The 2022 Bunny Clark Guestletter

I have seen no cod recruitment into our fishery, not a single cod has come over the rail of the Bunny Clark in the last five years that I would consider a non-resident fish. In fact, all we are catching is resident fish, in my opinion. If there are no new fish coming into our fishery then we are just fishing down the resident population of cod. The cod we are catching are not the clean white fish devoid of worms that we used to see in the old days. When I was growing up on the coast of Maine the local residents would say not to eat the cod caught in the summer because they had worms. This was because we had such a good recruitment of new fish from offshore that didn't have worms, they would far outnumber the resident fish here to greet them. In fact, these were the fish that were coming inside to spawn. These fish would move out in July leaving the resident cod. And resident cod in Maine have worms and always have had. We have no cod recruitment to the inshore bottom anymore. We actually have no resident cod inshore now either.

Lastly, the average cod size has dropped which seriously speaks to the spawning stock biomass which we need to have in order to increase cod populations. We never saw a cod of 20 pounds or more until June 29, 2021! And that cod was exactly 20 pounds. We caught that fish fifty miles offshore. It was our fourth largest cod of the whole 2021 fishing season! Again, going back to 1996, I was distressed that our largest cod that year was 62.5 pounds, caught by Fred Kunz (NH) on Jeffery's Ledge, twenty-one miles from Perkins Cove. Our fifth largest cod that year was a 43 pounder caught by Bernie Gage (VT). My feelings then were that the big cod were essentially gone. Little did I know!

[The picture on the left is a shot of twelve year old James-Ray Zimmerman (KY) holding his 12.5 pound cod on a fall offshore marathon trip last season during the time we could keep cod. James-Ray's father, Lavern, can be seen in the background.This was one of the most successful cod trips on the Bunny Clark last season.]

It's unlikely that we will see a time when we can keep cod like we used to. The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) can't get a handle on meaningful regulations that will stop overfishing and, thus, bring the cod population back up. Commercial fishing is doing the most damage, by far. So the focus needs to be there. But it's hard to keep commercial fisherman out on the water groundfishing, targeting other species, when there is so much cod bycatch. Much of this bycatch is unreported. Most of these cod are dead. It would help if observers were mandatory on these boats.

[The digital image on the right is a shot of Steve Selmer (NH) holding his 4 pound monkfish that he caught on an extreme day trip with Captain Ian Keniston. Captain Keniston took the digital image with his iPhone . Believe it or not, this monkfish was the fourth largest monkfish caught on the Bunny Clark last season.]

[The digital image on the left is a shot aboard the Bunny Clark taken by Captain Ian Keniston on May 2, 2021 during an extreme day trip. In the picture, Marty Buskey, left, and Kai Rosenberg, the deck hand that day, can be seen holding Marty's 153 pound male porbeagle shark. If you look at the mouth of the shark, you can see a hook in the right hand corner of it's mouth. This is a hook from the gangion of a commercial long line. At some time in the not too distant past, this fish was hooked commercially but got free to be caught again and landed on the Bunny Clark. Marty was using a jig, which you can also see if you look at the shark's jaw. Marty had Kai cut the shark into steaks so Marty could distribute steaks to all the anglers who participated in the trip. Although we had chances on landing other good sized porbeagle sharks, this was the only porbeagle landed last season.]

As is normal, we have many hookups where the gear is not strong enough to land a fish that big. Most times the line breaks or gets chaffed off by the skin of the shark. Sometimes a rod breaks. Last year was no exception; we lost a lot of good sized porbeagle sharks. We did land one good sized one, an 153 pounder, in early May. The angler was Marty Buskey (NY). It was his first. We also boated another that was under the size limit in the fall. They remain an excellent surprise when someone hooks one. We do have a time limit on fighting them as it can take time away from the intended purpose of the trip. Such is the expertise that Marty shows as the excellent angler that he is by taking very little time to bring the big fish to gaff!

[The digital image on the right was taken on the April 9, 2021 extreme day trip, our second trip of the season. It was one of the rare times where I was the captain and Captain Ian Keniston was the deck hand. I usually only captain the marathon trips. The shot the right shows Captain Ian at the table getting ready to fillet a few redfish, cusk and haddock. With the season we had last year, there were times when we both were deck hands and one time each where we stood as both captain and deck hand! ]

Pre-Season Improvements: Of the improvements that were made to the Bunny Clark during the winter of 2020/2021, most were minor repairs or cosmetic work, sanding and painting. Ian Keniston and I go back and forth on all this stuff while David Pease shows us how to accomplish the goals we set. Ian does most of the work. The only major change we made last winter was to replace our Halon automatic/manual engine room fire suppression system with a new FM-200 system. The new fire suppression system agent is far more environmentally friendly than the previous Halon agent we were using before. Whenever you make a change to a USCG inspected vessel like the Bunny Clark, you have to alert the Coast Guard of your plan, present a diagram showing placement and all the calculations that are required for the change. For this one I had to figure out the square feet of engine room space and inform the inspector of the system I was going to use. The USCG approved all my diagrams and calculations in February of 2021. The system was installed by Ian & David Pease. The system was then inspected by the company I bought the system from, Interstate Fire & Protection out of Augusta, Maine. It was then inspected again by CWO Matthew White during the USCG annual topside inspection in early April.

In-Season Engine Breakdowns: I re-powered the Bunny Clark in the winter before the spring of 2015. It's not as easy to replace an engine for an inspected vessel anymore. Environmentally based federal regulations, as overseen by the U. S. Coast Guard, prohibit you from installing just any new engine. At that time, I was required to have the minimum of a Tier 3, fully electronic engine. The engine I went with, after quite a bit of research, was a Volvo Penta D13 - 700. Because it was the same size and horsepower as my previous engines, it was quickly approved by the USCG. I was very suspect of putting an engine in the Bunny Clark that depended on so heavily on electronic parts in a watery environment. This Volvo has three "computer nodules" that talk back and forth to each other with a complicated wiring harness and an array of sensors associated with it. Dispite my misgivings of a future of electronic related engine breakdowns, this engine ran very well for six seasons, needing very little attention. Last year, we had a battery of electronics problems that prevented us from sailing.

I'm not going to go into too many details about what we had to go through to get through the season. Suffice it to say, the engine problems made it very frustrating at times. Apparently, there aren't many engines like mine used in New England waters that have as many "use" hours as my engine does. I felt that my engine became the guinea pig for future similar engine problems in other boats. Power Products, Skip Dunning in particular, works on my engine whenever there is a problem. There is no one better than Skip. They could not figure out what was wrong. My personal feeling is that Volvo didn't give Power Products enough help in order to solve the problem. This engine model has had much use overseas. And I can't believe that some of those engines haven't had the same problems that I had. Regardless, by the time the season had ended we had lost twelve days where we could not fish because of engine problems. Two of those days the Bunny Clark had to be brought back to the dock very early in the fishing or just before the fishing was about to begin. The cost to involve Power Products in the repair was well over $20,000.00. But the lost revenue from having the wooden anchors out for that time was even more substantial, the largest financial loss I have ever had since I launched the boat in 1983.

To me, the worst thing about all this was that, just when we were getting into the halibut, on the exact four days where I was hoping to take advantage of a perfect halibut spot, we couldn't go because the Bunny Clark was broken down at the dock. I had been waiting for that specific time in anxious expectation for over a month. And this new halibut area had been getting better and better. Who knows if we would have been as successful as I thought we would be. But I have been right on so many of these "feelings" over the years that I couldn't stop thinking that I had really missed an opportunity that I may never get again. And I still feel that way as I write this now.

The main theme or condition with these engine problems showed up on the engine panel at the console. A warning would show up alerting the operator to a problem. Then a message would show on the screen that the engine was going to go into "safety mode". Safety mode or, as I call it, creeper mode, was about 700 rpms or six knots of speed. There is no way to electronically bypass this to get the engine back up to cruising speed even if you know it won't hurt the engine. In order to engage the alternators to charge the batteries, the engine rpms have to reach 1300. So the speed of the boat is too slow to go anywhere in creeper mode and, at the same time, you are relying on the charge left in the engine batteries to get you home. The worry is that, if you remain in this mode for too long, you run the risk of having no battery power and the engine dies because the electronics don't function anymore. Luckily, we weren't too far off shore to have this happen.

The engine problem was still not solved by July. But, Skip Dunning had solved enough of the problem to get us by. So from July until the end of the year, the engine would code out, we would get the safety mode alert but the engine would not go into safety mode. This was great. But no matter how many times that alert showed up on the console, I never felt a time where my heart didn't initially sink to see it. I would always wonder if the result were going to be like the previous time or would it, indeed, go into creeper mode.

At the end of the year we think that Skip solved the problem. And, most importantly, Skip thought he had solved the problem! And I truly think that the knowledge attained from this situation will keep us from having major electronic problems like this in the future.

When I first started fishing, no one had diesel engines. With gas engines, if the alternators failed, the engine soon gave out and you were dead in the water. Then diesel engines became available for marine applications. Diesels were great because once they were running they stayed running regardless of battery or alternator failure. Now with the new Tier 3 or Tier 4 engines, we have gone back to gasoline engines that use diesel fuel. That's my take on it anyway.

[The digital image on the left is a shot aboard the Bunny Clark taken by Captain Ian Keniston on April 28, 2021 during a flat calm extreme day trip. In the picture, Fred Kunz (NH) can be seen holding a particularly large dab flounder. The fish weighed 1.25 pounds. It's the only dab we have seen caught on the Bunny Clark for years. During the '80s we used to catch them occasionally while fishing the inside bottom, particularly southwest of Boon Island. ]

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. During the off season, I write about what we are working on, information about Barnacle Billy's restaurants and my life in general. 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 also have a service online where you can book a reservation for a fishing trip on the Bunny Clark without calling in. This online service is available on February 2nd of every year, after the first day we take our phone reservations. You can access the online service by clicking on the boat icon from my home page, my "Update Page" and various other pages on my site. Reservations for the 2022 Bunny Clark fishing season will start at 6:00 AM, February 1, 2022, phone reservations only, for that first day of bookings.

We maintain a healthy Maine state trophy program in order to recognize larger than normal fish. Maine is very good in honoring those who catch great fish. We didn't have as good a year for big fish landings last season as we normally enjoy. This was directly related to the haddock landings being so high, the mis-management of the groundfish stocks and the large number of dogfish that kept us further away from the big fish areas. We also didn't see as many large pollock or nearly as many large cod last year. We didn't catch as many whiting either. The sow hake were smaller and less frequent. All this being said, our total landings were a little less than the landings of the previous season. Had I extrapolated the numbers and added the trips we could have taken (between breakdowns and lost trips), you would have discovered that we did very well indeed. I was very pleased with our season overall.

At the time of this writing a decision has not been made for cod and haddock regulations for the fiscal 2022 fishing season (May 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023). There will be an open season for cod from April 1, 2022 until April 15, 2022, as there was last season for the same time period. The Recreational Advisory Panel (RAP), of which I hold a seat, had a meeting on January 18, 2021. The RAP came up with a suggestion that was altered after it was given to the Groundfish Committee. This is what has now been proposed:

The Groundfish Committee recommends to the New England Fishery Management Council

Gulf of Maine cod- Adjust the open season, same for all modes

• Open season: September 1 - October 7; April 1 - 14
• Minimum size: 22 to 28 inches slot limit
• Possession limit: 1 fish per day

• Open season: May 1-Feb 28/29; April 1-30
• Minimum size: 17 inches
• Possession limit: 20 fish per day

As far as the other species go, 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. Halibut landings are limited to one halibut per vessel per trip on the Federal level 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, 2022). It is illegal to keep barndoor skates, eel pouts and wolffish.

As a suggestion, you might want to check out the previous Guestletters if you are interested in the history of the regulations within our fishery. I have not delved into my opinions of the regulatory process as much I have in other Guestletters in hopes that this will be a more interesting read. I tend to get bogged down in the minutiae of the subject.

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 2021 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. The weight loss differential varies between species. Getting a weight on a fish just after it comes over the rail makes the weight of every fish caught on the Bunny Clark directly comparable through all of the past fishing seasons.

NAME (STATE)

FISH - lbs.

LENGTH X GIRTH (inches)

DATE CAUGHT

Dan Wescom (VT)	Monkfish 10		10-20-21
James Franklin (MA)	Monkfish 8		10-15-21
Rachel Cerrone (NY)	Monkfish 8		10-17-21
Steve Selmer (NH)	Monkfish 4		6-18-21

The shot on the right is digital image of Lewis Hazelwood (MA) holding his 30.5 pound cod caught in mid-October during an offshore trip on the Bunny Clark. This was our biggest cod of the 2021 fishing season by far. It was released back to the ocean very healthy and alive right after this picture was taken.

David Macklin (MA)	Barndoor Skate 32.5*		9-21-21
Dennis Reissig (NY)	Barndoor Skate 27*		7-20-21
Pat Belisle (VA)	Barndoor Skate 24*		8-25-21
Seth Wakefield (ME)	Barndoor Skate 18*		10-6-21
Mike Stump (MA)	Barndoor Skate 17*		9-28-21

Jo Pullis (ME)

Redfish 2.25

16 X 12.5

8-3-21

David Miller (MA)	Wolffish 19.5***		7-13-21
Tim Rozan (ME)	Wolffish 19***		7-13-21
Kevin Viel (NH)	Wolffish 18***		5-20-21
Joe Columbus (MA)	Wolffish 17***		7-15-21
Jon Tesnakis (NY)	Wolffish 16***		6-8-21
Steve Selmer (NH)	Wolffish 15+***		7-13-21

Neil Hickey (VT) caught this 121.25 pound Atlantic halibut in June. In the digital image on the right Tom Murphy (VT) (right) is holding the fish up while Neil (left) is trying to hold up Tom. The view shows the bottom of the fish. I had already taken the top fillets off the fish so it would be easier to lift.

Todd Mallory (NY)	Pollock 26.5	42 X 23	9-15-21
Chris Bergier (MA)	Pollock 26	39.5 X 23.5	10-12-21
Jeff Corey (MA)	Pollock 22		8-9-21
Ray Westermann (MA)	Pollock 21.5		10-12-21
Shawn Rosenberger (PA)	Pollock 21.25		10-12-21

Bryan Lewer (ME/FL)	White Hake 38	45 X 31	7-13-21
Bryan Lewer (ME/FL)	White Hake 37		7-13-21
Tim MacDonald (MA)	White Hake 36.5	47 X 28	10-12-21
Fred Kunz (NH)	White Hake 35.5	44 X 29	10-21-21
Mark LaRocca (NY)	White Hake 35	44 X 29	7-13-21

Ray Charles (MA)	Haddock 8.5	28.5 X 15	6-8-21
Todd Mallory (NY)	Haddock 8.25	27 X 16	5-18-21
Marty Nephew (NY)	Haddock 8.25	28 X 16	5-19-21
Ken Murphy (NH)	Haddock 7.5	27.5 X 16	6-25-21
Bill Harding (ME)	Haddock 7.25	25.5 X 15.5	5-20-21

Carter Bogden (NY)	Whiting 4	26.5	7-1-21
Chad Bartlett (NH)	Whiting 2.75		7-4-21
Ryan Fairhurst (NY)	Whiting 2.75		7-12-21
Jason Pappas (MA)	Whiting 2		7-24-21

Scott Leavitt (NH)	Cusk 32	40.5 X 25	7-20-21
Joe Columbus (MA)	Cusk 31	39 X 22	7-20-21
Bill Harding (ME)	Cusk 27	40 X 22	7-20-21
Dennis Reissig (NY)	Cusk 26	37 X 26	7-20-21
Bill Harding (ME)	Cusk 26		7-20-21
Marie Harding (ME)	Cusk 25	39 X 25	7-20-21

Lewis Hazelwood (MA)	Cod 30.5***		10-14-21
James Tayler (NY)	Cod 25.5	40.5 X 23	9-28-21
Matt Fletcher (NY)	Cod 24***		10-6-21
Kevin Sarzynski (ME)	Cod 20***		6-29-21
Dave Paya (VT)	Cod 18***		6-10-21

Kevin Viel (NH) his holding his 18 pound wolffish on the right which he caught during an offshore marathon trip with me. I weighed the fish quickly and gave it to Kevin so he could hold be for a picture before releasing it back to the ocean alive. The fish held still for just a second so I could get the shot.

Jordan Evans (MD)	Halibut 134.5	64 X 41	6-15-21
Neil Hickey (VT)	Halibut 121.25	61 X 46	6-17-21
Keith Miller (ME)	Halibut 20+**	?	8-3-21
Dave Gigantino (NJ)	Halibut 20+**	?	8-21-21
Joe Evans (MD)	Halibut 15.25**		6-15-21
Steve Selmer (NH)	Halibut 15+**		7-13-21
Troy Boyd (ME)	Halibut 15+**		7-13-21

Fred Kunz (NH)

Dab Flounder 1.25

17.5

4-28-21

Martin Buskey (NY)

Porbeagle Shark 153

71

5-2-21

Shawn Rosenberger (PA)

Porbeagle Shark 26**

10-24-21

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 fish.

** These fish 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 the 2021 season also prohibited the retention of cod except for a period starting September 8, 2021 until October 7, 202. All the wolffish were released back to the ocean alive. Only one "steaker" cod was caught during the time they could be legally retained.

[The digital image on the left is a picture of Kim Kurzdorfer (NY) holding her 5 pound haddock with her boyfriend, Mike Mendola (NY), beside her. Kim had chosen to go on a marathon trip and didn't have any expectations. In fact, she didn't think she would do well. But she caught a lot of fish. This haddock was the largest haddock of the trip. And she also caught the third largest fish of the trip as well as many more haddock.]

The Bunny Clark's all time largest cod:

Lewis Hazelwood's 22 pounder caught in 2019 was closer to what we like to see in size. And Dave Smith's (ME) 23.5 pound monkfish caught in 2018 was better still. The 24 pound monkfish that Kevin Gilpatric (ME) caught in 2017 was the largest monkfish that had been caught on the Bunny Clark since May 17, 2012 when Bob Foster (NY) caught a monkfish that weighed 34.5 pounds. The largest monkfish that has ever been caught on the Bunny Clark was one that weighed 55 pounds, by Nancy Lee Regimbald (VT) on a full day trip on July 9, 1991. The official on-shore registered weight was 49 lbs 12 oz. It remained the IGFA's all tackle world record until it was beaten on April 12, 2008 by a monkfish caught off Gloucester, Massachusetts that officially weighed 51 lbs 4 oz.

Below is a table showing the largest pollock that have ever been caught on the Bunny Clark, the year they were caught, the size of the fish and the angler who caught them. Those were the days!

Ted Harris (PA) had a chance to land a bigger porbeagle shark earlier in the year, during the April 20, 2021 marathon trip. We had a chance to gaff this fish when Ted first got it up next to the boat. We really weren't ready for this fish. We should have known that Ted, the skilled angler that he is, would have been so quick to get it within striking range. But we were not prepared. The shark made a screaming run aft and broke the line.

A table of all our largest porbeagle sharks caught on the Bunny Clark in the last thirty-nine seasons appears below. Any time you can boat a porbeagle shark of the sizes of the fish seen below on a cod rod, it's a feat.

[The shot on the left is a digital image taken by Captain Ian Keniston of Carter Bogden holding his 4 pound Maine state trophy whiting, a tie for the Bunny Clark's tenth largest whiting all time and our largest whiting of the season last year. ]

Charlie Harris' was the last person to land a bluefin tuna on the Bunny Clark. He caught his fish on August 19, 2020. It weighed 51 pounds. Ian Keniston was the captain on the eight hour full day trip that day. The Bunny Clark saw no bluefin tuna landed the three seasons before. The largest caught on the Bunny Clark were the three that I landed, caught by harpoon, which really doesn't count. These were free swimming fish that I rode up to and harpooned and fought with a handline spliced to a dart. The largest was 775 pounds round. We harpooned two others in the 600 pound range. All three were caught in 1984. The largest was caught with passengers aboard on the way to Jeffrey's Ledge to go groundfishing. The other two were caught on a trip specifically designed to catch tuna by harpoon with my father, Mike Parenteau and Brad Perkins. Mike and Brad are former Bunny Clark deck hands. Of the bluefins we caught via "cod rod", the ten largest appear in the table below. These fish are impressive, to say the least, when you consider they were all caught with no more that sixty pound test line using a jig stick!

[ Chris Bergier, shown right, is holding the second largest pollock, at 26 pounds, that was caught on the Bunny Clark last season. It was only the second trophy pollock that was caught in 2021 and it was also one of three slammer pollock that were caught on the same trip, the last slammer pollock we would see in that season. ]

Below is a list of the top ten halibut caught on the Bunny Clark and the years that they were caught.

We have a history of catching big cusk, probably due to my penchant for scouting out new areas. For a time, I chased after big cusk looking for world records. The Bunny Clark's first world record cusk was a 29 pounder caught by Ross French (NY) in 1987 that broke the existing world record of 24 pounds 9 ounces caught by a guy off the coast of Norway in 1983. Ross' cusk's registered weight was 26.66 pounds. It was beaten only seven days later by a cusk caught off Massachusetts that officially weighed 28 pounds 15 ounces! We captured the world record again in 1988 when Neil Morrill (VT) caught a 31 pounder. We were drifting off a deep peak on the way back from fishing Tantas west of the Portland Lightship. It was the last fish in the boat. So I steamed home, got the fish weighed immediately and came up with the official registered weight of 30 pounds 1 ounce, the new official IGFA all tackle world record. Eight days later, it was beaten again, by a cusk caught off the coast of Norway that officially weighed 32 pounds 13 ounces! It wasn't until October 11, 2002 that we had the chance to beat it again with a 36 pound cusk caught by Kenton Geer (NH/HI). At the time, the all tackle world record was just over 34 pounds. Kenton's fish was disqualified because he caught it with a jig with a cod fly above the jig and a tube hook on the jig itself. It came under the title of "gang hooking", a no no as it concerns the IGFA. Today's existing all tackle world record cusk was caught in July of 2008, again, off the coast of Norway. The present world record weight is 37 pounds 14 ounces, a hell of a cusk. The table below shows the top twelve cusk caught on the Bunny Clark over the years:

[In the digital image, left, Tim Rozan can be seen holding two cod that he caught as a double, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. We were on an offshore trip with only six anglers, almost like a private charter. This was one of the few trips where we caught quite a few cod. As you might surmise by looking at the picture, these cod were all resident fish. After this shot was taken, the fish were returned to the ocean very much alive.]

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 2021 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:

Fisherman of the Year (FY-’21): Tim Rozan wins this award for the second time in the last three seasons. Tim has always been one of the top anglers on the Bunny Clark. But I believe that he has become so much better in the last five years. He's an excellent jig and bait fisherman. He's one of the most versatile fishermen we have, trying all different methods, lures, rods, techniques and fishing positions on the boat. He has caught more halibut on the Bunny Clark than any other angler with a count of six, his largest weighing in at 89 pounds, caught two seasons ago, the last time he took the Fisherman of the Year award. Last year, his ability to attain high hook status on almost every trip he attended, his penchant for catching haddock as fast as he can reel them in and his many pools put him ahead of the pack. He's the first angler to win this award who had very few trophy fish. Normally, the FY also has the most trophy fish.

As most of you know by now, the FY award is based on a point system that relates to specific achievements during a trip for a season on the Bunny Clark. Each achievement is worth a point or 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. [The last two years I have considered waiving this 10 trip rule and just work on the most points in a season for any angler but I haven't done that yet.] When a competitor is within thirty points of the lead angler, I bring in comparative value point (CVPs). In other words, I look at the trips where both fished together. I double the points of the achievements that each has won on those trips and add them in. Last year, no one was close enough to Tim to use CVPs. 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. Tim was the man last season.

Tim Rozan excelled in three different areas to take the FY-'21. He was high hook more often than any angler, he won more boat pools than any other angler and won fisherman of the day (the boat pool and the most legal fish) more than any angler. He also landed the second largest fish and the third largest fish more often than any other angler last year. In the other categories he was very competitive as compared to the eight other anglers who qualified to compete against him. And all this in a year with a hip that was very painful by just being alive, let alone being on a rolling boat. In other years, without this malady he roamed around the boat more often. Last year he was constrained by his condition and could only fish a limited number of spots, all in the cockpit.

[ Tim Rozan, shown right, is holding the second largest wolffish, at 19 pounds, caught on the Bunny Clark last season. Tim is very conservation minded, which is another attribute of his that I truly love. He didn't want me to take the picture as he was more interested in the fish's survival. I was lucky enough to convince him that the photo session wasn't going to take long enough to compromise the health of the wolffish. I took a quick picture before it was released alive.]

Like most of the anglers who have ever won this award, Tim is an excellent angler. But this goes without saying. Besides his abilities, his results and his open mindedness, he looks at fishing as an analytical researcher looks at discovering a new find or expecting a break-through. Like most of his kind, it's hard to get him upset about anything related to fishing. His calm attitude is one thing that keeps him in the "never give up" mode so typical of those who do well at anything. Grace under pressure, is the thing that separates great athletes from good athletes. Tim seems to have this. And, on top of it all, in the end it's all for the fun. I could go on and maybe say more without sounding foolish or going overboard (pardon the pun) but it's not necessary. The results do the talking here. The bottom line is that he earned every point he received and all of this done under physical duress. Congratulations, Tim. It was indeed a pleasure having you on the Bunny Clark last season!

Tim's total point count was 144. Shawn Rosenberger came in second place with a point total of 83. Joe Columbus was third with 74 points. Jonathan Griffin was fourth with 62 points. Fred Kunz was fifth with 60 points.

Female Angler of the Year (FAY-'21): At the end of the 2020 fishing season, we didn't have enough female participation to name a FAY. Last year, Darlene Chin (VT) stepped on the Bunny Clark and changed everything. She was miss consistent. She always caught a lot of fish. She would be disappointed when the boat had a bad day for landings. But her percentage of the catch was always well above the boat average. And even on the bad days she would come off the boat with a bag of haddock fillets. Only one or two male anglers were as consistent as she was. There were no female anglers even close. She spent most of her time on the extreme day trips with Captain Ian Keniston. But during the first part of October, on her birthday, she decided to fish with me on a marathon trip. What Ian had told me about her consistency turned out to be right on the money. Congratulations, Darlene. It was great to see you on the Bunny Clark last year!

Best Bait Fisherman: I debated on this one for quite a while. In the end, I had to go with Shawn Rosenberger. This is a judgement call. And I had to get Captain Ian's take on this one. I was happy that we both agreed on my assessment. On every trip that Shawn fished on the Bunny Clark, there was never a time when he didn't catch one fish after another if he were using bait. Other anglers were just as successful at times. But Shawn was by far the most consistent and sure of his abilities. Shawn bait fishes with an intensity not seen in many other anglers. I think the most salient fishing feature that made the decision for me was his ability to catch doubles in deep water hake fishing. When the hake weren't very thick, he still caught doubles. He also predicted he was going to be successful before it did happen. Shawn is a very excellent fisherman. He always has been. But his bait fishing IQ is through the roof. Thanks and congratulations, Shawn. Always so wonderful when I get the call that we will be seeing you again in the fall!

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. Steve Dickmann (MA) caught the only Ace on the Bunny Clark last season. He captured the title on the May 14, 2021 offshore marathon trip. His top three fish included a 17 pound pollock, a 16 pound pollock and a 13.5 pound pollock. At the time, the 17 pounder was the largest pollock of the season. His 16 pounder tied for the second largest of the season and his third pollock was the Bunny Clark's fourth largest pollock of the season. That all changed, of course. But his Ace remained as the only one for 2021.

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. The 2017 season saw five Aces caught, three of which were "Double Aces" (the four largest fish caught on a trip). In 2018 there were two. There were three During the 2019 fishing season. There was only one ace caught in 2021.

Most Trophy Fish of the Season: Jonathan Griffin and David Macklin tied for the most trophy fish with a count of eight each. Shawn Rosenberger and Ray Westermann tied for the third most trophy fish with a count of six each. Steve Selmer and Joe Columbus tied for fifth with a count of five trophy fish each.

Top Five Largest Fish of the Bunny Clark Season: Marty Buskey caught the largest with his 153 pound porbeagle shark. Jordan Evans came in second with his 134.5 pound halibut. Neil Hickey was third with his 121.25 pound halibut. Captain Bryan Lewer was fourth with his 38 pound white hake. And Captain Bryan Lewer, again, was fifth with 37 pound white hake.

Most Trophy Fish during a Trip: Shawn Rosenberger, David Macklin and Ray Westermann tied for first in this category with a total count of five trophy fish each, all three on the same trip, October 12, 2021. Jonathan Griffin and Captain Bryan Lewer tied for fourth with a count of four trophy fish.

Most Pools (largest fish of the trip): As mentioned above, Tim Rozan killed it in this category, coming in number one with five pools won. Joe Columbus came in second place by catching the largest fish on four separate trips. Marty Buskey and Fred Kunz tied for third place with three boat pools each. And Marty Nephew (NY), Larry Tracy (CT), Jeff Corey (MA), Jack Judge (ME/CT) and Art Kemler, Jr. (PA) all tied for fifth place with two boat pools each.

[Fred Buthe (NY), shown left, can be seen holding his 16 pound pollock. A happy Karen Allen (NY), Fred's (NY) steady, can be seen in the foreground. Fred's pollock was the largest pollock caught on the day trip that day, July 6, 2021. It was also the pool winning fish.]

High Hook: Tim Rozan was high hook (the most legal fish on a trip) on twenty different trips, the most for any angler during the 2021 Bunny Clark fishing season and comparable to no one in many many seasons before. You would have to go back to the Les & Linda Paul (ME) days or the Danny Angerman (MA) era or, even closer in time, the Fisherman of the Year run that Fred Kunz or Tim Williams (CT) had. Shawn Rosenberger came in second, attaining high hook status on five different trips last season. Joe Columbus, Fred Kunz, Brian Walsh (NJ) and Hal Flanagan (MA) tied for third place with a count of three each.

Hardest Luck: John Lambert, Jr. (NY) has probably been fishing with me on the Bunny Clark since the year it was launched. I don't know this for sure. But if he didn't fish with me the first year, it was shortly afterward. His whole family used to fish with me at one time. He has always been a very successful fisherman with us, one of the best. He has always caught fish. That is, he had always caught fish until the extreme day trip of August 16, 2021! It was the worst trip he has ever had on the Bunny Clark. This was the time when the dogfish were present in quantities that we hadn't seen for years. We were right in the thick of the dogfish at that time. It seemed we would never see the end of them. And John was certainly plagued by them that day. It was hard to get to bottom without getting a dogfish. This alone might have been reason enough for the hardest luck of the year award. But there was more. He never caught a single legal fish the whole trip, a first! He was untangling a line involving a dogfish that kicked his gaff over the side. This gaff promptly sank to bottom - he always keeps his own short gaff. He got his line tangled in a seagull's wing and, in the process, his jig, laying on the bottom, hooked the bottom and parted off! His comment when he saw me on the dock after the trip: "It was still a nice day on the ocean. I'll see you on a marathon trip this fall!". You have got to love John Lambert!

We had many trips canceled due to engine problems we never would have anticipated. I could give myself an honorable mention in this category. But this is the normal course of things for a boat owner who uses his vessel in the ocean. But I have to mention two other people who were affected by our breakdowns many times. I believe the most affected by a lack of fishing trips was Barry Ano (NY) who comes a couple times or more a year for a week at a time. Every fishing period that he was scheduled to go with us the boat seemed to be broken down so he couldn't go. Once, he missed almost the whole week of trips. He loves to bring us produce, meat sticks, apples, etc., etc. It was as if he showed up just so he could bring us stuff! Marty Buskey was in the same boat, so to say. He came up just for a trip or two many times during the season, only to be shut out more times than he actually got to go. Or it certainly seemed like it. Both anglers are exceptionally nice, understanding people who know how to fish. An asset to have aboard. These two are also the anglers who you most hate to disappoint!

During one of Captain Ian's extreme day trips on June 6, 2021, Joe Davis (ME) caught a wolffish over 10 pounds. He held the fish over the water at the time, asking Ian what kind of fish it was. Joe shook it off the hook to let it go back alive after realizing it couldn't be kept. However, he didn't realize that it could also be weighed for the boat pool! And, as it turns out, it was the largest fish of the trip. He ended up getting the largest fish of the trip sticker but he also landed the hard luck t-shirt for not winning the boat pool!

What do you say to an excellent angler like Kevin Viel when you meet the boat after a successful trip and he tells you that he lost his car keys overboard during the fishing?

[The image on the right is a shot of Captain Bryan Lewer (ME/FL)) holding up his 38 pound Maine state trophy white hake before sunrise on the ultra marathon before dawn in July of 2021. This was the Bunny Clark's largest hake of the season and our fourth largest fish of 2021.]

Most Improved Angler: Darlene Chin (VT) was the only one who Ian and I could think of that might fit in this category. She also sailed on enough trips to establish herself. In so doing, she was able to find the most comfortable fishing position on the boat and make herself at home. And she excelled. Attending mostly extreme day trips with Captain Ian, it was a delight for me to come down in the morning to find her on the Bunny Clark ready to go. Having her on the marathon trips at the end of our 2021 season gave me the opportunity to see her in action myself. It's always great to see someone enjoying the same things that I have so loved myself. Darlene is the kind of person who keeps that enjoyment going. Thanks, Darlene! Congratulations yet again!

Best Team: The team of Ray Westermann & Jonathan "Griff" Griffin remain the best team. They didn't fish as much last season as they have in the past. But, when they did, it was the same old team I have come to know and love. They fish next to each other and complement each other in fishing techniques and ideas. Both are two of the best anglers I have ever had on the Bunny Clark, both winning multiple Fisherman of the Year awards over the years. And both are exceptionally fun to have aboard. On top of that, I look to them for inspiration; if they aren't catching anything, I'm in the wrong fishing spot!

Exceptional Good Luck: Before the September 14, 2021 marathon trip, I was getting the boat ready at 2:15 AM, warming the engine up, getting my gear aboard, getting all the electronics turned on and warmed up and setting myself up to travel to the first fishing spot. When I got back down to the boat after going home, I had no deck hand. The Sweenor Charter anglers were aboard ready to go. This is a group of anglers I have really enjoyed over many years on the Bunny Clark. Always respectful, one of the best charters I host. They were aboard on my last big steaker trip where cod to almost 50 pounds was not uncommon. I have really never seen so many big cod on a trip since. This crew of exceptional anglers always bring the Bunny Clark good fishing luck and a good time besides. This day turned out to be no exception.

After almost a half an hour of calling/texting my deck hand, I still had no response. I had lent him my truck so I could make it easier for him to get back to Perkins Cove. He didn't own his own vehicle. Little did I know at the time, this new deck hand, had trashed my truck, taking out both right hand wheels. It was setting off Route 1 abandoned, locked up and out of commission two miles away. My deck hand was nowhere to be found. And he hadn't informed me of the mishap, which had happened many hours before. Not knowing all this but knowing that I had eighteen anglers who had fished with me for years and had driven all the way from upstate New York, I posed the question: Do you still want to go fishing if I can't find a deck hand? It was a stupid question as I knew what they were going to say. Ok, I said. It's going to be a beautiful day on the ocean and I will take you but I'm going to need someone competent to steer to the first fishing spot while I rig up all your rods. You are going to have to untangle all your own lines because I will be at the fillet table all day. Someone is going to have to help me bag fillets and clean the boat as someone else steers home. They all agreed to the terms I set forth.

It was probably the best trip of the year. They did all that they said they would do. Stuffy House has had much experience on boats and steered a compass course to the exact spot I wanted to start. He also steered a course so straight back to Perkins Cove that our ETA was exact. The weather was perfect, calm all day. We had a little too much current in the morning but that backed off in the afternoon. There were no dogfish in the morning and only a few in the afternoon. Everyone took care of their tangles as if they had worked for me for years. The fishing was very good with Fran Sweenor filling a tote and a half of fish in one drift. Keith House landed a 17 pound cod, which, at the time, was our third largest cod of the season to date. Eric Thielking caught a 16.5 pound pollock, our second largest on that trip and Rob Alden caught our third largest fish, a 15 pound pollock. We landed plenty of pollock and haddock, many of good size. And the boat caught the total bag limit of cod, many of good size. On the ride back, seven of the crew helped me clean the boat, bag fish and take instruction. When we got back to the town dock, Captain Ian was there with Deb to help me clean the boat. It was then I heard about my damaged truck, my deck hand still nowhere to be found. There was little cleaning to do with all the help I got on the way in. Ian did help me put the boat away and did most of boat cleaning finish work.

It was the most fish that I have filleted in many years. With a worse weather day, a different crew, a different time and a different trip, I would not have been able to be captain and deck hand. I was exceptionally lucky to have such understanding people, excellent anglers and a crew that was so good at doing what I do on the ocean that I would have hired any one of them on the spot had anyone been looking for a deck hand position. Thanks, guys. I will always remember this trip with a smile and warm feelings as long as I can still remember!

Quotes of the 2021 Season: "We always enjoy coming out on the Bunny Clark, even if we catch nothing.", this from Mariner Fleming (ME) who enjoyed a family outing during an extreme day trip with Captain Ian and, deck hand, Captain Ally Fuehrer. It was a calm weather trip. There were few dogfish that day but the current was so strong that the tangles were many. The bite wasn't as good as it had been despite the lack of dogfish. And the tangles took time away from catching fish. This statement is something I truly enjoy hearing coming from the angling public. It's a statement that tells me that they felt the crew were trying as hard as they could to catch them fish and were making them feel at home while fishing. And the knowledge that they will sail with us again means to me that they trust us enough to know that good fishing days are ahead.

[The digital image on the left shows Jo Pullis (ME) holding her 2.25 pound Maine state trophy redfish, the only trophy redfish that was caught on the Bunny Clark's in 2021.]

"I'm terrified; I miss my children!", a quote during a full day, eight hour, trip on a Saturday in July where the wind was blowing out of the northeast at twenty knots, more or less, and the seas ranged from five to seven feet. This on the ride out (into the wind/seas) from a man who wishes to remain anonymous, found on his knees mumbling this to anyone who would listen. Captain Ian slowed the boat down twice on the way out to ask if everyone wanted to go back in. But the vast majority wanted to keep going. And the man on his knees finally realized that they were not going to die. The bottom line is that it was not dangerously rough. It just seemed that way to some. Perception can be reality.

"All I catch is the son of a dog toothed bitch fish!", from Ron Oaklund (NE) typifying what anglers went through all spring, summer and fall with the large numbers of dogfish seen. Ron caught dogfish all morning long and in the afternoon on this extreme day trip hosted by Captain Ian. In the end, he caught the largest fish of the trip, a 10 pound cusk, and won the boat pool.

"No, this is a fish.", a quote from Leon Fanning (NE) after Captain Ian had suggested that Leon had hooked his terminal gear on the bottom. Under further investigation, it was a halibut that was lost after a considerable fight. Captain Ian and myself, as captain, probably had an equal number of legal halibut that anglers hooked on our trips during the season last year. Ian's anglers lost every legal one that was hooked. I was lucky to boat only two of the legal ones. I'm positive our luck would have been much better without the dogfish.

Most Unusual Catch:

During an afternoon half day trip in late August, Randy Xayachack (MA) landed the hard luck award for catching what could have been the boat pool fish. When he got the fish to a certain depth off the bottom, the line started going out and to the surface as a seal had grabbed the fish and, eventually, broke it off the hook. The seal ate the fish and left. It looked to Ian like the fish could have been a cod or a cusk but, most likely, a cod. Such is life on the ocean!

Unexplained Phenomena:

[The digital image on the right is a shot of Ray Charles (ME) during the June 8, 2021 marathon trip holding a 14.5 pound pollock in his right hand and a 20.5 pound pollock in the left. This was the largest pollock the Bunny Clark had see at that time. Ray also caught two cod of 13 pounds each and an 8.5 pound Maine state trophy haddock, the largest haddock of the Bunny Clark fishing season last year! It was a great day to be the Ray Charles! ]

[Pat Belisle (VA) caught this 24 pound barndoor skate, shown left with Pat holding it, in late August on a full day trip. This was the third largest barndoor skate of the season but, at the time, it was the only the second one caught on the Bunny Clark. Five more barndoor skates were caught after this one. All barndoor skates were released shortly after pictures were taken. Captain Ian Keniston digital image.]

In Memorium:

I found out at the end of the season that Ken McLaughlin (Kenneth Luke McLaughlin) passed away peacefully on September 5, 2021 at Watson Fields in Dover, New Hampshire. He first started fishing with me when I was the only captain running the Bunny Clark. He was from Vermont at the time (born in Montreal, Quebec). He later moved to Kittery, Maine where he drove from to go fishing with me. I believe he started fishing with me after the years of the big pollock in 1991. Otherwise, I'm sure he would have caught one of our biggest pollock. I enjoyed many trips with Ken over the years. He became one of my regular anglers. He went on many pre-season trips, was aboard on Captain Ian Keniston's bachelor party fishing trip when Ian caught his biggest ever cod and was always invited on any special trip I dreamed up. He caught many steaker cod. But he had a penchant for catching bluefin tuna. He fought one with me that he lost after three hours. He got it to the boat three or more times where, had I had a harpoon, I could have easily harpooned it all three times or more. This fish was probably 300 pounds, maybe more. As it is, he caught our eighth largest bluefin. I was happy to be aboard for that one. All his biggest lifetime groundfish he caught with me. He was an excellent guy to have aboard. When I invented the Extreme Day trips, he started fishing on those with Captain Ian. They were a perfect trip for him as they were long enough but not too long. Near the end, he had trouble with balance. And he was just getting too old for fishing on the Bunny Clark safely with his balance issues. We were not able to contact him the last two seasons which was truly sad as many of my customers asked about him at that time. But that didn't seem to bother me as much as the knowledge that I will never see Ken again. Sometimes you get really close to certain people. Ken was one of those people. He meant a lot to me. I will miss him. He was 85 years old.

Stanley Bayley passed away on October 22, 2021 at 78 years old. Stan had Bayley's Seafood in Pine Point, a couple restaurants and grew up as a commercial fisherman. For years, Barnacle Billy's has bought our steamed clams from Stan. And they were the best clams. Always dug locally unless the flats were closed by the State. We also bought scallops from him and gallons of cut clams for frying. Years before we also bought Maine shrimp, processed at his facility in Pine Point, and crab. He had been in failing health for the last three years. But he was as sharp as a tack until at least a week before he died. That was the last time I talked to him. There wasn't even a hint that I would never talk to him again. For many years I looked forward to our conversations on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and other days as well. Of all the people I talked to associated with the life of Barnacle Billy's, Stan was by far the most genuine and down to earth. He also had the most common sense and the one person I looked forward to talking to. The reason for my love of Stan Bayley was his vast fishing experience as a dragger captain and commercial vessel owner. At one point, he owned five big draggers out of Portland, Maine. Sometimes we would talk for a half an hour before I finally got to the point of making the order for the day. His experiences were fascinating as he was one of the highliners of the New England commercial fishing front. He almost died once when his boat was hit by a 600' tanker, a tug picking him up when the same tanker cut the tug off. The tug captain saw the collision on radar and went back to investigate, finding Stan clinging to a deflated life raft. Another time, he showed up as a deck hand on the docks of the Portland waterfront only to realize that he had forgotten his boots and decided to drive back home to get them. When he got back, the boat had sailed without him. Thankfully, he wasn't on the boat that day when the boat went down. I've never been sure if all hands were lost or most died. The ocean never took the man I respected so much. But his failing health finally did; at way too young an age. He had many stories of which I loved to hear. And the way he talked, I always felt like I was there going through the same experiences myself. He also loved to hear my stories from the Bunny Clark. I felt we were a good pair. And I will truly miss Stan.

[The digital image on the right was taken by Captain Ian Keniston. The picture shows six year old Macsen Crus (MA) holding his 9 pound cusk with his father, Ray Cruz, during an afternoon half day trip in August. The cusk was the largest fish of the trip but Macsen did not enter the boat pool. ]

Justin Phibrick passed away on November 12, 2021 at the age of 47 years old. Way too young to go, he also had failing health but also lived an unhealthy life style. He died in Massachusetts General Hospital after deciding to pull the plug on his dialysis machine. Justin and his brother, Jeff, sailed with me on the Bunny Clark for many years as excellent anglers. Their father, Russ, was a legendary angler who fished out of Hampton, New Hampshire. I had heard of Russ before I was able to attract some of the best anglers to go on my boat. Some of those best anglers included Justin and Jeff. I had many memorable experiences fishing on the Bunny Clark with these two brothers. I still have a picture of them on my brochure in a group setting holding up some of the big cod they caught on one trip. At one point, Justin entertained the idea of working as a deck hand on the Bunny Clark. Sadly, that was never meant to be. He would have been a good one. When I heard the news, I called Jeff up right away. I was lucky enough to have kept his phone number. It was a sad phone call. Some of my best fishing memories on the Bunny Clark will always include them as long as I have memory enough to recall. Justin will be sorely missed.

Jay Kennedy, one of my long time fishing regulars from Elmore, Vermont, who had been fishing with me since 1985 on the Bunny Clark on November 29, 2021. He shot and killed his wife with a rifle while she was on the phone with 911 about a domestic dispute they were having at about 7:00 AM. The dispatcher heard a shot fired and then silence. His wife, Mary Lisa Kelley, and Jay were in the process of separating. But I know of no other details. When the police investigated the scene, they found his wife and Jay dead. Apparently, after killing her, he turned around with the same rifle and killed himself with a shot to the head. Jay was a good friend of mine as well as a good fisherman and a wonderful photographer. He shot over a thousand weddings in his photography career. Jay was the photographer at Deb and my wedding in April of 1990. I also have many fond memories of he and Fuzzy jigging on the bow in the 1980s, his big cod and pollock catches in the 1990's and his great fishing throughout his time with me. I certainly can't imagine what was going through his mind to get caught up in an action such as this. There can't be a good reason. But to have such a tragedy befall someone who was so close to me is just incomprehensible. It's just sad. My heart goes out to their son who was just on the boat with Jay not too long ago. Jay was a avid hunter/fisherman. I will miss Jay and his humor. He was 61 years old. Lisa was 58 years old.

Deck Hands:

It was a challenging year for securing deck hands as you might be able to understand having read this far in the Guestletter. My two principle deck hands last year, Tyler Carpenter and his friend, Kai Rosenberg, got us through the spring and summer in flying colors. Both left for college in the fall, Tyler to the University of Maine and Kai, to Boston College. This was Tyler's second year with us. Kai had his initial interview on February 27, 2021. If it were not for Tyler, Kai would not have had the appropriate training. Nor would he have learned the system as fast as he did. Tyler was the quickest study, for a deck hand, that I have ever had on the Bunny Clark. Kai was up to speed very quickly. Both are very athletic and enjoyed the fishing and the work. Our patrons liked them both. Both were extremely polite, men of their word and took direction well. I was very lucky to have them working for me on the Bunny Clark. I had a very good time with them both when I was captain. Thank you, Tyler and Kai, so very much. You made the trips very exciting for Ian and I. You allowed us to do our job without concern for what happened behind us. And I knew that whatever happened either one of you was capable enough to get us out of a mess. Much appreciated!

Captain Ally Fuehrer was our swing deck hand. She didn't work as much as she has in the past seasons. But she worked enough that she was extremely helpful to me. She has no problem with the deck hand position. Plus, there is nothing I have left to teach her. She knows it all. She works at sea on a tanker, having a number of days on the ship and time off. Time on and off are a continuous number of weeks. But these aren't contiguous weeks. She might have two of the summer months off or it might turn out that she is free in the spring and part of the summer. I never know when she will be available. As I write now, she is working on a tanker on the west coast as a second mate. This designation gives her a captain's license much larger than mine, suitable to captain large tugs, big party boats, etc. Her father started bringing her out on the Bunny Clark to go fishing when she was nine or ten years old. She holds two IGFA Junior Angler world records for haddock and white hake, both fish caught off the Bunny Clark. The fact that she knows the system, that she knows us well, that she knows the fishing, that she grew up commercial fishing with her grandfather and that she is a kind and caring individual makes her very special to us indeed. Thank you so much, Ally, for being there for us.

Anthony Palumbo is one of the top five or six deck hands that I have ever had on the Bunny Clark. He works in Massachusetts now. But three years ago he was working with us on a regular basis. Last year, he made a few cameo appearances when we couldn't find a deck hand to take the trip. These were very special trips indeed. Most of our regular patrons remember Anthony from his years on the Bunny Clark before. So anglers were delighted when they found out that Anthony was going to be their deck hand for the trip. That feeling was certainly contagious. Just the few times he worked helped us out soooo much. Best known for his speed and accuracy filleting fish, he is a force when on the deck at sea. Thank you for your help last year, Anthony. I do so appreciate it!

The fall was a challenge on the deck hand front. We didn't have anyone who could carry over after the summer. Kyle Nelson, who learned with us in the summer, developed health problems and was unable to work. He had proved his worth in the summer and turned out to be excellent. I was so sorry he couldn't continue. Many of the applicants who called looking for the position couldn't pass a drug test. Indeed, one applicant who auditioned with us in the fall decided that it wasn't in his best interest to become certified to be on the Bunny Clark. One was a German national who didn't have a working permit. It appeared that he snuck into the country across the border of Mexico into Texas. The details of his tenure in the United States was murky at best. One guy wouldn't work unless I paid him cash under the table. I had to let two go because they didn't fit into the system. I let another go because he couldn't handle the system. One, who I had great hope for, didn't show up one day. I was never able to get in touch with him again. That day was the day that Captain Ian and Tim Rozan managed the trip together. Alluding to a paragraph above, the deck hand on my offshore trip never showed after trashing my truck the day before and not telling me. That person demanded his paycheck but wouldn't bring me the truck keys until I pressured him on it. I had to cancel another trip because one of these deck hands said his hands hurt too much. He ended up leaving with three weeks to go because his father was ailing in Florida. I had to cancel the trip he wouldn't attend because I could not find a replacement and the weather was not good enough to take the boat alone. Another deck hand, who Ian was supposed to have also didn't show up because his hands hurt. That was another of the trips that Captain Ian took alone. There were a few other details that aren't worth getting in to. I think you can understand the challenge we faced without making this paragraph any longer.

Your Captain:

Thank God for Captain Ian Keniston. I can't tell you how many trips last fall when, as captain, he helped filleting fish at the table during the trip, just so the deck hand didn't have to be filleting fish at the dock. I filleted fish on every one of my trips in the fall as well. But I don't take as many trips in a week as Ian does. And I certainly don't do as good a job. Nor can I fillet as many fish as Ian can for the same time period. Ian is my principle captain, the guy who is on the boat most of the days in the year. Ian typically runs five or six trips to my one or two in a week. He was the best deck hand I ever had when I was running the boat before he became it's captain. He was the principle person to design the system of cleaning the boat as well. But as good as Ian is, running the boat, weighing fish, filleting over half the fish on occasion, untangling lines and being responsible for the boat and it's passengers, it was a daunting task for him last season. Ian continues to be the best party boat captain I know. He's the most physically capable captain I know. And he's a people person. He sees life as it is. And is quite capable of speaking with crude candor. Using this and the affect it has on certain people he is also capable of using it as a form of abuse or teasing, making him a perfect fit on the Bunny Clark with some of our better anglers. But he can also come off as an eloquent knowledgeable individual, which, in truth, he really is. With a smile, I've found he can bring out the best in someone. And he often does. The trick is knowing how and when to use this ability. And, to me, Ian is the master at that. For the last few years, Ian has been as much of the Bunny Clark as I or the boat itself. I couldn't imagine him not being there. I don't believe the Bunny Clark would function nearly as well as it does without him there. I could never find a better captain. Without him the Bunny Clark would be like a sea gull with a broken wing. Thank you, Ian, for your years of truly professional service in a medium where you have to consider a new approach every day you step aboard, never knowing what to expect but doing your best to get it done. You have always been honest and true to me besides just plainly being the best. I couldn't ask for anything more. Thank you very much!

[Deck hand Tyler Carpenter shown in the digital image, left, is putting rods away on the Bunny Clark after an offshore trip. She is tied to the town float waiting for the angling guests to come back for their bags of fillets. Tyler Carpenter was the principle deck hand during the 2020 & the 2021 fishing seasons ]

David Pease: Dave is the behind the scenes guy. If it were not for him, the Bunny Clark would be a different boat. He built it and works on it every winter. He's the nicest genius I have ever met. Everything I ever wanted, every desire I have ever had and every impossibility, he has made possible. I have learned a lot from him over the years. And I feel so lucky and appreciative to have run across him when I did. Thank you sooo much, Dave. Words, again, can't express....

Debbie Tower, my wife, deserves special credit as, without her, I would not be able to run the Bunny Clark. She stood by me from the very beginning, when I was writing the pay checks, doing the reservations through Barnacle Billy's and captaining the boat for every single trip. As the years progressed, she took over the reservations, the books and paying the crew. But she has been with me for so long now, she also is the best sounding board a man could have. As time marches on, life and business has become more complicated. We are being asked to do so much more than what we did in the past. It used to be so easy and straight forward to make decisions. It's much more difficult than that now. It truly takes the two of us to come up with equitable solutions on even some of the every day decisions that I have to make. I continually ask for advice from Deb. She has no problem telling me what she thinks. It's a precious commodity. My opinion is that she has the hardest job between the two of us. The hardest part sometimes is getting her to understand how much I appreciate what she does. Thank you so much, Deb.

A special shout out goes to Jane Staples. Jane has been with us for years now. Jane takes over when we can't. She also mans the helm when Deb and I go on vacation. I feel very comfortable leaving the business with Jane in charge. She is very soft spoken, direct and very nice to our customers. Thank you, Jane. Very much appreciated!

Emma Keniston worked for us again last summer, her fourth season. She is Jared Keniston's daughter, Ian's niece. She mostly worked on booking reservations. Emma is absolutely wonderful on the phone, great with people, intuitive and intelligent, a wonderful person to see, hear and have on your side. She was such a help to Deb and Jane. And having her there was certainly a great help to me. If it's a Keniston, it's got to be good. Thank you very much, Emma. Always a great pleasure to have you working with us.

I ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC), an 192 mile, two day, cycling event that takes place the first Saturday of every August, to raise money for cancer research and care. Last year marked my fifteenth season participating. As of this writing, I have raised over $410,000.00 with donations given to me mostly by my angling guests and Barnacle Billy's patrons. And I do so appreciate the support. I have signed up again for the event for 2022. However, my son, Micah, has decided to have his wedding on the day we leave from Sturbridge. As the time gets closer to the date, I will be canceling some of the events I have so enjoyed over the years. The ride is not so important to me, even though I do like to attend. Of most importance is the fund raising, which I will not give up on. I plan to be just as active securing donations as I ever have. I would like to thank all the people who read this Guestletter and who also help me in this cancer project.

And so ends the last Guestletter before our 40th anniversary season. It's been a hell of a fun ride. The experiences are so many that I will never remember them all. But there are quite a few that stand out of which I hope to never forget. The people, anglers and regulars are part of these experiences. These experiences wouldn't mean anything if not for the people who were and are a part of them. It's half the reason I write this newsletter that I call the Guestletter. It's the one time I have at the end of a season where I can take the time and relive all the wonderful experiences that make the Bunny Clark clock tick. You have all made this journey a special ride for me. I hope these experiences mean half as much to those who were involved. Because they mean a great deal to me. I called Dave Gray the other day at his home in Vermont. He was my original angler. He started fishing with me on the Mary E, my boat before the Bunny Clark. We talked about a half hour. And we recounted many of the special times we had over the years fishing together. There are many. He's not sure if he will be able to fish with me again. At eighty-seven, with his wife gone, it's hard to drive all that way by yourself. He would ride down with his brothers who also used to fish with me. But they are gone as well. It reminded me of a time in the future where I won't be able to do this anymore. I'm not looking forward to that day. But I hope that, however long I live, I can remember the times that were most important to me, the things that defined my life. All thanks to you. As my father would have said; "Winter well.", until I see you again.

A Rough but Amazing Full Day Trip on the Bunny Clark

If you want to send me e-mail, the current address is bunnyclarkdsf@gmail.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!