Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Sunday, May 17, 2026, 7:00 AM EDT
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Note: Note: The new fishing regulations for cod and haddock in the Western Gulf of Maine for the 2026 appear below. These regulations were approved for the season starting on April 1, 2026 and will extend until May 1, 2027.
Gulf of Maine cod
Gulf of Maine haddock
It was misty and foggy all day long. With the wind blowing across the parking lot, along with the mist, you would have gotten soaked standing looking out at the ocean if you stood there for any length of time. Plus, the air temperature never got out of the 40s today. So it was, indeed, chilly. The wind blew out of the northeast and, then, east northeast at about fifteen knots, more or less, all day long. The day's salient weather feature were the ground swells that stayed at between eight and nine feet in the morning and less than that in the afternoon. We had a big surge in the Cove moving the boats there back and forth. It never did rain today. But it day stay overcast for the whole of it. We did see a bit of rain after sunset. The visibility was fair to good all day in the mist, haze and fog. The highest air temperature that I saw was 49°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 50°F (with a low of 45°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 63°F (with a low of 44°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 48°F (with a low of 42°F).
I spent a good amount of time tying storm lines off the Bunny Clark. I ran a breast line to dock on the port side and a bow line forward to the town floats ahead of us. This after adjusting the stern lines. I conferred with Grant Hubbard at the time. He owns/runs the Finestkind Scenic Tours boats. The rest of the morning was spent sorting out this update, working on databases and working on both businesses computers. I arrived at the restaurant in my whites at noon. I spent most of the day there, leaving for the evening at 7:00 PM. Normally, I leave earlier so I can finish getting the boat and myself ready for the fishing trip the next morning. Alas, I didn't have to do that today.
Not a lot went on in the restaurant today as far as business goes. At Barnacle Billy's, Etc., they were putting the last items together for the grand opening on Friday at 11:00 AM. I was over there today but Micah, my son, did all of the organizing and our kitchen crew with Travis Cutter organized all the food stuff.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 43°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining lightly, the wind was out of the northeast at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was good along the shore in haze and precipitation.
The was rainy and foggy for most of the daylight hours. It stopped raining at around 4:00 PM. The rain wasn't heavy to begin with. Although, there was more rain after midnight until about 3:00 AM than at any other time of the day today. From the weather reports, I expected to see more rain than we saw. The fog was in and out all morning but, mostly, in. After noon, the fog was mostly out. It moved offshore before the later afternoon. The wind was about eight to ten knots out of the northeast along the shore. At times, less. This kept the fog in. Seas were about eight feet. And there was still quite a surge in the Cove. It would have been hard to get out of Perkins Cove in the dark this morning. The wind around the Portland weather buoy was fifteen to twenty knots out of the east northeast. Seas were about seven feet every eleven seconds. Sustainable for fishing but not great. Plus, there would have been more wind than that where we would have fished. The visibility, of course, was fair to poor all day. The sky was overcast all day. The air temperature in Perkins Cove reached a high of 51°F. Mostly, the air temperature was in the mid to upper 40s. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 56°F (with a low of 46°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 53°F (with a low of 44°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 47°F (with a low of 43°F).
Being ashore today was not the greatest thing for me. I'm only running the Bunny Clark two days as week as it is. When you lose one it's as if I didn't sail for a week. And you lose track a bit, I believe.
Barnacle Billy's, Etc., our full service restaurant, is opening at 11:00 AM tomorrow. So there was a lot of running around done by the staff. And, as always, there was a lot of last minute stuff to finish up. No matter how well prepared you are, when you are relying on others to help you finish up, some of the "others" don't seem to be on your same page of notes. Almost all of it was completed. Some of it had to be completed by other professionals coming in to the restaurant. We still have a plumbing issue that needs to be resolved tomorrow. We don't need this issue fixed to open. But, if it was completed, it wouldn't make us look so unprepared.
I had some personal things I needed to address that I wouldn't have been able to address had I not had the day off. That put me back at work after noon. I had spent some of the morning at the restaurant before.
The weather and weather prediction had a negative affect on business today. But that is to be expected. I have to admit, though, it was nice in the dining room with both fire places ablaze.
It was a beautiful spring day today. The sky was sunny all day. The visibility was excellent. The wind blew out of the northwest at ten to fifteen knots. Offshore, the northwest wind didn't reach off. Winds were light and variable offshore. The wind died down and blew lightly out of the southwest at sunset. The air temperature rose to warm conditions. The highest air temperature that I saw was 60°F. But it could have been higher. In Portsmouth, New Hampshire they recorded a high of 63°F today. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 65°F (with a low of 47°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 62°F (with a low of 39°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 38°F).
Barnacle Billy's, Etc. restaurant opened yesterday for the season. It was a great day to open as the weather was so nice. And it brought the people into the Cove. It wasn't terribly busy at Etc. It isn't like the opening at Original Billy's. But we had a good evening. And, because the weather was great, it was busier than it would have been otherwise.
Friday is my morning to open but I had help this day. I did spend just about the whole morning down there anyway. I had to update the auto attendant greeting right off the bat for the Etc opening. I had some paperwork I had to fill out for the Ogunquit Police Department. I had a meeting with the Town Manager about a parking issue.This was the last day, before the weekend, to work on our trash collection change. I worked in the office on some policy changes. I did take a break to lay down. It helps my back to do so. I worked until 7:00 PM.
From the time I looked at the sky and dawn, the sky had clouded over. It was raining shortly afterward. It rained periodically until around 11:00 AM, when it stopped for the day. It didn't rain again until around 7:30 PM, but only briefly. The sky stayed overcast all day. The visibility remained excellent. The wind dropped out of the day by mid-daylight morning. If there was wind it was light and variable in direction. The ocean was as flat as a pancake all day long. The air temperature reached a high reached a high, that I saw, of 54°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 55°F (with a low of 48°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 53°F (with a low of 41°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 51°F (with a low of 37°F).
I spent the day working, looking at the changing weather forecast for Tueday and talking to patrons in both Barnacle Billy's restaurants.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and First Lady, Gwen Walz, ate at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. for lunch today. The Governor had a hot lobster roll and the First Lady had the fried shrimp. I met the Governor at the door when he first arrived and shook his hand. And I saw him after he ate. He said that Barnacle Billy's came highly recommended. And he said he enjoyed his meal very much. Both he and his wife came across as very warm people and very respectful. Even if it was just a brief encounter, I enjoyed meeting them very much.
The Governor and First Lady are in Maine to stump for Graham Platner with our Governor Janet Mills. Platner is running for Senator Susan Collins' seat in the U.S.Senate. I'm not crazy about Platner as Senator Collins has done so much for Maine, our fishery and for Ogunquit specifically. But, hey, everyone has an opinion.
The sky was overcast for the whole day until near sunset, when the sky clear and the sun shone down on the deck of Barnacle Billy's. The visibility remained excellent all day. The wind blew out of the north northwest all morning, backing out of the northwest after noon. Wind speeds in the later morning and the early afternoon were in the twenty to twenty-five knot range. The wind had backed off by the later afternoon. I did notice, near and after sunset, that the wind was blowing out of the west at twenty knots at times. The air temperature hung in the mid to upper 40s in the morning and early afternoon, reached a high, that I noticed, of 55°F by mid afternoon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 55°F (with a low of 44°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 53°F (with a low of 31°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 55°F (with a low of 40°F).
Deb walks Gill, our border collie, to the Cove every morning. She arranges the flower display at both restaurants and takes him with her. This morning, while I was still working on the computer at the house, I got a call. Gill couldn't get up on his hind legs. So I drove down to Barnacle Billy's, Etc., where he was lying on the carpet. Normally a carpet gives the dog enough purchase so that he can walk. It wasn't good enough this morning. So Deb and I carried him to the front seat of the truck and brought him home. I've been having to lift him out of the truck to the ground, which has been routine for the last couple of weeks. But he walks on his own to the house. We had to carry him inside this time. He got better during the day while I was at work in the restaurant. But, initially, I had to carry him out to do his business before going to the Cove to work. He's having such a hard time using his hind legs. It's so sad to see. It's certainly the worst part of having an animal. I wish he could tell me exactly how he feels so I could best figure out a way to help.
It was a quiet day in the Cove. There was no help from the weather. But business in the Cove is most affected by the weather report. People have to make plans. If they think the weather will not be conducive to what they want to achieve here, they won't drive here. But, to me, it seems the weather forecasters have a negative bent in their predictions. In a wide general area they are correct in their predictions, sort of. But specifically, they seem to never be right. And forget about predictions of future weather more than two days out. The forecasters seem to go into so much detail when they know in their hearts that the results are going to be tempered. It's frustrating, this. And it's particularly frustrating when I cancel a fishing trip when, on the day of the event, I realize I could have sailed.
I received a $50.00 donation from Sue & Jules Epstein (FL) sponsoring me in this season's Pan-Mass Challenge, a fundraising event for cancer research. Sue & Jules made their donations in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site. Thank you both so very much. You are always so thoughtful. Sue & Jules have been donating to my cancer fund for many years now.
The wind blew out of the west or west northwest or northwest in that order. Wind speeds were up over twenty knots. This wind never reached off. At the Portland weather buoy it blew out of the south, at times up to twenty knots. Mostly the wind was light out there. The visibility was very good to excellent. The sky was clear with some clouds. The air temperature high might have been higher than 71°F. But that was the highest value that I saw. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 73°F (with a low of 46°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 73°F (with a low of 30°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 39°F).
I spent the day getting the boat and myself ready to take the fishing trip tomorrow and working at the restaurant. The boat only took a couple of hours. Deb does most of my lunch, thank God!
The restaurant was fairly slow today. We also had road construction between the two restaurants. And it actually wasn't road construction. With building the new Oarweed Restaurant next door, they were working on the sewer, water and electrical lines under the road. I went back and forth between restaurants all day. I was done at the restaurants at 5:00 PM.
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the sky was clear, the wind was out of the south at almost twenty knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good to excellent.
It was windier than I was hoping it would be this morning. But this was from the buoy reports two hours before we left the dock. When we poked the nose of the Bunny Clark out past the gate. It seemed fine initially. So I got my coffee set up on the console waiting for rougher weather. But it never really did get that rough. Seas were about two feet or so in chops with very little sea associated with them. The wind was out of the south but it might have been fifteen knots at the most. The sky was clear. Visibility might as well have been excellent. The air temperature hung around 50°F all the way out.
A couple of miles before the fishing grounds, the wind and seas picked up a bit.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south at fifteen knots or more to start but seemed to maintain fifteen to twenty knots. Sea were just seas, not a chop but not a swell either. Maybe three feet or so for most of the morning? The wind did build a bit during the day but not enough to really notice during the fishing. The wind did come on before the high tide, scaling up over twenty-five knots before we were to head home. Seas by then were in the five to seven foot range. We carried winds of twenty-five to thirty knots all the way home. The air temperature reached a high of 55°F. There was very little tide (current) all day. The visibility was very good to excellent. The sky was most clear, the sun very bright. The surface water temperature reached a high of 44.6°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire the high air temperature was 80°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 79°F (with a low of 50°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 86°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 47°F).
The fishing was good to very good. The seas too three anglers out of the picture with mal de mer. But everyone else fished happily away until the end. There wasn't any current so there were few tangles. The catching was good to very good. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were haddock by far. Several anglers caught the bag limit or more of haddock. But the total boat bag limit was not attained. Legal landings also included a cusk, two pollock and five redfish of good size. Released fish included twenty small cod, three cod of 6 pounds or more, fifty-seven sub-legal haddock, a couple keeper haddock, two small pollock, a sub-legal redfish and a small wolffish. We anchored for almost every stop. Two of the stops made the whole day. And I could have stayed longer on both stops. We did try drifting twice with variable success. It was, actually, a little too fast. Bait worked best.
Fred Kunz (NH) was the fisherman of the day. He was high hook with the most legal fish, by far. And he won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11.25 pound cod, the largest cod of our fishing season so far and a tie for the largest fish of our season so far. I would have taken a picture of Fred's cod but I was in the loo when it was boated and I wanted to get it back in the water rather than waste time with a picture. Besides, he'll probably catch a bigger one on Thursday. Had everyone caught as many fish as Fred had, we would have been home more than two hours early. It was certainly not one of those big bite days. You really had to work for them today. Guy Hesketh (CT) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 7 pound wolffish. I took a picture of Guy with his cat just before he released it. This digital image appears on the right. Guy also caught the third largest cod at 6 pounds. And he was one of the very successful anglers today. The third largest fish was a 6.75 pound haddock caught by Dan Gibbs (NH). This fish had the frame of trophy haddock and was 27" caliper fork length. I thought for sure that it was a trophy until I weighed it.
Other Angler Highlights: Alan Stanislas (MA) caught the first fish I could weigh, right off the bat, a 5 pound haddock. It wasn't too much longer before he decided to retire in the Hotel Bunny Clark with two of the friends he brought with him, unfortunately. Nick Kirychuk (CT) was another one of successful anglers today along with Darlene Chin (NH). The largest fish I weighed for Nick was a 4.75 pound haddock. Darlene's largest was a 6 pound haddock, a beautiful fish. I kick myself for not taking a picture of her with the fish. Dennis Reissig (NY) landed a 5 pound haddock, his biggest fish of the trip. He could have caught more fish as he fished with a jig all day. But he still caught plenty of fish. Scott Profit (ME) caught a 5.75 pound haddock. His largest fish was a 6.5 pound cod, the second largest cod of the day. Mike SanNicolas (VT) caught a 5.5 pound haddock, his best fish. Mike Fernald (ME) landed a 6.5 pound haddock, the second largest haddock of the trip.
I was very happy to receive several donations sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising project with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Those anglers and their donations included Guy Hesketh for $20.00, Nick Kirychuk for $20.00, Fred Kunz for $40.00 and Mike Fernald for $40.00. Thank you all so very much for your support and thoughtfulness. You know I appreciate this so very much!
It didn't take long before the sky became occluded with clouds. By 7:00 AM, the sky was completely overcast. It stayed overcast all day until around 2:30 PM, when it started to rain. We had a steady rain for the rest of the afternoon. By 5:30 PM, it was less steady. By 7:00 PM, we had hardly any rain at all. The wind blew out of the south. It was ten to fifteen knots in Perkins Cove but more offshore. Offshore, it blew as hard at twenty-five and thirty knots, as it did yesterday. The wind was backing off around 7:00 PM. The visibility was very good later morning, good at best, fair at worst in the rain. I saw a high air temperature of 65°F. But the Portsmouth, New Hampshire high air temperature reached 71°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 70°F (with a low of 57°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 71°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 59°F (with a low of 51°F).
I spent the day getting myself and the boat ready to sail tomorrow. I also spent a significant time at the computer writing yesterday's report because it was too rough to do so on the way back from the fishing grounds yesterday. The rest of the day was spent at the restaurants.
Business wise, it was slow at the restaurants. It was nice for them. And it was nice for some of us. But it was deathly slow for our employees who like to be busy. Of course, most know the routine with the spring and the weather we have at this time of year.
Other than that, nothing special went on. I got caught up at the desk. I talked to some of my best regular patrons. That's it.
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the west at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
After the gate, on the way to the fishing grounds, we had little wind. In fact, we had hardly any wind the whole way out. We did have a sea that was about four to six feet, according to the sounding machine. These were short rolling swells left over from the wind last night. The air temperature was 50°F, more or less, the whole way out. The visibility was excellent. The sky was overcast. We made excellent progress.
On the grounds, it was mostly overcast with clearing to the east. By noon, we had very clear skies with just a few small clouds. We had light westerly wind on the way out. Just as we got to the grounds, the wind became light from the north northeast. Later morning saw no wind. We had light southwest wind during the last hour of fishing. We had southwest wind of ten knots or more on the ride home. The air temperature might have reached 54°F today. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The visibility was over twenty-five miles. The sea state while fishing was, at most, a one foot chop at the height of the wind. The surface water temperature didn't make it as high as 43°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature today was 64°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 65°F (with a low of 50°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 63°F (with a low of 39°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 63°F (with a low of 43°F).
The fishing was excellent. The drift was perfect, the weather was perfect, the ocean was calm and tangles were few. The catching was excellent. Landings were good to very good, excellent if you were Fred Kunz (NH). Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. We didn't reach the boat bag limit but we could have had our sea sick anglers fished as well as Danny and I. Danny and I don't fish. The small pollock were there as well which made catching haddock that much more difficult. We haven't seen the small pollock much this year yet. This was our first bout with them. Pollock displaced the haddock that we could have been catching in many cases. Still several anglers reached or surpassed the bag limit. Legal landings also included twenty-eight cusk, twenty-three pollock and fifteen redfish. Released fish included two cod of legal size (if it were October), seven small cod, seventeen haddock, quite a few sub-legal pollock (too many to count) and four redfish. We anchored once but drift fished the rest of the day. Bait and cod flies caught the most fish.
I tried a new area for the first stop. We didn't do much; a handful of haddock and a couple cusk. But Shane Rogers (MA) did hook into a halibut. He might have fought if for five minutes? I didn't look at my watch. But he broke it off at the fly loop. I don't believe he was putting excess pressure on the fish. What I thing did happen is that it hit the lower hook and the top hook hooked into part of the fish. The flexing of the body broke the line. I saw the halibut on the sounding machine come off the bottom and hit his line and go back down with it. It was too bad because it was a good sized fish. Shane's largest fish was a 6 pound haddock.
Fred Kunz was high hook with the most legal fish, a count of forty-seven total. His largest fish was a 5.5 pound haddock. Tom Murphy (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 8.25 pound cod. Some of his other good fish included a 6.5 pound haddock and a 5.25 pound haddock. I took a picture of Tom holding his bigger haddock, this digital image appears on the left. Randy Bodkin (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 7.5 pound Maine state trophy haddock. The is the Bunny Clark's largest haddock of the fishing season so far. I took a picture of Randy holding his big haddock. This digital image appears on the right.
Other Angler Highlights: Mark Fraher (CT) boated a 7 pound Maine state trophy haddock. This is the largest haddock that he has ever caught. It's also the Bunny Clark's third largest haddock of the fishing season so far. Neil Hickey (VT) caught a 5.75 pound haddock, his biggest fish. Dennis Reissig (NY) caught exactly fifteen haddock. He wanted to at least catch the bag limit with a jig. He succeeded in doing so during the last minute of fishing. His largest fish was a 4.5 pound haddock. Luke Fraher (CT) landed a 5.5 pound haddock, his best. Caleb Douglas (NY) boated a 6.9 pound haddock, just shy of a Maine state trophy. This is the Bunny Clark's fourth largest haddock of the fishing season so far. I also weighed a 5 pound haddock for him. Chris Willy (VT) landed a 6 pound haddock and the largest cusk of the day at 6 pounds. These were his two biggest fish. A couple years ago he caught an 11 pound Maine state trophy haddock with me. Dan Gibbs (NH) caught a 5 pound haddock, his best fish. Jonathan Griffin (MA) pulled a 6 pound haddock over the rail, his biggest fish. Griff was second hook today.
I received several donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. The anglers and their donations included Dan Gibbs for a generous $110.00, Tom Murphy for $20.00 (He donates every year.), Neil Hickey for $20.00 and Mark Fraher for $40.00. Thank you all so very much for your support and thoughtfulness. I wish everyone were this giving. Much appreciated by all!
The sky stayed clear all day, the visibility excellent. The wind blew out of the west northwest or northwest at fifteen to twenty knots until sunset. It never reached off according to our local lobstermen. Outside, it was light out of the south, maybe southwest. The air temperature did get warmer. At the house, I saw 60°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 62°F (with a low of 47°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 61°F (with a low of 31°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 59°F (with a low of 36°F).
As Friday is my normal day to open the restaurants, I was down at the Cove before 5:00 AM. I was surprised to find several of our employees down there waiting. Apparently, the key our manager had would not open the door. Our kitchen manager at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. was there to show a couple of our other employees what was expected in the morning for prep work.
I worked getting everything I needed to get done, done. At the same time, I was going back and forth to the house so I could get this report posted. When my scheduled time at the restaurants was over, 9:00 AM, I had some lobsters to put away. But I also had an employee I had to talk to about an altercation outside of work with someone in town. It was a minor incident but it did involve the police. Once this discussion was over, I drove down to the Ogunquit Police Station and talked to the Chief about the incident and got things resolved. I also needed some direction for the fisherman's parking situation in the Cove. As the chair of the Harbor Committee, I needed to know how the Police Department was going to take on enforcing one of the parking ordinances. Things got out of hand last season. The Town didn't want a repeat. I wanted to make sure I knew what to tell the others about the issue. The Chief also gave me a tour of the new Police Department. State of the art and very impressive. Believe it or not, Ogunquit is growing. That's just the way it is. It was very nice of him to do this. I appreciated this very much. He offered and I had the time.
I went home, showered and shaved and went back to work at the restaurants. At 2:10 PM, I went home to lay down for forty minutes. I am doing this on a regular basis now. After the cycling accident in June of 2023, my back still gets sore even with all the core work I do every morning. Lying down for just that short period of time eliminates the pain for the rest of the day. I don't get that opportunity on the boat. But, for some reason, it's different. Maybe the rolling around out there loosens things up. But my back doesn't feel as bad on a fishing trip. I do have periods when I have to be conscious about the way I am sitting when steering for home. But that's about the only time.
At 3:00 PM, I left the house and went directly to the Bunny Clark. A good friend mine and our first Barnacle Billy's "beer waiter" had passed. (Ogunquit used to be a dry town when I was growing up.) I had told his widow that I would gladly take his ashes out to sea and host a group of any size for her convenience. This is something I do not do on a regular basis for anyone. I don't run a charter for monetary gain in this regard. But I have done it many times for people who meant and mean a lot to me. This was such a case. I was done by 5:00 PM, whereupon I went back into the restaurant and worked until 7:00 PM.
I actually went home ten minutes before as Deb had called me. The door to the oven had broken off on one side. She had just finished using it when this had happened. So we had dinner. But she won't be able to use the oven again until the oven gets replaced (the best option) or we get this fixed.
This was my typical day. The situations are different every day. But they all require attention. Some are more challenging than others.
It wasn't long after 5:00 AM before the sky started to cloud over. By 7:00 AM, the sky was completely overcast. It started to rain just before noon. It rained for the rest of the day and on into the night. Sometimes it was very steady and heavy. Most of the time it was light. But it was certainly continuous. The wind blew out of the south or southeast or a variation of both. Wind speeds never got over ten knots. The visibility was good for the day. We never did see any fog. It might have been too cold for it. Before the rain started, I saw an air temperature of 55°F at the house. We never saw any air temperature nearly as high before or after. Mostly, the air temperature was around 48°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 55°F (with a low of 42°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 47°F (with a low of 31°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 56°F (with a low of 36°F).
I spent the day at the restaurants, of course. Business was light but the people who attended were wonderful to a fault. There just weren't a lot of them. Some were there celebrating Mother's Day early.
It turned out to be a beautiful spring day, mostly. We had a rain shower in the later part of the afternoon that moved people off the deck at Barnacle Billy's. But, fifteen minutes later, the sky cleared and it was a clear sky beautiful evening. The wind was light and variable in direction. The wind backed the full range from south to southeast to east and, then, northeast. Ashore we saw eight to ten knots of southerly wind that backed out of the northeast and dropped. The visibility was suspect; it was foggy in York. The air temperature went as high as 68°F in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. But, with the wind over the parking lot in Perkins cove, we saw air temperatures of only 61°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 75°F (with a low of 51°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 74°F (with a low of 46°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 47°F).
I spent the day at the restaurants again. It was a busy day. Mother's Day, if the weather is good, is usually busy. Today was no exception.
Perkins Cove was under a canopy of clouds all day today. Sometimes you could see the lume of the sun shinning through the thinner parts of the clouds. Other times you could see blue sky in the cracks between. In the afternoon, we saw more blue sky than we did at 5:30 AM, the most blue sky we had seen at any time today. The wind was light all day. We had very light northwest wind in the early part of the morning, the wind direction was variable or non-existent until after noon when a light southerly wind appeared. Wind strength was hardly enough to lift a flag. The visibility was excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw was 62°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 62°F (with a low of 49°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 63°F (with a low of 41°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 42°F).
I spent different periods of time today to get ready for the fishing trip tomorrow. I also had a lot of running around to do this morning. But most of it was to do with the restaurant.
I arrived in my official capacity in the restaurant after noon, a little later than I wanted to be there. However, it turned out that there wasn't much of a need. It was fairly slow today. But this leaves me time to understand my employees better.
As usual, even with just a few patrons in the restaurant today, several were asking about my sister, Meg. That is the second most asked question behind; "How was your winter?"
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 45°F at the house and 43°F at the Bunny Clark, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at ten knots or so and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
As we came out the gate, we had a crescent moon part way up from the east southeast horizon, a clear sky and excellent visibility. The wind was light from the north. The northerly wind might have blown ten knots or more but no more than that. We had about a two foot chop over a very long swell with about a six foot depth, according to the sounding machine. The air temperature ranged between 45°F and 48°F.
On the fishing grounds, the wind started out of the north at twelve to fifteen knots. Seas were chops of a couple feet over that long swell we experienced on the way out. The wind petered out before noon to about nothing and then backed out of the west. We had eight knots of westerly wind for the start of the ride home. The air temperature reached a high of 54°F. The visibility ranged to thirty miles. The sky was perfectly clear in the morning, a sun/cloud mix in the afternoon. The tide (current) was moderate and with the wind - which made for perfect drifting. The surface water temperature reached a high of 44.7°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire the high air temperature was 63°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 64°F (with a low of 48°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 62°F (with a low of 33°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 59°F (with a low of 37°F).
The fishing was excellent. The drift was perfect, the weather was excellent and tangles were few. The catching was good to very good for the first half of the trip and excellent for the second half of the trip. Landings were very good to excellent overall. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. We ended up catching the total boat bag limit with an hour and a half left to go in the trip. This was without three people fishing at all. Legal landings also included five pollock to 7.5 pounds, thirty-nine cusk and thirteen redfish. Released fish included nineteen sub-legal haddock, two sub-legal pollock, fourteen small cod, a 6 pound cod and two small pollock. We alternated between drifting and anchoring. The last stop was a drift, a massacre. Bait worked best.
Fred Kunz was high hook with the most legal fish, a count very similar to last Thursday. This time, though, he had some competition. Brian St. Saviour (ME) and Brian Plasse (ME) were very close. They were the top three anyway, with Fred at number one. Both Brians caught haddock of 5.5 pounds as their biggest fish. Although Plasse might have had a bigger cusk that I didn't weigh. Fred's two best haddock weighed 6.25 pounds and 5.5 pounds.
Paul Vlasich (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 9 pound Maine state trophy haddock. This is the largest haddock of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date and ties our largest haddock for the 2025 fishing season. Two of the other fish of his that I weighed were a 5.5 pound haddock and a 7 pound cusk, the largest cusk of the trip. There was a tie for the second largest fish at 7.5 pounds. There were three. Barry Woods (ME) caught a 7.5 pound pollock, Nino Pierdipino (NY) caught a 7.5 pound pollock and Cole Melendy (NH) caught a 7.5 pound Maine state trophy haddock. Nino wasn't in the boat pool so Barry and Cole shared it. The trophy haddock ties our second largest haddock of the fishing season so far. Nino's largest haddock weighed 6.25 pounds. Nino might have caught the fourth most fish of the trip.
Other Angler Highlights: Jack Cadigan (MA) caught a 6.5 pound haddock, his biggest fish. I weighed two haddock of 5.5 pounds and a 6 pound haddock for Levi Loven (VT). Josh Baston (NH) caught our third largest pollock at 6 pounds. Andy Sparks (ME) boated a 6.25 pound haddock, his best fish. Calvin Loven (VT) caught a 6.5 pound haddock and a 6.25 pound haddock. He did very well indeed. I weighed three fish for Lane Winney (NY). They included a 6.5 pound cusk, a 5.75 pound haddock and a 6.25 pound haddock. Ed Baird (NH) landed a 6 pound haddock, his biggest fish.
I received two donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Brian St. Saviour gave $20.00 while Barry Woods gave $50.00. Thank you both so much for your support and help. I really appreciate this. But it goes a long way beyond that!
The rest of the morning was on and off light rain. After noon we had light rain for a bit until 2:30 PM. No rain fell after that. The wind was just strong enough to show a southerly direction. Flags were limp. The visibility was very good at least. The highest air temperature that I saw was 51°F. But I wasn't really paying attention to the air temperature today. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 64°F (with a low of 46°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 52°F (with a low of 34°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 52°F (with a low of 36°F).
I spent the morning sprucing up my website and go-fering around. I worked at the restaurant in the morning and from noon until 5:00 PM. In between, I was getting the boat ready to fish. It was a very slow business day today.
Gill is getting periodic shots in his hind legs so he can walk. Before the weekend he got them again. He's been fairly good all weekend. But I still have to lift him into the truck, lift him down out of the truck and sling him upstairs when he wants to go. He seems a happy dog and still follows me around the house. But now he doesn't even attempt to sneak up the stairs to see me in the office, preferring to ly at the bottom of the stairs in wait. Every time I use the truck I take him with me, like today. I wanted to bring fish to my boat builder, David Pease, in York. I took him there with me. He does enjoy the ride and I think it gives him purpose. Border collies need a purpose. Young border collies need a job.
At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 50°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the south at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
There was a light northwest wind at the dock before we left for the high seas this morning. As soon as we poked the nose of the Bunny Clark out between the can buoys, all that changed. But not too much. Winds were southerly at ten knots or maybe more. Seas were barely small chops over a swell the appeared to be coming out of the southeast or east southeast. It wasn't the most comfortable ride. But it wasn't bad and certainly didn't diminish our cruising speed. The sky was overcast for an hour but then started to clear as we got further offshore. The sky was clear when we finally got to our destination. The air temperature hung around 50°F for the whole ride. The visibility was very good.
On the fishing grounds, we had clear skies with some clouds all morning. You needed sunglasses which I didn't expect to pull out of the case today. The sky did start to cloud up after noon. It started to rain when I called the day. Perfect timing. The wind was southerly when we first started fishing. Not much wind. No white caps at first, ten knots an hour or two in, the wind dropped off and backed out of the southeast. Before we started to point the bow to the barn, we had easterly winds of fifteen to twenty knots. Seas were about three feet in chops, maybe more. We carried easterly wind of varying degrees all the way home. The air temperature reached a high of 54°F. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The visibility, very good in the morning, dropped to about two or three miles in rain, mist and fog when the last fish was hauled over the rail and on the trip home. The surface water temperature reached a high of 45°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire the high air temperature was 59°F for a very short period of time. Mostly it was 56°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 64°F (with a low of 48°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 59°F (with a low of 49°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 63°F (with a low of 51°F).
The fishing was good to very good. We had more tide than I would have liked which created more tangles than we would have wanted. The catching, however, was excellent. Landings were very good to excellent. We had some quality fish today. There was no way we were going to catch the haddock bag limit today. There were too many other species of fish biting today to have to worry about it. Yes, we had several anglers who attained the bag limit. But the total boat bag limit was not. Most legal fish landed were haddock followed by pollock in the 3 to 8 pound range. I didn't weigh many pollock in the 6 and 7 pound range. Legal landings also included forty-six cusk, a halibut, a mackerel and a porbeagle shark. Released fish included twenty-eight small cod, five legal haddock, seven sub-legal haddock, quite a few small pollock and two halibut (one intentional and one not quite so intentional). We drift fished most of the day. We anchored for the last spot. Bait worked best.
It was an excellent day for unusual fishing experiences today. We had three halibut involvements on the boat. The first was a legal sized (30 pounds or more) halibut that followed a haddock that angler, Steve Selmer (NH), had on his line, to the surface next to the boat. Only Steve LaPlante (CT), who was fishing with Steve on the bow, Steve and Nino Pierdipino (NH), who was in the fishing position closest to the bow, saw the fish. Steve tried to bait the halibut but was tangled with Steve LaPlante's line relinquishing the freedom to move his pole to make a good presentation. The fish took a loop around the tangled lines and swam back to bottom. Second, not five minutes later, Fred Kunz,
hooked into a halibut while fishing in the stern. He was using a double bait rig. I had everyone reel up to leave Fred unfettered access to bring this fish to the surface, which he did. Danny DellaMonica has a meat hook made of stainless steel that I must have bought in the 1970s when I was tuna fishing. I call it the "Danny Hook" because Danny is deadly with it. He doesn't use it like you would a gaff. He has another method that is much more effective. So, as in true Danny Hook form, when Fred's fish got within reach, got a purchase on the fish in good shape. I followed up with a boat gaff. We both slid it over the rail and into the boat. Third, during the last half an hour, while fishing on anchor, Steve Selmer hooked into a massive halibut. He thought it was a halibut at first, then thought it was bottom, gave the rod to me, I fooled around with it for a while, bypassed drag and got it off bottom a ways until I felt two big thumps on the rod and the fish took an estimated thirty feet of line back to bottom. Steve took it the rest of the way but parted it off after twenty minutes. I don't believe Steve would have landed such a big fish. They have teeth and Steve was using hooks directly tied to monofilament leader. That long of a fight was destined to chafe the hook off. Added to this was the fact that we already had a halibut in the boat. Federal and State law prohibits boating more than one halibut per trip. And this was heavy on both Steve's and my mind. It was exciting, though. I did see other halibut on the sounding machine that we didn't hook. But we didn't get a visual on the big one.
Halibut do swim in schools. With a healthy population you might find a school in an area. A friend of mine out of Chatham, Massachusetts chased halibut in the late 1960s, early 1970s and once caught over one hundred count of halibut on halibut trawl (a long line with hooks) with each fish weighing between 110 and 115 pounds. The next day he caught fifty halibut there of that size. The day after that they were gone. I would really like to know how many halibut were there today.
The other experience of note was Steve LaPlante landing a 61 pound porbeagle shark. The sharks demise came when it decided to roll in the line, as they very often do. The sharks problem was that it started to roll while on the surface in front of Danny DellaMonica who was standing over it with a gaff. Years ago we had an angler, Danny Angerman, who had hooked a porbeagle that was about 300 pounds, plus or minus. Danny fought it for quite a while but lost it when it started to roll in the Dacron main line he was using and parted the fish off. Mr. Angerman's shark started the roll too far under water. So we never had a chance to put a gaff into it.
All but four anglers today had never seen either a porbeagle shark or a halibut boated. I would also say that the same anglers had never seen so many big haddock boated either. At least, that was the consensus as I was told.
Fred Kunz was the fisherman of the day. He was high hook with fifty-three legal fish and he won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, the 64 pound halibut. I love it when Fred hooks a big fish as his drag is always perfect. And I know that he is one of the few fisherman who comes aboard with almost a guarantee that if he hooks it he will land it. More often than not it has been the person with the gaff that has screwed up, not Fred. I also have to qualify the high hook statement. Lee Atherton (ME) might also have been high hook. He had more haddock than Fred caught. But Fred caught many more cusk than anyone on the boat. Lee doesn't count his fish. I never weighed another fish for Fred. On the other hand, it seemed like I was weighing fish for Lee all day long. Some of the fish of his I weighed included a 6 pound haddock, a 5.5 pound haddock, another 6 pound haddock, a double that included a 6.25 pound haddock an a 5.25 haddock, both fish on the same line at the same time, and the largest haddock of the trip, a 7.75 pound Maine state trophy haddock, our second largest haddock of the Bunny Clark fishing season so far. I took a picture of Lee holding the trophy haddock at the same time that Lee caught another haddock that weighed 6.5 pounds. So I took a picture of him holding both. This digital image appears on the left. The bigger haddock is in his right hand but he's holding the haddock he had just caught closer to the camera.
Steve LaPlante won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 61 pound porbeagle shark. I took a digital image of Steve holding the tail of the shark with the head resting on the deck. This picture appears on the right. It was still lively enough that holding it another way might have put Steve in a compromising position. This was a much safer picture to take. Even losing one finger is too much! I weighed a 6.5 pound cusk for Steve very early in the trip. The third largest fish of the trip was an 8.25 pound pollock caught by Jeff Breton (ME).
Other Angler Highlights: Everyone caught haddock over 5.5 pounds. I did stop weighing the bigger ones early on unless the were of trophy status. Many of the ones I thought might have been of trophy size turned out to be fat 5.5 plus pounders. Lyle Works (ME) caught the first pollock I thought I should weigh. It was 6.75 pounds. I weighed a haddock for him that weighed 5.75 pounds. Tom Mitchell (ME) caught a haddock that weighed 6.25 pounds. Travis Works (ME) landed a 6.25 pound haddock. Jeff Breton, Sr. (ME) caught a 7 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Reese Bernier (ME) boated a 6.25 pound haddock. Steve Selmer's largest boated fish was an 8 pound pollock. Both Steves caught haddock over 6 pounds that I did not weigh. Both have caught many trophy haddock in the past with me.
I received many donations today sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a fundraiser for cancer research with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Those individuals and their donations included Doug Wood for $30.00, Jeff Breton, Jr. for $50.00, Lee Atherton for $20.00, Fred Kunz for $60.00, Travis Works for $30.00, Steve Selmer for $20.00 and Bill Perkins for $20.00. Thank you all so very much for your support, thoughtfulness and generosity. I do appreciate this very much as it will go toward saving lives!
It rained all morning and into the afternoon. There was one period where the rain was heavy. The rain was mostly light. The rain stopped by mid afternoon. The sky started clearing by 5:00 PM. By 6:00 PM, we had sun. We did end up with a nice sunset. The visibility, although poor in the morning, was very good or better than that by later afternoon. The wind blew out of the east or northeast all morning. Wind speeds got up to fifteen knots before noon. After noon, the wind dropped and backed out of the northwest. We had no wind by 2:00 PM. The northwest wind started after that. By sunset, the wind was light out of the west. The highest air temperature that I saw today was 55°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 55°F (with a low of 50°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 60°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 48°F).
I spent the day in the restaurants and, of course, working on this report. Processing the images take time. Well, it all takes time.
I received two more donations towards my cancer project with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Steve LaPlante (CT) donated a generous $100.00 to the cause while Harold Peck (NY) donated a very generous $500.00. Thank you both so very much for your support and help. It means a lot to me but more to others who are trying to solve the disease and those who are affected by it.
The sky stayed mostly clear all day. There was ample sun and, certainly, the best day of the spring. The wind blew out of the south at about ten knots, more or less. This kept the air temperature down to about 70°F in the Cove. Inland, it was much warmer. The visibility over the ocean remained very good at least. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 80°F (with a low of 49°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 41°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 75°F (with a low of 49°F).
I spent most of the day at the restaurant. I worked on the Bunny Clark for a bit, getting things set up for the next fishing trip. My son, Micah, helped me go through the electrical grounding system on the boat for about fifteen minutes. I stayed at the restaurants until after closing.
As the Iran war continues, so does the increase in fuel prices. So I'm afraid we will have to ask for a fuel surcharge. If we go offshore, the price will start at $20.00, for the offshore trips. If we end up fishing closer to shore, I will refund $10.00 of it. I'm sorry I have to do this. And I hope you understand. Hopefully, these fuel prices will decrease so we can go back to normal business.
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