Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Saturday, October 24, 2020, 6:00 AM EDT
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At 2:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was cloudless, a full moon was hanging high over the western sky, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
We left Perkins Cove with a setting full moon behind us. The sky was clear so it was very bright and beautiful in our wake. The air temperature was mild, the visibility was excellent, the wind was about ten knots or more out of the southwest and we had a long swell under a one or two foot chop.
On the fishing grounds, we had a long rolling sea swell from the southeast with a west southwest wind that produced a two foot chop on top. Seas were confused to say the least. The wind speed was about fifteen knots, maybe a little more. But not much more. The wind started to drop as the sun rose. After a couple of hours, the west southwest wind was about five knots. The wind hauled out of the southwest around noon and continued on until the end. Wind speeds were only about five knots. The air temperature reached a high of 65°F in the shade. The air temperature, again, was perfect.The sky was cloudless in the morning, a mix of sun and clouds in the afternoon. The tide (current) was strong, almost untenable on one spot. The visibility ranged to twenty miles or less in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 59°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 76°F with a low of 58°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 44°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 71°F (with a low of 52°F).
The fishing conditions, overall, were no better than good. The strong tide and the blue sharks made it impossible to put the fishing in a better category. The catching and landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included thirty haddock, sixteen white hake, five cod, seventeen redfish, a cusk, a whiting and a red hake. Released fish included ten redfish, seven dogfish, eight blue sharks [We lifted a sixty pound blue shark in the boat, took the jig out of it's mouth and released it.], one cod over 5 pounds and a whiting. There were no sub-legal haddock, sub-legal cod or sub-legal pollock caught today, not a one! We mixed anchoring with drift fishing. All terminal gear worked well today.
Lewis Hazelwood (MA) was high hook today with the most legal fish. There was no one close. He caught the third largest fish today, a 23 pound white hake. Some of his other fish included two pollock of 10 pounds each, two pollock of 12 pounds each, a 20 pound white hake, a 20.5 pound white hake, an 11.25 pound pollock and a 15 pound white hake. Mike Hatch (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 27 pound Maine state trophy white hake. This is his biggest ever hake. I took a picture of Mike with his prize. This digital image appears on the left. His largest pollock weighed 11.5 pounds. Deneene "Diem" Whitehead (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 24 pound white hake. This was Diem's first deep sea fishing trip. Some of her other fish included a double with two pollock of 8 pounds each, both caught on the same line at the same time. Her two biggest pollock weighed 11 pounds and 10.5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Tim Rozan (ME) caught the first fish I could weigh for the boat pool, an 8.75 pound pollock. After that, I never weighed another fish unless it was 10 pounds. His biggest pollock weighed 11 pounds. He also caught a 21.5 pound white hake, his biggest fish. And, he was second hook, behind Lew. Larry French (ME) caught a12.5 pound pollock, an 11 pound pollock and a 12 pound pollock, his best fish. Dave Cannistraro (MA) caught two Maine state trophy redfish of 2 pounds each. These redfish tie for the Bunny Clark's second largest redfish of the season so far. Dave's largest fish was an 18 pound white hake. And his largest pollock weighed 11 pounds. Luke Alfonse (MA) caught the largest pollock of the day at 14.5 pounds. His largest fish was a 17 pound white hake. And he caught two pollock of 12 pounds each. Zach Mendes (MA) caught the best double of the day and the Bunny Clark's fourth (a tie) largest double of the fishing season to date. His double included an 11 pound pollock and a 12.75 pound pollock. I also weighed another pollock of his at 12 pounds. Donna Moran (NY) caught the largest redfish I have seen in a while. It weighed 2.5 pounds, a Maine state trophy. It's the largest redfish of the Bunny Clark fishing season. I weighed it a couple of times as I thought that it had to be bigger than 2.5 pounds. I took a picture of Donna holding her trophy. This digital image appears on the right. Her largest fish was a 17 pound white hake. Jake Tessler (MA) caught a 14 pound white hake and a 20 pound white hake, his two best fish. Joe Breton (ME) also caught two hake as his two biggest fish. They weighed 16 pounds and 19.5 pounds. Shawn Seekins (ME) landed the hard luck award for being the highest of the hurlers. There were a couple today.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was light out of the north and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The sky stayed overcast all day. Sometimes the overcast was thin but there was a canopy of clouds whenever you looked up. We had a light spitting rain at times in the morning. This was not enough to even wet the ground. Later in the afternoon, we had rain enough to get the ground wet. And it poured rain for ten minutes between 3:30 PM and 4:00 PM. The rain was gone by 6:00 PM but the roads stayed wet into the night. The wind stayed out of the north all day. Ten knots was the strongest wind speed that I saw. The visibility was excellent, except in the rain. The highest air temperature that I saw was 60°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 65°F with a low of 53°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 54°F (with a low of 44°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 59°F (with a low of 49°F).
On the fishing grounds, there was no wind in the morning. After noon, the wind blew out of the north at ten knots. Seas were calm to start with a one to two foot chop in the afternoon. The air temperature hit a high of 64°F under the shade top. The visibility ranged from a half mile to five miles in fog and haze. The tide (current) was strong. The sky was overcast all day as it was ashore. They had no rain. The surface water temperature reached a high of 59°F.
The fishing was very good today. The only thing that kept the conditions from being excellent was the tide. The catching and landings were very good all day. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far, the complete opposite of yesterday's trip. The haddock cull was 80/20, favoring the legal sized fish. Legal landings also included ten pollock, seventeen cusk and twelve cod. Released fish included ten cod of 5 pounds or better, eight small cod, the sub-legal haddock, one dogfish, one blue shark and two sculpins. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked equally well.
Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. There was too much going on and everyone was catching fish. Dan Maynes (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 9 pound cod. He also caught a cod that weighed 6 pounds. Doug Maynes caught the second and third largest fish, an 8.75 pound pollock and an 8.25 pound cod. The pollock was caught as a double with another pollock of 6 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. Doug also caught a 6.5 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Matt Bunszel (MA) caught the largest cusk at 7 pounds. Tyler Pratt (VT) landed the fourth largest fish, an 8 pound pollock. Regan MacPherson (NH) landed the hard luck award for being the most sea sick. I guess there were a couple.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 46°F, the sky was crystal clear, a nearly full moon was headed on the down slope to the western world along side Mars, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The wind blew lightly out of the northwest for a while in the morning. But the wind had no teeth. By 9:00 AM, it was already down to five knots. There was no wind at noon. The wind blew lightly out of the southwest in the afternoon. It was cool all day, the air temperature barely breaking the 60°F mark before noon. As it was the air temperature only made it to 63°F, as far as I could tell. The sky was nearly cloudless all day. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 64°F with a low of 49°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 38°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 65°F (with a low of 40°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at five knots. Before the morning was out there was no wind. The ocean surface was calm all day. The air temperature reached a high of 67°F in the shade. It was warm without the wind and the sun beating down. The visibility ranged to over thirty miles. The sky was nearly cloudless. The tide (current) was strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 60°F.
The fishing was nearly excellent. I would call it very good only because the tide was so strong. All the other conditions couldn't have been better. The catching was good as were the landings. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. No other species came close. The haddock cull was the same as yesterday's trip, an 80/20 split, favoring the legal sized fish. Legal landings also included ten cod, four pollock and nine cusk. Released fish included nine short cod and the short haddock. No dogfish were caught. No blue sharks bothered. Drifting was the method. Bait and cod flies worked the best but jigs also worked well enough.
Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. Stacey Grau (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 9 pound cod. The second largest fish was an 8.5 pound cod caught by Jamin Van Order (VT). Dennis Piper (VT) caught the third largest fish, a 7.5 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Jaime Ward (ME) landed the hard luck award for not catching a single fish! Ouch! That has got to hurt!
I received a very generous $250.00 donation from Rick & Bryn Stallings (NY) sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge today. This is odd because Rick and I are on the same PMC team, Precision for Kids. And he is an excellent rider. There are no minimum dollar penalties this year for participating riders or volunteers. So I guess it doesn't matter how the money gets there as long as it does get there. I guess Rick knows how much the fund raising means to me. At any rate, they are kind to push this donation my way. Thank you so much, you two. It does mean a lot, like a birthday gift! Better, actually.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 45°F, the sky was crystal clear, a fading moon was high above the western horizon with Mars leading the charge to the edge of the earth, the wind was blowing out of the northwest but it was so light as to have a hard time blowing out a candle and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. By 7:00 AM, the air temperature had dropped to 41°F, then it started to rise. It continued to rise but never made it to 60°F by noon. However, it did rise a bit more into the afternoon. By 2:00 PM, the air temperature had reached it's apex in Perkins Cove of 63°F. The wind was light from the north in the morning, calm around noon and light southwest in the afternoon. It was sunny all morning and the early part of the afternoon. The sky was a mix of sun and clouds during the later part of the afternoon. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 63°F with a low of 49°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 64°F (with a low of 34°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 63°F (with a low of 39°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the north at ten to five knots to no knots, calm. They had a one foot chop to start and a calm ocean surface for the later part of the fishing and the end. The high air temperature for the trip was 66°F in the shade. The visibility ranged to twenty-five miles or more, excellent. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was clear and sunny. The surface water temperature reached high of 59°F.
The fishing, the catching and landings were very good, nearly excellent, one of our best extreme day trips of the season. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The haddock cull was 80/20, favoring the legal sized fish. Legal landings also included nearly as many pollock, twenty-one cusk and eighteen cod. Released fish included three blue sharks, twenty dogfish, ten short cod, three legal sized cod, the short haddock, a sculpin, two wolffish and one small halibut. Drifting was the method. All terminal worked well.
Adam Theriault (ME) was high hook with the most legal fish. His largest fish was a 17.5 pound cod, the third largest fish of the trip and one of our top ten cod of the fishing season on the Bunny Clark this year. Kevin Everts (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 23.5 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's largest pollock of the fishing season to date. Captain Ian took a picture of Kevin holding his prize. This digital appears on the left. Kevin also caught a 10 pound pollock earlier in the trip. The third largest fish was a 19 pound pollock caught by John Ford (PA). This pollock ties for the fifth largest pollock of the fishing season so far. John also caught a 16 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: George Johnson (NY) caught a number of good fish including an 11 pound cod, a 12 pound pollock and a 10 pound pollock. Bailey Shaw (ME) landed an 8 pound cod. Ten year old Wyatt Shaw (ME) lost a 12 pound halibut right on the surface. Ian couldn't gaff the fish because it was sub-legal in size. But he thought it was hooked well enough to lift out of the water. It wasn't and dropped off the hook, into the water where it immediately swam away. It bothered Ian (he had regrets at the dock) only because a halibut is a fish of a life time in New England and he wanted Wyatt to have a picture with it before it was released. Such is life. Dave Whitt (OH) caught an 8 pound cod and a 9.5 pound pollock, his best. Dave also landed the hard luck award by being involved in the most tangled lines.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at twelve knots sustained and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The wind piped up a bit more after I posted this but then started to drop, gradually. It never was much over ten knots after 7:00 AM. By noon, the wind was done, the ocean was calm. At about 2:00 PM, the wind hauled out of the southwest and blew up to five or ten knots, no more than that. The sky stayed overcast until 1:00 PM, when the clouds disappeared and the sun shone bright in a deep blue sky. At 4:00 PM, the sky was cloudless. The visibility was excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw in Perkins Cove was 59°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 63°F with a low of 54°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 36°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 63°F (with a low of 42°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northeast at ten knots. Seas were chops of a foot over rolling sea swells of three feet. Later, the wind hauled out of the east and dropped to five knots. The ocean was almost calm when they headed back, southwest light on the ride home. The air temperature only reached a high of 56°F under the shade top. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was overcast except for the ride home. The surface water temperature reached a high of 59°F.
The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and the landings were very good to excellent. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The haddock cull today was a bit different or 66/33, favoring the legal sized fish. Legal landings also included four cod, twenty pollock, four cusk and two white hake. Released fish included the sub-legal haddock twelve cod of 5 pounds or more, six small cod and a pollock. There were not dogfish or blue sharks caught or hooked. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked equally well. Even the haddock didn't care.
Shawn Rosenberger (PA) was the fisherman of the day. He was high hook with the most legal fish, he won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 22 pound cod and he landed the hard luck award for getting the most tangled lines. That's also called a Bunny Clark hat trick! The cod is the third largest cod caught on the Bunny Clark this season so far. Captain Ian took a picture of this fish with Shawn holding it. The digital image appears on the right. Shawn also caught a 9 pound pollock and an 8 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: John Ford (PA) caught the second largest fish, a 13 pound pollock. John also caught a 10 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock. Dave Whitt (OH) caught the third largest fish, a 12 pound pollock.
At 2:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, the sky was hazy clear, there was no wind to write about in Perkins Cove but the closest buoy report was showing ten knots of southwest wind and the visibility over the ocean was very good in some haze.
A partial moon was still high in the sky when we went through the gate headed to the open ocean. The sky was clear enough, although there were some clouds. The wind was light from the southwest, the visibility was very good at least and the air temperature was in the high 50s.
On the fishing grounds, the wind was about five knots out of the southwest. Seas were small chops under a foot. We did have some kind of underlying swell but I didn't really pay attention to the size. Whatever they were they were widely spaced. After noon, the wind had hauled south of southwest and had already started to increase. By 1:30 PM, wind speeds were fifteen knots with a two foot chop. We saw twenty knots of wind on the last stop of the day. Seas were three to four feet in chops on the ride home. The air temperature reached a high of 61°F in the shade.The sky was a mix of sun and clouds but mostly sunny. The tide (current) was moderate, into the wind all day, although stronger in the morning. . The visibility ranged to twenty miles or less in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 59°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 70°F with a low of 50°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 49°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 48°F).
The fishing was just fair. There were too many blue sharks, too many dogfish, the tide was screwy and it was choppy in the afternoon. The catching was very good to excellent if you included the dogfish and blue sharks, good if you didn't. Landings were just good, no better. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included four cod, seven haddock, three redfish, twenty cusk, nine white hake, a monkfish, two whiting and a red hake. Released fish included well over a hundred dogfish, three legal cod, four sub-legal cod, five haddock, three sub-legal pollock, a sculpin, six sub-legal redfish, two cusk and a white hake. We lost over twenty-six rigs or jigs to blue sharks. We also had quite a few shark attacks on fish being reeled in. We anchored and drift fished. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
I would imagine that Shawn Rosenberger (PA) was high hook with the most legal fish. I don't think anyone else caught as many. Shawn won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 20.5 pound white hake. Some of his other fish included a 16 pound white hake, the largest cod of the day at 12 pounds and an 11.25 pound pollock. He caught several pollock I didn't weigh that were probably 10 pounds each.Bogdan Grynchak (NJ) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 22 pound white hake. This the largest hake he has ever caught. He also caught the largest double of the trip with an 11.5 pound pollock and an 8.5 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. This was his first trip on the Bunny Clark. The third largest fish was a 17 pound white hake caught by Dave Whitt (OH). Dave also caught a 14.5 pound white hake.
Other Angler Highlights: Andriy Andruntsiv (NJ) caught the first fish I could weigh for the boat pool, a 13.5 pound white hake. Marcin Korszen (NJ) caught a 16 pound white hake. He also caught three legal cod. One of about 7 pounds he released, another of about 10 pounds that dropped off the hook when I tried to lift the fish aboard and the third one I gaffed. It weighed 11 pounds. Bruno Rodzen (NJ) landed a 16 pound white hake. Jim Thurston (NH) caught an 11 pound pollock, his best fish. Neil "Magpie" Chamberlain (NH) caught a 15.5 pound white hake, an 11 pound pollock and a 13 pound pollock. He also was the high hurler of the trip and landed the hard luck award for his efforts.
I received a $50.00 donation from Jim Thurston sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge today. This was a nice surprise. Thank you so much, Jim. It was good to have you aboard. I very much appreciate your support in this cancer project.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, the sky was mostly cloudy with some clear patches, the wind was out of the southwest at fifteen knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good in some haze. Ashore, the sky was nearly cloudless during the morning. The sky became overcast by 1:00 PM. By 3:00 PM, we had light rain showers. We suffered through light rain from time to time on into the night. The rain showers were infrequent. The air temperature rose to a value of 69°F by noon and then dropped to the mid 60s. The wind blew out of the southwest up to fifteen knots or more. We had a front come through right around 6:00 PM where the wind blew out of the northwest up to thirty knots before settling in to twenty knots or more. The visibility was very good in some haze. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 75°F with a low of 55°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°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 53°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind started out from the southwest at ten knots upon arrival. by the end of the fishing, the wind had increased to twenty knots. Seas were one foot chops to start with two foot chops over rolling short swells of three to four feet, later. The air temperature reached a high of 63°F. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was overcast for the whole fishing period. The surface water temperature reached a high of 60°F.
The fishing was very good with few dogfish (two spots only), no blue shark activity and a moderate current with not a bad sea state. The catching was very good. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The haddock cull was 75/25, favoring the legal sized fish. Legal landings also included nineteen pollock, one redfish, six cusk and fifteen cod. Released fish included twelve legal sized cod, ten short cod, the short haddock, thirty-five dogfish, a couple sculpins, couple short pollock and a wolffish. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked well.
Jonathan Griffin (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish. His largest fish was a 7 pound cod, a tie for the third largest fish of the trip. John Ford (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 8.5 pound cod. He also caught the second largest fish of the trip, an 8 pound cod. Dane Towner (NY) tied with Griff for the third largest fish with another 7 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Chad Pinkerton (NJ) landed the hard luck award for being the most sea sick. Such is life on the ocean for some.
Captain Steve McGrath (NH) did me a solid today by donating $50.00 to my cancer fund raising drive through this year's Pan-Mass Challenge today. The event itself was canceled but did go virtual. I was not interested in a virtual ride. But I am very interested in the cancer fight and the fund raising that goes along with it. The event, had it taken place, would only have been two days. But the fund raising goes on until the end of the year, December 31st. I have been involved in funding cancer research since 2007. Steve has supported me in this endeavor every year. Thank you so much, Steve, for all your sponsorships and your thoughtfulness. I do really appreciate your help!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, the sky was cloudless, the wind was out of the west northwest at twenty-five knots (more and less) and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The wind blew out of the west northwest at twenty-five knots, more or less, all day. The peak wind gusts were thirty-five knots, that I saw. It would certainly not have been a great day to be at sea. The air temperature was fairly mild for the wind direction. But that was because there was some west in the wind. Had the wind been directly out of the northwest, I would suspect that it would have been colder. The sky was nearly cloudless all day. The visibility over the ocean and over the large number of white caps along the shore was excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw was 59°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 63°F with a low of 48°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 59°F (with a low of 38°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 58°F (with a low of 38°F).
I spent the morning getting caught up with desk work and the afternoon and evening at Barnacle Billy's restaurants.
I took some time off to complete the first fall beach run with our dog, Gill. I was surprised how well he did. But, as is typical, he would go no further than the tenth house on Moody Beach. I have him on leash until that point. No matter how I tried I could not get him to run further. It was either carry him or pull hard enough to pull the harness off his body - which I almost did. He is a very happy dog when I take the leash off. I ran just a tenth more up the beach with him wandering around, so I could keep him in sight. Then I turned and ran back to the start. To the dog's credit, he kept up with me for more than half the way back and was not very far back when I reached the end. At times the dog was running damn close to an eight minute mile pace, certainly better than nine minutes the whole way back. On leash, I'm lucky to get a ten minute mile out of Gill. But that's okay. We had fun.
Tomorrow, Captain Ian takes the Bunny Clark for Ian's last trip this season. Anthony Palumbo will be the deck hand with Andy Kidd on as an angler but observing the finer points of being an excellent deck hand in Anthony.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 39°F, the sky was cloudless, the wind was out of the west northwest at twenty knots ten miles offshore but about ten knots in Perkins Cove (typical of the fall) and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Ashore, the sky was cloudless all day, a bit unusual. The visibility was excellent. By 6:00 AM, the air temperature had dropped to 36°F. By 9:30 AM, the air temperature had risen to 47°F. The highest air temperature that I saw today was 59°F. The wind blew out of the west northwest for most of the morning, hauling out of the west by noon. Wind speeds started at twenty knots but diminished as the day progressed. When the wind was westerly, the highest velocity that I saw was fifteen knots. By nightfall, there was no wind and no wave action at all along the shore. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 60°F with a low of 42°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 61°F (with a low of 27°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 58°F (with a low of 31°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west at fifteen knots but dropped to ten knots later in the trip. Seas were chops of four feet that diminished to two feet as the day progressed. The visibility was excellent. The high air temperature for the day, as recorded under the canopy top, was 55°F. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was cloudless all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 56°F.
The fishing was very good. The sea conditions were not bad, there were no blue sharks today and dogfish were not frequent enough to bother. The catching was very good. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The haddock cull was 85/15, favoring the legal sized fish. Legal landings also included twenty-one pollock, five redfish, ten cusk and one white hake. Released fish included nine dogfish, fifty-one cod over 5 pounds, eight small cod, the short haddock and a small pollock. Drifting was the method. At times it was fast but it remained effective for the trip. All terminal gear worked well, bait, jigs and flies.
Rich Callahan (CT) 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 15 pound pollock. The second largest fish weighed 12 pounds. Three anglers caught a fish that weighed 12 pounds. Rich caught a 12 pound pollock. Tim Heath (MA) caught a 12 pound pollock. Shawn Rosenberger (PA) caught a 12 pound pollock. Shawn also caught a 10.5 pound cod and the largest double of the trip. His double catch included an 11 pound pollock and an 8.5 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time.
Other Angler Highlights: Dave Whitt (OH) caught an 11 pound cod and a 10 pound cod, his two biggest fish. Jonathan "Griff" Griffin (MA) caught the largest haddock of the day at 4 pounds. His largest fish was an 11 pound pollock. John Russell (ME) caught an 11.5 pound pollock. John Ford (PA) landed the hard luck award for losing two jigs.
I received two donations sponsoring me in this years Pan-Mass Challenge today. One was a generous $100.00 donation via an "eGift" through the PMC site from Norm & Linda Viens (MA). Norm & Linda have been supporting me for years on this cancer project. The other donation was from Shawn Rosenberger for $50.00. Thank you all so very much for your generosity and thoughtfulness. I appreciate it very much. But more appreciation comes from those who will probably never know the wonderful people who help make all this cancer research possible. So a silent thank you from them as well!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the sky was a hazy clear, the wind around the house was light but up to twenty knots out of the southwest just a few miles offshore and the visibility over the ocean was very good in some haze.
It wasn't long, after leaving Perkins Cove behind, that the seas got large, chops of six feet, more or less, driven by twenty to twenty-five knots of south southwest wind. I had visions of the antennas singing in the wind, waves crashing over the bow on anchor and the occasional queer one burying anglers in green water. It didn't happen that way. Eight miles from the fishing grounds, the wind backed off a Skocsh. The seas also dropped. The visibility was hazy clear, the sky was hazy clear and sunny and the air temperature stayed at 58°F.
On the fishing grounds, the wind hauled out of the southwest. The wind increased to twenty-five knots with higher gusts. Seas increased to seven and eight feet in chops. However, this only lasted an hour. The wind started to back off by mid morning. By noon, we had fifteen knots of southwest wind and a diminishing sea state. By the time we were ready to head home, the wind was still about fifteen knots with six foot seas but they were further apart and much more comfortable to live with. The air temperature reached a high of 62°F in the shade.The sky was sunny in a hazy sky. The tide (current) was light all day. The visibility ranged to a maximum of twenty-five miles (barely) in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 56.3°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 78°F with a low of 54°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 78°F (with a low of 50°F). When we got back to Perkins Cove at 3:30 PM, the air temperature was a very warm 78°F.
The fishing was fair. The sea state was tough for many, holding the lines still and holding their breakfast in. The dogfish were thick and mobility was down. The catching was very good if you included dogfish. Landings were good, no better than that. Most legal fish landed were haddock. Only five percent of all the haddock caught were sub-legal, most easy to discern as of legal size. Legal landings also included five pollock, sixteen cusk and two white hake. Released fish included well over sixty dogfish, the short haddock, eight cod of 5 pounds or better and four sub-legal pollock. We anchored for every stop. Everyone used bait. Only two anglers used cod flies. No jigs were even tried.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook. If you included dogfish, it had to be David French (NH). His largest fish was a 10 pound cusk which he caught as a double with another cusk of 6 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. To say that Dave caught twenty dogfish would probably be an understatement. Jack Connelly (MA) caught the largest fish of the trip, a 25 pound Maine state trophy pollock. This is the largest pollock he has ever caught and the Bunny Clark's largest pollock of the fishing season so far. I took a picture of Jack holding his prize with my iPhone. This digital image appears on the left. He did not enter the boat pool. The second largest fish was a 12 pound wolffish caught by fourteen year old Abri Harder (NH). I tried to get her to hold the wolffish for a picture but she wouldn't bite. Instead, I held it beside her so a picture could be taken. She too was not entered in the boat pool, explaining to me that "my father is in it!" I'm sorry, Abri, that doesn't count!
Peter Romano (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the third largest fish, an 11.5 pound cusk. This is the Bunny Clark's sixth largest cusk of the fishing season to date. Pete also caught a 10 pound pollock and the largest cod of the trip at 9 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Brian Harder (NH) caught the first fish I could weigh for the boat pool, a 6.5 pound cod. Zack Hoover (NH) caught a 6 pound cusk. Kelleigh Murphy (NH) landed the hard luck award for attaining high hurler status! Ouch! Her condition was not exclusive.
I received a generous $100.00 donation from Michael & Kerry Mithen (MA) sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge today. Michael & Kerry have been a regular sponsor over the last few years, once they found out what I was doing for cancer research. Thank you both so very much for your support and generosity. Of course you know that I very much appreciate your help!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was clear with a crescent moon hanging overhead, the wind was blowing out of the west northwest at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean seemed excellent. By sunrise, the wind had hauled out of the north. Wind speeds were up to and over twenty knots at times. The wind velocity dropped to about ten knots around noon as it hauled out of the northeast. Wind speeds increased again but only just above fifteen knots at times. The sky was cloudless all day. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature in Perkins Cove reached a high of 62°F. However, it didn't stay there for long. By 4:00 PM, the air temperature had already dropped into the high 50s, fueled by the wind directly off the ocean water. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 67°F with a low of 51°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 62°F (with a low of 36°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 37°F).
Another day ashore meant another day at the restaurant. And it was good that I was there. It was very busy. There were also many patrons there who I have seen for many years. The problem is that we don't have the capacity. We can be as busy as we can be but still only have a quarter capacity. So the difference between a busy day and a moderate day is the line waiting to get in. Income is the same in both situations. The difference is the table turnover. If people are coming and going, revenue is up. If they linger at the tables - and I have not encouraged patrons to do otherwise - we might as well have a moderate day. Fortunately, table turnover was better than normal. But this is what will kill restaurants under the current Covid restrictions.
Business dropped off quickly today as soon as it got cold. We ended up closing at 8:00 PM, our normal time this year. I left the business shortly afterward.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 42°F, the sky was clear with a crescent moon hanging well above the eastern horizon, the wind was blowing out of the east northeast at fifteen knots with higher gusts and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The wind blew out of the east all day. Wind speeds ranged from fifteen to twenty-one knots. We didn't fish, of course. But neither did any of the scenic tour boats or sailboats in Perkins Cove. Plus it was cold. The air temperature never got out of the 50s. In fact, the highest air temperature that I saw was 54°F, a far cry from the air temperatures of the last few days. The sky was filled with clouds. We had sun but it was sporadic. I even thought we would get rain at some point. That didn't happen. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 54°F with a low of 50°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 56°F (with a low of 34°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 53°F (with a low of 34°F).
Since today was a holiday and it was the birthday of one of the cyclists I ride with, I went on an easy training ride expecting to get in sixty miles today. That didn't happen. Twenty-nine miles in, west of Sanford Airport, the rider in front of me tapped the wheel ahead of her and went down. I was too close to avoid a crash, so I went down as well. I hit the road and became unconscious for a minute or more and sustained a left shoulder injury and a mild concussion. I had a bit of road rash but nothing compared to any previous crash I have ever experienced. I have always had to get stitches after any previous crash. Not today. The ambulance took both of us to the emergency room at Sanford Hospital where we were CAT scanned for bleeding on the brain. I also had an x-ray of my shoulder. We were discharged during the early afternoon, my best friend, Andy Armitage, one hell of a great cyclist, and his better half, Denise, took me home. It was not the day I had planned.
Later I went into the restaurants to get some desk work and orders completed for tomorrow. I didn't stay long and ended up home early to go to bed and remain quiet.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the east at almost twenty knots and the visibility over the ocean seemed excellent. After sunrise, a light misting rain started. This turned into a heavy rain for the rest of the morning. It rained all day after that, stopping around 9:00 PM or a little later. The wind blew out of the east all day with wind speeds of twenty knots or more. Later in the afternoon, a bit of north moved into the wind. By sunset, the wind was blowing out of the north. Wind speeds were actually stronger when the wind turned, marginally so, but stronger just the same. The air temperature hung in the 50s getting as high as 54°F by 2:30 PM. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 58°F with a low of 51°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 50°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 53°F (with a low of 44°F).
I spent the day taking care of myself and working at the restaurant. It wasn't very busy. The rain had put a damper on the business. I ended up at home during the early afternoon.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 49°F, the sky was crystal clear with a sliver of a moon & Venus hanging high over the eastern ocean, the wind was blowing out of the west at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Ashore, today was an awesome day. The air temperature almost touched 70°F. In fact, it could have. Sixty-eight degrees Faranhieght was the highest air temperature that I saw. But even at 6:00 PM, the air temperature was still 64°F. The westerly wind dropped to five knots by noon, maybe less. At 4:00 PM, the wind came up out of the northwest and blew fifteen to twenty knots. This lasted about an hour and it didn't reach off. By 6:00 PM, there was no wind. The sky was clear and sunny all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 70°F with a low of 51°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 69°F (with a low of 43°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 46°F).
I spent the day doing restaurant work. In between, I rested, iced my shoulder and stayed quiet. I went to bed early last night and slept a total of ten hours, including naps. I didn't get out of bed until 5:00 AM. I don't know when I have slept that late (I went to bed at 7:00 PM the night before). But I felt tired all day today. I had meetings most of the morning, two to be exact. End of year stuff mostly. Before I got to the restaurant at 7:00 AM, my sister, Meg, missed the last step on the stairs at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. and sprained her foot. My wife, Deb, brought her to the ER at York Hospital. A sprain is worse than a break. It will take her a while to get over this. It may even last until the end of the season when I need her in the restaurant the most. But so be it. She has done such a marvelous job for us; she doesn't need to do any more. But I will miss her. I ended my day at 6:00 PM, so I could get ready for the marathon fishing trip tomorrow.
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 47°F, the sky was hazy clear, the wind was blowing lightly out of the west and the visibility over the ocean seemed excellent.
The ride to the fishing grounds was perfect this morning. The ocean was flat calm, the air temperature was a bit chilly at 45°F at the start but progressively warming as we went further off shore and only the lower edge of the moon was lit up as we headed off shore. The visibility was excellent. With five miles to go, the air temperature warmed to 55°F.
On the fishing grounds, the ocean was a calm for the first hour but the wind started to come on after sunrise and just before the tide. South southwest was the wind direction. By noon, the south southwest wind was an easy fifteen knots or more. The wind was over twenty knots for the last drift of the day. Seas were chops four feet with a few queer ones thrown in. But there was also an underlying swell that made them seem larger. Wind speeds increased to over twenty-five knots before we got back to Perkins Cove. The sky was cloudless all day. The highest air temperature that I saw in the shade was 61°F. The wind made it seem a bit colder. The visibility ranged to just about twenty miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 56°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 72°F with a low of 48°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 37°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 40°F). Matt Pedersen, the manager on at Barnacle Billy's when we got back ashore, told me that the high temperature in Perkins Cove today was 65°F. I would suspect these lower temperatures along the coast with an on-shore wind as strong as it was today.
The fishing was fair. The tide (current) was very strong. We could not drift. The lines just would not tend bottom. There were also quite a few dogfish during the first part of the day. And the sea conditions got progressively worse. Plus, I couldn't get anyone to jig. Well I did convince one angler that jigging would be best. He was one who won the boat pool for the largest fish. We had more anglers sea sick than I wanted to have. In fact, I didn't want anyone sea sick. It happens. The catching was good. Landings were fair. Most legal fish landed were haddock. The haddock cull was exactly eighty percent, favoring the legal sized fish. Legal landings also included fourteen pollock, two cusk, six mackerel and two red hake. Released fish included twenty-nine dogfish, eight cod of 5 pounds or better, nine short cod, fifteen (or more) sub-legal pollock and a mackerel. We anchored for most of the day due to the conditions. But that last three fathoms of anchor chain & anchor killed my shoulder, hauling it into the boat. Once I got a few people on board with the jigs, we went back to drifting and did well. Had we been able to drift all day, we would have done much better. But we also would have done much better had not so many caught the dreaded mal de mer! All terminal gear caught fish but jigs worked best and flies were right behind the jigs.
I don't know who was high hook with the most legal fish. But if you include all fish, it would have been hard to have caught more than Devin Pesce (ME) did. Devin lobsters offshore with his father out of Cundy's Harbor in a Duffy 42', the hull I originally wanted to have as the Bunny Clark. But there is a ordinance against a boat as wide as that Duffy is, in Perkins Cove. The length is the maximum allowed in Perkins Cove. With the width, the Bunny Clark would fit inside the Duffy. Devin was right at home on the Bunny Clark today, having seen much harder weather in his vocation.
Jimmy Fowler won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15 pound pollock. He also caught the second largest fish, a 14 pound pollock. His largest cod weighed 10 pounds. And, yes, he was the angler who used the jig stick most often. Josh Morgan (ME) caught the third largest fish, a 13 pound pollock. This after being converted from a bait fisherman to jig fisherman, with a jig and jig stick.
Other Angler Highlights: Katie Fowler (ME) caught the largest haddock. It weighed 4 pounds, a damn nice looking fish. Jerry Robbins (ME) caught the largest cod. It weighed 11.5 pounds. Tom Smith (ME) landed the hard luck award for being the most vocally sea sick!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 59°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing lightly out of the west and the visibility over the ocean seemed excellent. Ashore, the sky remained overcast but not so overcast that you couldn't see the orb of the sun occasionally, almost like the sun was teasing you, making you think the sky was going to clear. It never did. And there was never a time when the sun shone through a clear blue window. Sometime around noon it started to rain. The rain continued periodically throughout the afternoon. The wind blew out of the south all morning. Wind speeds were fifteen knots, more or less. At noon, we got a wind shift out of the west. Strong at first (twenty knots), the wind dropped almost immediately. The rest of the afternoon we had light wind and a calm ocean along the shore. The highest air temperature that I saw in Perkins Cove was 60°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 71°F with a low of 50°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 61°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 53°F).
I worked on and off at the restaurants today. Fridays are my day to be at the restaurant from 5:00 AM until 9:00 AM. So I went with that schedule. There are deliveries I have to check in, book work, lighting the lobster/clam tanks, etc. Normally, I go home, do some physical activity and be back at work at noon. Today I was way too tired from the injuries I sustained in the bike crash (I would suspect). As it was I overslept and got back to work at 12:30 PM. I was only able to work until 3:00 PM when, again, I went back home to lay down. I worked from 6:00 PM until closing. Tired again, I went to bed early.
The next few days are going to be telling. I have a full trip tomorrow on the Bunny Clark, an extreme day, ten hour trip. I'm looking forward to it. Monday's extreme day I do not have enough anglers to make the trip. However, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I have trips with a few anglers on each trip. It looks like the weather is going to be decent throughout. But I never trust a weekend forecast.
Deb had an incident with Gill, our border collie today. She walked him down to the Cove to meet up with Heather Betz, our baker. Deb walks with Heather when Heather is free or, rather, has done enough baking to be free after 6:30 AM. Heather gets down to the restaurant early. She gets much more done when she is alone. She does a wonderful job. Deb's plan was to check on Heather, both walk the dog home, leave Gill in the house and do the walk. Gill was having labored breathing on the way down to the Cove. Deb was concerned but just kept an eye on the dog. Heather, Deb and Gill walked back to the house. The dog was walking slower, had labored breathing still (weird sounds were coming out of his throat) and he didn't act right. Deb finally sat him down and found a Jerky treat square lodged way in his throat. I had given the dog the treat at 4:30 AM. At the time I didn't think anything about it. But, thinking back, I remember the dog inhaling the treat - as he normally does all food. This time, though, the treat, apparently, didn't go down far enough. Knowing the dog could pass out, Deb held Gill in a sitting position while Heather, with her smaller hands, reached in and was able to remove the square jerky treat, clearing the dog's airway. Success! I owe Heather a lot for the great work she does as a baker at the restaurant. So I just chalked up another one on her board of merits. Adding all these merits up, I believe the cost will be high!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 49°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining, had been raining through the night and was going to keep raining through part of the morning, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at twenty-five knots and the visibility over the ocean was fair in precipitation. It kept raining for most of the morning. By sometime after 11:30 AM, the rain was all done. The sky was still overcast. But no more rain fell. At 1:00 PM, the clouds cleared and the sky became blue and very sunny. The wind kept blowing out of the northwest up to thirty-five knots at the house, in gusts. Sustained it remained at twenty-five knots. The air temperature fell to 46°F by noon. However, by 1:00 PM, the air temperature was 50°F and, an hour later, 54°F, the highest air temperature that I saw today. The temperature values fell after 2:00 PM. The visibility turned out to be excellent after 11:00 AM. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 58°F with a low of 42°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 57°F (with a low of 29°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 54°F (with a low of 33°F).
After doing some work at the Cove (restaurants) I laid low for the morning. I was back at Barnacle Billy's by noon. I worked until 5:30 PM at the restaurants and then went home to get ready for tomorrow's extreme day trip. I am really looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to feeling better. Maybe I'll feel better and have a good day of fishing. Could that be possible?
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 36°F, the sky was clear, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
When I got to the boat at 4:30 AM, the ramp was down with a very low new moon tide coming on today. The ramp was also very icy, getting worse the longer I stayed down there. I ended up posting one of my most trusted people from the restaurant at the head of the ramp to warn people going down to the boat. Still the air temperature was 35°F on the boat and remained so until we left the dock. One of my regular anglers ran the fresh water hose from the float on the steep ramp. That seemed to solve the problem.
The tide was so low that, when I left to head down the channel, I had to have as many anglers forward as I could get. I missed the piece of ledge under the bridge. But I dragged the keel in the mud all the way down the channel until we got into deeper water. I had to add extra power to plow my way through. The Bunny seemed to jump when I was finally free of the bottom.
We had a flat calm ride all the way to the fishing grounds. There wasn't a breath of wind. The ocean was flat calm. The air temperature was 35°F when we went under the footbridge in Perkins Cove. The air temperature had warmed up to 51°F by the time we were five miles from the first spot. The visibility was excellent. The sky was clear.
On the fishing grounds, the ocean was flat calm for the first two hours of fishing. The wind gradually increased from the south. It was so gradual that we didn't have enough wind to even make a chop until 3:00 PM. We ended up with about eight knots of southerly wind by 4:00 PM and carried this all the way to the dock. Seas, at most, were a foot over an ocean devoid of swells. The air temperature reached a high of 58°F in the shade.The sky was sunny in a hazy sky. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The visibility ranged to a maximum of thirty miles. The surface water temperature reached a high of 55.2°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 58°F with a low of 40°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 59°F (with a low of 28°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 58°F (with a low of 30°F).
The fishing was excellent. The drift was excellent, there were few dogfish, relatively few tangles, no blue sharks and the sea conditions were perfect. The catching was good. Landings were fair to good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far, the bright spot of the day. The haddock cull was 80/20, favoring the legal sized fish. Legal landings also included fourteen pollock, twenty-six redfish, fifteen cusk, four white hake, three monkfish, five red hake and five mackerel. Released fish included the short haddock, seven small cod, fourteen cod of 5 pounds or more, two cunners, eight dogfish, fifteen small pollock, three short redfish and a long horn sculpin. We mostly drift fished, anchoring once. We caught more fish on the drift. All terminal worked equally well.
Shawn Rosenberger (PA) was high hook with the most legal fish, a count of twenty-seven. His largest fish was a 4 pound haddock, a tie for the largest haddock of the trip. Serena Theriault (ME) and Charlie Green (ME) tied for the boat pool for the largest fish with the two largest fish of the trip at 14 pounds each. Charlie's fish was a 14 pound monkfish. Serena's was a 14 pound cod. The monkfish is the Bunny Clark's second largest of the fishing season to date. I took a picture of Charlie holding his prize with my iPhone. This digital image appears on the left. He also landed the hard luck award for the most tangled lines! He told me that he was tied up for three hours. I don't believe it was that long but I do know that he was the only one tangled a lot! Serena also caught a 10 pound cod.
The third largest fish of the trip was a 12 pound monkfish caught by Jeff Bauman (NY). This is the Bunny Clark's fourth largest monkfish of the season so far. He also caught a 10 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Danny Littlefield (NY) caught the most cod with a count of six. His largest was 9.75 pounds but he also caught a 9 pound cod. His largest "other" was a 9 pound pollock. Luke Alfonse (MA) caught a 9.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Zach Mendes (MA) caught a 5.5 pound monkfish. His largest fish were two cod of 10 pounds each. Adam Theriault (ME) tied with Shawn for the largest haddock of the trip at 4 pounds. Jesse Arsenault (ME) landed the largest redfish we have seen this year at 2.75 pounds, a Maine state trophy. It was thin but had a huge frame at almost eighteen inches caliper fork length. I took an iPhone picture with Jesse holding this big redfish and a redfish weighing a pound that he also caught as a double with the big one, both fish on the same line at the same time. This digital image appears on the right.
Brad Baker (OR) caught a 9 pound pollock, his largest fish. He also caught a pollock that weighed 8 pounds. Luke Alfonse (MA) caught a 9.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 39°F, the sky was clear, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The sky was brightly sunny in the morning and hazy clear in the afternoon. The visibility was very good in some haze. The air temperature reached a high of 60°F. I believe it could have been warmer had the wind off the water been a bit softer. We had no wind all morning. The ocean along the shore was calm all morning. What wind we did have was variable in direction. The wind became established out of the south around 2:00 PM. By 4:00 PM, we had ten knots of southerly wind. That was the most the we got. It would have been a great day of fishing. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 58°F with a low of 44°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 61°F (with a low of 32°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 59°F (with a low of 34°F).
I spent my time between the restaurant and the office at the house all morning. I was back at the restaurant at noon. I worked there until 6:00 PM and then went home to start working on getting ready for the marathon trip tomorrow.
We have had the hardest time getting steamed clams and 2 pound lobsters for the restaurant. The price of hard shell lobsters is right through the roof, the highest price I think I have ever paid for them, if you can get them! They are almost impossible to find. Steamed clams are just hard to come by. The demand wasn't there initially. Now the demand is down again so the diggers aren't going. Plus, the rain we just had shut down all the clam flats in our area so we can't find them locally. The state doesn't have enough inspectors to check all the flats for "red tide" when we get that much rain. So the state closes large areas, assuming that they might be contaminated. I spent a large part of my afternoon trying to solve these two problems, something that normally takes two phone calls!
I'll be glad to be offshore tomorrow but I'll be wondering what I will find when I get back in at the end of the day.
At 2:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F (50°F at the boat), the sky was overcast, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
We had a very easy ride to the fishing grounds. The wind was out of the south but it was so light as to create just enough chop so that we had the occasion spray on the windows. The sky was hazy clear. The visibility was very good. The air temperature hung in the 50s.
On the fishing grounds, the wind started out light from the south. We had a wind speed approaching five knots but not quite. The wind hauled out of the south southwest around noon and might have blown up to ten knots. We had a one foot chop. The wind was out of the southwest in the afternoon to ten knots with a one foot chop.The air temperature reached a high of 58°F in the shade.The sky showed a mix of sun and clouds. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The visibility ranged to a maximum of twenty-five miles. The surface water temperature reached a high of 55°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 67°F with a low of 49°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 68°F (with a low of 48°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 47°F).
The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were very good to excellent. Most legal fish landed were pollock by far. In fact, we probably should have left the pollock earlier than we did. Legal landings also included thirty haddock, seventy-two redfish, nine cusk, twenty-two white hake and a couple mackerel. Released fish included eleven cod of 5 pounds or more, two small cod, three short haddock, five porbeagle sharks (we saw no dogfish today). twelve legal pollock and seven short redfish. We anchored, motor drifted and drift fished. All terminal gear worked well.
Shawn Rosenberger (PA) was high hook, again, with the most legal fish. Some of his better fish included a 14 pound white hake, the head of a hake belonging to a fish that would have weighed 20 pounds whole (a shark took all of the fish to the gills) and a 27.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake. He also caught two triples! The first triple included a 9 pound hake, a 12.5 pound white hake and a 20 pound hake, all three fish on the same line at the same time. His other triple included a 14 pound pollock, a 12.5 pound pollock and a 9 pound pollock. It always seems to be a good day to be Shawn!
Margaret St. Germain (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 32 pound Maine state trophy white hake. This is the largest fish that Margaret has ever caught. Nick Vegeto (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 31 pound Maine state trophy white hake. This is Nick's largest hake ever. He caught this hake as part of a double that also included a 19 pound white hake, both fish on the same line at the same time! This is the Bunny Clark's largest double of the fishing season so far. It took a digital image of Nick holding the two fish that make our largest double of the season so far. This picture appears on the left. The third largest fish was a 28 pound Maine state trophy white hake caught by Brian Leavitt (NH). He also caught a 21.25 pound white hake, His largest pollock weighed 11 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Paul Pearson (NH) landed a 25.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake, his best fish. It was a "gift fish" or a fish that was boated before sunrise. I took a picture of Paul holding his large hake with the sky in the background, just before sunrise. This digital image appears on the right. He caught a lot of pollock, eight haddock and a couple more hake. Scott Leavitt (NH) caught an 18 pound white hake and a 14 pound white hake, his two biggest fish. John "Buzz" Leonard (ME) caught a 16 pound white hake, his best fish. Mark LaRocca (NY) probably caught the most redfish. His two largest fish included a 23 pound white hake and a 26 pound Maine state trophy white hake. Jim Taylor (NY) landed an 11.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Jim Watson (NY) caught an 11 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Dennis Pine (NC) caught the only monkfish today. It weighed 16.25, the largest monkfish of the Bunny Clark season so far. Ryker Allred (NC) caught the largest cod at 14 pounds. Smokey Dorsey (NC) landed the hard luck award for not having his usual stellar day.
I received two donations sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge today. One was a generous $350.00 from Mark & Maureen LaRocca. The other was an unexpected $40.00 donation from Buzz Leonard. Thank you all so much for you support and generosity. I feel very lucky to know such wonderful people and anglers. I so very much appreciate your thoughtfulness!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was out of the northeast at ten knots or more and the visibility over the ocean was good, as near as I could tell - Boon Island light could not be seen.
The wind was almost fifteen knots out of the northeast when we poked the bow of the Bunny Clark through the gate to head to the fishing grounds. Seas were chops of one to two feet. The wind dropped the further we got offshore. The sky was overcast. The visibility started out at five miles but diminshed the further we went. The air temperature was in the low 50s to start.
On the fishing grounds, the wind started out from the east at ten knots with a one foot chop over a six foot long swell, only detectable in size from looking at the sounding machine. The wind died out slowly during the day until there was no wind at all, just a long rolling swell. The wind was light from the southwest as we headed back to Perkins Cove, glassy calm ten miles out. It was foggy to some degree all day long. With the wind in the morning, we had almost a half mile visibility. When we started for home we had, at most, ten boat lengths. It was damp all day. The air temperature reached a high of 56°F in the shade.The sky overcast for the first half of the day. For the second half, we could see bits of the sun through the fog overhead. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 55°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 61°F with a low of 56°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 62°F (with a low of 54°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 57°F (with a low of 50°F).
The fishing was much better than I thought it was going to be. The drift was good, the sea conditions were very comfortable (no one was sea sick), we saw no dogfish and we only had one shark/tuna attack, resulting in the loss of a jig. The catching was very good. Landings were good or, maybe, better than that. Most legal fish landed were pollock. Legal landings also included sixty-six haddock, fifteen redfish, three white hake, a whiting and ten red hake. Released fish included four small cod, fifteen cod from 5 pounds to 12 pounds, five short haddock, ten small redfish and a couple of pollock and haddock that we couldn't get with the gaff. We drift fished for the entire day. All terminal gear worked well.
Shawn Rosenberger (PA), for the third trip in a row, was high hook with the most legal fish or tied with Joe Columbus. Joe had more bags of fillets but Shawn's fillets were all skinned and Joe's were not. So I figure they both had the same number of pounds. Who was really it? I don't know. Shawn's two largest fish were both pollock of 12.5 pounds each. I started off the day by weighing a 10 pound pollock that he caught. I never weighed another 10 pounder for the rest of the day. Jack Watson (ME), the pride of Portland, won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 18.5 pound pollock. He also caught the largest cod. I never did weigh the cod but it looked to be about 12 pounds. Paul Gaudreau (RI) led the boat pool for almost the whole trip until Jack got the bigger fish. Paul caught a 17 pound pollock, the second largest fish of the trip, and a 15 pound pollock, the third largest fish of the trip.
Other Angler Highlights: Bob Kent (ME) caught the Bunny Clark's largest whiting of the year today. It weighed 3.5 pounds, a Maine state trophy. I took a picture of Bob with his big silver hake. This digital image appears on the left. [Amendment: This statement was made off the top of my head. Actually, Joe Columbus has the largest whiting caught on the Bunny Clark this season so far. His whiting weighed 4 pounds and was caught on August 23, 2020 during a full day trip. My apologies to Mr. Columbus and to Mr. Kent! In fact, Bob has the second largest whiting of the fishing season to date.] Bob also caught the second largest haddock at 4.5 pounds. And he had a double that I weighed. The double included two pollock at 9 pounds each, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. Joe Columbus (MA) hooked into a porbeagle shark or a small tuna and fought it for almost fifteen minutes. The battle ended when his line hit the side of the boat and parted. If it was a porbeagle, it was a very active one. Joe's largest fish was a 12 pound pollock. Ron Hamel (ME) caught an 11.5 pound pollock and a 12 pound pollock. Those fish may have been or may not have been his two largest fish. Rich Morrell (ME) caught the largest double that I weighed. His double included a 12 pound pollock and a 10.5 pound pollock. John Doyle (RI) caught the largest haddock of the day at 4.75 pounds. Nick Vegeto (NY) landed the hardest luck of the day award by contantly being involved in one tangle after another. Ouch!
Joe Columbus did me another solid today by donating, again, to my cancer research project with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. This time the donation was $50.00. He has given me many donations this year! Thanks, Joe. You humble me. And I do appreciate being humbled!
At 2:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was overcast, there was no wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was good; I could see Boon Island light (nine miles away) this morning.
There was so little wind on the ride to the fishing grounds, that I couldn't tell what direction the wind was blowing out of. It was evident when daylight arrived that we had light northwest wind. But that was also strange because it was foggy from the eight mile mark to the fishing grounds. We saw no one on radar the whole way out. The air temperature stayed in the mid to high 50s. The ocean was fairly calm.
When we started fishing, the wind was out of the northwest about five knots, maybe more, the fog was black thick, seas were chops of a foot and the air temperature was mild. The wind hauled around clockwise as the day progressed. It was northerly for a while, northeast, east and ended up light southeast. We never had more than ten knots. Seas were chops of a foot at most over and underlying sea swell of six feet. The swell was so far apart you hardly noticed it. The air temperature reached a high of 60°F in the shade just before we were to head home. The fog left us after noon. Even with the fog, you could see the sun from time to time. When the fog left, the sky was cloudless. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 57.5°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 67°F with a low of 54°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 72°F (with a low of 43°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 51°F).
The fishing was very good. It could have been excellent but the drift was a little too fast for most of the fishing. We had no dogfish, the sea state made it very comfortable and all the other conditions were excellent. The catching was nearly excellent. Landings were good to very good, very good for Shawn Rosenberger (PA). Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included fifty-five haddock and fifty-two cusk. Released fish included a couple porbeagle sharks, forty-two cod over 5 pounds, two small cod, three short haddock and probably thirty or more sub-legal pollock. We alternated between drift fishing and anchoring. All terminal gear worked well but a jig with a cod fly worked the best.
Shawn Rosenberger was the fisherman of the trip. He was high hook for the most legal fish with the most legal fish and he won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, 23 pound cod. The cod is tied for the Bunny Clark's second largest cod of the season to date. I took a picture of Shawn holding this fish right before he released it alive. This digital image appears on the left. He also caught the largest pollock of the day weighing 15.5 pounds. His largest haddock was the largest haddock of the trip. It weighed 5.75 pounds. This is also the largest haddock that Shawn has ever caught. I took another picture of Shawn with this haddock, the largest haddock we have seen in quite some time. This digital image appears on the right. A couple other fish that I weighed of his were an 11 pound cod and a 13 pound cod.
Tim Rozan (ME) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 22 pound cod. This cod ties for the Bunny Clark's fourth largest cod of the fishing season to date. One of his pollock that I weighed was 12.5 pounds. Jim Watson (NY) won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the third largest fish, a 21 pound cod. This is a tie for the Bunny Clark's sixth largest cod of the fishing season so far. Two other fish that I weighed for Jim included a 10 pound cod and a 12 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Dennis Pine (NC) caught the fourth largest fish, a 20 pound cod. Dave Harris (MA) caught a 13.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Jack Decormier (NH) caught the fifth largest fish, a 19 pound cod. He also caught a 4 pound haddock, one of the largest haddock of the trip. He hooked what could have been a halibut or a shark. If it was a halibut, it was foul hooked. It acted more like a shark. After a while, I asked him if I could hold his rod so I could assess the situation. After playing with it for about a minute I lost the fish. The leader wasn't chaffed at all, like it would be if it were along side a shark. And he still had the jig and fly. But it also might have meant that he had hooked the shark in the fin or something. I felt bad for taking the rod. And I probably shouldn't have done it. But it did give the rest of the crew an opportunity to abuse me.
Dana Decormier (NH) caught a 12 pound pollock and a 12 pound cod, his two best fish. Jim Taylor (NY) caught a 12 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Smokey Dorsey (NC) caught one of the bigger pollock today weighing 14 pounds. I also weighed a 12 pound pollock of his. Todd Tuomi (CT) caught the largest cusk at 10 pounds. His largest haddock was the second largest of the day at 5 pounds. Marc Duchon (CT) landed a 4.5 pound haddock, our third largest haddock of the trip. Lewis Hazelwood (MA) caught a 10 pound cod. I believe he caught some bigger pollock but I never did weigh any of his. Ryker Allred (NC) caught the second largest pollock of the trip, as did his grandfather (Smokey), weighing 14 pounds. I also weighed an 11 pound pollock of his. Ryker landed the hard luck award t-shirt for having to put up with the two cronies fishing/tangling next to him!
I received a few donations sponsoring me on my ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today, a ride that was completed virtually this year. Of course, the ride is over but cancer never sleeps and the fund raising for cancer research should never end. Those donors and their donations included Tim Rozan for another donation, this time for a generous $130.00. Shawn Rosenberger gave $20.00. And Smokey Dorsey gave $50.00 in honor and memory of Glen Swan's daughter, who lost her battle earlier this year. Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness, generosity and support. I really appreciate it!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was overcast, there was no wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was good. There are reports of fog on the news everywhere in the coastal areas. We never did see the fog today. The conditions allowed good visibility in haze but no foggy conditions along the coast. The sky was partly sunny for the early part of the morning, occasional sun during the later morning and overcast conditions in the afternoon. It never rained. The air temperature reached a high of 58°F, that I saw. The wind was light from all directions out of the east, including northeast and southeast. The ocean along the shore remained calm all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 62°F with a low of 55°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 64°F (with a low of 54°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 58°F (with a low of 53°F).
I had much catching up to do on the desk work today, at home and at the restaurants. So my morning was spent catching up. I never did completely catch up. I went in to the restaurant at noon, left for a break at 3:00 PM and then worked until after closing. We had quite a few regular patrons in today. That always makes it more fun for me. I did have a problem with my mask fogging up my glasses, though. It's hard to talk to customers when you can't see them. Normally, the mask I have doesn't do that. But, today, the air temperature and humidity must have been just perfect for a negative response. There were times when I just had to take my glasses off to talk to patrons.
The day went smoothly and I was able to rest my shoulder with a day away from the boat. The shoulder is getting better. I'm doing shoulder exercises to keep my motion range as close to normal as I can get it. The problem is it hurts in some positions. Well, live and make the same mistakes over and over again, is my motto!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the south southwest at light speeds and the visibility was suspect as I couldn't see Boon Island light from the house. More later.
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