The 2012 Bunny Clark Guestletter

Before I end this Guestletter, I want to cite those anglers and experiences of note that deserve an honorable mention for their uniqueness and/or fishing prowess during the 2011 Bunny Clark fishing season. I realize that this is a value judgment on my part but I believe that my conclusions are recognized as a popular opinion and/or statistical fact among my crew and fishing guests and are based on many fishing trips. These special anglers and incidents are as follows:

Fisherman of the Year (FY-’11): Bryan Lewer (FL) walks away with this award. At nineteen (19) years old, he is the youngest angler (by far) to ever win this award. There was no other angler even close; relinquishing the need to add comparative value points (CVPs) in order to come to a salient decision. (CVPs – points added or subtracted between two anglers who end the year at the top end with 30 points or less separating them. Points are only adjusted on those days where both were fishing together.) Bryan came in at third place in this category last year and in fourth place the year before. [The picture on the left is a shot of Bryan holding two cod in the teens that he caught on June 30. The shot on the right shows Bryan holding the largest hake of his life at 46 pounds. Micah Tower stands in the background.]

As most of you know by now, the FY award is based on a point system that relates to specific achievements during a trip and during the year. Each achievement is worth a set of points. The individual with the most points at the end of the season wins. In order to compete in this category, you have to have paid for and completed at least 10 different trips on the Bunny Clark. I have had many excellent anglers who fish with us on a regular basis every season, any one of whom has the potential to become the Fisherman of the Year. Bryan was consistently the best or one of the best anglers last season. His strengths in this category included the most trophy fish of the season, his penchant for being high hook on almost every trip he attended, his ability to land particularly large fish as compared to his fellow anglers, his competitive spirit, his belief in himself and ability to adapt to any fishing situation. He was very fun to have on the boat and excited with every fish he caught. His enthusiasm was contagious and it affected everyone around him. It was a great trip when Bryan was aboard. As a captain it helped me do a better job for him and those fishing on the day that Bryan chose to go. Congratulations, Bryan. I am honored that you chose to spend most of your fishing time with us.

Bryan’s total point count was 309, more than double the point total that he accrued last season. Shawn Rosenberger (PA) took second place with a point total of 151. Steve LaPlante came in third with 98 points. Tim Williams (CT) was fourth with 93 points. And Ray Westermann (MA) was fifth with 82 points. Incidentally, Micah Tower would have come in at third place with 122 points had he qualified to go for this award.

Second place in this category would have to go to Fred Fredberger (CT), our most improved angler durng the 2010 season. Fred lost the first of the three jig sticks overboard last year with Captain Ian on the first day of cod possession, April 16, 2011. Fred didn’t mean it and I know that. I probably felt worse for him than I did myself. But the rod he lost was the Hobbs rod, a graphite rod I built for Charlie “C. B.” Hobbs (NY) in the early 90s. In 1994, C.B. won the Bunny Clark FY ’94 award. He was the oldest angler to ever win that award at 79 years old. And he took this award from Fred Kunz, his closest competitor at the time, with an incident on Platts Bank that I shall never forget. Charlie died only a few years after winning the award on the boat. But he was a personal favorite angler of mine. A person who, I felt, thought as I did and won the hearts of anglers around him. Even Fred Kunz didn’t mind that Charlie beat him that year and was gracious in the loss. Every time I saw one of my deck hands pass that rod out, I thought of Charlie. Oh, I’ll still think of Charlie but maybe not quite as much as I would have had we not lost the rod.

Third place has to go to Rod Wood (PA) if only so I can recount the story that goes along with his unique experience during the marathon trip of September 23^rd. On this foggy day, Rod, like everyone else, was involved in a pollock blitz with the biggest pollock we had seen or would see all season. Everyone was excited, calling for gaffs, reeling, tangling lines, with pollock floating around the boat and everyone busy. I was running around like an idiot trying to get everything done or just trying to keep up. As I was running to the bow answering the call of “gaff”, I heard Rod scream. It was such a horror filled scream that all I could imagine was that someone had gotten a digit caught in a loop of the Spectra line and I was going to see a finger or thumb wriggling on the deck and Rod holding his bloody hand. Instead, I found bird feathers everywhere around Rod. One of the land birds that had hitched a ride with us in the fog early in the trip had gotten its feet caught in the line as Rod was reeling in a pollock. Rod had actually reeled the bird into his spool. When I got there all that could be seen was the bird’s beak and eyes peeking out from an area between the spool and the housing of his reel! Rod was wondering what to do; kill the bird or reel his fish in. In fact, the bird was long gone anyway. I took control and told Rod to reel his fish in. We would take care of the remains of the bird afterward. I felt bad for the bird and, of course, so did Rod. But the damage had been done well before the scream!

“I’m going to the beach!” A quote from Emily Caouette (NY) when asked if she was going to go fishing tomorrow after she won the boat pool with a 10 pound pollock on a full day trip on July 7^th where almost every fish brought aboard that day was a dogfish. How she ended up getting the pollock through all the dogs is a mystery to me.

“This is like a Roman orgy,” an anonymous angler said after a late August half day trip with lousy weather and many sea sick. “Roman orgy?” Jared asked. “Yeah, like the day after.”

“Nothing is going to keep me from fishing!” A quote from Ken Fowler (PA) after he drove the point of a treble hook into his finger past the barb. I made the comment that Ken was all done after I saw that happen. I had to push the 10/0 hook through the skin and cut the barb off the hook in order to remove it. He did go back to fishing and was high hook for the trip!

“Have a good life!” A quote from an anonymous angler while giving a tip to Sean Devich (the deck hand that evening) after getting off the Bunny Clark from a particularly unsuccessful half day trip. There was not a single legal sized fish boated that evening. Nor were any dogfish even seen. Captain Ian told me later that he had never wished to see a dogfish caught so badly in his life. The fishing has got to be bad if you start wishing for dogfish! And every captain has those (bad days).

Willy had been warning me all last year that he was going to come fishing with us. Finally, on July 26, 2011 he sailed with Sean Devich and me on a full day trip. It was a very fun trip and great to see Willy where I could talk to him face to face. Fishing right next to Willy in the bow pulpit was fifteen year old Travis Manning (NC) on his first deep sea fishing trip in Maine. Near the end of the trip he hooked into (and landed) the largest fish of his life, a 45 pound cod. This became the second largest cod of the 2011 Bunny Clark fishing season. And it is the largest cod caught by an angler under the age of sixteen years since Willy broke the Junior Angler world record in June of 2003. Fact is, had Willy not broke the world record then, Travis would have broken it that day! Talk about coincidences! [The digital image on the right is a shot of fifteen year old Travis holding his big cod on that fateful day.]

Next to pass was my Uncle Wayne Clark, my mother’s most outgoing brothers. Of cancer, that disease I’m so much against, during the middle of May. Uncle Wayne taught me how to hunt. He was born in northern Maine, the same as my mother. He had perfected the art of that great Maine humor you so rarely come across. He was good to everyone he ever met and was good at everything he ever did. My only regret is that I didn’t spend enough time to take advantage of his good humor. My kids would have benefitted more from having me know him better.

Irwin Libeskind (MA) passed on September 26, 2011. My age exactly, we even graduated from college with the same major. He fished on the Bunny Clark from the very early days. He spent less time on the boat when he formed Cell Sciences, a clearing house for genetically engineered immunochemicals and hematology reagents for use in life science research. It was a ton of work that kept him away from the boat more than he wanted. We kept in touch regularly via email. He was just getting to the point where he could start enjoying fishing again. And the last two months of his life he spent time driving up to Prince Edward Island chartering boats for stand-up rod/reel tuna trips. It was in PEI before one of these trips he was found dead in his hotel room, taken by a massive heart attack. Irwin and I were very good friends. I loved the man.

I will miss these three special people very much. And for all three, had I known, I would have made more time. And you know, you can never be more appreciative of what you have, living in America. We take so much for granted. Until I die, there will always be special things that happen in my life that will remind me of one of these people. And, of course, they were the fun times I hope to always remember.

And speaking of things I love to remember, my crew takes center stage here. I have never relied so much on a crew as I did last year. And I never felt more comfortable or more relaxed knowing that when they were out there they had my and our customer’s best interests at heart. I’m talking about Captain Ian Keniston and his brother, Captain Jared Keniston. During the same time that the Bunny Clark is running, I have the added challenge of being the general manager of the two Barnacle Billy’s restaurants in Perkins Cove (Barnacle Billy’s & Barnacle Billy’s, Etc.). I could not have been the active part of Barnacle Billy’s, Inc. had I not had Jared and Ian aboard. Ian has become so good at it now that I find myself asking him where to go when I have the boat. Plus, I keep close track of where he goes and we confer after every trip. The way he describes his experience makes me feel like I am right there with him. So not only do I hear what he does, I can feel what he does as well, going a long way to remembering trends and associations with past memories (and patterns). Jared got his captain’s license in May of 2011. In June, he started taking out the occasional trip here and there. He was the easiest guy to train that I have ever had. In fact, he was already trained, or it seemed so. He will tell you that he still has a lot to learn. But I will tell you that he has the knowledge of a four year captain already. Anyway, as a team, both Captain Ian and Captain Jared do one hell of a job. I don’t believe there is anyone better. Really! Thanks so much.

As luck would have it, I lost my swing deck hand, a wonderful guy, Alec Levine, for the summer. There were a couple of conflicts where he lives in Alabama. Instead, I was able to have one of my most respected Bunny Clark regular anglers, Sean Devich take his place. Sean used to take the occasional fishing trip on his own boat as a licensed captain. He let his license lapse but asked to work for me to take Alec’s place. I had expected he would do a good job but I never realized he would do such a good job that it felt like he had been on the boat forever. I think that the fact he already knew the Bunny Clark system went a long way to getting in sync right away. The fact that he is a genuinely considerate kind person who knows how to fillet fish, catch fish and build rods made him a fixture of the Bunny Clark and special. And he was already a good boat handler so after he was done cleaning I never had to worry about getting the boat moored for the evening, a huge help. Thank you, Sean. I couldn’t have asked for any better. And I also very much appreciate the help lobstering!

Micah Tower is taking over Sean’s position this season as the swing deck hand. He has been lobstering with me summers since he was six years old and fishing on the Bunny Clark since he could walk. I have never touched the wheel of the Petrel since he started lobstering (except for putting the boat on the mooring before he was eight). He loves to fish, loves the anglers and has a tremendous respect for Captain’s Ian and Jared. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how he handles being the deck hand.

My wife, Debbie, has been the shore captain for so many years now that it’s hard to remember when she took the reins over totally. Suffice it to say, the business wouldn’t run without her. Her advice to me, the accounting, the way she handles our reservationists and the way she treats the crew makes her the partner I would choose over and over again. Plus, I guess it helps that she is a wonderful wife. I always feel like I roped her into this business (or lash-up as it was called in the clipper ship days) but she has never complained. I have always thought of her as my right arm. But, probably now, it’s the other way around. Thanks for having me, Deb. I would be lost without you.

Jane Staples is our next in command ashore. A wonderful person and reservationist as well, Jane grew up a few houses down from where I grew up. We live closer together now. So not only did she know me from the beginning, she knew what to expect from the beginning. And it was no surprise to me that she does such a good job. Part of doing business in a town is knowing the local population and how it works. She does. Also, Jane always takes over without a question when needed. And she gets involved in the office work and the day to day. Thank you, Jane. I’m so glad you are here.

We had three girls as our summer reservations team. My daughter, Halley, completed her sixth year with us last year. Halley is outgoing and, of course, knows the business backwards and forwards. She has always been very good with people on the phone. She’s been an asset to me. Plus, I couldn’t have picked a better more honest daughter. That helps! Katie Graichen completed her fifth year with us during the early part of the summer and the later part of the summer. And I was very glad to see her. She has something special that I just can’t put my finger on. She was great with the people, an exceptional personality and certainly very easy for me to work with. Lathrop Kelly, a good friend of Halley’s, is very much like Halley in that she is very outgoing. Her second year with us, she seemed to blossom last year. She was very efficient, great with the people and very precise. It was wonderful having this team of reservationists. It would be hard to find better. Thanks so very much for being there and all the great help you provide to us and our customers.

During the middle of the summer, Lydia Perkins (ME) took a temporary position with us as a reservationist. Already our best cashier at Barnacle Billy’s, it was a no brainer to accept her into the fold of an already dynamic team. And she didn’t disappoint. Very mature and outgoing, she held the fort nicely when it was her turn to jump in. Thanks very much, Lydia, great job!

This was my fifth season riding in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC), an 192 mile two day cycling event in August to raise money for cancer research and care at the DFCI, Boston, Massachusetts. The ending total for five years of fund raising came to $127,024.25 through the Jimmy Fund, the fund raising arm of the DFCI. Last year alone I was able to raise $31,015.00 from 351 separate donations. Most of this came from anglers of the Bunny Clark in $20.00 increments but I did get some very generous donations, the largest of which was one for $7,000.00. And for this support I am deeply grateful. I have already renewed my application for the 2012 PMC and am looking forward to raising as much money as I can. The money raised helps to maintain the most wonderful cancer facility in the country right in our own back yard. This year I found that six people became cancer free because of my direct involvement in the DFCI. They were going to be treated elsewhere until my writings changed their minds. Three people told me only after they became cancer free this year, even though they had started treatment months before! I will continue to support the DFCI because of their track record, the fact that 100% of the money goes directly to the DFCI (the United Way, for instance, reserves more than 28% of your donation for administrative costs) and because the more money they receive the better their chances are of hiring the best researchers. I hope you can help me celebrate the joy I get from supporting a great cause at a wonderful place in the form of a future donation. Otherwise, let’s go fishing!

As I always say, the people who help me the most are the anglers who go out fishing with me. For this we all give our most heartfelt thanks. For without you the Bunny Clark could not be. And without you it certainly would not be as fun. So, as I end this Guestletter, and when it’s long over, I will remember the many good people it represents and the fun times ahead. I am very much looking forward to the new season. And I’m very much looking forward to seeing you all there!

The Kids Are All Right

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

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