The 2017 Bunny Clark Guestletter

We did not introduce any major new improvements on the Bunny Clark for the 2016 fishing season. The earnings were down after the 2015 fishing season. And I had no new ideas that I thought might be significant enough to improve the fishing on the Bunny Clark. So we cut back on our winter projects before the 2016 season to save funding. And we concentrated on the Bunny Clark cosmetics, as we normally do. But this was more a singular event rather than part of a bigger package of events moving forward. With the extra free time, Ian Keniston and Jared Keniston, who would normally be spending all winter on the Bunny Clark, instead, worked with Larry Paul and his construction company, Atlantic Mechanical, on the foundation and underpinning of Barnacle Billy's (original restaurant). There, they helped replace all the pilings holding the deck, replaced eleven "I" beams with new galvanized ones, all new floor joists, replaced half of the concrete foundation with new and many other items too many to mention. All this during a winter that would have been my choice anyway had I been able to see into the future. I was very lucky! There was very little snow, virtually no ice in the Cove and few storms. It was a lot of hard work for both Ian and Jared. They were done by the Feburary 2016 so they could spend the rest of the time on the Bunny Clark.

We did have some unanticipated mechanical problems during the 2016 season. The first was a leak in a raw water cooling pipe on the new engine. This was the result of a minor design flaw that was discovered three miles out at the start of an offshore marathon trip. With the automatic bilge pump on early, an inspection of the engine room had me looking at salt water pouring out on the port side of the engine! Needless to say, the trip had to be canceled. Later in the month we had another leak in the salt water overboard discharge section. Both of these problems turned out to be electrolysis problems, the later a function of age, the former a function of making a change in the system. The overboard discharge leak only meant looking around for parts in order to bypass the system, something we could complete between trips.

[The picture on the right is a shot of Don Spencer (VT) holding his 17.5 pound wolffish which he caught on a marathon trip in the middle of April. This was the third largest wolffish of the 2016 Bunny Clark fishing season. We are prohibited to keep or kill wolffish as a recreational angler. So we took a quick picture, weighed it and released it very much alive.) ]

During the middle of August, I had to change out a primary engine bilge pump. This was a pain in the neck. This mainly because I had to take out two other bilge pumps above it just to get to it. It's not a hard job, just a long job at a time of the day/year where I am tired and I can't complete the job until the boat is done for the day. On August 31st, Captain Jared Kenistoncalled me up at 5:30 AM to tell me that the sediment bowl of one of the Racor fuel filters had clear water in them. My first thought was that maybe the fuel truck had given us straight kerosine by mistake. A quick trip to the Cove confirmed the other thought I had; water in the fuel. What had happened was, the last time the boat was fueled the cap for the fuel fill popped off. Since the cap is flush with the deck and a deck mat resides on top of it, no one noticed. So the whole previous day salt water was running over the deck and into the fuel tank. Needless to say, we caught it just in time as the Racor filter would have automatically shut the engine down had we tried to run the engine. So another trip was canceled. Thankfully, Estes Oil (from York, Maine) went right into action, sent three men down with an electric pump, took out all the fuel, cleaned up the tank and had us going again so we could take the evening trip at 4:00 PM that same day! A week later I was in the bilge again changing out a broken float switch. At least this time I had much better access.

The only other mechanical issue came on the day we hauled the boat out at Kittery Point Yacht Yard, Kittery, Maine at the end of the season. I had asked my son, Micah, to help me steer the boat across the bay from Perkins Cove to Kittery. Micah was at the wheel for the whole journey. We had no problems during the process. When we hauled the Bunny Clark out of the water, I found that the cutlass bearing/outside stuffing box combination had lost the four bronze machine screws holding it in place and had slid down the propeller shaft and was resting against the forward hub of the propeller! Three of the machine screws were gone and the other was hanging on the hole in the stuffing box, ready to drop out. We noticed no vibration coming from Ogunquit. With a machine screw ready to drop, the only conclusion we could reach was that it had just happened! How lucky is that? Since we had the U. S. Coast Guard hull inspection this fall (required every two years), it was noted by the inspector. And we are addressing this now as I write.

Working with John & Elsa Tenczar at Fish-On Tackle, John came up with a single hook 16 ounce jig that we saw much success with at the end of the 2015 fishing season. I have been concerned over the years that the treble hook on our most popular jig, the Lavjig, was killing fish unnecessarily. Of most concern to me was the "gaffing" of sub-legal cod in the side while using it. Most of these cod were disemboweled in the process. John's model eliminated that. The single hook he came up with had a heavy enough wire gauge with the hook tip pulled slightly inward. So if you hooked a fish, it was 99.9% right in the mouth, there was no thought that the hook would bend and was plenty sharp enough for good penetration. Also, the hook provided a platform where you could slide one of the soft plastic "smart baits" on the hook. We used Mojo's black/gold flake "mullet" swim baits. And I have to tell you, we got better results than I ever expected. One of the best results was the landing of most of our biggest pollock in the fall of 2015. In fact, yours truly caught two pollock of 22 pounds each with very little fishing time on a trip that hosted less than a normal count of anglers. Those were the two biggest fish of the trip that day; no one else was using that jig style. Because of our success during the later part of the season before last, I figured this would be something anglers might go for last season. It didn't happen. I promoted it less last season. That must have been the difference. I will continue to use and improve on this concept in 2017. Until then, I buy most of my jigs from Fish-On Tackle. John can be reached at johnfishon@comcast.net.

As usual, two of the places I rely on most are Surfland Bait & Tackle, Newbury, Massachusetts (Kay Moulton, proprietor) and the Saco Bay Tackle Company in Saco, Maine. Kay is the last word when it comes to terminal gear, swivels, bait hooks, reel repair questions and rod building questions as it pertains to salt water fishing in New England. I buy all my swivels and bait hooks from Kay. I have very much enjoyed doing business with her since the early 1970's. Both of these places have been responsible for building excellent rods to my specifications. Saco Bay Tackle Company specifically builds a deep water jigging rod that is second to none with the Bunny Clark logo and my explicit stamp of approval. I also buy specialized line from them. Both businesses are top notch tackle stores, the best.

Our web site at http://www.bunnyclark.com continues to be the location where you can get information about the Bunny Clark operation on a daily basis during the season and off-season. We have a schedule and rates section, a photo section, a world records section and more. Our fishing update section provides anglers with up to date information on the daily catch, fish sizes, daily weather, angler deeds and fishery management information. This Guestletter resides on our web site along with some of my previous Guestletters. Although I can’t personally answer all the email that comes in associated with the site, our staff does a great job with this while also answering reservation questions and scheduling fishing dates. We are still not planning to use the email as a direct source of making reservations as the phone serves as a better means to take care of anyone on an equal basis.

[Fred Kunz (NH), shown left, has been one of the three best anglers to grace the deck of the Bunny Clark. In the shot on the left, Fred is shown holding a double keeper catch of haddock caught during a flat calm offshore trip. He caught these two haddock on the same line at the same time. I don't believe anyone on the Bunny Clark has ever caught as many haddock on a jig as Fred has. And when I saw his catch from the stern as I was looking to the bow, I knew I had to run up there with a camera. The larger of the two haddock weighed 5 pounds. Fred caught several haddock that size that day. ]

This is the fifth season that I haven't worked on my groundfish tagging program. This was due, in part, to a decrease in the cod population, our primary target fish, partly due to the fact that we couldn't keep cod for most of last season (and when we could it was only one cod per person) and partly because, with everything else going on, it was hard to spend my time aboard where it was most needed - with the customer. I am thinking of starting the program up again in 2017. This for the reason that the fish are getting bigger, the bigger fish survive better and are more mobile for better returns of on the tags. We shall see.

We maintain a healthy Maine state trophy program to recognize larger than normal fish. During the 2015 season Jason Collier (VT) came close to breaking the whiting IGFA All-Tackle world record with his 5 pounder. The fish just wasn't close enough. During the 2016 fishing season, the whiting, again, was the only species close to making world record status. But the largest one, a 4.1 pounder caught by Jon Griffin (MA), wasn't even large enough to beat Jason's fish the year before. We did catch some large barndoor skates last season. At this time, the barndoor skate is not accepted as a viable world record species. This is probably because of it's endangered species status. I will talk more about size relationships below with the accompanied trophy list. You may enjoy checking out all of our current and past world and state records by accessing the records link at http://www.bunnyclark.com or by going directly to http://www.bunnyclark.com/records.htm.

The Federal recreational fishing regulations were much more relaxed last year compared to the restrictions we had in 2015. For one, we were able to keep a cod a person last year during the months of August and September as opposed to 2015 when we could not keep a single cod. This stimulated interest to some degree. And our haddock regulations changed for the better as well. During the 2015 fishing season, we were only allowed to take three haddock per person with a minimum size of twenty-one inches and no retention of haddock during Wave 2 (March & April) and Wave 5 (September & October). Last season we were allowed to take fifteen haddock per person with a minimum size of seventeen inches with no retention of haddock during Wave 2 (March & April) but an open haddock season for the rest of the year. This move stimulated business to the point that the business became viable once more. It also made it much easier in policing the regulations during a trip.

For the 2017 fishing, the regulations will be more restrictive again. It won't be as bad as it was in 2015. But it won't be as good as it was in 2016 either. The reason for this is that we went over the recreational quota for cod that we are allowed to take in a recreational fishing season. The last couple of years the cod and the haddock were tied together. What I mean by this is the way we fish for cod and haddock puts pressure on both species to some degree. In other words, if you are fishing for one species you are going to put pressure on the other. There is no way to ensure, for instance, that you are not going to catch cod if you are going for haddock. Nor are you going to get into the minds of the captains who go for groundfish. The cod, therefore, is the big problem. According to the figures the recreational angler caught twice as many cod was we were allocated for the fishing season last year (fiscal 2016). It was clear by those who were designing the models that in order to have a fishery where we were catching both cod and haddock that they could not allow any more cod landings to take place in fiscal fishing year 2017. So right off the bat we were faced with a new season without cod, just like the 2015 fishing season.

What their models also showed was that keeping the haddock regulations the same as last year would still put cod landings over the minimum acceptance value needed to maintain low quota numbers. So, not only are we going to be saddled with another year of cod prohibition, we are also going to have to cut back on the haddock.

[I took this picture (right) on a marathon trip in early May at 8:15 AM. This digital image shows twenty-three year old Andrew Claehsen (NJ) with his 233.75 pound porbeagle shark. It took Andrew a full hour of the most excellent angling posture and technique to bring this fish to gaff. This was the first pelagic game fish he has ever caught and he accomplished this feat with a cod rod! ]

What this means for us is that the bag limit for haddock will still be 15 fish per person with a minimum size of 17" starting on April 15, 2017. On May 1, 2017, the beginning of the 2017 fiscal fishing year, the haddock bag limit will go down to 12 fish per person with the same minimum size limit. There will be a haddock prohibition starting on September 17, 2017 and extend until the end of October. We will be able to keep haddock again (12 fish bag limit & the 17" minimum size) starting November 1, 2017 until March 1, 2018, at which time it will close again to haddock until April 15, 2018. Cod will not be allowed to be landed (kept) from May 1, 2017 until May 1, 2018. At the time of this writing, there is a slim chance that the NMFS could tweak these regulations one way or the other. Nothing is totally set in stone yet. But I sincerely doubt that the regulations will be any different from the way I have described above.

We will not be limited in the areas we can fish except for the Whaleback Spawning Closure to the south and east of the Isles of Shoals. As in 2016: There will be a 12 inch minimum size on winter (blackback) flounder, a 19 inch limit on pollock (with no bag limit), a 9 inch limit on redfish (with no bag limit) and a 41 inch limit on halibut (same as 2016). Halibut landings are limited to one halibut per vessel per day Federally; state wise we are limited to five halibut per calendar year (Maine only). There is no size limit or bag limit on hake (both white, red & silver hake), mackerel and cusk. There is a minimum size of 54 inches (caliper fork length) for possessing mako sharks, porbeagle (mackerel) sharks & thresher sharks. You will be able to land a bluefin or two or three or four (per vessel) of an undetermined size (to be established at the beginning of the season on June 1, 2017). It is illegal to keep barndoor skates, eel pouts and wolffish.

The start date of April 13, 2017 has been determined as the date of our first fishing trip of the season, a marathon trip where I will be the captain and Captain Ian Keniston will be the deck hand. Jared Keniston could also be working that day. Sometimes Jared goes the first day, sometimes he doesn't. I have selected that date because I want to look around the fishing grounds, there should be plenty of redfish available. We can keep pollock. With the mild winter we are having we should see pollock early. And, of course, there is a good chance we will catch a halibut, see a big cod and get an idea of how the haddock fishing will be when we can keep them two days later. I love the first trip of the year. To me it's not the keeping of the fish that's most important. It's the catching!

As of this writing, the Omnibus Habitat Amendment is still in a state of flux within the NMFS. This amendment is the one that would restructure the closed areas, opening up many new areas of bottom to commercial fishing that have been closed since 1996 or even earlier. This was supposed to go to public hearing at some point in 2016. That never happened. I'm not sure what this means. The move was very controversial. At the time of the amendment's inception, the cod stocks were thought to be healthier than we know they are now. And the benefit of the closed areas to the increased haddock population wasn't a popular belief. Now, both of these situations are recognized as true. Opening new areas would mostly certainly hurt the cod population. And no one wants to lose the haddock again.

In last year's Guestletter I mentioned that there was a move to make the Cashes Ledge closed commercial fishing area and an area near the canyons to the east of Georges Bank a Marine National Monument. National Monuments are designated by Presidential Proclamation, via the Antiquities Act of 1906. The Act provides broad power to set aside public areas for protection, and requires no public process. On September 15, 2016, President Obama gave the area off Georges Bank Marine National Monument status but did nothing with Cashes Ledge closed area. By proclamation, President Obama took this area east of Georges Bank out of the control of the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC). Cashes Ledge, on the other hand, remains managed by the NEFMC. The NEFMC made the decision to close the Cashes Ledge area after 1996. The NMFS rubber stamped the decision. The area off Georges Bank covers 5,000 square miles and is labeled the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Presidential Proclamation denoted the “great abundance and diversity as well as stark geological relief” of the area as a reason for doing so. In plain terms, many of the conservation groups wanted the area closed because of the deep sea corals found there. I do support one of the conservation groups, the Conservation Law Foundation of Boston, Masschusetts, that worked on this project. And I do believe that the CLF is right in trying to keep the Cashes Ledge closed area free from commercial fishing. So do I. In fact, I helped the CLF make a video where I appear giving my thoughts on keeping Cashes closed. There is some beautiful underwater footage in this video. My fear is that making the Cashes Ledge closed area a Marine Monument could prohibit access for any user group in the future, including recreational anglers. On the other hand, a Cashes Ledge Marine Monument could do the area some good. For one it would prevent mid-water herring trawlers from gaining access into that area. These trawlers drag large nets of small mesh that not only catch the herring they are targeting but also catch the herring's predators including cod, whales, tuna, etc. As I told Tom Nies, the Executive Director of the NEFMC, when I was asked if I wanted to see Cashes Ledge as a Marine National Monument; if I thought that leaving the Cashes Ledge closed area in the hands of the NEFMC would mean that, at some future date, Cashes Ledge would be open to commercial activity, I would support a Marine National Monument designation in a heart beat. Right now the Cashes Ledge closed area allows recreational fishing of all kinds, tuna fishing, mid-water trawling and lobstering. The mid-water trawlers are, by far, the most detrimental fishery in New England and should not be allowed in any closed area of New England. Would it be worth making Cashes Ledge a Marine National Monument for this reason alone? The CLF wants a preservation guarantee. I've told you my thoughts.

Here are some other future fishery management challenges ahead of us in New England waters as it relates to our groundfish. These are problems that need to be addressed before we can have a healthy sustainable fishery:

[The digital image on the left was taken by Captain Jared Keniston near the end of May 2016. The angler is T. J. Jarvais (ME) holding the 66 pound halibut that he caught while fishing on a Bunny Clark extreme day trip with Captain Jared and Micah Tower (my son, and deck hand that day). This is the second largest halibut that has ever been landed by an angler on the Bunny Clark. This was T. J.'s first deep sea fishing trip. He caught it while using a bait rig with one of our jigging sticks. ]

These are just a small number of the challenges we face in the New England fishery. But I feel they are most germane to us. I was reluctant at first to put these last few paragraphs in this Guestletter as I did last year. But all of this is important to the recreational angler, our Bunny Clark groundfish fishermen. And it serves to educate those who may be less informed about what is happening in the waters around us. It also may give individuals knowledge they otherwise might not have if I didn't mention it. And it might bring more anglers into the fishery management process to argue against unfair practices that threaten to undermine the groundfish recovery plan. We need a healthy sustainable fishery for both recreational and commercial fishermen. This will not happen if we just stand by and watch.

As I feel that the greatest achievement in angling is the ability of a person to hook and land a trophy fish on their own, I have listed the guests who caught the top five largest of each significant species during the 2016 fishing season. Keep in mind that all the represented weights of these fish were taken aboard the Bunny Clark using a registered scale shortly after capture (the same way it has been done since our first fishing trip on the Bunny Clark in May 1983). I feel that this is the fairest comparison between the angler’s fish since weight loss is proportional to the amount of time the fish is out of water. This also makes the weight of every fish caught comparable through all the past and present Bunny Clark fishing seasons.

NAME (STATE)

FISH - lbs.

LENGTH X GIRTH (inches)

DATE CAUGHT

Steve Brown (ME)	Monkfish 15.5		09-28-16
Steve Kaczala (NJ)	Monkfish 10		10-7-16
Ally Fuehrer (ME)	Monkfish 9		10-3-16
Dan LaRoche (MA)	Monkfish 8		8-15-16
Gloria Gennari (MA)	Monkfish 8		9-25-16
Chandler St. Clair (ME)	Monkfish 8		10-9-16

Steve Selmer (NH) is shown on the right holding his 18.5 pound Maine state trophy cusk, caught during the summer on a Bunny Clark offshore fishing trip. This was our fifth largest cusk of the 2016 season.

Rodney Lensing (IA)	Barndoor Skate 26.5*		10-3-16
Rich Gargan (NY)	Barndoor Skate 24*		9-8-16
John Baker (ME)	Barndoor Skate 22*		9-21-16
Kurt Gilmore (MA)	Barndoor Skate 19*		9-20-16
Chris LeBlanc (MA)	Barndoor Skate 18.5*		9-18-16

Rob Provost (MA)	Redfish 2.5	17 X 13	6-14-16
Ron Anderson (MA)	Redfish 2.25	17.5 X 13	6-14-16
Neil Chamberlin (NH)	Redfish 2.25	16.75 X 12.75	11-1-16
Ron Anderson (MA)	Redfish 2.1		6-14-16
Bryan Lewer (ME/FL)	Redfish 2	17 X 12	7-12-16
Travis Mahon (ME)	Redfish 2	17.25 X 12.5	9-1-16
Katie Baumann (MA)	Redfish 2	16.5 X 13	10-6-16

Mike Salvatore (MA)	Wolffish 21.5***		10-13-16
Mark Jolin (MA)	Wolffish 18***		6-14-16
Don Spencer (VT)	Wolffish 17.5***		4-19-16
Keith O'Rourke (RI)	Wolffish 16***		9-4-16
Ryan Smith (ME)	Wolffish 14***		6-19-16
Mark Carter (CT)	Wolffish 14***		7-19-16

The shot on the right is a picture of Grueys Reamos (PA) holding a double keeper catch of redfish which he caught on the April 21, 2016 marathon trip. We caught over 300 redfish that day for only seven anglers. This was one of two or three days during the season where we targeted redfish exclusively. The reason for redfish fishing on this date was that we could not keep haddock or cod. The redfish fishing was excellent in April of 2016. This is a very good eating fish.

Pat Sweenor (NY)	Pollock 25	39.5 X 23	9-15-16
Kurt Gilmore (MA)	Pollock 23.5		9-20-16
Karl Day (ME)	Pollock 23.5		10-20-16
Dave Sampson (MA)	Pollock 22.75		9-20-16
Dennis Pine (PA)	Pollock 22.5		10-13-16
Karl Day (ME)	Pollock 22.5		10-20-16

Bryan Lewer (FL/ME)	White Hake 40.5	46 X 31	7-12-16
Steve Selmer (NH)	White Hake 40	49 X 30	7-12-16
Ray Westermann (MA)	White Hake 38	42 X 28	7-12-16
Dave Gray (VT)	White Hake 37	46 X 29	7-12-16
Lewis Hazelwood (MA)	White Hake 37	44 X 28	7-12-16

Mark Lemieux (ME)

Haddock 7.25

28.5 X 16

5-26-16

The digital image on the right was taken during a full day trip in the middle of August 2016. The angler in the shot is Johan Halvorsen (ME) holding his 20 pound pollock while his father, Arne Halvorsen (ME), watches, while fishing, in the background. This is the largest fish that Johan has ever caught. The pollock was the twenty-third largest pollock of the 2016 Bunny Clark fishing season.

Jon Griffin (MA)	Whiting 4.1	26.5 X 10.25	10-27-16
Dave Symes (ME)	Whiting 3.5	24 X 10	9-29-16
Dennis Pine (PA)	Whiting 3	24 X 11	10-11-16
Dan Kelley (ME)	Whiting 2.9		10-20-16
Danielle Fowler (VT)	Whiting 2.75		7-23-16
Dave Lewis (PA)	Whiting 2.75		10-11-16
Frank Rippy (PA)	Whiting 2.75		10-11-16

Steve Selmer (NH)	Lobster 2**		6-30-16
David Archambault (NH)	Lobster 2**		7-1-16
John Baker (ME)	Lobster 1.25**		7-18-16

David MacDonald (MA)	Cusk 27.25	40 X 24	7-12-16
Dave Miller (MA)	Cusk 22	37 X 23	7-12-16
Bryan Lewer (FL/ME)	Cusk 20.5	39 X 20	7-12-16
David MacDonald (MA)	Cusk 19.25		7-12-16
Steve Selmer (NH)	Cusk 18.5	36.5 X 22	7-12-16

Bryan Lewer (FL/ME)	Cod 45.5***		7-19-16
Lewis Hazelwood (MA)	Cod 21.5***		7-19-16
Mike Wicks (NY)	Cod 21.5		8-8-16
Chris Albert (ME)	Cod 21.5		9-20-16
Dan Demers (VT)	Cod 19.5***		6-16-16

Bryan Lewer (FL/ME), shown right, runs his own charter fishing business out of Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine in the summer. When I can tease him away from his business and get him on the Bunny Clark, he is capable of catching some wonderful fish. Case in point, he is shown here holding his 45.5 pound cod which he caught on the Special Offshore Fishing Trip in July 2016. This is the largest cod he has ever caught. It's also the largest cod that has been caught on the Bunny Clark since Liam Kennedy (NJ) caught a 47.5 pound cod during the marathon trip of May 19, 2011! Special anglers, like Bryan, are the kind of special individuals we like to see sailing on the Bunny Clark!

T. J. Jarvais (ME)	Halibut 66	54	5-22-16
Jack Rivers (ME)	Halibut 59	51	6-5-16
Luke Keniston (ME)	Halibut 35 - 45****	?	6-30-16
Gary Plourde (NH)	Halibut 27.25		6-30-16
Chris Helander (ME)	Halibut 24+**		7-11-16

Andrew Claehsen (NJ)	Porbeagle Shark 233.75	77.5 X 43	5-10-16
Mark Laroche (VT)	Porbeagle Shark 135	69	5-25-16
Adam Abel (CT)	Porbeagle Shark 55	54	6-1-16

Where there is a tie in fish size, anglers are arranged in order of the date caught.

* Barndoor skates are presently on the endangered species list. All the skates listed were released back to the ocean alive after a quick picture of the angler with his/her fish.

** These fish (lobsters) were sub-legal or illegal to keep and released back to the ocean alive.

*** Federal regulation has prohibited the retention of wolffish for a few years now. Federal regulations for 2016 also prohibited the retention of cod during the 2016 season, except during the months of August & September.

**** We had already boated a smaller legal halibut. Federal law prohibits retention of more than one halibut per trip!

[On the left is a digital image of Fourteen year old Erin Harris (MA), our best young angler (under 18 years old) and our female angler of the 2016 fishing season. This digital image was taken on June 16, 2016 during a marathon trip. At the time this picture was taken, Erin was fighting a 14.5 pound pollock. That pollock was the second largest fish of the trip that day.]

[The picture on the right is a digital image of FY '16 Jon "Griff" Griffin holding his 32 pound Maine state trophy white hake, the pool winning/largest fish of the October 6, 2016 marathon trip and the Bunny Clark's ninth largest hake of the season. Griff is normally a pretty fishy guy but he was the fishiest off all the Bunny Clark patrons last season!]

[The digital image, left, shows FY '16 Jon "Griff" Griffin holding his 22 pound pool winning (and largest fish of the trip) pollock, caught on the October 27, 2016 marathon trip. On that same day, Griff caught the forth largest whiting that has ever been landed off the Bunny Clark.]

Fisherman of the Year (FY-’16): Jon "Griff" Griffin (MA) wins this award for the second time in as many seasons. He has been close for many years including fourth place in 2014 and third place in 2013. The last two years were the first two years he has won this award.

[The shot on the right is a digital image of Katie Baumann and, dory mate, Jon Griffin holding double keeper catches of pollock that they caught almost simultaneously on the marathon trip of October 6, 2016. Of course, a double is a catch with two fish caught on the same line at the same time, quite a feat with such big fish and only 60 pound test leader line. Katie's double included one pollock of 19.5 pounds and one of 8 pounds while Griff's double included a 16 pound pollock and a 17 pound pollock, a tie for the third largest double of the Bunny Clark fishing season, officially.]

Before I end this Guestletter, I want to cite those anglers and experiences of note that deserve an honorable mention for their uniqueness and/or fishing prowess during the 2016 Bunny Clark fishing season. I realize that this is a value judgment on my part but I believe that my conclusions are recognized as a popular opinion and/or statistical fact among my crew and fishing guests and are based on many fishing trips and many seasons in the business. These special anglers and incidents are as follows:

As most of you know by now, the FY award is based on a point system that relates to specific achievements during each trip for a season on the Bunny Clark. Each achievement is worth a set of points. The individual with the most points at the end of the season wins. In order to compete in this category, you have to have paid for and completed at least 10 different trips on the Bunny Clark. I have had many excellent anglers who fish with us on a regular basis every season, any one of whom has the potential to become the Fisherman of the Year. Griff was the man again last season. Griff did very well in a number of categories that lead him to the top. He was the fisherman of the day (high hook and largest fish on the same trip) more times than any other angler, he tied with Jack Judge (CT/ME) for the most boats pools last season, he tied for the third largest, official, double keeper catch of the Bunny Clark season, he caught the largest whiting of the year (and fourth largest all time Bunny Clark whiting), he tied for the seventh largest pollock of the Bunny Clark season, he landed the sixth, seventh, ninth, twelfth and twenty-eighth largest hake of the Bunny Clark season (four of these were Maine state trophies), he tied for the sixth largest cusk of the season (an 18 pound Maine state trophy) and he caught the second most trophy fish of the Bunny Clark fishing season. Griff is always in the running for the best angler in a season. I think the main reasons for this is his expertise (of course) but also his calm attitude, his love of the sport, the fun he has while angling and his ability to adapt when the fishing changes. Also, it doesn't hurt that he has the best dory mate sitting beside him on almost every trip in Ray Westermann. It's always a great pleasure to have these two anglers aboard. And it certainly gives me one of the best reasons to keep doing what I do. Congratulations, Griff. This award means a lot to me. I hope it means as much to you!

Griff's total point count was 92, nine more points than he won with last season. Ray Westermann came in second place with a point total of 70. Ray was second last year as well. This year he finished with 26 more points than last year. Because both anglers were less than 30 points apart I had to add comparative value points (CVPs), something I didn't have to do last year. This is accomplished by comparing only the trips where they fished together and doubling the FY points each angler receives and adding these points to the current total. In some cases it can be a difference maker when two anglers only fish on the same trip a few times a year. In this case, it just increased the difference between the two anglers, giving Griff the majority of the extra points. This added 51 more points to Griff's figure above while only adding 26 points to Ray's total. Jack Judge (ME/MA) was third with 49 points, these points attained without a single trophy fish and the first time that Jack has been in the top five anglers for an Bunny Clark FY designation. Lewis Hazelwood was fourth with 43 points. Norm Herrick (MA/ME) was fifth with 37 points - and not a single Maine state trophy that would have added 3 points a fish!

Female Angler of the Year: Fourteen year old Erin Harris (MA) got the nod for last season. The season before she came in second but was beaten by Katie Baumann (MA) because Katie had two particularly large Maine state trophy fish (a 36.25 white hake - the fourth largest hake of the 2015 season & a 21.25 pound cusk the second largest cusk of the 2015 season) that put her over the top. This year Katie, again, caught a Maine state trophy, a 2 pound redfish. But it wasn't enough to garner the points that Erin totaled in other categories. Erin had one slow trip. In any kind of data sample collection, this would be called an outlier and thrown out of the study. So this is what I did (and do in other cases - including fishery management data sets). Erin was high hook or nearly so in every other trip she attended. She is a gifted angler. This, I'm sure, has a lot to do with her father, Dave Harris (MA), who has been taking her fishing for years and is an excellent fisherman himself. My fondest hope is that Erin keeps fishing when she gets out of her teens and her body gets stronger. On one trip, a marathon trip in late June, the trip that put her over the top for this award, she shared high hook and caught the second, third and fourth largest fish of the trip. Because we were targeting pollock, she rigged up for pollock and caught more big pollock than any angler aboard on that trip. Her competition that day, Tim Rozan (ME), tied her in fish count but his count was mostly cod which he was fishing for (as well as for haddock). At that time of year we could not keep cod. So if you consider legal fish to take home, Erin caught the most. I've been amazed by this girl for two years in a row. But until I had her on a trip where I was the captain (that didn't happen in 2015) I didn't realize how good she really was. Congratulations, Erin! I certainly hope I see you aboard this coming season!

[In the digital image, left, FY '16 Jon "Griff" Griffin can be seen holding the fourth largest whiting that has ever been landed off the Bunny Clark. This is a species of fish I am really looking to come back in a big way in our fishery.]

Most Aces: For those who don’t know, an angler scores an Ace when he or she lands the three (or more) largest fish during a single trip. There can be no ties in fish size with other anglers in order to achieve true “Ace” status. There was only one Ace landed during the 2014 fishing season, six Aces in 2013 and not a single Ace in 2012. The 2012 season was the first season that the Bunny Clark didn't see a single Ace. The 2015 season was the second! During the 2016 fishing season there was only one Ace. This Ace was caught by Ron Schofield (NY) on a full day trip with Captain Ian Keniston. His three largest fish for the trip included a 14 pound pollock, a 13 pound pollock and a 12 pound pollock. The fourth largest fish on that trip was an 11 pound pollock. The last time an Ace was caught was on April 17, 2014, almost two years and four months earlier. The angler who caught the Ace that day was none other than Ray Westermann!

Most Trophy Fish (including hake over 15 pounds, cod & pollock over 20 pounds, redfish 2 pounds or more, haddock of 7 pounds or more and the fish seldom caught with rod & reel including monkfish, barndoor skates, whiting, torpedo rays, porbeagle sharks, bluefin tuna, wolffish & halibut) of the Season: Ray Westermann caught the most with a count of nine. Jon Griffin and Bryan Lewer tied for second place with eight trophy fish each. Steve Selmer took fourth place with seven trophy fish. And Dave Miller and Lewis Hazelwood tied for fifth place with four trophy fish each.

Top Five Largest Fish of the Bunny Clark Season: Andrew Claehsen caught the largest with the 233.75 pound porbeagle shark. Mark Laroche came in second with his 135 pound porbeagle shark. T. J. Jarvis was third with his 66 pound halibut. Jack Rivers was fourth with his 59 pound halibut. Adam Abel was fifth with his 55 pound porbeagle shark.

Most Trophy Fish during a Trip: Bryan Lewer was number one with seven trophy fish in one trip. Bryan only sailed with us for two trips last season. In those two trips he caught the biggest cod of the year (and many years) and the largest hake of the year. Steve Selmer and Ray Westermann tied for the second most trophy fish during a single trip with six each. Dave Miller and Jon Griffin tied for third place with four trophy fish each, all four caught on a single trip.

[The picture on the right is a shot of Steve Brown holding his 15.5 pound monkfish which he caught on a particularly rough northeast wind day. This was the largest monkfish caught on the Bunny Clark during the 2016 fishing season. Digital image taken by Captain Jared Keniston.]

Most Pools (largest fish of the trip): Jack Judge, Frank Noble (ME) & Jon Griffin all tied for the largest fish of the trip three times. Andrew Kerns (PA), Bryan Lewer, Chuck Lennon (MA), Norm Herrick, Hank Small (NH), Nick Rello (NJ) and John Russell (ME) tied for second place with a count of two pools each. Incidently, Norm Herrick probably would have won two more pools but his wife, LuAnne, won once and Norm's son, Robert (MA), won on another trip that Norm was on!

High Hook: Norm Herrick was high hook (the most legal fish on a trip) on eight different trips, the most for an angler during the 2016 Bunny Clark fishing season. Fred Kunz (NH) & Jack Judge tied for second place with four counts each. Tim Williams (CT), Frank Noble, Ray Westermann, Steve Brown & Steve Selmer tied for third place with three counts each.

Hardest Luck: The hardest luck of the year goes to Joe Dressner (NY) while on an extreme day trip in late May. He had laid his rod on the rail with his jig over the side for just a second when a roll of the boat and the weight of his terminal tackle flipped it over the side. There was very little line left out so there was nothing to catch by dragging another jig on the bottom through the area where he lost it. Sad thing is I can still see that rod and all the fish Joe used to catch with it. I'm sure Joe can still see it too! Unfortunately, unless someone else returns it to him, he'll only see it in his imagination!

Second goes to Cameron Fournier (ME) who, during an offshore marathon trip, fought a twenty-five foot piece of two and a half inch (diameter) tug hawser (rope) from the bottom. It took him a full half hour of fighting (and coaching) to bring this "monster" to gaff. I don't think it killed him. In fact, I know it didn't. But it did put a little damper in his day when he found out it was not the big halibut we were all expecting!

[Rich Gargan (NY) can be seen on the left, holding up his 24 pound barndoor skate before releasing it back to the ocean alive. Before 2008 we had never seen a barndoor skate on the Bunny Clark. Now it's not unusual to see one caught. Rich's was the second largest barndoor caught on the boat last season and only two pounds shy of the fourth largest barndoor skate we have ever seen.]

I don't know if you can measure the magnitude of someone's mal de mer. Certainly Charles Darwin has to be a prime example of the worst. He claimed that, from his voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle, he never got over his sea sickness after the voyage was over - for the rest of his life! Certainly Donna Moran's (NY) claim that she hurled nineteen times on one Bunny Clark fishing trip last year is not cheery news. But I have to say, if I was going to bring up the worst example of someone being sea sick last season, the one I think who had it really bad was Chen Nhath (MA) during the June 9, 2016 marathon trip. She is the mother (and I say "is" because she did survive) of one of our semi-regular anglers. It was choppy out of the southwest that day. She didn't feel great on the way out. But she totally lost it once we stopped. Never wetting a line and not daring to go below, she laid between two fish boxes all day and was deathly ill for the entire trip and the ride back in. Today she would probably tell you that she thought she was going to die. And I believe that half way through the day she was hoping she would die and get it over with! But she did make it back to the dock. And she left the boat of her own volition. Probably, never to come back again. The sad part is, I never got to talk to her. Nor was I able to encourage her to fish!

Most Improved Angler: George Smart (NY) is the one I chose to receive this accolade for 2016. George has been noted, indeed marked, for his tangles over the course of the last few years. He uses a color of Spectre line that is the hardest to see in the water, dark green. And, in the past, it had appeared to me that he had no clue. In fact, the first time I had George on the boat, I spent most of the day sitting next to him on the bench seat working on his tangles. I also said something that I shouldn't have said that day, in frustration. And it left me wondering, after he left the boat, if I would ever see him again. But he did come back and he's been a great patron of ours ever since. The trip that stuck out in my mind was the marathon trip of June 2, 2016. George was perfect on that trip. What's most remarkable was that George Smart wasn't the "terrible tangler" I expected him to be. He was civil, kept to his fishing and had relatively few screw ups (He had a different expression for that!). George caught a lot of haddock, the largest of which was 5 pounds. I was impressed! And I am looking forward to seeing him this season with his usual gang! Until then, George, all the best.

Best Team: As I say every year, we have had some of the greatest fishing teams. In last year's Guestletter I wrote about a couple, Les & Linda Paul (ME), that will probably go down in Bunny Clark history as the best all time. They have been involved with a health problem that has prevented them from participating. I wish them well. Last year, we had two teams. One team, who I seem to always mention, was the team of Brian & Marian "Merv" Murphy (NH). They fished on the full day trips exlusively. The full day trip is a shorter trip. But their catch better reflected what you would see an angler land on the extreme day trips. And this is what made them shine in my mind. One of them usually wins the pool, is high hook or both. And they have an uncanny knack of making everyone who they fish around part of their fishing team. I can't say enough good about them. And it pains me that I am never aboard as the captain. So they are "the" team on the weekend trips they attend.

On the marathon and extreme day trips, Jon Griffin and Ray Westermann were the team last year. After all, they garnered more points toward fisherman of the year than any other angler. But more than that, they fish together, enjoy the trip together and just work well together. Special things happen when they are aboard. There is not much more I can say. It is always a great day when I see them carrying their gear down the ramp to the Bunny Clark before a fishing trip, knowing I will be with them until they leave the boat when we get back.

Exceptional Good Luck: Often times, from August through October, we have blue sharks around the boat, biting cod off the fishing lines as the terminal gear makes it's way to the surface. The fish is usually taken about half way from bottom. But I have been fooled at times when blue sharks will take a fish on a line right on the bottom. And normally, when very active, blue sharks will fin around the boat waiting to grab a fish from a line or a fish that is being returned. During the September 22, 2016 marathon trip, we had a similar situation with blue sharks. This was sporadic. After noon, a thresher shark started swimming around the bow. Now I have seen thresher sharks on fishing lines, finning away from the boat and jumping out of water as we travel from one place to another. But I have never been on a boat, looking down from the bow, and seen a sixteen or seventeen foot thresher shark swimming around behaving like a blue shark just under the surface. The thresher was actively pursuing the groundfish that were being brought up from the bottom on fishing lines - just like a blue shark! At one point it chased a cod to the surface, on Fred Kunz's line. Fred was fishing "the hoop", on the bow about two feet ahead of the wheel house. The thresher had turned and disappeared under the boat, heading aft after Fred swung the cod out of the water and into his grasp. Fred tossed the cod, probably about a 5 pounder, into the water ahead of the bow pulpit. The thresher came from out of nowhere, grabbed the cod in it's jaws and jumped completely out of the water about four feet from the bow pulpit! Never have I seen anything like this. After the jump we never saw that shark again. To me this is remarkable and memorable. And it's the first thresher shark I have really seen up close. Although we have hooked thresher sharks in the past, three to be exact, we have never been able to boat one. I feel very lucky that I was there to see such an event take place.

[The digital image, right, shows Steve Selmer holding, officially, the largest lobster that was caught on the Bunny Clark last season. Steve, a long time regular angler on the Bunny Clark, is one of the best. And it's always great to have him aboard. He has caught some of the best fish we have ever landed off the Bunny Clark. And his father, Ken, was one of the anglers I looked most forward to having aboard.]

The best luck of the year happened to me off the Bunny Clark last season. That was the moment when Sean Devich told me he would like to work as a deck hand last summer. I can't remember when I had heard any sweeter words spoken! We had been looking for a deck hand all spring. Nothing seemed to be working out. I had almost given up all hope when I got the word from Sean. Sean worked on the Bunny Clark as a deck hand before. But that isn't the best part. He was a great deck hand then. And I knew he would be even better. And he was. Soft spoken, kind, intelligent, informed, excellent fisherman, boat owner, respectful, etc. etc. These are only a few of the words I would use to describe him. He is a great boat handler and very much in tune to the role that Jared Keniston, Ian Keniston and I play. Anglers loved him. And why not? He rarely assumed anything, preferring to ask a patron first. And he was so good at everything in that position. Maybe he was slower in the beginning at filleting fish? But, if he was, I didn't really notice it. He was very good at filleting. That is what I try to harp on with new deck hands; be good at filleting first, you can always get faster later. And having Sean aboard couldn't have happened at a better time. Captain Ian Keniston had a health issue that had materialized in early May, the symptoms of which had been evident before had we known what to look for. So my son, Micah, had been helping out when Sean came on the scene. Captain Ian eventually got better and was in full capacity again by the end of the summer. At that time I would say that, collectively, the Bunny Clark had the best crew we have ever had on that boat. Sean continued to work for the whole season. He not only did a better job than even I expected, he gave me peace of mind. This allowed me to manage both the restaurants and the Bunny Clark unfettered by employee issues on the boat. Thank you, Sean. You made me a very happy man!

Quote of the Year: "Oops!" The word I would assume Ray Westermann said when in a ceremony at sea, in the process of releasing Chris Porter's ashes, Ray chose the moment when his position on the boat was into the wind. Upon liberating the ashes from the urn, the ashes were blown across the deck and on everyone who was involved. I guess you could say that Porter's best friends just didn't want to let him go. Or maybe, it was Chris' way of hanging on until the very end. Or maybe it was a sign that Chris wanted to be a part of one more fishing trip on the Bunny Clark. I would like to think it was the later! I really missed that guy last season. But there were many others who missed that guy a lot more and knew him much better than I! [See last years Guestletter, the In Memoriam section)

Most Unusual Catch: The most unusual catch was not actually a catch at all. It happened just before the sun came up or as the sun was coming up on the Ultra Marathon trip. Steve LaPlante (CT) was fishing in his usual position on the bow. He was using a jig, as he normally does. He took a cast in the direction the boat was drifting, the best direction to cast. I'm not sure if the jig even hit the water before the line started tearing out of his reel! My thought was that it was a bluefin tuna until it started to jump! And in so doing revealed itself as a thresher shark! That shark must have been at the surface right near where Steve had casted his jig. Threshers are mostly nocturnal feeders. Of the three times we have hooked up with one, two were at gray dawn, like Steve's. And one was near the edge of dark at dusk. We had a spectacular view of this fish. It jumped clear of the water about six times and then broke off! I was left speechless. This was only one of two times we encountered a thresher shark last season, the most of any season. But I have to tell you, it was quite a sight. I couldn't tell you how big the fish was. But it was certainly big enough for Steve to tell me that he didn't think he had a chance of landing that fish!

Unexplained Phenomena:

[The picture on the left was taken in mid July. The digital image shows Lewis Hazelwood (MA) holding his 37 pound Maine state trophy white hake which he caught that day. This hake tied with a hake caught by Dave Gray on the same day for the fourth largest hake of the Bunny Clark fishing season. Lewis did very well. And it was the first year that he was in the running for the Fisherman of the Year award.]

[The picture on the right is a shot of Mike "Sal" Salvatore holding the 21.5 pound wolffish which he caught on the offshore marathon trip of October 13, 2016. We weighed the fish, took a quick picture and released the fish back to the ocean alive.]

In Memoriam:
We lost three important individuals last year, two of natural causes and one in the line of duty. These people were important to me and to the fishing community. Only one was a customer of mine. All are big losses. This never used to be a part of my early Guestletters. But as I get older, the occurrences are becoming much too common, I'm sorry to say.

Much has been in the news media about our police all over our country. It has been fashionable to show videos of "police brutality" without any evidence of their authenticity or the reasons behind the video. This has been painting an inappropriate picture of the people who protect us in this country. I am not so naive as to think that everyone is perfect. And human emotion certainly plays a part in everything everyone does despite how professional or objective you try to be. We are human after all. But these men and women in the blue uniforms throughout our country are the protectors of our country. They are our domestic army fighting to give the ordinary person a safe place in which to live. They have families, same as we do. They have lives, same as we do. But they also put their lives on the line every day to protect us. Ron was one of those people. He was a good person. He was a family man. He was a friend. I do so hope his family gets through this tragedy, healing the deep wounds that have been created by one selfish individual. And God help us if we can't respect those who give their lives to protect us.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources has a recreational program headed by Bruce Joule from the West Boothbay Harbor lab. Every year he sends out researchers to ride on various fishing boats to collect recreational data. It's a fact finding mission, of course. But it's also meant to improve data collection so important to regulations affecting recreational anglers and businesses that rely on recreational anglers. The Bunny Clark has it's share of visits from Bruce's people. Cassie Nixon and Chris Uraneck are two of the few who we see on a regular basis. Both have been with us many times. They are the best - as are the others in Bruce's crew. We are hoping their good work leads the recreational fishery in the right direction. I am also hoping that the two Maine groundfish party boats in my area, one out of Wells and one out of Kennebunkport start allowing the DMR access on their boats and their fishing information. Without these boats, the DMR can't give us the whole picture. And, referencing my contemporaries again, I feel it's a bit selfish. Kind of like cutting your nose off to spite your face. After all, you can't complain if you don't participate. I must also add, as a person who holds a seat on the Recreational Advisory Panel (RAP) to the New England Fishery Management Council, the data coming out of Maine is much more accurate than the same data coming out of the other states in New England, despite the scope of involvement with all the participants, certainly a credit to Bruce's program. And I also have to thank Bruce for allowing me to come up to his lab last December to go over statistics that prepared me for the RAP meeting in January.

[The digital image on the left shows Jack Rivers (ME) holding is 59 pound halibut which he caught on the June 5, 2016 extreme day trip. This fish was caught almost two weeks after the 66 pound halibut was caught by T. J. Jarvais. (Captain Ian Keniston digitial image)]

As I mentioned earlier, Ian Keniston ran into a medical issue. It took us all completely by surprise. He worked on May 8, 2016 but couldn't return until May 25, 2016. I missed him very much. On his return, he was limited physically but not so limited that he couldn't complete his trips in the capacity of captain. By the fall he was working full time again, running the boat as captain and being the deck hand when I ran the boat on the marathon trips. He wasn't one hundred percent. But you would never know it. During his limited involvement, Captain Jared Keniston took over his captain's duties and he worked with me as deck hand on most of the marathon trips. At the same time, Micah, my son, filled in as deck hand for both Jared and I. At the end of May, Sean Devich stepped in and relieved Micah. Micah was working for one of my best friends tuna fishing for the summer. The timing was perfect. In all, it was a seamless operation where no customer would have seen the difference in quality of service. We had patrons who missed seeing both Captain's Ian and Jared working together. And there were those who sailed with us specifically to be around one of the guys who couldn't work on specific days. Both Ian Keniston and Jared Keniston went on to the winter projects as they normally do. Ian feels better now than he felt at this time last year or maybe the last two years. That's a huge relief to me. Without those two, there probably wouldn't be a Bunny Clark. They are the working heart and soul of our operation. I don't believe there has ever been better captains or deck hands on this coast. Of course, this is my opinion based on the way I like to have things accomplished. And, of course, I have bias. But the proof is in the catching. And those two catch a lot of fish. I also have to thank Micah for unselfishly giving his time to me to work on the Bunny Clark. Along with Sean they completed the total package for the season. Thank you all so very much.

David Pease deserves a huge thank you as well. Dave was the person responsible for building the Bunny Clark to begin with. Yes, I did a lot of glass work in building the boat. But I was under Dave's instruction. And many was the time I came in the next day to fix something I did that didn't turn out as well as Dave wanted it. Dave, of course, did all the technical stuff. During the winter of 2014/2015, Dave was responsible for the new engine installation. It is the best engine installation I have ever seen in a work boat. Dave has worried about every detail that has ever been part of the physical aspects of the Bunny Clark. Whatever I dreamed of doing, he created it. This boat is highly personalized because of Dave. It's truly my boat. And he's become one of the most important men in my life. At 79 years young, he still has the happiness and drive associated with individuals who really love their work and know what the hell they are doing. Dave's the best. No one will ever convince me otherwise. I don't think anyone would ever try.

Debbie, my wife and business partner with Bunny Clark, Corp. is the one person I could not do without. She does all the behind the scenes stuff, the organizing, paying the crew, working the books/computer and controlling the reservations and our reservationists. Deb has unselfishly worked to create and maintain something I love. It certainly wouldn't have been something she would have initiated herself. But she agreed to do it for me. And, best of all, she agreed to marry me and help me. She is very good to my crew and very good to me. Thanks, Deb. You make my life wonderful.

Jane Staples number one reservationist ashore. She takes over when Deb can't, all year round. A Godsend, she rarely says no. She grew up in the same neighborhood that I did here in Ogunquit. So she knows all the local individuals I see every day. That makes for a great business relationship with the town and with our customers who might need information that others just can't give. If Deb and I leave for any period of time, she pays bills and runs the show here. Thank you, Jane, again, for all the wonderful work you do and the part you play in our business. Much appreciated.

Halley, my daughter, used to work as a reservationist here and on the back of the truck during the summer months when she was studying at Fairfield University for her nursing degree. She is now a full time nurse at Englewood Hospital in New Jersey. I am very proud of her. When she is home, which isn't often enough, she will take the occasional reservation. And it's like she never left. I smile when I see it. How quick they grow up!

Eighteen year old Nikki Smith (ME) and Charlotte Tragard (a very close family friend from Ogunquit) worked for us again last summer. Nikki is getting really good at taking reservations. I hope to see her back next season. Like Jane, I grew up in Ogunquit with Charlotte even before my wife knew her. Now she and Deb are very good friends. Charlotte is self employed and works for us on the side. She also stays in our home and watches the animals when we are gone. A good friend and ally. Thanks so much, Nikki and Charlotte.

[The picture on the right is a shot Donna Moran (NY) holding her 5 pound haddock on the last trip of the Bunny Clark fishing season. It was a perfect weather day. This was the largest haddock of the trip that day. Donna also won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 15.5 pound pollock. She caught this pollock as part of a double keeper catch that also included a pollock that weighed 13 pounds. ]

Last year marked my tenth season riding in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC), an 192 mile, two day, cycling event that takes place the first Saturday of every August. The purpose of the event is to raise money for cancer research and care at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), Boston, Massachusetts. I ride in the event and am sponsored for doing so with donations from anyone I can convince to give me funding. All the money goes to the Jimmy Fund, the fund raising arm of the DFCI, founded in 1948. At the time of this writing I have moved $263,494.77 in donations to the Jimmy Fund since 2007. Last year, I raised $25,921.00 from 245 donations. This figure is up slightly from the 2015 year's total. I get a lot of support from my anglers. For this I am deeply grateful. I have already renewed my application for the 2017 PMC and have raised $4,900.00 at this time. I am looking forward to raising as much money as I can in a push to get to the new mark of $300,000.00, which I fully expect to do as long as I can stay alive! The money raised helps to maintain the most wonderful cancer facility in the country right in our own back yard. In the last few years I found that nine people became cancer free because of my direct involvement in the DFCI. They were going to be treated elsewhere until my writings changed their minds. Three people told me only after they became cancer free the year before, even though they had started treatment months before! I will continue to support the DFCI because of their track record, the fact that 100% of your donation goes directly to the DFCI and because the more money they receive the better their chances are of hiring the best researchers. I hope you can help me celebrate the joy I get from supporting a great cause at a wonderful place in the form of a future donation. Otherwise, let’s go fishing!

A Perfect Marathon Trip on the Bunny Clark in the Fall of 2016

If you want to send me e-mail, the current address is ttower@bunnyclark.com. My email address is sowhake@gmail.com.

With this web site in general, I hope to keep you current on all of the fishing particulars on the Bunny Clark and include updated information on fishery management decisions that could potentially affect us. For a current report go to the Fishing Update section from the link located on the index page of this web site. Thanks!