visibility was very good. Ashore, the wind was light all day, a beach day for sure as the air temperature rose to over 85°F. The ocean along the shore was calm. Winds were light out of the west. The visibility was very good, at least. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 85°F with a low of 56°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 85°F (with a low of 51°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west at five knots or less. The ocean was calm over two foot long rolling sea swell. The air temperature rose to a value of 67°F. The tide (current) was strong. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The sky was a mix of sun and clouds. The surface water temperature reached a high of 58°F.
The fishing conditions would have been perfect except for the strong tide which kept anglers in tangles most of the day, the worst we have seen on a trip this season. The catching and landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The haddock cull was two to one, legal fish to sub-legal fish. Legal landings also included two pollock, two cusk and a mackerel. Released fish included between twenty and thirty dogfish and four cod over 5 pounds. They anchored all day (the strong current). Jigs did not work today, bait was king.
Steve Shugars (ME) was high hook with the most legal fish. Ian told me that there was not a question. I can't imagine Steve going over to the dark side (bait fishing) but I guess he must have. Richard Morrell (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 9 pound cod caught by Rodney Hall (ME). The rest of the fish were all haddock and fish of similar sizes, none significantly bigger than the others. Jim Jordan (ME) landed the hard luck award for being most frequently tangled.
At 4:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 61°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind to write about, the ocean along the shore was flat calm with some light wind patches and the visibility was very good. Ashore, it was a bit cool today. There was a very light northerly wind after sunrise followed by no wind and a flat calm ocean. By 9:00 AM, the wind had hauled out of the east. The easterly wind blew up to ten knots, an onshore breeze keeping the air temperature down in the 70°s. The sky was mostly sunny with some high cirrus clouds giving us soft lighting in the afternoon. The visibility was good over the ocean in haze. I was told that the highest air temperature observed in Perkins Cove was 72°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 81°F with a low of 62°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 89°F (with a low of 48°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 56°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind was flat calm with zero wind when they first arrived at their destination. The wind came up out of the northeast shortly afterward. The wind hauled out of the east by noon, blowing up to ten knots at times. But the wind was pumping, from five to ten knots. The ocean went from calm to chops of a foot or more. The air temperature reached a high of 65°F. The tide (current) was strong. The visibility ranged from twenty-five miles or more in the morning to ten to fifteen miles in haze during the afternoon. The sky was hazy clear and sunny. The surface water temperature reached a high of 58°F.
The fishing conditions were not the greatest with the strong tidal current. Since the tide was really the only factor, I would qualify the conditions as "good". The catching was very good. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The haddock cull was 1.5 to 1, legal haddock to sub-legal haddock. Legal landings also included one pollock, five cusk and one blackback flounder. Eighteen cod over 5 pounds were released back to the ocean alive. Anchoring was the method with one drift. The current was too strong for drifting. "Bait ruled the day", a quote from Ian. Jigs were not nearly as effective.
Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. It could have been anyone. Leigh Morrell (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10 pound cod. There was a tie for second place with a 9 pound fish. Barry Ano (NY) caught one, a 9 pound cod. Dan Bailey (NY) caught the other, a 9 pound cusk. Sam Virgilio (MA) landed the hard luck award for being the only angler not to catch a single legal fish. He only caught on long horn sculpin!
I received a generous $100.00 donation from Linda & Mark Hamel (NH) sponsoring me in my ride to help the world find a cancer cure with the Pan-Mass Challenge, an 192 mile, two day, charity, cycling event starting on the 4th of August. Linda & Mark have supported my fund raising every year since I started riding in this event in 2007. Thank you both so very much for your help!
I spent the day not at work in Barnacle Billy's two restaurants but out to sea as a guest on my son, Micah's harpoon tuna boat, the Petrel. I spent the day in the mast looking for tuna and steering on a couple of bunches of fish for him. It was a true Father's Day experience, the best Father's Day I can remember.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, the sky was overcast, there was no wind to write about, the ocean along the shore was calm with some light wind patches and the visibility was good in some haze. The wind stayed light until the tide around 9:00 AM. After that, the wind hauled out of the southwest and blew up to fifteen knots. We didn't see much of the wind they had offshore in Perkins Cove. The sky stayed hazy sunny for most of the day. The sky was becoming overcast by 4:00 PM with the threat of thunderstorms in the air. By 5:00 PM, a strong thunder shower system could be seen over Wells from the Cove parking lot. We had some light sprinkles from that. Later we had some closer showers. The air temperature increased to a high of 91°F. The visibility was good, at best, in haze. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 89°F with a low of 66°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 92°F (with a low of 57°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 91°F (with a low of 55°F). The high temperature of 91°F breaks the high temperature for this day in Portland. The previous record high was 88°F set on this date in 1995.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest starting at five knots when they got there to twenty-five knots when they left the grounds to head home. The ocean was fairly calm on the ride out but the calm sea morphed to four foot chops by the end of the day. The air temperature reached a high of 67°F. The visibility ranged from five to ten miles. The tide (current) was strong. The sky was overcast all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 58°F.
The fishing conditions were good overall. The wind and chop made it hard for some. The catching was very good as were the landings. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. They never had any haddock as big as 4 pounds but there were a lot of nicer fish today. The haddock cull was close to one to one, legal to sub-legal haddock, favoring the sub-legal fish. Legal landings also included twenty-one pollock and one cusk. They released a few small cod, fifty-four cod of 5 pounds or better and a couple small pollock. They anchored for every stop. Jigs and flies worked best for the pollock while bait and cod flies worked best for the haddock.
Ian didn't tell me who was high hook with the most legal fish. But if I were to guess I would say that it was probably Seth Greenwood (NY). He caught the biggest double the Bunny Clark has seen this season so far. His catch included a 13.5 pound cod and a 13 pound pollock, both caught on the same line at the same time. He also won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 20 pound pollock. This is a tie for the eighth largest pollock of the Bunny Clark fishing season so far. Ian took a picture of Seth holding his big pollock. This digital image appears on the right. Seth also caught the second largest fish of the trip, a 19.5 pound pollock. Some of his other good fish included a 12 pound cod, an 11 pound pollock and a 14 pound pollock.
The third largest fish came in at 16.5 pounds, two, both pollock. Dan Bailey (NY) caught one and Tom Zido (NY) caught the other. Tom's biggest cod weighed 10.5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Doug Hinton (NH) caught a 15 pound pollock and a 10 pound cod, his two biggest fish. Steve McGrath (NH) caught a 12 pound cod and an 11 pound cod, his two best. Will Thompson (MA) caught a 10 pound cod and an 11 pound cod. Barry Ano (NY) caught a 16 pound cod, his largest fish. Merton Thompson (MA) also caught a 16 pound cod. But he caught a 10.5 pound cod earlier in the day. Lenor Gaunya (NH) landed the hard luck award for getting a touch of the mal de mer.
Some individuals are always there for me every year when it comes to the Pan-Mass Challenge and sponsorship of it. Steve McGrath is one. Once one of the best dinner boat operations on the lakes of New Hampshire, he has since retired but goes fishing with me every year and never forgets to help me on my cancer fund raising project. He has helped since I first started raising money for the cause. Today he gave a generous $50.00. Thanks so much, Steve! Always a pleasure to have you aboard, Always appreciate your help!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 74°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining lightly, the wind was light out of the west northwest and the visibility was good in some haze. More later.
We have several openings for fishing trips in the near future. Those trips and vacancies are as follows: We have eleven spots available on the Wednesday, June 20, extreme day trip, twelve spots available on the Friday, June 22, extreme day trip, eight spots available on the Sunday, June 24, extreme day trip, eleven spots available on the Monday, June 25, extreme day trip, eighteen spots (or every spot) available on the Tim Tuesday, June 26, marathon trip, twelve spots available on the Wednesday, June 27, extreme day trip, twelve spots available on the Thursday, June 28, marathon trip and twenty-six spots available on the June 30, full day trip. Haddock landings have been high this spring (higher than ever), pollock are still starting to show up and the water is warming up nicely for the occasional bluefin tuna strike. Also, we have been seeing whales lately which means there is some bait around for our target species to eat and draw in more fish from offshore. The weather is certainly getting better and the air temperatures are very pleasant. For reservations you can call 207-646-2214.
At this time, I am looking for a deck hand on the Bunny Clark for this season. It's what I call my "Swing Hand" position, work as a deck hand for six trips a week. Captain Ally Fuehrer will be working as a temporary deck hand until she has to ship out again during the middle of the summer. Requirements for the position included a pre-employment drug test, enrollment in a random drug testing pool, a current CPR/AED/First Aid certificate, the capability of handling a rolling vessel on the ocean and a love of catering to people of all types and abilities. We have other requirements but those will be taught or self-taught before you take the position. If you are interested, you can call 207-646-2214.
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