Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Thursday, September 19, 2024, 3:00 AM EDT
Book a Trip on Line
 |
 |
Book a Trip on Line
|
|
Gulf of Maine haddock
These regulations for groundfish apply equally to anglers on privately owned recreational boats and party/charter boats as well.
At 4:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 66°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the west at eleven knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good in a bit of haze.
Ashore, the salient weather feature today was the heat. The air temperature rose to 90°F with a steady climb to this value all morning. The peak was reached after noon with a gradual decline after it reached the peak value. By 8:00 PM, the air temperature had dropped to 71°F, which was still warm but not as warm as the typical summer night during a warm spell. There was very little humidity today. Or, at least, it felt that way. The wind blew out of the west at about fifteen knots all day. The visibility over the ocean was very good in some haze. The sky was mostly sunny with few clouds all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 91°F (with a low of 65°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 59°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 85°F (with a low of 60°F).
I was told at 8:05 AM that we were not going to have a road tech down to the Bunny Clark. There was a serious emergency and no tech was available today. I was told that we would have someone there tomorrow. I understood. But I couldn't help but think that Power Products has dropped the ball on this one. There was a time when I could rely on them to get me up and running as soon as possible. I had full faith, in those days, that they were doing their best to do so. I certainly don't get that feeling today. Is this really a sign of the times or is it just mismanagement? They are certainly nice enough there, every individual who I deal with. But that doesn't get the job done. It makes me sad to think that anyone would have to go through what I have been through. The other thing that bothers is how can my service be depended on when I can't depend on them? People make plans to fish with me in advance. Some almost a year in advance. It's very disheartening.
As is normal, I spent the day at the restaurants. It was not a very busy day which has been typical, over the years, during this week before Labor Day weekend. I left at 8:00 PM. By the time I got everything sorted and the Bunny Clark truck back to the house, it was 9:00 PM.
The last few days I have been spending more time with our border collie, Gill. He has been very happy to walk down to the Cove with me at night to pick up the Bunny Clark truck. I think he anticipates what he might find for food that has been dropped in the patio of Barnacle Billly's. Dollops of ice cream, the occasional hot dog roll piece or a potato chip could be on the patio. Usually it's fairly clean down there. But the smells must be overwhelming for a dog. And I can tell from the way he mopes along to the Bunny Clark truck after leaving the patio that he feels that he has not gotten the best out of the patio experience.
I had a visit from a VIP from the southern party boat fishing fleet today. I was surprised to see him. It made my day.
Ashore, the wind blew out of the northeast to start. And, as I said above, it was blowing about fifteen knots with higher gusts to start, at about 3:00 AM. By 8:00 AM, it had dropped to ten knots. By noon, the wind was out of the east at ten knots or less. Later in the afternoon, the wind was out of the southeast at five knots or less. The sky was clear and sunny all day. The visibility remained excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw was 71°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 69°F (with a low of 62°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 52°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 72°F (with a low of 52°F).
We finally got someone from down to finish the engine project on the Bunny Clark. By noon, we were ready for sea trials. By 1:00 PM, the Bunny Clark was back at the Barnacle Billy's dock waiting for the next trip. This will happen on Saturday.
The rest of the day was spent working at Barnacle Billy's restaurants.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, the sky was crystal clear, a sliver of a moon was hanging high in the eastern horizon, the wind was very light out of the north northwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
There very little humidity today. The sky was clear with very few clouds. The visibility was excellent all day. The wind blew out of the north very lightly to start, hauled out of the east at five knots or so and then out of the south to eight knots. The ocean was calm along the shore for most of the day. The air temperature reached a high of 71°F. By 7:00 PM, the air temperature had cooled to 64°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 70°F (with a low of 58°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 49°F).
The morning was spent helping Goat Hubbard with one of the Finestkind Scenic Tour boats, cleaning up the engine room of the Bunny Clark and charging the twelve volt house batteries. I wanted everything as good as it can be for Ian's trip tomorrow.
The rest of the day was spent working at the Barnacle Billy's restaurants. In between working, I was home with Deb and my daughter's (Halley's) family who had come up from New Jersey to stay with us for a week. Halley's son, Ben, is two years old. So I am planning on rowing him around the Cove in the skiff and feeding the ducks. Today, I enjoyed dinner at home with them all. It was a good day of work and a good day with family.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was mostly clear with some evenly spaced clouds, just the lower rib of the moon was showing above the eastern horizon, the wind was blowing out of the south at five knots or less and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Ashore, it was a beautiful summer day. Inland, the air temperature got up over 80°F. In Ogunquit, Perkins Cove, we saw a high of 77°F. This was just around 2:00 PM, before the southerly wind picked up. The sky was sunny all morning, a mix of sun and clouds in the afternoon and mostly overcast by 3:00 PM. The sky was overcast into the night. The wind was light out of the south to start. The ocean along the shore was calm. The southerly wind gradually picked up. By 3:00 PM, the southerly wind was about ten knots, stronger offshore. By 7:00 PM, we had gusts to almost twenty knots. The visibility went from excellent to very good in the afternoon in haze. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 79°F (with a low of 62°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 55°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 53°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south southwest or some similar direction at five to ten knots and then ten to fifteen knots. Seas were chops of one to two feet on average under a two to three foot rolling sea swell. The air temperature reached a high of 69°F. The visibility ranged from ten to fifteen miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was clear and sunny. The surface water temperature reached a high of 64°F.
The fishing was maybe a bit better than good. The sea conditions weren't bad but they weren't the best, the dogfish population is still healthy and the sea conditions certainly weren't perfect. The catching was very good. Landings were good to very good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, the most we have seen all month. Legal landings also included twenty-eight haddock, thirty-two cusk and two cunners. Released fish included a small halibut, eighty or so dogfish, eight small cod, sixty sub-legal haddock and twelve or so sub-legal pollock. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked well.
Ian didn't tell me who was high hook. Tim Griffin (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 16 pound pollock. This pollock is tied for the fourth largest pollock of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. The second largest fish was a 14 pound pollock caught by Brian Godfrey (NH). He caught this fish as part of a double with another pollock of 8 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. To date, this is the Bunny Clark's third largest double of the fishing season. There was a tie for the third largest fish at 13 pounds. There were two fish. One was a 13 pound pollock caught by Steve Browing (OH). The other was a 13 pound sub-legal halibut caught by Kiersten Kemler (PA). This is only the thirteenth halibut of the Bunny Clark fishing season. Ian took a picture of Kiersten holding her halibut before it was released back to the ocean alive. This digital image appears on the left.
Other Angler Highlights: Tom Carter (NH) caught a 9 pound pollock, his best fish. Grant Hatfield (OH) landed a 10 pound pollock, his best. Mike Wheeland (OH) also caught a 10 pound pollock. Mike Petromallo (NY) landed the hard luck award for attaining high hurler status. There were a couple anglers who were green around the gills today.
Captain Ian Keniston and Danny DellaMonica ran the afternoon half day (4 PM - 8 PM) trip. The wind blew out of the south at ten to fifteen knots. Seas were chops of a foot or two. The air temperature reached a high of 69°F. The visibility ranged from ten to fifteen miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate.. The sky was overcast. The surface water temperature reached a high of 66°F.
The fishing was excellent. The catching was good. Landings were fair. Legal landings included a haddock, a cusk, a redfish, five whiting and four mackerel. Released fish included eight sub-legal haddock, fifteen sub-legal pollock and twenty sub-legal redfish. Drifting was the method. Anglers used bait and the occasional cod fly. No jigs were used this evening.
Peter Marceau (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 3.5 pound cusk. The second largest fish was a 3 pound haddock caught by Tim Murray (CT). Heather Bristol (MA) caught the third largest animal, a squid that weighed a half a pound. We haven't caught too many squid this season so Captain Ian took a picture of Heather with her squid. This digital image appears on the right.
Other Angler Highlights: Deb Adams (MA) landed the hard luck award t-shirt for being one of only a couple anglers to get the dreaded mal de mer! Her situation was most obvious.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 67°F, the sky was mostly clear with a departing cloud mass to the east, it had been raining earlier in the morning, the wind was blowing out of the south southwest at ten knots or less and the visibility over the ocean was very good in light haze.
Ashore, the salient weather feature was the air temperature. It was a bit humid but not oppressively so. The air temperature reached 80°F before noon but got up as high as 87°F. Even at 8:00 PM, it was still 80°F. The sky was mostly clear all day with some clouds. The wind was light out of the south all day. It might have blown up to eight knots but I don't know when that happened. The ocean along the shore was calm. The visibility was very good in some haze. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 83°F (with a low of 70°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 86°F (with a low of 65°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 67°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south southwest at about ten knots all day. Seas were chops of one to two feet with a discernable two foot swell underneath. The air temperature reached a high of 71°F. The visibility ranged from ten to fifteen miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was sunny with few clouds. The surface water temperature reached a high of 65°F.
The fishing was good to very good. The sea state and conditions were not much of an issue but the dogfish were still prevalent, although not that much of a problem. The catching was very good indeed. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far, a good change. [There certainly have been a lot of haddock around this season.] Legal landings also included thirty-three pollock, nine cod, a redfish and twenty-six cusk. Released fish included about a hundred dogfish, two cod of legal size, nine small cod, fifty-five sub-legal haddock (very few small haddock today) and fifteen sub-legal pollock. They drift fished mostly, anchored once. All terminal gear worked well today.
Justin Grenier (RI) was almost the fisherman of the day today. He was high hook with the most legal fish and he was a pound shy of winning the boat pool with a cod that weighed 10 pounds, the second largest fish of the trip. His friend, Justin Hopkins (RI) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11 pound cod. Roger Hopkins (RI), Justin's father (and serial pool winner), caught the third largest fish, an 8.5 pound cod. All these guys fish with a jig.
Other Angler Highlights: Kyle De Francesco (NH) landed the hard luck award t-shirt for being the sole hurler of the trip.
I received a generous $100.00 donation sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge from Randy & Cherish Clark (VT) "In Memory of Alexis "Lexy" Giallella". Randy & Cherish have been supporting me for a few years now. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. I appreciate the help very much but not as much as those we support or the cancer victims we help!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 66°F, the sky was mostly clear with some clouds, there was a very light wind from the north and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The wind was light all day. First it blew from the north, then northeast, then southeast and then south. We never had a gust over seven knots. At 4:00 PM, the wind hauled out of the northwest with gusts to almost twenty knots. I know this because the awnings over the deck at Barnacle Billy's (Original) reacted exactly like twenty knot wind gusts. The wind backed off to about ten knots with higher gusts. The visibility was excellent all day. The sky was sunny with few clouds. The air temperature reached a high of 76°F. There was no humidity. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 76°F (with a low of 60°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 52°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 75°F (with a low of 53°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the north at ten knots to start then died out to just about nothing. On the ride home, the wind hauled out of the south to five or six knots. Seas were chops of a foot or two to start that dropped to a chop of less than a foot. Ian saw a swell of about two feet all day. The high air temperature was 73°F under the shade top. It was hot on deck once the wind dropped. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was sunny all day with few clouds. The surface water temperature reached a high of 64°F.
The fishing was very good. It would have been excellent if not for the dogfish. But the dogfish weren't horrible. The catching was very good. Landings were good. Legal landings included fifteen cod (a cod a person), thirty haddock, twenty-six pollock, fourteen redfish, five cusk and a white hake. Released fish included about a hundred dogfish, six sub-legal cod, fifty or so sub-legal haddock, twenty-five sub-legal pollock and nine sub-legal redfish. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked well.
Dave Burton (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish. He never did catch a fish large enough to weigh. Walter Sawicki (CT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 9 pound pollock caught by Victor Agular (MA). Jose Vera (MA) landed the third largest fish, an 8.5 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Bob Kent (ME) caught an 8 pound (perfect size to eat) white hake, his biggest fish. Mike Atkins (NH) caught the biggest haddock that we have seen in a month at 5 pounds. Seth Stroup (CT) landed the hard luck award t-shirt for being the high hurler of the trip. Yes, we did have some anglers who were sea sick today.
Dave Burton donated another $55.00 to help in my quest to raise as much money as I can through the Pan-Mass Challenge for cancer research. His total donation figure is over $1,000.00 this year so far. Amazing! Thank you so much, Dave. I so appreciate your help.
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the sky was clear, the wind was out of the northwest at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Fifteen knots of northwest wind pushed us to the fishing grounds. The wind was just about on our stern the whole way out. Seas were two to three feet in chops once we got out a ways. I never did look at the air temperature but it was on the cool side, probably 60°F or so. The sky was cloudless. The visibility was excellent.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest fifteen knots or more out of the north northwest. Seas were chops of three feet, more or less. The wind started tapering off after a couple of hours. By noon, the wind was northwest at five to ten knots with seas in chops of a foot or a little more. By the time we were ready to "head her to the barn" we had about five knots of northwest wind with a one foot chop. The air temperature reached a high of 66°F. The visibility ranged to twenty-five miles or more. The tide was strong all day. It was so strong in the morning that the wind couldn't over-power it on anchor. So we laid in the trough and rolled beam ends for the first two hours of fishing. By the end of the fishing the tide and the wind were going in the same direction but still very strong. The sky was cloudless all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 64°F. We only saw that value on the last stop. We fished several places today where the surface water temperature was just above 61°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 73°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 75°F (with a low of 56°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 73°F (with a low of 40°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 72°F (with a low of 46°F).
The fishing was very good overall. I couldn't put it in a higher category because the tide was just so strong. We were also bothered by blue sharks, losing seven rigs to them in all. We only had a handful of dogfish. The catching was very good on anchor, poor on the drift. Again, the tide was just too strong to drift. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. Legal landings also included fifty-one pollock, four cod and thirty-five cusk. Released fish included twenty-two dogfish (at least half caught by Jim Pirog (MA), twelve sub-legal cod, fourteen sub-legal haddock, four sub-legal pollock and the seven blue sharks. I tried drifting on four occasions to no avail. Anchoring was far better. Cod flies caught the most legal fish.
I want to say that Keegan Austin (ME) was high hook with the most legal fish. I can't substantiate this but I would certainly bet that he was. And I'm no betting man. Some of the fish I weighed for him included a 6 pound pollock, two pollock of 7 pounds each and an 8 pound cod. He tied for the largest haddock of the trip at 4 pounds and he also caught plenty of cusk and a few more haddock. His dory mate, Shannon McNally (ME) did very well too. Some of her fish included a 6 pound cusk and a 7 pound pollock.
Dave Burton (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 14.5 pound cod. The largest pollock of his that I weighed was 6.5 pounds. He might have caught other bigger ones. John Pirog (MA) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 12 pound pollock. John caught an 8 pound pollock just before that one. Jake Johnson (ME) won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the third largest fish, an 11 pound pollock. He also shared the biggest haddock status with a 4 pounder.
Other Angler Highlights: If we could have drifted, I would have put money on Bob Jones (ME) winning the boat pool. Instead he caught a lower percentage of fish than he is used to catching while fishing in the pulpit. The largest fish of his that I weighed was a 7 pound pollock. Ed Roberts (ME) caught a 7 pound cod and an 8.5 pound pollock. Rand Richards (ME) boated a 10 pound pollock, his biggest fish. He caught this fish as a double with a bigger pollock that dropped off the hook while trying to boat it. The floater looked like the bigger fish. Linda Barker (ME) landed a 9.5 pound pollock, her best fish. Boo Whitten (ME) caught an 8 pound cod and an 8 pound pollock, her two biggest fish. She also caught five haddock, a couple cusk and lost two jigs (one to a blue shark). I traded her a hard luck award t-shirt for the money it took to pay for the jigs!
I received several donations sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a ride (cycling event) across the state of Massachusetts for cancer research. Those individuals and their donations included: Todd Mallory (NY) for a generous $100.00, Dave Burton for a generous (overly generous with all the other donations to the cause this year) $100.00, Larry Reed (ME) for $40.00 and Jake Johnson for a generous $130.00. Thank you all so very much for your generosity and thoughtfulness. I very much appreciate your help and it gives all of us the opportunity to have the best researchers working on solving the cancer riddle!
I had a great day being on the ocean today!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was cloudless, there wasn't enough wind to write about, the ocean along the shore was flat calm and the visibility over it was excellent.
Ashore, the wind was very light all day, typical of the weather trend this summer, one of the calmest summers that I have ever experienced - too bad we were broken down for thirteen days of it! The wind blew lightly out of the northwest until about 11:00 AM and then backed out of the south for the rest of the day. Wind speeds were about five knots until 5:00 PM, when the southerly wind freshened to ten knots or so. The sky was nearly cloudless, again, all day. The visibility was excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw today was 77°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 77°F (with a low of 59°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 44°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 78°F (with a low of 50°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west at five knots or less. The ocean was flat calm. The highest air temperature Ian could note was 71°F. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The sky was clear and sunny all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 66°F.
The fishing was good again. The weather and sea conditions were perfect but they lost fifteen sets of terminal gear to blue sharks and there were a few more dogfish than we like to see. The catching was good as were the landings. We had only nine anglers today. Legal landings included one cod, twenty-nine haddock, ten pollock, forty cusk, two whiting and one monkfish. Released fish included forty-five dogfish, the fifteen blue sharks just mentioned, six sub-legal cod. sixty-one sub-legal haddock and four sub-legal pollock. They drift fished the whole trip. All terminal gear worked equally well.
Kris Brown (VT) was high hook with the most legal fish. Kris also caught the third largest fish, an 8.5 pound cusk. He caught this cusk as part of a double with another cusk that weighed 7 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time! Walt Klinger, Jr. (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10 pound cusk. He also caught an 8 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 9 pound monkfish caught by Leo Lamoureux (VT). I was going to put up the digital image of Leo holding the monkfish in this missive, a shot that Ian took. But it was such a great picture, I'm going to save it for the index page to replace the picture of Dave Burton's halibut, within the next two weeks.
Other Angler Highlights: Jane Brown (VT) caught a 7 pound pollock, her biggest fish. Kris Overlock (ME) landed the hard luck award for losing two jigs to blue sharks.
Paul Kostopoulos (CT), that wonderful person that he is, donated again to my cancer fund raising project with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. This time the donation was for $100.00. This donation was made in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site. In the email he said this: "Tim, another person taken too soon. In memory of Xavier "Sam" Sica, a long time friend's father in law." Thanks, Paul. I know how you feel, the reason I started doing this is the first place. Very much appreciated!
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the southwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
It was another easy marathon trip ride to the fishing grounds. This time it wasn't because the wind was behind us, it was because there really was no wind. The wind was out of the southwest at two to eight knots, no more than that. A one foot chop was all I could see. The air temperature was in the lower 60s. The visibility was excellent. The sky was clear.
On the fishing grounds, the wind continued out of the southwest. Wind speeds might have been as high as eight knots to start. But the wind diminished all day. Wind speeds remained at two to four knots with a chop of a foot or less. The highest air temperature that I observed under the shade top was 68°F. The tide (current) was moderate to a bit more than that. The visibility ranged to over twenty-five miles. The sky was cloudless after daylight. The surface water temperature reached a high of 64°F. Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 77°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 73°F (with a low of 60°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 49°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 51°F).
The fishing was excellent. There were few dogfish, very few blue sharks and perfect drifting or anchoring weather. The catching was very good. Landings were good or maybe a little better than that. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. It was great to see as I haven't as many haddock caught in a long time. They weren't big but there were very few that were too small to keep. Legal landings also included nineteen cod, thirty pollock and sixty-eight cusk. Released fish included three dogfish, sixteen sub-legal cod, two legal sized cod, twenty-two sub-legal haddock, thirty-two sub-legal pollock and two blue sharks. We drift fished almost the whole time, anchoring only once. Almost everyone used jigs and flies. Very little bait was used.
I didn't have a clue as to who was high hook with the most legal fish. There was a tie for the boat pool for the largest fish at 13 pounds. There were two fish, the two biggest of the day, both cod. John Kilmer (ME) caught one and Patrick Caron (ME) caught the other. John also caught an 8.5 pound pollock. Scott Miller (VT) won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the third largest fish, a 12.5 pound cod. Scott also caught quite a few haddock and an 8.5 pound cusk.
Other Angler Highlights: David Kilmer (MD) started out like a house afire catching the three largest fish while everyone else was catching smaller fish. His luck changed after noon. Some of the fish of his that I weighed included a 10.5 pound pollock, a 10.25 pound cod, a 10 pound pollock, a 7 pound cod and another 10 pound pollock. Phil Hibbard (ME) caught a 7 pound pollock that I weighed. Nick Kirychuk (CT) caught the two largest haddock of the day. Both weighed in a 5 pounds. He also caught the largest cusk at 9 pounds. Marlin Kilmer (OH) caught a 7.5 pound cod. Philip Kilmer (TN) caught two cod of 8 pounds each. Curvin Kilmer (TN) caught the best double of the day. His double included a 10.25 pound cod and a 7 pound pollock, both fish on the same line at the same time. His largest pollock weighed 9 pounds. Leo Lamoureux (VT) caught a double that included two legal haddock, he fought a blue shark for fifteen minutes ending up with all his gear back and a cod head besides! The largest pollock of Leo's that I weighed was 8 pounds. Titus Yoder (ME) landed the hard luck award for no particular reason. And, actually, had I known that he had won the shirt last season, I would have probably given it to someone else! No one really had any hard luck today.
It was really a great day today with perfect weather, only one person feeling queazy for a small period of time, lots of fishing action and perfect air temperatures.
Scott Miller (VT) surprised me with a $40.00 donation sponsoring me in this season's Pan-Mass Challenge during the trip. Thanks so much, Scott. I really do appreciate your help, the kind words and your encouragement. Looking forward to better trips in the future.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was light out of the northeast and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Later on in the morning, the wind increased to about eight knots and the fog rolled in over the parking lot, making the visibility poor.
Ashore, it was overcast all day. In the morning and early afternoon, it was foggy in the Cove at times and misty. The fog would back off at times but then it would roll in again. After 2:00 PM, we didn't see the fog along the shore again. It never rained. The wind blew out of the northeast all day. Wind speeds got over ten knots in the morning for a couple of hours. Twelve knots, maybe? But mostly it was eight to ten knots. The visibility ranged from poor to nearly good, good after 5:00 PM. The highest air temperature that I saw was 70°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 72°F (with a low of 62°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 73°F (with a low of 49°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 68°F (with a low of 52°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northeast to east at five to ten knots. Seas started as swells of one to two feet that increased to three and four feet as the day progressed. They also had a chop of about a foot on top of these swells all day. The air temperature reached a high of 68°F. The visibility ranged from a quarter of a mile to three miles in fog. The tide (current) was strong all day, making it tough to drift fish at times. The sky was overcast all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 65°F.
The fishing was good to very good; the strong tide kept it out of the excellent category. The sea state and conditions kept it out of the consistently very good category - there were some anglers who were sea sick due to the visibility and odd motion of the vessel with the seas. The catching was very good. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were haddock. It's nice to see that the haddock are becoming more numerous as of late. Legal landings also included fifteen cod (the boat limit today), twenty-four pollock, one redfish and thirty-five cusk. Released fish included twenty-five dogfish, twelve legal sized cod, a few small cod, over seventy sub-legal haddock and sixteen small pollock. They drift fished the whole day. Bait and jigs worked equally well.
Fred Kunz (NH), Brian Tufts (NH/FL) and Tyler Miller (VT) all could have been high hook with the number of legal fish caught. The problem now arises when we catch legal cod. You can only keep one but most people, including me, keep count of the legal sized cod that are released. Brian caught quite a few and so did Fred. Needless to day, all three were very successful today. Fred didn't have as big a fish as most so those fish were not weighed. Neither did Tyler. Brian's two biggest fish were a 10 pound cod and an 11 pound cod. The 11 pound cod was the fouth largest fish of the trip.
Dave Stowe (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 14.5 pound cod. Dave also caught the second largest fish, a 12.5 pound pollock. He caught this pollock as part of a double with another pollock of 10 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. He started off the day by catching a 10 pound cod. The third largest fish was an 11.25 pound caught caught by Peter Potgieter (SC).
Other Angler Highlights: Laura Parker (NH) caught a 9 pound cod, her largest fish. Pete Levesque (NH) caught the largest cusk at 9.5 pounds. Jim Welch (FL) landed the hard luck award for attaining high hurler status. Yes, it was the kind of day where sea sickness becomes more prevalent!
At 4:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 59°F, the sky was clear, the wind was out of the north northwest at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The salient weather feature today were the big swells coming in from offshore. There is a big low pressure out there shaped like a hurricane, south of Nova Scotia, blowing thirty knots or more that is generating these swells. It's been there for a while but the swells are just getting here. In the morning, the swells were about four feet but they were making up to about ten feet by 6:00 PM. The wind was light out of the north all day. There was very little chop over the swells near shore. The visibility was very good in haze, The sky was sunny and clear all day. The highest air temperature that I saw was 74°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 74°F (with a low of 60°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 54°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 75°F (with a low of 54°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the north at ten knots to start and then less than five knots before heading back in. Seas were ocean swells of four to six feet under a one foot chop. The high air temperature was 68°F under the canopy top. The visibility ranged from ten to fifteen miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky overcast [From the shore, you could see the canopy of clouds to the east. We, ashore, were in the sun while they were just enough offshore to be under the leading edge of the clouds connected to the low pressure system south of Nova Scotia.]. The surface water temperature reached a high of 63°F.
The fishing was no better than good again. Today's were the swells from two angles. One, more than half of the anglers were sick due to their presence. Two, it was tough to control your gear with the swells and high as they were. The catching was good, also down a notch, because of this. The fish did end up biting to make catching very good or, even, excellent, but this didn't happen until the last fifteen minutes of the fishing. Landings were fair because of all this. Legal landings included one cod, six haddock, eighteen pollock, twenty-one cusk and four mackerel. Released fish included thirty dogfish, four small cod, twenty-four sub-legal haddock, four blue sharks and twenty sub-legal pollock. All terminal gear worked about the same today. They drift fished and anchored. Both seemed to work about the same.
Kyle Santor was high hook with the most legal fish. He was the one who jonesing to stay a little longer to take advantage of the late bite. His best fish was a 5 pound pollock. Chris Lafromboise (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 7 pound cod. There was a tie for the second largest fish at 6 pounds. Two anglers were involved. One of the fish was a cusk caught by Josh Trudo (VT). The other was a pollock caught by Kelly Boardman (VT).
Other Angler Highlights: Alex Goodspeed (VT) caught a 5 pound pollock, his best. Marcus Bunnell (VT) did one better with a 5.5 pound pollock. Caden Moore (NJ) caught the two largest haddock. Both fish weighed 4 pounds each. Chris Stanhope (NJ) landed the hard luck award for being the best at being the most uncomfortable in the control of his equilibrium.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was cloudless, the wind was out of the northwest at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Ashore, the wind blew out of the west or west northwest to eighteen knots or so. It was gusty and not a day for the awnings to be put out at Barnacle Billy's. The air temperature was coolish and it felt like a warm fall day. The highest air temperature that I saw was 69°F. The visibility over the ocean was excellent. The sky was sunny and dotted with clouds. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 71°F (with a low of 57°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 66°F (with a low of 46°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 68°F (with a low of 53°F).
On the fishing grounds, it was the windiest day since May 28th. Needless to say, we haven't had any wind this summer. I'm sure that won't be the same this fall. And even today wasn't really that windy. The Portland Lightshop buoy (LNB) was showing gusts to twenty-five knots with winds out of the west. Ian's take on the wind, as noted on his day sheet, was west to west northwest at ten to fifteen knots. I'm sure there were higher gusts. The wind was certainly not remarkable enough to elaborate. There was a two foot chop over sea swells of three to four feet. The air temperature reached a high of 63°F. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was sunny all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 61°F.
The fishing was good overall. With the sea state and the dogfish, I just couldn't call the fishing any better than that. The catching was good to very good. Landings were good overall. It was slower during the first half of the day than the last half of the fishing. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were pollock today, most likely spurned on by the changing weather pattern and high pressure. Legal landings also included three cod, eleven haddock, a redfish, two cusk, seven whiting and five mackerel. They had blue sharks around but it wasn't clear what part they played in the fishing today. They couldn't have been too much of a bother. Released fish included about one hundred and thirty or more dogfish, four small cod, twenty sub-legal haddock, twenty-four sub-legal pollock and a mackerel. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked well.
Arnie Ulrich (NJ) was high hook with the most legal fish. He also caught the second largest fish of the trip, a 15 pound pollock. Jessica Couture (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 18 pound pollock. This is a tie for the Bunny Clark's largest pollock of the fishing season to date. There have been two other pollock of 18 pounds that have been landed this season. Ian took a picture of Jessica with her good sized pollock. This digital image appears on the left. Jessica also tied for the third largest fish of the trip with James Parker (NH) and Andy Morris (NH). All three anglers caught fish of 12 pounds. Jessica's and James' fish were both pollock. Andy caught a 12 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Rick Baker (NY) caught the first fish to be weighed, a 10.5 pound pollock. Cameron Baker (NY) caught a pollock slightly bigger at 11.5 pounds. Jim LeMay (ME) boated a 10 pound pollock, his largest fish. George Johnson (NY) also caught a 10 pound pollock. Andy Morris caught a pollock of 9 pounds to go with his 12 pound cod. He also landed the hard luck award t-shirt for being the first to hurl! It was that kind of day!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, the sky was cloudless yet again, the wind was out of the northwest at fifteen knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Ashore, the wind blew out of the northwest all day. Wind speeds ranged from fifteen to twenty knots, less in the afternoon with very little wind around sunset. The visibility over the ocean was excellent. Sky was clear with very few clouds, cloudless for most of the morning. The highest air temperature that I saw in Perkins Cove was 76°F. It felt like summer with just a hint of humidity. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 76°F (with a low of 56°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 43°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 74°F (with a low of 48°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west from twenty knots to ten knots then backed out of the west southwest at ten knots. Seas were chops of two feet or more over sea swells of three feet but dropped to a one foot chop over a two foot swell in the afternoon. The air temperature reached a high of 62°F under the canopy top. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was clear and sunny all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 61°F.
The fishing was good. The sea state wasn't the best and there were too many dogfish to put the rating at a higher category. The catching was very good to excellent. Landings were just shy of excellent. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included thirteen cod, seventeen haddock, one redfish, five cusk, two monkfish and ten mackerel. Released fish included seventy-five or so dogfish, eight small cod, thirty-five sub-legal haddock, thirty sub-legal pollock and a couple of mackerel and sculpins. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked very well today.
There were way too many pollock to get a feeling as to who was high hook with the most legal fish. If I were to guess I would say it was Matt Luce (ME) but when I talked to him he told me that his wife, Carolynn Luce (ME), caught more fish than he did. I wasn't there so I have not a clue. Nor did I ask Ian for his opinion. Matt did win the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 16.5 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's fourth largest pollock of the fishing season so far. Matt also caught a pollock that weighed 11.5 pounds. Carolynn caught an 11 pound pollock as her biggest fish. The second largest fish was a 14 pound pollock caught by Jim Jennsen (CT). There was a tie for third place with fish of 13 pounds. Three anglers caught 13 pound fish. Those anglers included Ed Brozo (MA) with a 13 pound pollock (caught as a double with another pollock of 7 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time), my friend, Mark Bernier (CT), with a 13 pound pollock and Glen Brozo (MA) with a 13 pound cod. Glen's biggest pollock weighed 10 pounds. His father, Ed, also caught the largest cusk at 8 pounds, another pollock of 8 pounds and a pollock that weighed 12 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Jim Daily (IN) caught an 11 pound cod, his best fish. April Daily (IN) landed a 12.5 pound pollock, her biggest fish today. Richard Phillips (VT) caught a double that included an 11 pound cod and a 7 pound pollock. Ken Meinke (VT) boated an 11 pound cod. Andy Landry (VT) landed the hard luck award for being the most sea sick and for not catching any fish to bring home! Ouch!!
April Daily did me a solid today by donating $60.00 to my cancer fund raising project with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Thank you very much for your generosity and thoughtfulness, April. I appreciate that very much. It was nice meeting you!
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the sky was clear, the wind was out of the west at five knots in Perkins Cove and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
After we left the gate of Perkins Cove behind, the wind, out of the west northwest, followed us to the fishing grounds. Wind speeds were a bit over ten knots with seas of about two feet in chops. The air temperature when we started was 60°F but rose to 63°F before we got there. The sky was mostly cloudy with clear space to the east and west of us. The visibility was excellent.
On the fishing grounds, the wind started out of the west northwest, backed into the west southwest and just kept backing off. We had ten to fifteen knots to start with a two foot chop. By noon, it was five knots. The ocean was flat calm by 1:00 PM. Later, we saw a very light southerly wind over the calm ocean. The wind blew lightly out of the west southwest coming home. The visibility ranged to over twenty-five miles. The high air temperature was 68°F under the canopy top. The tide (current) was moderate to light. The clouds disappeared by 8:00 AM. The sky remained nearly cloudless for the rest of the day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 64°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 76°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 79°F (with a low of 61°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 46°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 72°F (with a low of 48°F).
The fishing was good to very good overall. We had times where the dogfish and the blue sharks ganged up against us. And we had other times where the fishing was excellent with a perfect drift and not a single dogfish or blue shark. The catching was very good, excellent if you included the dogfish and blue sharks. Landings were good overall. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included seven cod, sixteen haddock, thirty-eight redfish, seventeen cusk, one cunner, fourteen white hake (they are back on the open bottom) and one whiting. Released fish included fifty-three dogfish, a sculpin, three small cod, seventeen sub-legal haddock, fourteen sub-legal pollock, sixteen sub-legal redfish and we lost nine rigs to blue sharks. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked well but a high baited hook caught, by far, the most dogfish.
I'm pretty sure that Dave Burton (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish. He also won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the fifth largest fish, a 17.25 pound white hake. Some of his other good fish included a 12 pound pollock, a 14 pound pollock, the largest cusk at 9.5 pounds and the largest redfish at 1.75 pounds. And he landed the hard luck award t-shirt for losing four jigs! Dave seems to always find a way to do something special!
Bruce Andersen (FL) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 24 pound white hake. Some of Bruce's other good fish included an 11 pound pollock, a 16 pound white hake and a 9 pound cod. Barry Ano (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 20 pound white hake. Some of Barry's other fish that I weighed included an 8 pound pollock and a 17 pound white hake.
There was a tie for the third largest fish at 19.5 pounds. There were two, both white hake. William Estabrook (ME) caught one and Stephane Cloutier (MA) caught the other one. Neither angler was in the boat pool. William also caught the best double of the day. His catch included a 13.5 pound pollock and a 7 pound pollock, both fish on the same line at the same time. This is a tie for the Bunny Clark's fifth largest double of the season to date. Other fish if his included a 12.5 pound pollock and a 15.5 pound white hake. The second fish boated today was a 3.5 pound Maine state trophy whiting caught by Stephane. This is Stephane's largest whiting and a tie for the Bunny Clark's third largest whiting of the season so far. I took a picture of Steph holding his prize fish. This digital image appears on the left. Some of his other good fish included a 9.5 pound pollock, an 8 pound pollock and the largest haddock of the day at 4 pounds. Other Angler Highlights: Stephanie Sweet (ME) caught a 9 pound pollock, her largest fish. Tod Benjamin (VT), fishing alone in the bow, caught the most big fish and lost the most big fish today. I wish I could have seen some of the bigger fish that he lost. The good fish we did see included two cod of 11 pounds each, a 12 pound pollock, an 11 pound pollock, an 11.25 pound cod, a 12 pound cod, a 16 pound white hake, a 13 pound white hake, a 14.5 pound white hake and a 7.5 pound cod. Seth Daniels (CT) caught an 11 pound pollock, an 11.75 pound pollock and a 14 pound white hake. He also caught the most legal redfish. Rich Bourque (CT) caught the largest pollock of the trip. It weighed 15 pounds.
I received a few donations sponsoring me on my ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Those donors and their donations included: Dave Burton for $50.00, Barry Ano for $40.00 and Bruce Andersen (FL) for $40.00. All, except Bruce, are regular donors to the cause. Thank you all so very much for the support and your thoughtfulness. All so very much appreciated!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, the sky was cloudless, the wind was very light out of the northwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Ashore, by 10:00 AM, the air temperature had risen to 65°F, the sky was cloudless still, the ocean was mirror calm and the visibility was excellent. Around noon, the wind had become well established out of the southwest. Wind speeds at the time were under ten knots. Around 1:00 PM, the wind shifted out of the west and blew up to fifteen knots. This wind died out at 6:00 PM, a typical land breeze that never saw even the distance to the bell buoy. The sky was clear all day, mostly cloudless. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 77°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 73°F (with a low of 58°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 40°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 75°F (with a low of 43°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at five knots or less, died out leaving the ocean flat calm and then backed out of the southwest and blew up to five knots. The ocean was calm all day with no discernable swell. The air temperature reached a high of 66°F under the shade top. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The sky was clear and sunny all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 63°F.
The fishing was good. The sea state and weather was perfect; it couldn't have been better for sailing humans. But there were dogfish and blue sharks enough to spoil the party for some. The catching, however, was very good, excellent if you considered the dogfish. Landings were very good; better than yesterday's marathon trip. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. There were not a lot of big pollock. They were mostly the cookie cutter 6 pound range. But there were a lot of them. And I'm surprised they did displace the dogfish more than they did. Legal landings also included twelve cod, twenty-one haddock, twenty-four redfish, four cusk and eight mackerel. Released fish included seventy-five dogfish, five blue sharks (released with jewelry), five small cod, twenty-five sub-legal haddock, twenty sub-legal pollock, a mackerel and twenty-five sub-legal pollock. Drifting was the method. Everyone used jigs and cod flies; no bait was used.
Bob Mathews (FL) was high hook with the most legal fish. It's uncanny that he always seems to come up on top, regardless of his participation! Bob Tebo, III won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 10 pound cod caught by Pete Backus. Rich Mallott caught the third largest fish, a 9 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Paul Smith caught an 8.25 pound cod, his largest fish. John Gardner landed the hard luck award for getting spined by a dogfish.
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was clear, there wasn't enough wind to write about, I could hear the bell buoy clearly - which usually means that the wind is out of the east - and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
It was another easy ride to the fishing grounds. This time the wind was out of the west southwest to start but turned southwesterly about half way out. Wind speeds were light with barely a chop. The air temperature when we started was 60°F but rose to 63°F before we got there. The sky was nearly cloudless. The visibility was excellent.
On the fishing grounds, we had wind out of the southwest all day. In the morning, the ocean was calm with light southwest wind. The wind gradually increased after noon. By the time we were ready to wrap it up, the wind had increased to about eight knots with a one foot chop. We had up to fifteen knots of southwest wind on the ride home. The air temperature reached a high of 68°F. The visibility ranged to over twenty-five miles. The tide was moderate to light. The sky was essentially cloudless all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 63°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine, the high air temperature was a summer-like 80°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 81°F (with a low of 58°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 44°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 74°F (with a low of 47°F).
The fishing was very good today. I couldn't give it an excellent rating because there were quite a few dogfish that got in the way and there were enough blue sharks to keep you on your toes. The catching was very good to excellent. Landings were very good. We caught a lot of good sized fish today. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included twenty-six white hake, eight cod, twenty-five haddock, a redfish, eight cusk, eight whiting, three mackerel and a cunner. Released fish included over eighty-seven dogfish (I'm sure I missed a few), thirty-two sub-legal cod, forty-four sub-legal haddock, fifty-eight sub-legal pollock and eight blue sharks released with jewelry. We drift fished all day. It was perfect. I did try anchoring once but it wasn't good. Jigs and cod flies caught all the fish.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook with the most legal fish. There was just too much going on. I have my suspects but I won't guess this time. The largest fish landed was a 35 pound Maine state trophy white hake. There was a question as to who's fish it was. The hake got off the hook in a tangle and floated to the surface. Everyone agreed that it was Karl Joslin's (NY) hake. But he didn't bring it to gaff and I couldn't honestly say that it was his fish. So he did not win the boat pool even though it was the largest fish. This fish ties for the third largest hake of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. I took a picture of Karl holding his massive fish. This digital image appears on the right.
Steve LaPlante (CT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest, a 33 pound Maine state trophy white hake. This is Steve's largest hake this season to date and the sixth largest Bunny Clark hake caught this season so far. He also won the boat pool for second largest fish with the third largest fish, a 27 pound Maine state trophy white hake. Some of Steve's other good fish included a 15.5 pound pollock, a 15.5 pound white hake, a 12 pound pollock, a 17 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock.
Dennis Reissig (NY) won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the fourth largest fish, a 25 pound Maine state trophy white hake. Dennis also caught the largest double today. His catch included a 10.5 pound pollock and a 12 pound pollock, both fish on the same line at the same time. To date, this ties the Bunny Clark's third largest double of the season. Some of his other good fish included a 17 pound white hake and a 24.5 pound white hake.
Other Angler Highlights: Arshad Shah (QC) caught a 20.5 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's largest pollock of the fishing season so far. Jonathan "Griff" Griffin (MA) caught an 18.5 pound white hake and a 20.5 pound white hake, his two biggest fish. He also caught a 17.25 pound pollock. Presently, this is the Bunny Clark's fifth largest pollock of the fishing season. Tom Dion (MA) landed a 22 pound white hake and a 15 pound pollock, his two best fish. Rick Gelaznik (MA) boated an 11 pound pollock and an 11.5 pound pollock. Ny Nhath (VT) boated an 11.5 pound pollock, a 13 pound pollock and an 11 pound cod, his three best fish. His cod was the largest cod caught today.
Ray Westermann (MA), who likes Captain Ian Keniston better than he likes me, caught a 19.5 pound white hake, his biggest fish. Jim Jarvis (MA) caught a 15.5 pound white hake, a 14.5 pound pollock and an 18.25 pound white hake. Steve Selmer (NH) caught a 24 pound white hake, a 21.5 pound white hake, a 12.25 pound pollock, a 19 pound white hake and a 19.5 pound white hake. Ken Claus (ON) landed a 22 pound white hake and a 16.5 pound white hake. Randy Rumrill (NH) caught a 9 pound pollock, his best fish.
Tom Maracle (ON), on his maiden voyage aboard the Bunny Clark, caught the most "counters" today and could very well have been high hook with the most legal fish. He was fishing in the stern as the most viewed angler. But there was no doubt that he was one of the most successful anglers of the trip. His long list of good fish included three white hake of 18 pounds each, a 24.75 pound white hake, a 21 pound white hake, a 19 pound white hake and a 16 pound white hake. Along with never fishing with me before, he also had never caught a hake before! He does a lot of fishing all over the world. Harry Chesley (NH) caught a 16.25 pound pollock, his best fish of the trip. He also landed the hard luck award for being the most tangled angler today. He actually wasn't really that tangled but I did enjoy abusing him most of the day about it!
I received several donations sponsoring me on my ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Those donors and their donations included Steve LaPlante for $50.00, Barry Ano (NY) for $50.00 and Tom Maracle for a generous $110.00. Thank you all so very much for your support in this cancer project of mine. I so appreciate your thoughtfulness and help!
At 4:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 59°F, the sky was mostly cloudy, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Ashore, there was no wind all morning, a very light southeast wind in the later afternoon and a flat calm windless evening from 6:00 PM on into the night. The sky was mostly clear, nearly cloudless, all day. The visibility was very good in some haze. The highest air temperature that I saw in Ogunquit was 81°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 83°F (with a low of 62°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 53°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 81°F (with a low of 54°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west at less than five knots and then out of the southwest at less than five knots. The ocean was flat calm all day. The air temperature reached a high of 71°F. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles in haze. The tide (current) was either light, none or moderate at different times of the day or locations. The sky was clear and sunny. The surface water temperature reached a high of 64°F.
The fishing was fair to good. Ian saw the most dogfish he has seen on a trip this season to date and the ocean was way too calm for any significant movement over the bottom. Of course, it was too calm to anchor. And they lost quite a few jigs to blue sharks. The catching was good, excellent if you included blue sharks and dogfish. Landings were fair to okay. I would say that landings were good under the circumstances. Most legal fish landed were pollock. Legal landings also included eight cod, seventeen haddock, five redfish, seven cusk, a whiting, two white hake and six mackerel. Released fish included over two hundred and fifty dogfish (too many to count), five small cod, twenty sub-legal haddock, thirty or so sub-legal pollock, five sub-legal redfish, a sculpin and at least five blue sharks. There were a lot of jigs lost today. Ian couldn't confirm that some were lost to blue sharks. All terminal gear worked about the same.
Ian couldn't pick out an angler who was high hook with the most legal fish. There was too much going on. Jonathan Griffin (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 12 pound pollock. The second largest fish was an 11.5 pound pollock caught by Sam Yang (ME). There were too many pollock in the 7 or 8 pound range to pick out a fish that was the third largest.
Other Angler Highlights: Owen Morehouse (NY) landed the hard luck award for almost getting sick.
Ethan from Maine's Department of Marine Resources was aboard today. He was measuring fish, taking the fish count and talking to the anglers about effort, the number of times anglers fished, etc. He was also a help to Danny. The DMR is responsible to bringing information to the table to help in fishery management. They do a great job and are very respectful to my/Ian's position and are great with our anglers. They also seem to do a better job with data collection than some of the other states. But maybe I have a bias.
Jeff Corey (MA) donated $40.00 to my cancer research fund raising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. This makes at least three times that he has supported me in this project. Thank you so very much, Jeff. I certainly appreciate your generosity and thoughtfulness. This means a lot to so many.
At 4:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 61°F, the sky was clear, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Ashore, the wind blew out of the north with just enough velocity to give it direction, four knots, maybe. Before noon, the wind had come around out of the northeast, still light. Then we had almost ten knots of east wind that rolled around out of the southeast after sunset. We had no wind at 9:00 PM. The sky was clear all day. The visibility was excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw was 79°F before noon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 76°F (with a low of 63°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 52°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 55°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the north at five knots or less but hauled out of the east northeast at ten knots or so. The ocean went from calm to a one foot chop. The air temperature reached a high of 67°F. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles in haze. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was sunny. The surface water temperature reached a high of 64°F.
The fishing was good; it could have been better with fewer dogfish. The catching was good to very good, excellent if you included the dogfish (although, they weren't as bad as on yesterday's trip). Landings were fair to good. Most legal fish landed were cusk. Legal landings also included a cod, nine haddock, five pollock and five mackerel. Released fish included three blue sharks, about one hundred and fifty dogfish, seven small cod, twenty-five sub-legal haddock and six sub-legal pollock. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked equally well and no gear was spared from the dogfish.
Zack Stevens (NY) was high hook with the most legal fish. His largest fish was a 12 pound pollock, the second largest fish of the trip. Rodney Sharp won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13 pound pollock. The third largest fish was a 10 pound pollock caught by Bob Sharp (NY).
Other Angler Highlights: Rob Liberatore (NY) landed the hard luck award for losing a jig after fighting a blue shark for about a half hour.
Preston Sharp (NY) donated a gift of $10.00 towards my involvement in the Pan-Mass Challenge today. The Pan-Mass Challenge is a charity cycling event to raise money for cancer care and research. I support a group that does research on the genetic origins of cancer, actively stopping cancers by targeting certain genes that create them. The way I figure it, the more money, the better the research and the better researchers. Thank you, Preston. I appreciate your donation very much.
At 4:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing lightly out of the northeast and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine, the high air temperature was a summer-like 79°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 74°F (with a low of 61°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 52°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 51°F).
On the fishing grounds, the ocean was flat calm all day. The wind had totally let go as we headed out the gate for the ride to our destination. The whole day of fishing was completed on very calm seas, as calm as it gets, with light variable wind. At the very end of the trip, the wind became established out of the south. We carried southerly winds up to ten knots on the ride back to Perkins Cove. The air temperature reached a high of 70°F. The visibility ranged from eight to ten miles in haze. The tide (current) was light. The sky was clear and sunny. The surface water temperature reached a high of 65°F with the lack of wind and the bright sun.
The fishing was good; taken down a couple category pegs with the large number of dogfish caught. The catching was fair to good, excellent if you included the dogfish. Landings were fair, good if you were Eric Pysar (NY). Legal landings included seventeen haddock, nineteen pollock, seven redfish, eight cusk, eleven whiting, two mackerel and nine butter mullet. Released fish included over two hundred dogfish, two sub-legal cod, twenty sub-legal haddock, five sub-legal pollock, twelve sub-legal redfish, a sculpin, a couple sea herring, a blueback herring and five blue sharks. Drifting was the method. Jigs and cod flies worked slightly better than bait.
I was surprised how well the anglers handled the dogfish today. The fishing was very controllable despite the large numbers of dogfish being caught. The tangles were very easy to manage and the anglers were very smart about it.
Eric Pysar was high hook with the most legal fish. His buddy, Josh Davey (NY), won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10.5 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 10 pound pollock caught by Jerry Worden (NH). Eric's other dory mate, Rich Nopper (NY), caught the third largest fish, a 7.5 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Rich Morrell (ME) landed the hard luck award for putting his forearm into the flying gaff that was hanging in the companionway as you walked on deck. There had been a tip protector over the point of the gaff but was missing when Rich ran into it. He had to be bandaged three times but he fished all day and ended up with the second most fish caught by a single angler on the boat today or second hook. Rich is one of our best regular anglers and, certainly, a frequent flyer on the extreme day trips with Captain Ian. This put a damper on a day when we could have really used his expertise!
At 4:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was cloudless, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Ashore, the wind blew out of the southwest at about eight knots all day. There might have been a bit of westerly wind as it breezed up a bit more later in the afternoon but it died out before sunset. The visibility was excellent all day. The sky was clear and sunny. The highest air temperature that I saw was 80°F. It could have been higher later but I didn't look at a thermometer to see. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 76°F (with a low of 56°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 51°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at five to ten knots in the morning and then hauled out of the west southwest in the afternoon. Wind speeds in the afternoon were, pretty much, the same. Seas were chops of one to two feet over a two foot sea swell. The air temperature reached a comfortable 68°F. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The tide (current) was strong. The sky was clear and sunny. The surface water temperature reached a high of 64°F.
The fishing was just good again today. There were many dogfish, as many as yesterday. Plus, there was a strong moon tide. The catching was very good, bordering on excellent or excellent if you included the dogfish. It was very busy with fish on deck today with tons of sub-legal fish. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Pollock sizes were in the smaller range (4 pounds, more or less) for the most part. Legal landings also included six cod, twelve haddock, five cusk and ten mackerel. Released fish included thirty sub-legal haddock, over a hundred sub-legal pollock, over two hundred dogfish, six small cod, seven blue sharks and a couple of mackerel. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked equally well.
Nick Zuccotti (ME) was high hook with the most legal fish. His largest fish was an 11 pound pollock, the second largest fish of the trip. Cody Winch (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 12 pound cod. The third largest fish was a 9 pound pollock caught by Matthew Van Baaren (NY). He also landed the hard luck award for being the closest to hurling. He didn't!
Other Angler Highlights: Marty Buskey (NY), one of the best all around fishermen and individual, caught the fourth largest fish of the trip, an 8 pound cod.
I received two donations today sponsoring me in this season's Pan-Mass Challenge, a cycling event across the state of Massachusetts for cancer research. Those individuals included Marty & Elise Buskey for $50.00. As last year and the years before, Marty & Elise donate to the cause every time I see them! Paul & Michelle Ryan (NY) also donated $50.00 to the cause. Paul & Michelle's donation was made "In honor of Paul Drago; Thanks for all you do, Tim!" Thank you, all, so very much for your support and thoughtfulness. I appreciate it, as you know, so very much!
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, the sky was clear with a full moon headed to the west, the wind was very light out of the southwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The tide was very low at the time of departure, so low with the moon tide that we dragged the keel through the mud all the way out the channel. It wasn't so low that I had to power in order to "push" our way out. But I did wonder if we would have to. The air temperature was 59°F as we went through the gate headed to the fishing grounds. The visibility was excellent the whole way. We had a light chop with eight knots of southwest wind. Half way to the grounds, the air temperature increased to 63°F. The sky was clear with a setting full moon.
On the fishing grounds, The wind blew out of the west southwest all day. At first, it was very light. The ocean wasn't flat calm as we did have a light chop over a two foot swell. But it was calm enough. The west southwest wind blew up to eight knots or, maybe, just under. We barely had a white cap at the windiest of times. The highest air temperature that I saw was 68°F. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles in haze. The tide was probably moderate but it was against the wind making it seem light. The sky was clear all day with only some high wispy clouds. The surface water temperature reached a high of 63°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 85°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 77°F (with a low of 57°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 48°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 83°F (with a low of 51°F).
The fishing was excellent. There were less than ten dogfish and we only lost one piece of terminal gear to a single blue shark. The sea state, the drift was perfect and the weather, overall, was like mild summer day. The catching went from fair to excellent. Landings were very good overall. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. I had to pull the anglers off them as they were starting to release them. Legal landings also included seven cod, thirty-one haddock, fifty-six cusk, twenty white hake and five whiting. Released fish included nine dogfish, one blue shark, thirteen sub-legal cod, twelve sub-legal haddock, twenty-eight sub-legal pollock and ten cusk (maybe more cusk than that). Drift fishing was the method. Cod flies caught the most fish.
Fred Kunz (NH) was high hook with the most legal fish. He won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 30.25 pound Maine state trophy white hake. This is the largest hake that Fred has caught in three years. Some of Fred's other good fish included a 14.5 pound white hake, two pollock of 10 pounds each, a 19.5 pound white hake, an 11 pound pollock and a 10.5 pound cod.
Liam Jenks (NY) caught the largest fish of the trip, a 32.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake. Liam did not get in any of the fish pools. I took a picture of Liam with his big hake. This digital image appears on the left. Neil Hickey (VT) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the third largest fish, a 27 pound Maine state trophy white hake. Some of Neil's other good fish included a 12 pound pollock, a 16 pound white hake, a 10.5 pound pollock, a 7.5 pound cod and an 8.5 pound cod which he released. Bill Harding (ME) won the boat pool for third largest fish with the fourth largest fish, a 20.5 pound white hake. Some of Bill's other good fish included the largest pollock at 16 pounds, a 16 pound white hake, a 9 pound cod and an 11 pound cod. I took a picture of Bill holding his fish while also having another pollock on the line. This digital image appears on the right.
Other Angler Highlights: Joe Jenks (MA) had the best double of the day. His catch included an 8.5 pound pollock and a 12.5 pound pollock, both fish on the same line at the same time. Some of his other good fish included a 14.5 pound pollock, a 16.25 pound white hake, the largest haddock of the day at 5 pounds, an 18.5 pound white hake, an 11.5 pound pollock and an 11 pound white hake. John Tanguay (ME) caught a 12.25 pound white hake. His biggest pollock weighed 10 pounds. Chris Franklin (ME) landed a 10.5 pound pollock, an 18.5 pound white hake, an 11 pound pollock, a 20 pound white hake and an 8 pound cod. Marty Nephew (NY) boated a 12 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Marie Harding (ME) caught an 8 pound pollock, her biggest. She also caught the most dogfish, a count of three. Jim Feeney (MA) caught a lot of fish once he got going but he didn't shine like he usually does. His largest fish was an 11 pound pollock. But he lost two jigs on the bottom and most of the line on his reel, which he borrowed from Fred. He never did catch a hake, which was the reason he came today. And he ended up fighting Neil's 12 pound pollock because I thought the Neil had a blue shark. Instead, the pollock was hooked in the side so Jim was pulling this fish against the current! For all this I awarded Jim the hard luck t-shirt!
When I got near shore coming home, I realized the lazarette pump wasn't working. After the anglers had departed. I looked over everything and found my son, Micah, who was managing Barnacle Billy's (Original). He agreed to look at it. We worked on this until around 8:00 PM, when he had to leave to close the restaurant. He did all the electrical stuff while I helped where I could. Eventually, I had to sleep while Micah continued on until after 10:30 PM.
I received two donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Fred Kunz donated $40.00 while Bill & Marie Harding donated $60.00. Thank you all for thinking of me and this cancer project that I am involved in. I so appreciate your help!
At 4:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was hazy clear with a fullish moon high in the western sky, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Ashore, the wind blew out of the south at ten knots by 7:00 PM. The first part of the daylight hours were calm with very light winds from the west or no wind. The ocean along the shore was calm. A southerly wind was established after noon. By mid afternoon, the southerly wind was blowing almost eight knots. But it was strange; the wind would come and go in the afternoon, pumping. We would have limp flags for an hour and then it was breeze up to die out again. It only started blowing steady after 6:00 PM. The visibility was very good to good in haze. The sky was hazy clear to almost overcast in the afternoon. The highest air temperature that I saw was 80°F. That was after noon. It didn't stay that high for long. There was no humidity today. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 72°F (with a low of 60°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 83°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 81°F (with a low of 55°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest to south at five knots or so. The ocean was calm with a bit of a light chop in the afternoon. They noticed a two foot sea swell all day. The air temperature reached a high of 67°F. The visibility ranged from an eighth of a mile to a quarter mile in fog. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was overcast all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 65°F.
The fishing was good. There were too many blue sharks in the places where there were lots of fish. When they weren't in the fish, the dogfish were too many. The catching was good. Landings were fair to good. Oddly, most of the fish landed were of better size than normal. Most legal fish landed were pollock. Legal landings also included eight cod, eleven haddock, one redfish, one cusk and seven mackerel. Released fish included over one hundred and fifty dogfish, nine blue sharks (nine pieces of jewelry), six sub-legal cod, fifteen sub-legal haddock, forty sub-legal pollock, twelve sub-legal redfish and a mackerel and sculpin. Drifting was the method. No bait was used today, just jigs and flies.
It was one of those days where everyone did equally well. No high hook could be discerned. The crew did not run a boat pool today either. The largest fish was a 17 pound cod caught by Peter Hershberger (OH). As of this writing, this cod is the Bunny Clark's fifth largest cod of the fishing season. The second largest fish was a 15 pound pollock caught by Paul Garber (OH). There was a tie for the third largest fish. There were three, every one weighing 12.5 pounds. Mose Keim (OH) caught a 12.5 pound cod, Abraham Keim (NY) caught a 12.5 pound pollock and Noah Hershberger (OH) caught his 12.5 pound pollock as part of a double that also included a pollock of 8 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time.
Other Angler Highlights: Henry Yoder (OH) caught an 11 pound cod. Shorty Yoder landed a 10 pound pollock, his best fish. Jacob Shetler (NY) landed the hard luck award for being the first one to hurl.
At 2:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 62°F, the sky was overcast (or so it seemed), there wasn't enough wind to blow a candle out and the visibility over the ocean was poor in a dungeon of fog. More later.
We have room on some upcoming trips: The extreme day trip on Friday, September 20, has eleven fishing places available, the full day trip on Saturday, September 21, has nine fishing spots available, the Sunday, September 22, extreme day trip has ten fishing spots available, the Tim Tuesday marathon trip of September 24, has fourteen fishing spots available, the extreme day trip on Wednesday, September 25, has fifteen fishing spots available, the marathon trip on Thursday, September 26, has four fishing spots available and we have many spots available on most of the trips moving forward. Be there or be square!
Book a Trip on Line
Click the icon to view a complimentary copy of the 2023 Guestletter.
