Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Monday, June 5, 2023, 5:30 AM EDT
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At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 44°F, the sky was hazy clear (the fires in Canada?), there was not enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean seemed excellent.
It was another cool morning leaving Perkins Cove. As we moved down the channel to the gate, the air temperature was 41°F. It had been the same air temperature at the dock before we left. On the ocean side of the gate we found zero wind. In fact, we had no wind all the way to the fishing grounds. The surface of the ocean was glassy with a two foot long swell. The visibility was very good. The sky was hazy clear. The air temperature was 50°F by the time we got to the fishing grounds.
On the grounds, the ocean was glassy to start and then started to make up out of the southeast. The wind was just a ripple on the surface for most of the morning. We did have a long four foot swell out of the east. We had this most of the day. After noon, the wind was more southerly. We had six knots of southerly wind when we started to head her to the barn. The air temperature reached a high of 54°F. The visibility ranged to twenty miles, as near as I could figure. The tide (current) was strong. The sky was hazy clear. And this might just be from the fires in Canada. The surface water temperature reached a high of 50°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 59°F (with a low of 49°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 72°F (with a low of 42°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 40°F).
The fishing was good to very good overall. The tide was a bit too strong and we had a few dogfish. The catching and landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, followed closely by pollock. Legal landings also included sixteen cusk and two whiting. Released fish included thirty-six dogfish, thirty-eight cod from 5 to 15 pounds, three small cod, twenty-four sub-legal haddock, forty-eight small pollock, a mackerel and five herring. We tried anchoring twice with very little success and more dogfish than we wanted. Drifting worked the best. All terminal gear worked well but the jig/fly combination worked the best.
I do believe that Andrew Gaudio (MD) was high hook with the most legal fish. He caught a legal fish a drop, including doubles, all day long. Brian Plasse (ME) was close (probably second hook). Brian won the boat pool for largest fish with the second largest, a 14.5 pound cod. This is the Bunny Clark's fourth largest cod of the fishing season to date. His two largest pollock weighed 11 pounds and 11.5 pounds. Andrew shared the boat pool for the second and third largest fish with the fourth and fifth largest fish, with Zack Miller (VT). Both were pollock of 13 pounds each. And both anglers caught their 13 pounders as doubles with another fish of a smaller size, both fish on the same line at the same time. Andrew's was the 13 pound pollock with a 10.5 pound cod. Zack's was a 13 pound pollock with a 9.5 pound pollock. I took a picture of Zack holding his two pollock. This digital image appears on the left. Andrew also caught an 11.25 pound cod.
Jim Balfour (ME) caught the largest fish of the trip, a 15 pound cod. This is the Bunny Clark's third largest cod of the season. Jim did not get in the boat pool. I took a picture of Jim holding his cod before we released it back to the ocean alive. This digital image appears on the right. Jim also caught another cod of 12.5 pounds. His largest haddock weighed 5.5 pounds. The third largest fish was a 14 pound cod caught by Jim Greenlaw (ME). He too didn't enter the boat pools. This cod is the Bunny Clark's fifth largest cod of the 2023 fishing season so far. Jim's largest pollock weighed 11 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Scott Miller (VT) caught a 10 pound cod. It might not have been his biggest fish as there were quite a few 10 and 11 pound pollock that I didn't weigh today. John Lemoine (ME) caught an 11 pound pollock early in the trip. Terry Savage (ME) caught an 11 pound pollock, his biggest fish. His best fish was probably a 4 pound haddock that he caught. I weighed two pollock of 10.5 pounds for Tod Benjamin (VT). His biggest haddock weighed 5.5 pounds. Jason Ridolfi (NY) was probably third hook. Some of his fish included a 12 pound pollock, an 11 pound cod and a double that included an 8.5 pound pollock and an 11.5 pound pollock. His largest haddock weighed 5 pounds. Andrew Ally (ME) landed the largest haddock of the trip at 6 pounds. Pete Lussier (NY) landed the hardest luck of the trip award by paying for the trip, over-sleeping and missing the boat this morning. I presented him with his award when we met him at the dock when the Bunny Clark got back to Perkins Cove!
I received three donations sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising efforts with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. These donors and their donations included Scott Miller for $40.00, Terry Savage for $50.00 and Jason Ridolfi for $40.00. Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. I really do appreciate all the help and support. And I am humbled by your participation.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 47°F, the sky was cloudless, the wind was out of the south at ten knots or so and the visibility over the ocean was very good, at least.
Ashore, the wind blew out of the south at about ten knots all day. It never seemed to be any more or any less. The sky was clear all morning. After noon, clouds started to roll in. The sky was mostly overcast at 3:00 PM. By 5:00 PM, it started to rain. It continued raining on into the night. At 6:00 PM, the wind backed out of the northeast. It was blowing about fifteen knots at 7:00 PM. The highest air temperature that I saw was 63°F. The visibility seemed very good all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 74°F (with a low of 48°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°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 southwest at ten to fifteen knots. Seas were chops of two feet or so over sea swells from the southeast of about three feet. The air temperature reached a high of 55°F. The visibility ranged from five to ten miles in haze. The sky was sunny for the whole time fishing. The tide (current) was moderate. The water temperature reached a high of 52°F.
The fishing was very good today. It could have been excellent but for the few dogfish and the swells. The catching was very good; there were a lot of small fish along with the keepers. Landings were good. Legal landings included mostly haddock, by far. Legal landings also included six pollock, one redfish, one cusk, fourteen whiting and four mackerel. Released fish included a mackerel, twenty-five dogfish, five cod of 5 pounds or more, forty-five small cod, twenty-eight sub-legal haddock, forty-eight small pollock and a pee-wee monkfish. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked well but jigs and flies caught the most poundage.
Jason Ridolfi (NY) was high hook with the most legal fish. Jason caught the third largest fish, a 6 pound cod. Pete Lussier (NY), the angler who missed the boat yesterday, won the boat pool today for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 7 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 6.5 pound cod caught by Marty Buskey (NY). Marty could have been second hook today. He also caught his first monkfish, right after he had told Jason and Pete, who he was fishing beside, that the only fish he would like to catch was a monkfish. Less than five minutes later he was looking at one!
Other Angler Highlights: Owen Viar (NH) landed the hardest luck of the trip award by being the sole hurler of the trip. I believe that he still caught fish.
I received two donations sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a cycling event to raise money for cancer research. It's actually a ride to raise money for cancer care and for cancer research. However, my donations go to a team of researchers who do genetic profiling; they locate the gene that creates the cancer and then finds a drug to shut the gene off, thus bypassing chemo and radiation. My knowledge isn't the newest. But two years ago they had isolated three genes where they could stop the cancer. That hasn't changed. The donations today were from Chris Tierney (NH) for $40.00 and $50.00 from Marty & Elise Buskey. Thank you all so very much for your support. I so appreciate your kindness and help!
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 49°F, the sky was mostly cloudy, the wind was out of the northwest at twelve knots or more and the visibility over the ocean seemed excellent.
It was a choppy ride to the fishing grounds. The wind blew out of the north at fifteen to twenty knots. At about the ten mile mark, seas were about four feet in chops, give or take. It was fairly uncomfortable. The sky was mostly clear with few clouds, the visibility was excellent and the air temperature mild, somewhere in the mid 50s.
On the grounds, seas were chops of four or five feet with an occasional queer one. The wind was still out of the north. The wind blew about fifteen to twenty knots. But there was a spell where it blew over twenty knots. This didn't last very long. And after a couple of hours the wind started to back off. Seas dropped. By noon, the wind had backed out of the north northwest and was only blowing about ten knots or more. Seas diminished to two feet. By the time we were ready to head home, there was maybe five knots of north northwest wind. The air temperature reached a high of 58°F. The visibility was at least thirty miles. The tide (current) was strong and into the wind. The surface water temperature reached a high of 49°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 66°F (with a low of 51°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 39°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 44°F).
The fishing was very good, staying out of the excellent category only because of the wind and sea condition. There were few dogfish. The catching and landings were excellent. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. We could hardly catch anything else. And they were larger than normal. Whenever we tried to catch haddock, the pollock would find us. Legal landings also included fourteen haddock, two cusk, a whiting and a mackerel. Released fish included a dogfish, twenty-six cod of 5 pounds or more, two small cod, two sub-legal haddock, fifty-eight small pollock and a couple legal pollock. Drifting was untenable until the very end of the day. So we anchored for every stop but one. Jigs and flies was the terminal gear of choice. And it was very effective.
Jim Jarvis, Sr. (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish. He ended up leaving tangle central, in the cockpit, to fish alone in the bow. He was up there for over an hour alone until he was joined by Mitch Bresett (MA) later on. The two teamed up gaffing each other's fish and helping me by cleaning the bow. Jim had the largest fish of the trip, what looked like a 30 pound pollock. It was caught early so after I saw a few of the other pollock, I would probably say it was more in the 25 pound class than as big as 30 pounds. I was right near the gaff rack when I tried to lift his pollock out of the water with the jig. It was so large that the jig just pulled out of the meat of the fish without lifting it at all! I went for the nearby gaff but Jim was already trying to scare it away with the tip of his rod. And he was successful as I saw it swimming to bottom when I looked over the side with gaff in hand. Some of Jim's other fish included an 11 pound pollock, an 11.5 pound pollock and a 12.25 pound pollock.
Dave DeGraw (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 20.5 pound cod. This is the Bunny Clark's largest cod of the fishing season so far. I took a picture of Dave with his fish just before he released it alive. This digital image appears on the left. Dave had already caught two other cod of 10 pounds each before he caught the big one. Bob Vogel (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, an 18 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's largest pollock of the season to date. He caught this fish as part of a double that included another pollock of 9.5 pounds, both fish on the same line at the same time. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest double of the season so far. Bob didn't start the day out on such a good note. I found him in a bunk on the ride out where he had hurled all over himself. He was a bit embarrassed about it. He shouldn't have been as it happens more often than I care to know. Obviously, he came out of it as he did famously all day. If I were to give Bob some advice though, I would suggest that he chew his food more at breakfast before swallowing!
Kayla Paulin (MA) should have won the boat pool for the third largest fish. She did catch the third largest fish, a 16 pound pollock. But she didn't enter the boat pool! This is tied for the Bunny Clark's fourth largest pollock this season so far and her largest fish ever. Chris Schetter (NY) won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the fourth largest fish, a 14.5 pound pollock. I also weighed a 12 pound pollock for him.
Other Angler Highlights: Scott Onorato (VT) was the king of the bait fisherman. He actually caught more pollock on bait than some of the jig fishermen. Some of Scott's fish included a 10 pound pollock (the second fish I weighed today), a 12.25 pound pollock and a 13.25 pound pollock. Jonathan "Griff" Griffin (MA) caught our largest whiting of the season today, a Maine state trophy of 4 pounds! I took a picture of Griff holding his trophy whiting. This digital image appears on the right. I also weighed an 11 pound pollock and an 11.5 pound pollock for Griff. Allen Foster (NY) caught a 10 pound pollock. Ny Nhath (VT) caught two pollock of 12 pounds each and a 12.5 pound pollock. Anthony Schetter (NY) boated a 12.25 pound pollock. John Mazza (NY) caught a pollock that I would estimate was about 11 pounds. I didn't weight it at the time because so much was going on! Ed Vross (NY) caught the fifth largest fish of the trip, a 14 pound pollock. Karl Joslin (NY) caught a double that included a 12.5 pound pollock and a 10 pound pollock. Actually, there were quite a few doubles today. Jim Jarvis, Jr. (MA) landed the hard luck award for never wetting a line today. He wasn't the only one who got sea sick today. But he was certainly the worst. He never made it out of the forecastle! Ouch!
Mike Schetter (NY) was there fishing with his two grandsons. I considered Mike our second mate today as he was fixing tangles and gaffing fish more than he was fishing!
I received a collective donation of $100.00 from John Mazza, Mike Schetter and Bob Bready (NY) sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Thank you all so much for taking the trip and for your generosity and kindness. I appreciate having you all on the boat so much. But your thoughtfulness is the cherry!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 47°F, the sky was cloudless, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Ashore, the wind blew out of the northeast at very light speeds, went calm and then hauled out of the southeast, also at very light speeds. The ocean along the shore was fairly calm all day with wind ripples. The visibility was excellent. The sky was cloudless for most of the morning and then featured some clouds in the afternoon. The highest air temperature that I saw was 63°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 63°F (with a low of 51°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 72°F (with a low of 34°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 38°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northeast at five knots and then out of the southeast at five knots. The ocean was calm over a two foot long rolling sea swell. The air temperature reached a high of 56°F. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The sky was sunny and very clear. The tide (current) was strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 52°F.
The fishing was very good, marred only by the stronger than normal tidal current and a few dogfish. The catching was very good. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were haddock. They were smaller than we like to see. Legal landings also included twenty-two pollock, one redfish, seventeen cusk and ten whiting. Released fish included thirty dogfish, four cod of 5 pounds or more, seventy-three small cod, twenty-six sub-legal haddock, one hundred and twenty-eight small pollock and a whiting. Drifting was the method. Everyone used jigs and cod flies.
Ian couldn't tell me whom was high hook with the most legal fish. We had a great crew of seasoned veteran fishermen who know exactly what to do. Jonathan Griffin (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 12 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 9 pound pollock caught by Dave Desmonie (NY). Gary Ublacker (NY) boated the third largest fish, an 8 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Gary Hammond, Sr. (NY) was the first angler to catch a fish to start off the boat pool. He caught a 5 pound pollock. Vasyl Yevko (NY) landed the hard luck award by being the sole (soul) hurler for the trip. And, no, he didn't even use a blanket to wipe his face afterward (Sorry, Bob, I couldn't help myself!).
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 47°F, the sky was cloudless, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Ashore, the wind was light and variable in direction. The ocean along the shore was flat with calm patches alternating with wind patches. The visibility was excellent. The sky was cloudless all day. The highest air temperature that I saw was 80°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 63°F (with a low of 51°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 39°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 79°F (with a low of 42°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west at five knots. The ocean was calm with no discernable swell. The air temperature reached a high of 67°F under the canopy top. The sky was clear and sunny. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The tide (current) was strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 54°F.
The fishing was very good, missing the excellent category because of the tide and the few dogfish that they had. The catching was excellent. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were haddock. Legal landings also included seven pollock, two cusk, eleven whiting and three mackerel. Released fish included twenty dogfish, forty cod of 5 pounds or more, sixty small cod (that figure is not entirely accurate - there were really too many cod to get an exact count), thirty-five sub-legal haddock, approximately ninety small pollock and a couple sculpins. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked equally well.
Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. There was just too much going on and all the fish were shared today; no one angler kept fish for himself. They were all going to a fish fry after the trip where all or most of the fish were to be used.
Cory Senney (NJ) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 14 pound cod. This ties the Bunny Clark's sixth largest cod of the season to date. The second largest fish was an 8.5 pound cod caught by Jason Dobbs (NY). Jake Duquette (NH) caught the third largest fish, a 7 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Sean Sweet (NJ) caught the first fish to be weighed for the boat pool competition, a 6.5 pound cod. Jon Dobbs landed the hardest luck of the trip award for being the bachelor!
At 4:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the sky was cloudless yet again, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Ashore, the wind blew out of the west and northwest at ten to fifteen knots, after a very calm morning until 10:00 AM. The sky was cloudless all day. The air temperature soared. I was busy at the restaurant all day so I didn't really get a chance to look at the thermometer much during the day. At home, at 3:00 PM, I got a reading of 85°F outside under the trees. My wife's vehicle, in the garage with all the doors open (all day) revealed an air temperature of 88°F. Suffice it to say, the day was hot and dry; very little humidity was felt. The visibility was very good in some haze. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 86°F (with a low of 59°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 91°F (with a low of 49°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 89°F (with a low of 52°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at five to ten knots in the morning to ten and fifteen knots in the afternoon. The ocean started off calm and then had two foot chops by the end. The air temperature reached a high of 65°F. The visibility ranged from ten to fifteen miles in haze. The tide (current) was strong yet again. The sky was clear and sunny. The surface water temperature reached a high of 54°F.
The fishing was very good. As I have said for the last few days, it could have been excellent except for the few dogfish that they caught and the strong tide. The catching was excellent, a fish a cast all day long. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The haddock were small. Legal landings also included sixteen pollock, thirty-eight whiting and six mackerel. Released fish included fifteen cod of 5 pounds or more, eighty-five small cod, forty sub-legal haddock, over one hundred small pollock, couple sculpins, a whiting or two and a mackerel. They anchored and drift fished. Drifting worked the best today. Bait worked best for the haddock but jigs and cod flies worked well too.
Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. But looking at the bags of fillets coming off the boat, to me, it looked like Darlene Chin (VT) and/or Ron Neil (MA) had the most fillets. Darlene's were all haddock so her catch looked impressive. But Ron had a lot of fillets as well. Of course, both have done better on previous trips. But today's trip was Darlene's best trip all season; she had completed two other trips before this.
Jack Marks (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 7.5 pound cod. The largest fish of the trip was an 8 pound cod caught by Mike Merchand (VT). Mike did not enter the boat pool.
Other Angler Highlights: Andrew Marks (VT) landed the hard luck award today for losing two jigs. Not a single angler was sea sick today.
I received a single donation of $100.00 from Randy & Cherish Clark (VT) sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge today. This is the cycling event I use to raise money to fight cancer. Randy & Cherish made their donation in memory of Alexis "Lexy" Giallella and have been doing so during and since Lexy passed. Thank you both for your support of my ride, Randy & Cherish. I am humbled by it.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 63°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good, at least. The air temperature was 64°F at 4:00 AM, it had dropped a couple degrees before 7:00 AM. But it rebounded nicely later. It was a perfect air temperature all day with a high of 72°F that I saw. The wind blew out of the northeast at fifteen knots at one point but dropped to light by later afternoon. The visibility was excellent. The sky was nearly cloudless. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 67°F (with a low of 52°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 71°F (with a low of 47°F).
On the fishing grounds the wind blew out of the northeast to start with wind speeds of ten to fifteen knots, moving more easterly with the same wind speeds later. Seas were two to three feet all day. The air temperature reached a high of 58°F. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles in some haze. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The sky was clear and sunny all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 54°F.
The fishing was very good again. I still can't give it a gold star because we did have some dogfish, the tide was strong and the surface water conditions weren't the greatest. The catching was excellent. Landings were good or a little better than that. Most legal fish landed were haddock and whiting, an equal number of both and a larger number than we have seen for a while, particularly with the whiting. And the whiting were all a really good size. There were many in the 2 pound class. Also, the haddock were larger today. Legal landings also included twenty-two pollock, two redfish, fifteen cusk and four mackerel. Released fish included thirty cod of 5 pounds or more, thirty small cod, eighteen dogfish, twenty-four sub-legal haddock, sixty small pollock and a couple smaller whiting. Drifting was the method. If you weren't using bait you weren't putting fish in the boat. Jigs caught mostly cod today. Flys caught all the pollock.
Dave Burton (MA) was high hook. His largest fish was a 7 pound pollock, the third largest fish of the trip. Rich Morrell (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10 pound cod. He also caught the second largest fish, a 7.5 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Dana Decormier (NH) caught the largest haddock we have seen this weekend, a 4.5 pounder. Karen Baldwin (ME) landed the hard luck award for getting a mild case of the mal de mer.
Dave Burton donated $50.00 to sponsor me, yet again, in the Pan-Mass Challenge before the "Bunny" left the dock this morning. And he has donated many times this season so far. I do appreciate all the support you give me, Dave. Thank you!
At 2:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 46°F, the sky was clear, there was a very light breeze from the northwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
For the first five miles after leaving the gate to Perkins Cove in our wake, the air temperature was 46°F. It wasn't until just after that that the air temperature started to slowly increase. The air temperature didn't even reach 55°F until we were almost to the fishing grounds. The sky was clear. The visibility was excellent. We had very light northwest wind for the first ten miles and very light southerly wind about half way there. The ocean surface was smooth over a two to three foot short roll from the east. It was a very comfortable ride.
On the grounds, the ocean was glassy to start. An hour later we had just the lightest of wind from the south, just a ripple on the surface. The wind steadily increased from the south. At noon, we had about eight knots of wind from the south. Later, the wind hauled out of the southwest and blew up to fifteen knots. Seas were a couple feet in chops before we started the trek home. The air temperature got as high as 58°F. The visibility ranged to thirty miles or more. The tide was moderate. The sky was cloudless. The surface water temperature reached a high of 52.7°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 62°F (with a low of 48°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 40°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 66°F (with a low of 42°F).
The fishing was very good, marred only by the larger number of dogfish that we caught. The fishing would have been excellent otherwise. The catching was excellent, a fish a cast. Landings were very good.. It was an excellent day for an angler who wanted to bring a bunch of fillets home. Most legal fish landed were pollock, so many that we could not catch anything else for a while. So we had to move away from them to find other species. Even then we caught some pollock continually. Legal landings also included forty-one haddock, five redfish, seventeen cusk, five redfish and twelve whiting. Released fish included sixty-three dogfish, ninety-two cod of 5 pounds or more, seven small cod, six sub-legal haddock, forty-five sub-legal pollock, a porbeagle shark, a couple cusk and a couple whiting. We drift fished all day. It was perfect for all but the last hour. Even then, we were catching so many fish there was no need to go to another method. Jigs and flies caught the most pollock. Only two anglers were using bait. Tony Atchinson (NH) did the best and caught nearly half of all the haddock caught on the boat today. Tony could have been high hook overall.
I honestly couldn't tell you who was high hook. I could name a few who didn't catch the most legal fish. But there were so many others who could have been, I honestly just couldn't guess. Brandon Stevens (VT), who was one of the anglers who could have been high hook, won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 16.25 pound cod. This was the first fish hooked today! This is the fourth largest cod that has been caught on the Bunny Clark this season so far. Brandon caught the most haddock with a jig. I weighed two of his haddock. Both were 4.5 pounds each. Two of his pollock weighed 11.25 pounds and 12 pounds.
Tim Adams (NH) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 14.25 pound pollock. Tim also caught our largest haddock of the year today, a 7.5 pound Maine state trophy. I took a picture of Tim with his trophy haddock. This digital image appears on the left. The haddock in the picture would have looked much bigger had Tim not been the biggest guy we have had on the boat in a week! It was a big framed fish that was thin. So it could have weighed much more had it been caught during peak spawn.
Tony Atchinson won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the third largest fish, a 13 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Mike Pearson (MA) caught a 10.5 pound pollock. I believe that he might have caught one slightly bigger but not over 11 pounds. Kevin White (ME) caught an 11 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Emile Gallant (ME) caught the largest double of the day. His catch included a 12.5 pound pollock and a 10 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. Todd Adams (NH) caught an 11.5 pound pollock, his best fish. Anthony Benson (VT) boated a 12 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Dan Wescom (VT) tossed a cod back that looked to be 13 or 14 pounds, or big enough to win one of the boat pools. But he didn't want to wait for me and sacrifice the fish's life. So he tossed it back. No good turn ever goes unpunished, it seems! The two biggest fish if his that I weighed included an 11.25 pound cod and a 12 pound pollock. Brian Stevens (VT) caught the largest whiting of the day at 2.5 pounds, our fourth largest whiting of this season so far. His largest pollock weighed 11 pounds. Dan Demers (VT) landed a double that included an 11 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock. He also caught another 11 pound pollock and an 11.5 pound cod.
Jonny Stevens (VT) caught our second largest haddock at 6 pounds. His biggest fish was a 12 pound pollock. Dan Perkins (VT) boated a 12 pound pollock, an 11 pound pollock and a 9.5 pound cod (which he released, of course). Twelve year old Brayden Middlemiss (VT) caught a double that included a 9.5 pound pollock and a 10.5 pound pollock. I honestly thought it was a halibut. The line was peeling off the reel and the line was straight up and down, as the line would be if a halibut were on the end of it. Everyone else's line was trailing off with the drift. Of course, I had everyone reel up only to find out, in the end, that it was two pollock. But it was exciting at the time. Brayden caught the largest cusk of the day at 9.5 pounds. Eleven year old Gunner Middlemiss (VT) caught a 9.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. This was a feat as he was sea sick all day long. The fact that he caught anything amazed me as he was hurling over the rail most of the time or looking like he was going to! He landed the hard luck award t-shirt for his condition. I would have also given him the shirt for his effort!
I received three donations sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising cycling event called the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Those anglers and their donations included Sam Theodosopoulos (WA) for a generous $120.00 in the form of a "eGift" through the PMC site, Todd Adams for $30 and Dan Perkins for $50.00 in memory of Chris Bennett (VT). Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. It means a lot to me but it means more to those researchers I support and to those of waning hope.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 50°F, the sky was clear, the wind was out of the southwest at fifteen knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good in some haze. The visibility stayed in the very good category all day. It never really got clear enough to say there was no haze. The haze stayed with us. And that's what you get with southerly wind, which was today's wind direction. It didn't start blowing out of the south until mid morning. From then onward, the wind blew out of the south. Wind speeds were about fifteen knots, more or less, all day. We had twenty knot gusts at 5:00 PM. But that was the highest it got. From what I could gather, seas on the fishing grounds were two to three feet. Nothing horrible. The sky was clear all day, cloudless all morning. The highest air temperature that I saw was 72°F which, to me, is the perfect air temperature. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 77°F (with a low of 49°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 71°F (with a low of 48°F).
Aside from provisioning the boat for tomorrow's marathon trip, I worked at the restaurant. Almost all my time was spent in the office doing desk work. The majority of my time was spent working on getting the spread sheets up to date. And I did that. I did walk the floor a couple of times greeting guests and, generally, talking to patrons.
At 2:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 58°F, the sky was clear, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean seemed very good.
We had a fairly easy ride to the fishing grounds. The wind was out of the southwest about twelve knots for the whole ride out. Seas were chops of two feet or less. The sky was hazy clear. The visibility was very good. The air temperature hung around 56°F for the whole ride.
On the grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at ten knots. Seas were chops of a couple feet, probably helped along with the current prevalent in that area. But the wind had no teeth. As soon as we moved inside of the area, around noon, the wind and seas dropped dramatically. We were left with three knots of wind with a ruffle on the surface. There was a bit of a long swell but it wasn't very big. The air temperature reached a high of 62°F. The sky was cloudless all day. The tide (current) was moderate to light. The visibility ranged to twenty miles in some haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 53.8°F. [On the ride home we saw surface water temperatures up to 57°F.].
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 84°F (with a low of 59°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 93°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 84°F (with a low of 52°F).
The fishing was very good, if you don't like dogfish, excellent if you did. There were plenty of them today, the most I have seen on a trip this season. Thankfully, we didn't see as many as we could have because the other fish were more aggressive. The catching was excellent even if you didn't include the dogfish. Landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Most were in the 10 pound class. Legal landings also included sixty-four haddock, twelve cusk and five whiting. Released fish included three porbeagle sharks, about a hundred dogfish (I got an actual count of ninety-six but I know I missed quite a few of them, particularly those dogfish caught in the bow.), ten cusk, a wolffish (our fourth for the season), fourteen cod of 5 pounds or more, eleven short cod, eight sub-legal haddock, twenty-five short pollock, a whiting and a lamprey eel. We drift fished for every stop. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish, including the haddock. But bait also worked well.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook. If I had to pick someone, I probably would have picked two instead, Dave Burton (MA) and Matty Clark (MA). Matty was fishing in the bow pulpit while Dave was fishing in the cockpit. I spent most of my time in the cockpit with Dave and patrons. I never did see him get a dogfish, although he must have at times. He caught very few small fish. And the only tangle he had was on the last drift of the trip. He caught one or two good sized fish at a time on every drop until the last two stops of the day. At that point, everyone stopped catching fish with the frequency we had been catching them. Two of the pollock that I weighed for Dave included an 11 pounder and a pollock that weighed 12.25 pounds. Matty, on the other hand, was doing the same. I couldn't pay as much attention to Matty. But, every time I did, he was croaking the fish. Matty was never tangled and he helped others in the bow (as Mark LaRocca (NY) did) getting the fish aboard.
Mark LaRocca won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish of the trip, a 15 pound pollock. He also won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the third largest fish, a 14 pound pollock. Two other fish of his that I weighed included an 11.75 pound pollock and a 12 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 14.5 pound pollock caught by Jesse Hampshire (VT). Jesse didn't enter the boat pool for the second largest fish.
Matty Clark (MA) and Brian Leavitt (NH) tied for the boat pool for the third largest fish, two pollock of 13 pounds each. The fish, however, tied for the fifth largest of the day. The fourth largest fish was a 13.5 pound pollock caught by Justin Brickett (ME) who didn't enter the boat pool for the third largest fish. Mattie caught the first good double of the day with two pollock. One weighed 9 pounds and the other weighed 12.25 pounds, both fish on the same line at the same time.
Scott Leavitt (NH) tied our second largest haddock of the season, so far, today. His haddock was a 7.25 pound Maine state trophy. Again, like our last trophy the other day, this was long and thin. I swore that I was going to be weighing a 9 pound haddock when I saw it come over the rail. The haddock had a large frame but it was fairly thin from spawning out. This is the largest haddock that Scott has ever caught. I took a picture of Scott holding his prize. This digital image appears on the right.
Other Angler Highlights: Ed Robichaud (FL) caught an 11 pound pollock, one of his biggest fish. Jim Akerman (NH) boated an 11 pound pollock and an 11.5 pound pollock. Doug Paul (NH) caught the largest cod of the day at 11 pounds. Mark Coleman (NY) probably had the biggest double of the day. His double included a 12 pound pollock and a 10 pound pollock. Mark also caught the largest whiting, weighing in at 2 pounds.Chris Mikulski (MA) caught two haddock of 5 pounds each. John McKrick (NH) landed the hardest luck of the day award for getting into the worst tangle I have seen in a long time. My memory isn't good enough to qualify that statement.
I received four donations sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising efforts with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Those anglers and their donations included Dave Burton for another generous $100.00, Matty Clark for a generous $80, Mark Coleman for $50.00 (Mark has sponsored me since 2007!) and Brian Leavitt for $35.00. Thank you all so very much for your continued support. Without you I would be nothing. Much appreciated!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 64°F, the sky was mostly cloudy, there wasn't enough wind to write about, the ocean along the shore was calm and the visibility over it was very good.
Ashore, the wind was light and variable all morning and through most of the afternoon. The sky was cloudy to start with but cleared by 8:00 AM. But throughout the later morning and into the afternoon a thick haze crept in, giving the sun a dim glow through it. Right around 6:00 PM, the wind came out of the northeast at forty knots for about five minutes. It settled back to about twenty knots sustained. Dark clouds rolled in from the west. By 6:30 PM, we had light rain that turned into heavy rain about a half hour later. It rained, heavy and light, for nearly an hour followed by drizzle. The northeast wind blew about twenty knots into the night. The visibility over the ocean was good in a thick haze. The highest air temperature that I saw was 87°F. It was hot but it wasn't muggy. I was surprised how comfortable it felt. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 83°F (with a low of 57°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 94°F (with a low of 58°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 85°F (with a low of 54°F).
On the fishing grounds, there was no wind all day. The ocean was calm. The air temperature reached a high of 75°F under the canopy top. On deck, it was hot, uncomfortable. The sky was sunny for the whole time fishing. The tide (current) was light. The visibility ranged from three to five miles in a thick haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 63°F, by far the highest surface water temperature that we have seen this season so far.
I would qualify the fishing as good, only. I say that because calm weather does nothing for the bite. I view it as "lulling fish to sleep", which is certainly an anthropomorphic statement. That brought the fishing down one category notch. The dogfish and the uncomfortably warm air temperatures brought it down another notch. The catching was excellent as there were many small fish that were caught. Landings were good. They could have been better had the anglers not caught so many small fish. Most legal fish landed were whiting, an unprecedented number that we haven't seen ever on the Bunny Clark. Legal landings also included forty-eight haddock, seven pollock, a cusk and ten mackerel. Released fish included eight cod over 5 pounds, forty small cod, forty-eight dogfish, forty sub-legal haddock, over one hundred and fifty sub-legal pollock, a porbeagle shark, a cunner, a red hake and a mackerel. Drifting was the method - they had no choice. All terminal gear was equally successful.
Ian didn't write down who was high hook with the most legal fish. Nor did I remember to ask him. I should have asked Tyler but I didn't do that either. Terry Moeller (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 7 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 6 pound cod caught by Brian Tufts (FL).
Other Angler Highlights: Denis Talic (VT) landed the hard luck award for catching a bit of the mal de mer and for getting tangles.
I received two donations sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge today, a cycling event to raise money for cancer research with the Jimmy Fund (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts). Scott Bradway (MA) donated $50.00 while Carol Demers (NH) donated $30.00. Thank you both very much for your support and thoughtfulness. I appreciate this very much as do the researchers I support!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the sky was overcast, it was drizzling rain, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at twenty five knots with higher gusts and the visibility over the ocean fair in haze, precipitation and spume.
The wind blew out of the northeast all day. Wind speeds ranged from twenty-five to thirty knots with no discernable change in velocity all day long. It rained in the morning, stopped in the later morning and started up again around 1:00 PM and continued on for the rest of the afternoon. Most of the time the rain was not hard. The visibility over the ocean remained fair for all but the later part of the morning, where it seemed good. The sky was overcast for the day, regardless of whether it was raining or not. The highest air temperature that I saw was at 5:00 AM. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 57°F - at 12:43 AM - (with a low of 47°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 59°F - at 12:09 AM - (with a low of 48°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 55°F - at 12:03 AM - (with a low of 45°F).
Today was a day of less business at the restaurants, being on the floor talking to restaurant patrons and in one office or the other working on one computer or the other. It was not a great day to do anything outside. I did secure storm lines on the Bunny Clark only because, otherwise, the float holding two boats would only be secured by one line forward and another aft. With a little surge it seemed a better idea to have backup lines attached. This is a very minor noreaster. But you never know what surprise might be lurking beneath the water.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 45°F, the sky was mostly overcast, it was drizzling rain, the wind was blowing out of the north northeast at twenty knots and the visibility over the ocean was good. Boon Island could be seen as a hazy image nine miles away. By 7:00 AM, we had drying conditions with not a bit of drizzle in sight. And it stayed that way until 10:30 AM, when it started to rain again. It rained lightly and periodically all day after that. The roads never did dry out. Although we did see the sun through the clouds at one point. That one point lasted for about ten minutes. The wind blew out of the northeast or north northeast all day. Wind speeds averaged about twenty knots with some higher gusts at times and some lighter winds of about fifteen knots. Even in the rain, the visibility was good. It was cool all day. The highest air temperature that I saw was 50°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 55°F (with a low of 47°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 54°F (with a low of 46°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 50°F - at 11:59 PM - (with a low of 43°F).
I got up at 2:30 AM this morning. Don't ask me why. I just felt like it was time to get up. Normally, I get up at 3:00 or 3:30 AM. At 8:00 AM, after I got all the work done at the Cove, in the restaurant office, I went home. I was falling asleep when I walked through the door. I get like that with day after day of getting five hours of sleep. So I went back to bed for an hour.
The rest of the day was spent at the restaurant. If Monday isn't a holiday, I leave the restaurants early on Sunday. So I was back home at 6:10 PM tonight. It was not a busy day today. The weather put the boots to that. But we had many nice patrons today. And it was fun talking to them all, the best part of the restaurant business.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 50°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining lightly, the wind was blowing out of the north northeast just shy of twenty knots and the visibility over the ocean was good, despite the rain. More later.
We have room on some upcoming trips: The Tim Tuesday marathon trip of June 6 has two fishing spots available, the extreme day trip of Wednesday, June 7, has five fishing spots available, the marathon trip of Thursday, June 8, has thirteen fishing spots available, the extreme day trip of Friday, June 9, has nine fishing spots available and the extreme day trip of Sunday, June 11, has six fishing spots available. The fishing has been good to excellent lately with mix of haddock and pollock, a lot of whiting and the potential of getting a halibut at times. We are starting to see some dogfish but there aren't very many yet. It's more than just be there or be square! It's more like be there or miss a great fishing opportunity!
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