Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Friday, September 12, 2025, 11:00 AM EDT
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Proposed cod & haddock regulations for the 2025 fishing season (May 1, 2025 thru April 30, 2026):
Note: These regulations still haven't been implimented for this season yet (as of September 7, 2025). So last years regulations are still in force, including an 18" haddock minimum size. But this also means that we will be able to keep a cod a person per trip for the months of September and October or until November.
Gulf of Maine cod
Gulf of Maine haddock
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the sky was crystal clear with the last limb of the moon visible above the horizon, there wasn't enough wind in Perkins Cove to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
As I headed through the gate, I wondered if I had made the right choice. The wind was already blowing out of the northeast at more than ten knots. We also had a big cloud bank in the direction we were going. But as we kept going, the wind never picked up to more than twelve knots and the cloud bank moved to the east. Seas were chops of two to three feet with the occasional queer one over a five foot swell. We maintained an air temperature of 63°F for the whole ride to the fishing grounds. The visibility was excellent. The sky remained clear overhead.
On the fishing grounds, the wind increased to fifteen knots with higher gusts. Chops averaged about four feet. We also had a swell of about five feet. The wind diminished to twelve knots after noon. Seas dropped, in chops, to three feet with the same underlying swell. The air temperature reached a high of 70°F after noon but dropped to 66°F during the last hour of fishing. The visibility ranged to over thirty miles. The sky became cloudless overhead and to the west, high clouds and mare's tails could be seen to the southeast and southeast horizon. The tide (current) was light all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 66°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 72°F, or so I was told. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 69°F (with a low of 57°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 51°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 71°F (with a low of 46°F).
The fishing was nearly excellent. We had no dogfish to speak of, the sea state wasn't that great but the rest of the weather was nice with a perfect air temperature. The catching was good to very good. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were redfish and pollock, in that order. Legal landings also included six haddock, five cusk and eight mackerel Released fish included two small cod, ten sub-legal pollock, no short haddock, forty-five small redfish, eight dogfish, a sculpin and seven mackerel. We saw several blue sharks but we only lost one jig to them. We drift fished and anchored. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Ali Laflamme (ME) was high hook with the most legal fish. Her largest fish was a 14 pound pollock, the third largest fish of the trip. This is her second largest pollock. She caught a 14.5 pound pollock with Captain Ian Keniston last season. I also weighed a 6.5 pound pollock and a 8 pound pollock that she caught. Jim Cholette (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 17.5 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's third largest pollock of this year's fishing season so far. The second largest fish was a 16 pound pollock caught by Chris Day (ME). This is the largest pollock that Chris has ever caught. It's also tied for the sixth largest pollock of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date.
Other Angler Highlights: Rodd Froebel (NY) landed a 12 pound pollock, his biggest fish today. He caught one of the six haddock that were landed today. Norm Gamache (MA) caught a 10 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Matt Jones (NY) caught two pollock of 11.5 pounds each and a 10 pound pollock, collectively his best fish. Alen Silver (FL) landed a 10.75 pound pollock. Noah Day (ME) caught an 8 pound pollock, his best. Thirteen year old James Davis (NY) landed a 13 pound pollock and led the boat pool for most of the day. I took a picture of James and his father, JD Davis, with young James' pollock. This digital image appears on the left.
I received a $10.00 from Jim Cholette to put with my fundraising total towards my involvement Pan-Mass Challenge for cancer research. Thank you, Jim. I appreciate the help! It was nice having you aboard today.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, the sky was crystal clear with a cloud mass from the east to southeast horizon, the wind was blowing out of the north at fifteen knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The wind blew out of the north at over ten knots at the beginning of the daylight hours. Some gusts were over fifteen knots. By 10:00 AM, the wind was still out of the north but only about eight knots, at most. There was no wind at noon, a bit of wind out of the northeast after noon and no wind for the rest of the day after 3:00 PM. There was zero humidity today. The visibility was excellent. The sky cleared to cloudless. The highest air temperature that I saw was 83°F but it dropped and continued dropping throughout the afternoon. The air temperature was 70°F when I went home at 7:00 PM. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 82°F (with a low of 58°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 87°F (with a low of 44°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 83°F (with a low of 50°F).
Friday is my day to open the restaurants. So open I did, at 5:00 AM. We expected big swells from Hurricane Erin which was opposite our coast but well out to sea during the say. The seas were about five feet in swells along the shore at dawn. So there was very little, if any, surge in the Cove. But swells did increase during the day. There was a pretty good surge by 5:00 PM. The closest weather buoy was showing about seven feet in swells.
It was beautiful weather for the restaurants. I came in early today and left at 7:00 PM, when the business was just starting to get going again.
The surge continued in the Cove all day. The swells dropped to nine feet in the afternoon. No boats left Perkins Cove with the exception of one lobster boat. The wind picked up from the south and blew up as high as twenty-five knots in gusts offshore. We saw the wind as a south southwest, sometimes southwest, wind. The viability remained excellent. The sky was cloudless all day. The highest air temperature that I saw was 83°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 87°F (with a low of 63°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 89°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 82°F (with a low of 54°F).
This is the day I spend the most time in the restaurants. Today was no exception. It was another beautiful day. And it was busy. But I thought it would be busier.
I had to adjust the storm lines tying the Bunny Clark to the Barnacle Billy's float. That over, I never had to adjust them again. Tomorrow is the day before the next fishing trip. I am ready!
I received a very generous $200.00 donation from Mark & Linda Hamel (NH) sponsoring me in this year's cancer fundraising ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge. They have always supported me since I started this project in 2007. How the time flies! Thank you both so much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. I do very much appreciate this!
The visibility was less so today as there was a bit of haze with the southerly wind. I would say it was very good, at best, over the ocean. The wind blew fifteen or twenty knots out of the south with higher gusts. Most of the morning, wind speeds were fifteen to eighteen knots. After noon, the wind came on a little stronger. The wind stayed strong on into the night. We had big seas of six to eight feet all morning, crashing on the rocks of the Marginal Way. They were still at the six foot mark at 6:00 PM. We also had big choppy seas from the wind, white beards, that you could see from shore. The sky was clear, nearly cloudless, all day. The highest air temperature that I saw was 80°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 82°F (with a low of 62°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 58°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 61°F).
I didn't do anything with the boat today. Indeed, everyone who had a boat in the Cove stayed in. No one ventured out on the ocean today. The swells were big but the wind was blowing so hard it would not have been fun to be out there today.
I worked in the restaurant all day.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 65°F, the sky was overcast, there wasn't enough wind to write about, seas had dropped to the point of not being discernable as a surge in Perkins Cove and the visibility over the ocean was poor in fog so thick you could cut it with a knife.
We had light fog going down the channel on the way to the gate, open ocean and our destination, the fishing grounds. Once outside, the fog shut in around us and kept us in it's grasp all the way to our destination. The wind was light out of the southeast. The air temperature hung around 68°F the whole way out. The visibility ranged from poor to fair and poor again in fog. The sky seemed overcast. The ocean surface was smooth except for a four foot swell out of the southeast and a left over southerly chop.
On the fishing grounds, the wind continued out of the southeast at three knots all morning, died out and then backed out of the south. The wind was very light out of the south. The fog stayed with us for most of the morning, lightened up during the later half of the morning and shut right in again an hour before we left to go home. The highest air temperature that I observed was 75°F. It was also a bit humid. The sky was overcast during the early part of the morning. And it did rain lightly for about ten minutes. But the sky cleared after noon and we saw the sun when it cleared and also through the fog. The tide (current) was light all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 66°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 79°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 79°F (with a low of 65°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 59°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 78°F (with a low of 62°F).
The fishing was very good. It could have been excellent if the blue sharks weren't around. We lost fourteen rigs to blue sharks, mostly jigs. The catching was very good. Landings were good to very good. Most legal fish landed were cusk, by far, rivaling some of the cusk catches on Platts Bank. Legal landings also included twenty-three haddock, one halibut, seventeen pollock and six redfish. Released fish included two halibut, fifteen sub-legal haddock, seven small cod, one 10 pound cod, four small pollock, five dogfish and over fifteen blue sharks. We lost every big pollock to blue sharks (big meaning pollock over 10 pounds). We drift fished all day. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Because of Steve LaPlante (CT), a life long regular patron of mine, I tried three halibut spots. Two didn't pan out at all, although I did see one on the sounding machine that wouldn't take a hook. But the first spot I tried we hooked three and missed two. And I observed four or five others that were interested but wouldn't take a hook. Plus, we got to the spot just as the morning bite was finishing up. Within five minutes on the first spot we hooked the first halibut. Alex Medunitza (ME) hooked it. I had everyone reel up. It only took one short run to bottom before it came within gaffing range. The rest of the fight was on the deck. This fish was 57.5 pounds, the Bunny Clark's second largest halibut of the fishing season so far. This is the first Atlantic halibut Alex has ever seen caught on a boat. With this fish he won the boat pool for the largest fish. It was the largest fish of the trip.
On the second pass, drift, Steve, himself, hooked a halibut. This one took a few runs to bottom. Since we already had a halibut in the boat, bled, we knew this one had to be returned. When we got it beside the boat, I held the fish in place while Danny leaned over and put his hand in the gill plate. After hoisting it aboard, the fish was weighed, a quick picture was taken and the fish was released back to the ocean alive. That fish was 53 pounds, Steve's second largest halibut of his life. He caught his first, one that weighed 102 pounds, with me five years ago. The digital image of him holding today's halibut appears on the left.
On the fourth pass, Troia Burgess (VT) hooked into a massive halibut. I had everyone reel up but it was just too much. It took several runs to bottom. But it was just too big a fish for her to handle. The head shakes had much more distance than the other two halibut. And, when it wasn't fighting, it was like pulling up a sheet of half inch steel. Unfortunately, the fish just got off the hook (jig). So we never did see it. But the signature on the machine was such that we would have probably had to have the harpoon ready in order to have a chance. And, there again, we already had our halibut in the boat. We never did, knowingly, hook another halibut. I saw other halibut going after rigs while looking at the sounding machine and we had two other big fish on for a moment. But I couldn't confirm the strikes. It was pure excitement for me for an hour and a half.
Alex ended up catching the third largest fish, a 10.5 pound cod, which he released back to the ocean alive.
Other Angler Highlights: Sean McIntyre (NH) caught the largest pollock I could weigh. It was 8.75 pounds. Dwane DuShane (NY) boated a pollock that weighed 8.5 pounds. He caught four of the legal haddock that were caught today. Mark Talarico (NY) caught the largest cusk of the day at 9 pounds. We had too many anglers sea sick today. Had we still been giving out the hard luck award t-shirts, I would have had a hard time deciding who to give the award to!
I received two donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Sean McIntyre donated a generous $130.00 while Troia Burgess donated $40.00. Thank you both so very much for your support and generosity. I really do appreciate the help. But many more will appreciate your thoughtfulness.
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 63°F, the sky was mostly clear with stars, the wind was light out of the west and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
It was nice to be able to navigate down the channel visually, even if it was still dark out. But I was surprised to be met by a five foot swell out of the southeast. The wind was out of the west at ten knots. We had a one to two foot chop all the way to the fishing grounds. The air temperature hung around 65°F the whole way out. The visibility was excellent. The sky was mostly clear. .
On the fishing grounds, the wind continued to blow out of the west at ten knots for about twenty minutes. Just after high water, the westerly wind blew up to just shy of twenty knots. Chops were about three to four feet with that underlying five foot swell. We did lose the swell by the end of the trip. The wind was blowing about twenty knots or more and more west northwest at the height of it. But this didn't last long. The wind dropped a bit, settled in from the west and, eventually, backed out of the southwest before heading home. Wind speeds at that time were about ten knots. Seas were chops of about a foot or more. The air temperature reached a high of 70°F. The tide (current) was light. The visibility ranged to thirty miles or more. The sky was mostly clear with clouds. The surface water temperature reached a high of 67°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 80°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 80°F (with a low of 65°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 51°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 56°F).
The fishing was good to very good. The weather wasn't the easiest to fish in, we continued with the blue shark problem and the seas promoted jig loss on the bottom. The catching was good to very good. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included fifteen cusk, thirteen haddock, one redfish, a whiting and two cunners. Released fish included two cod of legal size (over 23"), thirty-two small cod, sixteen sub-legal haddock, seven small pollock, nine sub-legal redfish, ten dogfish, a couple of sculpins and a few blue sharks. We anchored for the first half of the morning but drift fished the rest of the day. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Jeff Corey (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish. His largest fish was a 9 pound pollock. Nick Longo (MA/ME) was second hook. Both fished side by side on the bow. Andrew Fuller (ME) caught the largest fish of the trip, an 18.5 pound cod. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest cod of the fishing season so far. Andrew was not in the boat pool. His biggest pollock weighed 10 pounds. Karen Rybka (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 15 pound pollock. I also weighed a 6.5 pound cusk, an 8 pound pollock and a 9.5 pound pollock for her. She tied for the boat pool for the second largest fish with the sixth largest fish, the 9.5 pound pollock. Matt Dorr (NY) tied with Karen, also with a 9.5 pound pollock.
The third largest fish was a 12 pound pollock caught by Bruce Fuller (ME).
Other Angler Highlights: Danny Clark (ME) caught the first fish I could weigh, a 7.5 pound pollock. He probably caught bigger pollock that I didn't weight. Eligah Hamilton (SC) caught a 9 pound pollock. Jason Smith (NY) caught a 10 pound pollock, his biggest fish.
I received a three donations today sponsoring me on my ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Karen Rybka donated $50.00, Matt Dorr donated $30.00 and Steve McGrath (NH) donated $50.00. Steve has been a supporter of my cancer project since I started getting involved in 2007. His donation was made in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site with the note: "...great job with the PMC!" Thank you all for the wonderful support that you give me. I really do so appreciate this. It does mean a lot to me that you feel as I do!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 58°F, the sky was clear, there wasn't enough wind to write about, the ocean along the shore was calm with wind patches and the visibility over it was excellent.
The wind blew out of the northwest in the morning, at such light speeds the wind direction was hardly discernable. After noon, the wind blew out of the south or south southeast at ten knots or less. Later in the afternoon, we had thunder showers. It poured for about ten minutes. The clouds had shown up after noon. The sky had been clear to that point. The clouds got fatter as the day progressed, some with rain. We had two more light showers after the initial blast. Gill peed on the floor in the house with the thunder. I think that dog is getting more scared with age. The wind was stronger with the showers but not a lot stronger. The visibility remained excellent all day. The air temperature reached a high of 73°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 77°F (with a low of 61°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 73°F (with a low of 44°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 50°F).
It was all restaurant today. I had a lot to catch up with in the office. A lot of wonderful people at there today.
I received $20.00 each from Linda Burgess (MA) and Bob Munroe (MA), sponsoring me in my cancer project with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Like so many others, they have been supporting me for years. Thank you both so very much for your help in my fundraising. I appreciate it very much.
Danny DellaMonica and I ran the extreme day trip today.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 53°F (49°F on the boat), the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the west at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
We had a very easy ride to the fishing grounds. The wind was light out of the northwest. There was no spray. Just outside the gate the air temperature was 52°F, half way to the grounds it rose to 59°F and as we made our approach it was 62°F. The visibility ranged to at least thirty miles. The sky was cloudless. The surface water temperature ranged from 57°F to 66°F.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west to start, blew up to ten knots, diminished and hauled out of the southwest. The southwest wind increased to fifteen knots with higher gusts. Seas increased to two and three feet in chops..We had a one foot chop until the southwest wind struck. The air temperature reached a high 72°F. The tide (current) was moderate. The visibility ranged to over thirty miles. The sky was cloudless to start but changed to a patchwork of high cirrus clouds and cumulus clouds. The surface water temperature reached a high of 69°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 79°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 78°F (with a low of 58°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 79°F (with a low of 41°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 47°F).
The fishing was good. The drift was a little too fast for most, there were more tangles than normal in the deeper water while anchored but there were very few dogfish and only a couple of blue sharks that bothered. The catching was good. Landings were fair to good. Most legal fish landed were redfish, by far. Legal landings also included twenty pollock, nine cusk, five haddock, two whiting and twelve mackerel. Released fish included a 25 pound cod, a 13.5 pound cod, seven small cod, twelve sub-legal haddock, nine small pollock, seven small redfish, nine dogfish, one blue shark and three mackerel. We alternated between drifting and anchoring. Cod flies and jigs caught the most fish.
Mark Talarico (NY) was high hook with the most legal fish, mostly redfish. The largest fish was a cod that was 25 pounds or more caught by twelve year old Orry Blake (ME). We, unintentionally, released it beside the boat after he brought the fish to the surface. It would have been the Bunny Clark's largest cod of the fishing season to date. Orry did win the boat pool for the largest fish with the third largest fish, a 13 pound pollock. I took a picture of Orry with his pollock. This digital image appears on the left. The second largest fish was a 13.5 pound cod caught by Darlene Chin (VT/FL). Darlene never gets in the boat pool. I did take a picture of Darlene holding her cod. This digital image appears on the right. Darlene's biggest pollock was 8 pounds. And she caught a 2.5 pound whiting.
Other Angler Highlights: Dylan Daly (NH) caught an 8 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Christian Platon (NH) caught a pollock that weighed 10 pounds. Bob Hensley (NH) boated an 8.5 pound pollock and a 9.75 pound pollock. Dana Decormier (NH) landed a 10 pound pollock and a pollock that weighed 8 pounds. Dana was the one who lost a blue shark and his jig with it. Dan Dorr (ME) was high hook for most of the morning. His largest fish was an 8 pound pollock.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the south at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
After sunrise, the clouds started to roll in. It was raining by 8:00 AM. The sky never became completely overcast but we had periods of rain all day. The longest spell was in the afternoon where it seemed to rain for three hours until 5:00 PM. It abated a bit but continued lightly afterward. The wind blew out of the south all day until around 5:00 PM, where we had no wind. The wind was light for the rest of the night. The visibility was sometimes fair in the rain. It was excellent over the ocean when it wasn't raining. The highest air temperature that I saw was 72°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 72°F (with a low of 55°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 79°F (with a low of 41°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 71°F (with a low of 58°F).
As normal, I opened the restaurants at 5:00 AM. I was there until 9:15 AM. I was back down there again after 11:00 AM. I worked on and off throughout the day. The rain put a damper on business. But it was still a good day overall.
Today seemed like a warm fall day with very little wind, clear skies and excellent visibility. The air temperature did warm up after a chilly morning. I saw 75°F. The sky was cloudless in the morning, partly cloudy in the afternoon. The air temperature seemed cool when the clouds were in front of the sun. During the later part of the afternoon, the clouds disappeared and the sun warmed everything up. We had light westerly wind in the morning, no wind and flat calm ocean during the later morning and light southerly winds in the afternoon. Wind speeds might have been as high as ten knots but I didn't notice this. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 77°F (with a low of 58°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 49°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 72°F (with a low of 52°F).
I spent the morning working on Bunny Clark stuff, catching up in the office and working on the website. The rest of the day was spent in the restaurants. It was a great day; very controlled as far as business was concerned.
I received a generous $100.00 donation from Marc & Claire St.Onge (ME) sponsoring me in my cancer project with the Pan-Mass Challenge. They donate to my fundraiser every year. Thank you so very much for the support and your thoughtfulness. I very much appreciate this!
It was another wonderful weather day in southern Maine. The sky was mostly clear all day with some clouds but less clouds than the two previous days. The sun was available to us all day with limited exceptions. The visibility was excellent. The wind was light out of the northwest in the earlier part of the morning, there was no wind in the later part of the morning and, then, the wind started blowing out of the south after noon. The wind blew out of the south for the rest of the day. Wind speeds reached ten knots by mid afternoon and then backed off to about seven knots going into the evening. The wind was very light out of the southwest when I went to bed. The highest air temperature that I saw was 75°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 72°F (with a low of 59°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 78°F (with a low of 48°F).
I spent the day at both Barnacle Billy's restaurants today. It was busy but smoothly so. We saw a lot of Canadians today. It was nice to hear the French accents again.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the north and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The wind blew up to almost fifteen knots out of the northeast by 8:00 AM. This wind was not predicted. But just when I thought it might get sloppy, it started to back off. By noon, we had northeast wind of eight knots. And very little wind after that. By 3:00 PM, the ocean was flat calm with a ruffle of east southeast wind. The ocean was glassy by 6:00 PM. The air temperature reached a high of 76°F after noon. The viability was excellent. The sky was clear until 4:00 PM, when some clouds started to move in. The sky was mostly cloudy by 6:00 PM. 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 48°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 78°F (with a low of 53°F).
I worked on the Bunny Clark when the sun came up enough so that I didn't have to turn the engine room lights on to work on the engine. I needed to warm the engine up, charge batteries and change fuel filters.
Once I got back home, I continued with items I needed to complete before taking the boat offshore tomorrow. That done, I was back in the restaurants at 11:00 AM. It was a steady day. It was a beautiful day. And it was a day of regular patrons.
Bob & Melinda Blanchard (FL) were two of our patrons I most like to see. We are all about the same age. But they are accomplished restaurateurs. I don't consider myself accomplished as I didn't start the restaurants I own. Bob & Mel started Blanchards in Anguilla, BWI. It was the nicest restaurant in the Caribbean. They have since sold the restaurants and are, now, consultants. They are also hard workers, as you would have to be to start such a wonderful restaurants in such hard places to have restaurants. They went through the normal Caribbean "Don't Stop the Carnival" (Herman Wouk - a wonderful read) stuff at the onset, went through the mishandling of Covid and barely survived a hurricane. Once all was settled, they sold to the local workers who helped them become successful. I believe they have written six books. I could be wrong on the number. Anyway, besides their successes, they are just wonderful people who I just love to be around. Friends. And I'm overjoyed that they like to visit us at Barnacle Billy's.
Senator Bernie Sanders ate at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. today. One of our waitresses, Flavia, attended to his every culinary desire. He was very nice and gracious, as you might imagine. And she really enjoyed herself in the process. I never did ask if he left a good tip! He was here before a rally in Portland to endorse Graham Platner, a Democratic Mainiac running for Susan Collins' seat in the U.S. Senate. Susan Collins has done a lot for Maine, a lot for the fishermen of New England and a lot for the Town of Ogunquit. I have always loved what she does and will always support her in any way I can. But it was nice to see Bernie Sanders.
Danny DellaMonica and I ran the marathon trip today.At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 59°F, the sky was overcast, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
We couldn't have had a better ride to the fishing grounds. The ocean's surface was mirror calm, the sky was mostly clear with some clouds, the air temperature hung between 65°F and 66°F, the visibility was excellent and we had a wonderful sunrise.
On the fishing grounds, it was calm all day. The ocean was flat calm for the first part of the morning, calm with a light southerly wind until noon. We had light south southeast wind that might have blown three knots in the early afternoon. Light southerly wind dominated the rest of the day. We might have had two knots of wind for the rest of the day. The air temperature reached a high of 75°F. The sky was mostly clear with some clouds. The visibility ranged to over twenty-five miles. The tide (current) was light. The surface water temperature reached a high just under 66°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 78°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 82°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 55°F).
The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were very good to excellent. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included one-hundred and forty-four good sized redfish, twenty-one haddock, three cod, three white hake, a whiting and twenty-three cusk. Released fish included four sub-legal cod, eight sub-legal haddock, forty-two small pollock, nine sub-legal redfish, four blue sharks with jewelry and nine dogfish. We drift fished all day. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Steve LaFlam (NH) was high hook with the most legal fish. He also won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the third largest fish, an 18 pound cod. This is the fourth largest cod of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. Some of his other good fish included a 14 pound pollock and a double that included a 9 pound pollock and a 9.5 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time! Bill Harding won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 26 pound Maine state trophy white hake. This is the first trophy white hake we have seen since the big offshore trip in early July. I took a picture of Bill with his prize hake. This digital image appears on the left. Karilyn Bonney (ME) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 19 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest pollock of the fishing season so far. It's also the largest pollock that she has ever caught. I took a picture of Karilyn holding her big pollock, this digital image appears on the right. Karilyn also caught the largest haddock that I have seen in weeks weighing in at 5.5 pounds. And she caught the second largest cusk at 9 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Rand Richards (ME) started off the day with the first fish I could weigh, a 10 pound pollock. He also caught the largest cusk of the trip at 10 pounds. Boo Whitten (ME) landed a 3 pound Maine state trophy redfish, the second 3 pound redfish we have seen this season, a tie for the largest redfish of the Bunny Clark season to date and her largest redfish ever. It's also the longest redfish that I have seen this season so far at seventeen inches caliper fork length. Her largest pollock weighed 10.25 pounds. Jacob "Jake" Johnson (ME) landed an 11.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. He also caught an 8 pound cusk that I weighed for him. Larry Reed (ME) caught nary a dogfish, a first in the many trips that he has fished with me over the years. His largest fish was a 9 pound pollock. But he caught plenty of smaller keepers (as did Jake). Bob Jones (ME) caught the second biggest cod at 8.5 pounds. Kris Cichon (NJ) caught a 10.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Travis Mahan (ME) caught the best double of the day. His catch included an 11.5 pound pollock and an 8 pound pollock. He also caught an 8.5 pound pollock early in the day. But his biggest pollock was caught with about five minutes left in the trip. It weighed 13.75 pounds.
I received several donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising cycling ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Those wonderful people and their donations included the Larry Reed crew for $70.00, Karl Joslin for $60.00, Bill Harding for $50.00, Steve LaFlam for $20.00 and Bill Busch (NY) for a generous $100.00. Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. I so appreciate the support I get from all of you, many of whom donate every season. It certainly makes it a better season for me but more so for the researchers who I support at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. They continue to do such innovative work and I am proud that you make me a part of all this!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was cloudless overhead and to the west with clouds towards the eastern horizon, there was no wind and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
By late morning, all the clouds in the sky disappeared leaving us with a completely clear sky, cloudless. By full daylight, the wind became established out of the south southwest. Wind speeds by noon were a bit less than ten knots. But that didn't last. By 2:00 PM, the wind was blowing over twenty knots and creating dust devils in the parking lot of Barnacle Billy's. By 7:00 PM, the wind had backed off to about ten knots. The sky stayed cloudless for the rest of the day. The visibility remained excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 77°F in Perkins Cove before the wind struck. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 76°F (with a low of 58°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 51°F).
I spent from 9:00 AM until after noon in a joint Recreational Advisory Panel/Groundfish Advisory Panel (recreational fishing/commercial fishing panels advising the New England Fishery Management Council) meeting via Zoom. I hold a seat on the RAP. This meeting was hosted by Council staff. Most of this meeting was directed toward commercial effort, quotas, species specifications and the ongoing saga of limiting the catch of cod, particularly in southern New England. Gear marking alternatives were also part of the discussion. Because of the right whale crisis, they want us to use ropeless on-demand gear, when lobstering or gillnetting. This has been something in the works for years. I'm not against it but the only successful implementation of such gear has happened in fairly shallow water.
I was back in the restaurant at 12:30 PM. I worked there until 5:00 PM when I had to get the Bunny Clark provisioned for tomorrow's trip.
Flavia finally sent me a picture of she and Senator Sanders. It's a good picture and appears on the left in this missive.
I received two donations sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge. These donations included a generous $100.00 from Westy Lord (ME), my first deck hand on the Bunny Clark in 1983, and a very generous $1,000.00 from Howie & Barbara Goldenfarb (ME). Thank you all so very much for your generosity and thoughtfulness. I'm amazed at how nice people are in so many ways. I really appreciate this kind of support. But many others appreciate it more!
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the southwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The wind blew out of the south southwest on the ride to the fishing grounds. There was about ten knots of wind the whole way. Seas were a couple of feet. We were taking the chops and a bit of a sea on the starboard stern quarter. So the ride was comfortable enough with a minimum amount of spray. The sky was cloudless, the visibility was excellent and the air temperature hung around 65°F for the whole ride out.
On the fishing grounds, the wind might have blown up to fifteen knots out of the south or south southwest. Seas ranged from two to three feet in chops along with the stronger tide.which gave us a shallower or steeper chop at times. The air temperature reached a high of 67°F. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The visibility ranged to over twenty-five miles. The sky remained cloudless. The surface water temperature reached a high of 65°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 74°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 79°F (with a low of 58°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 73°F (with a low of 52°F).
The fishing was good, no better than that. We had the most blue shark attacks of the year today. At least twenty-six terminal tackle rigs were lost to them today. The drift was faster than I would have liked. The sea state wasn't the greatest. Still, no anglers were sea sick. The catching was excellent. It was nearly a fish a cast all day long. Landings were good to very good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included three cod, thirty-three cusk, twenty-nine haddock and one white hake. Released fish included the blue sharks, nine small cod, twenty-six sub-legal haddock, six legal haddock, forty-eight small pollock (an estimate) and one dogfish. We drift fished all day. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook today with the most legal fish. I could think of six good candidates. Karl Day (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 22.5 pound pollock. This is the largest pollock of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. He caught this fish as a double with another pollock of 9 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest double of the season so far. I took a picture of Karl holding up his double for the camera. This digital image appears on the right. I also weighed a pollock of 12.75 pounds for him. The second largest fish was a 16.25 pollock caught by Kevin Walter (OH). Kevin was not in the boat pool. Buzz Leonard (ME) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the third largest fish, a 15.25 pound pollock. He also tied for the largest haddock of the trip at 5 pounds.
Jim Koplar (CT) and Steve Selmer (NH) both won the boat pool for the third largest fish of the trip with the fourth largest fish of the trip at 13.5 pounds each. Steve's fish was a 13.5 pound white hake. Jim's was a 13.5 pound Maine state trophy cusk. I took a picture of Jim holding his big cusk. This digital image appears on the left. He also tied with Buzz for the largest haddock of the day at 5 pounds. I also weighed a 12 pound pollock, an 11 pound pollock and a 10 pound pollock for Steve Selmer. Steve also released six legal haddock. Although, it wasn't his choice to do so!
Other Angler Highlights: Jim Walker (NJ) caught the first fish to start off the boat pool, a 7.5 pound pollock. I also weighed a 10 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock for him. Patty Bergeron (VT) landed a 9.75 pound pollock and a 12.25 pound pollock, her two biggest fish. Guy Hesketh (CT) caught a 10 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Leo Lamoureux (VT) caught a 10 pound pollock and a 10.75 pound pollock. Muhtsyr Yee (ME) caught a 10 pound pollock, his best fish. Eligah Hamilton (SC) boated an 11 pound pollock, his biggest fish of the trip. Randy Bergeron (VT) caught the largest cod at 9 pounds.
I received a several donations today sponsoring me on my ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge, a cycling event to raise money for cancer research. Those donors and their donations included: Harry & Sue Bajakian (ME) for a generous $150.00, Theresa Laskey (VT) for a generous $100.00, Lynn Welsch (NM) for a generous $100.00, Randy & Patty Bergeron for $20.00, Guy Hesketh for $20.00 and Andy Barowsky (ME/FL) for a very generous $1,000.00. Harry, Susie, Lynn and Andy all made their donations in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site. This is a big day for Dana-Farber and the research team who I support! Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. I really, so much, appreciate your support for my part in what I'm trying to accomplish and the direction of your thinking!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 63°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining, the wind was blowing out of the south at almost fifteen knots and the visibility over the ocean was good to very good in precipitation, with and without the rain.
It was a choppy ride to the fishing grounds. The wind was out of the south at fifteen knots, more or less, with four foot seas, mostly. I couldn't run full cruise as we were half way into being full on into the seas. And I didn't want to launch us into space if I didn't have to. As it was, we lost two anglers to sea sickness well before the five mile mark. It had stopped raining before we left the dock but the sky remained mostly cloudy until we reached our destination. The air temperature held at 66°F for the whole ride out. The visibility was very good.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south all day. Wind speeds were about fifteen knots the whole day. Seas were about four feet in chops in the morning and three to four feet in the afternoon, according to the sounding machine. It was mostly cloudy all morning with clear skies after 1:00 PM. It never rained. The air temperature reached a high of 71°F. But it was a bit humid. The tide (current) was surprisingly light. The visibility ranged to ten miles or more in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 66°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 78°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 84°F (with a low of 65°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 63°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 64°F).
The fishing was fair overall. The conditions were such that we lost more anglers to sea sickness when we started fishing. The most anglers we had fishing at one time was nine. The swells made it hard to stay off the bottom with the swells. The drift was a bit too fast. The catching and landings were both good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. In fact, by noon, it was the only species we had aboard! Legal landings also included one cod, fifteen cusk, a redfish, five whiting, two herring, a cunner and six mackerel. Released fish included three blue sharks with jewelry, seven small cod, fifteen sub-legal pollock, five sub-legal haddock, two sculpins and a couple of mackerel. We drift fished and anchored. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook with the most legal fish. I couldn't even guess. But that was because everyone pooled their fish and, even after polling everyone, I still couldn't come up with an answer. It might have been the proceedings of the night before that sullied their memory. Fourteen year old Trystan Mitchell Shea (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15 pound pollock. Mike Perez (NJ) caught the second largest fish, a 14 pound pollock. Some of the other fish of his that I weighed included an 11 pound pollock, an 8 pound pollock and a 9 pound pollock. I accused him of being high hook but he denied it. Josh Trudo (VT) caught the third largest fish, a 13.75 pound pollock. He also caught the largest cusk, weighing in at 10 pounds. And, actually, that cusk was the first cusk of six in a row that he caught - one got off the hook and floated away.
Other Angler Highlights: Colby Ducharm (VT) caught the first fish I could weigh this morning, a 9.75 pound pollock. Chris Stanhope (VT) landed a 7 pound pollock shortly after. Chris also caught a double that included a 9 pound pollock and a 7 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. The largest double of the day included a 10.5 pound pollock and a 12.5 pound pollock, caught by Frank Consiglio (VT). Kyle Santor caught the only legal cod. As he was mooning over this fish in the water, a blue shark came up and ruined the cod dinner he was planning to have. Kyle's biggest fish was an 8 pound pollock.
I received a generous $100.00 donation from Kyle Santor sponsoring me in my cancer research project with the Pan-Mass Challenge this morning. Kyle has fished with me for many years. This isn't the first time that he has helped me out. Thanks so much, Kyle. I really appreciate the support!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 64°F, the sky was hazy clear, the wind was blowing out of the south at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was good in a thick haze bordering on fog.
It never did get foggy today. The sky was hazy, clear most of the morning with hazy partly cloudy conditions during the later morning. The clouds started to move in after noon. It was overcast by 2:00 PM, raining lightly by 2:30 PM. It rained for the rest of the day and on into the night. Minor thunder and lightning were evident around 3:30 PM. Tornado warnings were issued for our region. But nothing like this occurred in Ogunquit. We did have a pouring torrential rain around 4:00 PM. But this only lasted about fifteen minutes. Before all this, in the morning, the air temperature got up to 80°F, before noon. And it was a bit humid. The wind started blowing out of the south but it never got much over ten knots until noon. Sustained wind speeds were fifteen knots around the time that the rained started. And some gusts were over twenty knots when the pouring rain happened. By 5:00 PM, the wind died and hauled out of the southwest. Southwest winds were six or seven knots going into the night. The visibility over the ocean was good in the morning in haze, good to very good in the afternoon (except in the downpour) and very good going into the night. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 86°F (with a low of 67°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 60°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 62°F).
Today was the height of the Plein Air Painting Event in Ogunquit. Painters filled the Marginal Way along the shore and in Perkins Cove. Unfortunately, the rainy weather predictions put a damper on the proceedings. It wasn't as well attended as it could have been. Nor did it last as long as it should have. There were many paintings that were produced on site that were bought. Many were extremely good including one of the Bunny Clark tied stern to the float at Barnacle Billy's dock. Someone took a picture of the painting and sent it to Deb. Deb, in turn, walked to the Cove to look at it. I think she was considering buying the painting. But, before she could even consider it, the painting was bought for $1,000.00 by a woman who got there just before her. There was also a great painting that was of our other boat, the Petrel. That too was sold, almost before Deb could get a look at it. I don't know the price that the artist was asking for that painting.
The event continued until the first rain sprinkles descended from the sky. Many of those purchasers of paintings came to the restaurant asking for plastic bags to put the paintings in. Others carried their purchases in rain coats or under umbrellas. This is the fifth time the Plein Air event has taken place in Perkins Cove. They have been very successful in the past. And, I believe, that this one would have been the most successful had the weather been better.
Business at the restaurants was booming until the rain came. It slowed to a crawl in the afternoon but was a bit better through the night. But this allowed me to get caught up on the items that I could have gotten completed had I not been on the Bunny Clark with fishing guests. Life does go on with or without you. And I do have some wonderful managers at the restaurants who make it easy for me to divide my time between the boat and the restaurants. I'm very lucky in that regard.
The wind blew lightly out of the northeast for almost the whole day. Wind speeds might have been as much at ten knots, maybe a little bit more, in the early part of the morning. But the wind speed sustained a slow death. By noon, we had less than eight knots. There was zero wind by 4:00 PM; the ocean was flat calm. It must have been around 6:00 PM that I saw the wind had hauled out of the south. Wind speeds, again, were light. It rained all day, starting at 4:00 AM. It stopped for good at about 5:00 PM. The sky stayed overcast until nightfall. The visibility was very good even in precipitation. The air temperature dropped to 59°F by 1:00 PM but rebounded to 62°F later in the afternoon. It really didn't feel that cold. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 67°F (with a low of 61°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 68°F (with a low of 51°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 56°F).
It was slow at the restaurants today. Rain usually does this to us. I did my normal routine, leaving for the day at 5:00 PM so I could get the Bunny Clark provisioned and all my stuff in order.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 53°F (51°F in Perkins Cove), the sky was clear with a full moon half way to the western horizon, the wind was light out of the northwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
It was a beautiful morning to be leaving Perkins Cove to go fishing. The visibility was the clearest it has been for a while. The air temperature was a bit cool on this ride out. It never went above 58°F the whole ride out. The ocean was fairly calm with a five knot northwest wind to start and a northerly wind of seven knots just as we were arriving to our destination. The sky was mostly clear.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the north to start. We had northerly wind of about seven knots for the first hour or two of fishing. The wind started dropping about mid morning. Around noon, the wind dropped to nothing, leaving the ocean flat glassy calm. The wind blew up to almost ten knots out of the south southwest before we left to go home. The air temperature reached a high of 75°F. The visibility ranged to over thirty miles. The sky was mostly sunny with some cloud cover here and there. The tide (current) went from strong to moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 66.4°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 72°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 68°F (with a low of 55°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 74°F (with a low of 43°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 49°F).
The fishing was good at best. It was perfect weather, the sea state was perfect as was the air temperature. The tide just dropped it down a couple of pegs. We had more tangles than we would normally have. The catching was very good. Landings were good or a bit better than that. Most legal fish landed were good sized redfish, a pile of them. Normally, I wouldn't get so excited. But there were all of such good size. Legal landings also included four cod, eighteen cusk, eighteen haddock, four white hake, seventeen pollock and a whiting. Released fish included three blue sharks with jewelry, one sculpin, seven dogfish, eleven small cod, twenty-six sub-legal haddock and eleven sub-legal redfish. We anchored and drift fished. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
The angler with the most legal fish, or high hook, was a Hopkins, either Roger or Justin. Roger won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 23 pound white hake. This might be Roger's largest ever white hake. He also caught the largest cusk at 8.5 pounds. He brought about a 200 pound blue shark to gaff, twice! No one wanted the shark so Roger broke his jig off to let it go. The jig was caught right in the corner of the sharks jaw. The second largest fish was a 19 pound white hake caught by Hank Small (NH). It was our first big hake of the day so I took a picture of him holding his fish. This digital image appears on the left. He also caught an 11 pound white hake. Jason Ridolfi (NY) caught the third largest fish, an 18.5 pound white hake. Jason also caught an 8 pound cusk.
Other Angler Highlights: I weighed an 8.5 pound pollock for Justin Hopkins. He caught the largest cod of the day at 15.5 pounds. This might be his biggest cod, he said.Ken Meinke (VT) caught the biggest pollock today. The ones I weighed included an 8.25 pound pollock, a 14 pound pollock and a 17 pound pollock. The 17 pound pollock is the Bunny Clark's ninth largest pollock of the fishing season to date. Jason Kenyon (NY) fought a jonah crab for at least fifteen minutes. I thought it was a halibut. Turns out he was just tired! Jason's largest fish was a 13 pound pollock. Lori Moore (NH) caught a 12 pound pollock, her biggest fish. David Moore's (NH) biggest fish was a 9 pound pollock. Shawn Lafferty (NY) caught the second largest cod of the day weighing 14 pounds. Steve McGrath (NH), my longest serving patron, was in the wrong position on the boat and was most tangled. This is my fiftieth year taking anglers fishing. He has been with me for all fifty of them! With his vast captaining experience, it never is a bad thing to have Steve aboard!
Several anglers sponsored me today in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge, a cycling event to raise money for cancer research in Boston, Massachusetts. (Dana-Farber/Jimmy Fund) The event, which I did ride in this year, took place the first Saturday in August. Those anglers and their donations included Steve McGrath (NH) for $60.00 (he already donated $50.00 just a couple of weeks ago), Pete Lussier (NY) donated $20.00, Jason Kenyon donated $10.00, Gary McCullough (VT) donated $50.00, Brian Hilliker (NY) donated $50.00 and Justin Hopkins & Roger Hopkins for $60.00. Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. And I know I have used that previous sentence so many times. But I truly mean it and very much appreciate it!
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 49°F in Perkins Cove, the sky was clear, the full moon had cleared the apogee heading west, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Going through the gate, headed to the fishing grounds, we met a north northeast wind. I had just looked at one of the weather buoys just a little bit before and saw that it was showing westerly winds at one or two knots. Further out, we had northeast winds of about five knots, probably less. This remained for the rest of the ride. A setting moon in a clear sky followed us most of the way out. The air temperature had warmed to 62°F by the time of arrival. The visibility was excellent. The ocean was calm with a chop of about a half a foot.
On the fishing grounds, we had light wind all day. The wind started out of the northeast, hauled east and then east southeast. Wind speeds were never more that five knots. Seas were a half a foot all day. I never did see a white cap. The air temperature reached a high of 72°F. The visibility ranged to over thirty-five miles. The tide (current) was very strong today, the strongest I have seen it this season. The sky was mostly clear with high thin hazy clouds giving the day a soft lighting in the afternoon. It was much clearer in the morning. The highest water temperature that I saw was 64°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 71°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 69°F (with a low of 53°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 74°F (with a low of 40°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 45°F).
The fishing was good. Everything was perfect except for the tide. It was too strong on anchor, while using the sea anchor and drifting. And I tried everything, including motor drifting. For the last two hours of the day, the tide let go enough that anglers could control their gear. And this was the same time that we got into the pollock. And that was really fun. The catching overall was very good. Landings were good to very good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included three cod, twenty-six cusk, ten haddock, a redfish, six white hake, two squid and seven mackerel. Released fish included three small cod, fifteen sub-legal haddock, twenty sub-legal pollock, three dogfish and three blue sharks. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
I could not tell you who was high hook. Keith Quigel (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 27 pound Maine state trophy white hake. He also caught the best double of the day. His catch included a 12 pound pollock and an 11.5 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. There was a tie for the second largest fish at 18.5 pounds each, both white hake. Ny Nhath (VT) caught one while Brian Hilliker (NY) caught the other. They split the boat pool for second and third largest fish.
Other Angler Highlights: Mark Peterson (NY) landed a 13.5 pound white hake. It was his biggest fish. But he would have had a bigger fish had I gaffed his big pollock instead of trying to lift the fish out of the water by the fly! Normally, pollock of that size float for a few seconds. This one did not. It swam straight to bottom! Lucas Quigel (PA) caught a 17 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Jason Ridolfi (NY) boated a 12.5 pound white hake and the trip's only wolffish of the trip, weighing in at 14.5 pounds. Joe Jenks (MA) caught a 17 pound white hake. His biggest pollock weighed 14 pounds. Russ Jarvis (MA) landed a 9 pound pollock, his best fish. He also caught the most haddock of any angler today with a total count of four. Jim Jarvis, Jr. (MA) caught a 17 pound pollock and a 14 pound pollock, his two biggest fish. Jim Jarvis, Sr. (MA) landed a 12 pound pollock. Travis Carpenter's (ME) biggest fish looked like a 10 pound pollock. I didn't weigh this fish. He caught quite a few doubles. Lane Winney (NY) caught our largest cusk of the trip, a Maine state trophy of 12.5 pounds. Liam Jenks (MA) fought a leg wire from a dragger that lost gear trying to go over a piece of structure (I assume). It looked for all the world like the fight some of our previous halibut have given us before reaching the surface. How he got it off the bottom without breaking his jig off is a mystery to me! Liam caught a lot of pollock today. And Pete Lussier (NY) didn't over-sleep this morning!
I received a great $50.00 donation from Jason Ridolfi today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. He has sponsored me since I started this project in 2007. Thanks so very much, Jay. I really appreciate your support and, of course, you fishing on the Bunny Clark every year.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 48°F, the sky was mostly light overcast, the wind was out of the northeast at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
At 8:15 AM, the fog rolled in to Perkins Cove. Black thick. It's funny, when we get fog in September, it's always so thick that you can cut it with a knife. This was no different. The fog stayed with us for two hours and was gone, like it never happened. The wind was light out of the northeast when the fog came in, the north northeast wind of about ten knots blew it away. The wind hauled out of the northeast near noon with wind speeds approaching fifteen knots. This kept up into the afternoon but gradually subsided to about eight knots at 6:00 PM. The sky was mostly clear all day but it was a hazy clear with soft lighting and some clouds. The visibility was very good to excellent. The air temperature reached a high, that I saw, of 70°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 68°F (with a low of 57°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 40°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 68°F (with a low of 45°F).
I spent the day catching up at the restaurants after two days of being away from the restaurants, on the boat. It was a nice day, a relaxing day from the heavy business we went through this summer. We haven't been breaking any records as of late. But it has been fun.
Some of my favorite customers from California, Malcolm & Kathie (CA) & Susan (NY) showed up for the their first day of a nine day stint in Ogunquit. I love having them here. It's, honestly, a treat to see if I can find them the largest lobsters in Maine. Of course, we are limited to an oversize guage limit so I can only get them so big. But sometimes, with a male lobster with big claws, I can get one approaching 5 pounds. We shall see how successful I am in this session.
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F (49° in Perkins Cove), the sky was hazy clear, the wind was out of the northwest at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
When we left to go down the channel to the gate and head to the fishing grounds, I realized why the stars looked like they were in a "hazy sky". It was because a nearly full moon was directly overhead, so bright that it was keeping only the brightest stars from shinning through. The sky was actually cloudless The wind blew out of the north the whole ride out. Wind speeds were about ten knots, more or less. Seas were two feet in chops. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature took almost the whole ride out to get to 62°F.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the north at ten to fifteen or more knots. Seas were three feet, more or less. For an hour or so the tide had the chops straight up and down. After noon, the wind dropped out of the day. It was surprising how calm the ocean got in so short a time. For the last half hour of fishing the wind blew out of the west at three knots. The air temperature reached a high of 71°F. The visibility ranged to over thirty miles. The sky was cloudless all day. The tide (current) was strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 62°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 74°F (with a low of 55°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 41°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 81°F (with a low of 46°F).
The fishing was good, again, at best. The tide was marginally better than Tuesday but the sea state wasn't great and the blue sharks were a pain in the ass. The catching was excellent. Landings were very good to excellent, our best trip for weeks. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. It was nearly the only fish coming over the rail at times. There were so many in the 6 to 9 pound range that I only weighed the biggest fish. Legal landings also included eight cod, fifty-eight of the cleanest cusk I have seen all year, eleven haddock, a monkfish and about twenty mackerel. Released fish included about eighteen blue sharks with jewelry, twelve sub-legal cod, five cusk, no short haddock, no dogfish, only fifteen sub-legal pollock and ten mackerel. We anchored once, drift fished the rest of the time. Jigs and cod flies caught all the fish.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook with the most legal fish but I suspect it was Rich Mallott (NY) or Rod Langevin (NY). Rod and Rich both caught fish to weigh as soon as we started fishing. Rod caught a 7 pound pollock. Rich caught an 8 pound pollock and a 10 pound pollock shortly after. Rod caught the most legal pollock in a row or fifteen fish as fast as he could get them aboard. Rich caught the only monkfish. It weighed 5 pounds.
John Kennedy (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 20 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's third largest pollock of fishing season to date. I took a picture of John with his big pollock. This digital image appears on the left. Some of his other notable fish included a 15.5 pound pollock and a 13 pound pollock. The second largest fish was an 18 pound pollock caught by Joel Russell (NY). This is the sixth largest pollock of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. Kevin "Sarge" Robinson (NY) boated the third largest fish, a 16.5 pound pollock. Sarge also caught a 9.75 pound pollock that I weighed.
Other Angler Highlights: John Gardner (NY) boated a 13.5 pound pollock. Karl Ostergaard (NY) caught a 16 pound pollock. By popular demand, I gave the "hard luck award" (an older PMC shirt) to Kirk Hollis (NY) for being the sole (soul?) hurler of the trip! I've seen worse!
I received a several donations today sponsoring me on my ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge,a cycling event to raise money for cancer research. Those donors and their gifts included: Betsy McLaughlin for a very generous $500.00, again, [Betsy has donated to my cause since I started in 2007] John Kennedy for a generous $220.00, John Gardner for a generous $100.00, Kirk Hollis for $50.00 and Paul Smith (NY) for $20.00. Thank you all so very much for generosity, thoughtfulness and support. It means a lot to me but, as I always say, more to those who do the research and for those of whom the research is intended.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was clear, the wind was out of the north northeast at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. More later.
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