Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Thursday, September 3, 2026, 3:00 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
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 70°F, the sky was partly cloudy, there was very little wind, if any, in Perkins Cove (the closest weather buoy showed ten to fifteen knots out of the northwest) and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
There was no wind for the first four miles after leaving the gate behind. When there was wind, it was light from the east southeast. We might have had four knots at sunrise, out of the southeast. The ocean was calm the whole way. The air temperature hung at 70°F for the ride out. The surface water temperature stayed around 68°F. The sky was very hazy clear, to the point of being so hazy it was hard to see a star. The visibility was very good in haze.
On the fishing grounds, the wind started light out of the southeast. Maybe a knot or two. The ocean was calm. Then we had northwest wind about three knots. This was followed by a westerly wind of eight knots with a one foot chop. From 10 AM until noon, we had west northwest wind of ten knots, more or less, with a one to two foot chop. We ended the day with no wind at all but ran into a northwest wind of eight knots with a one foot chop on the way home. The air temperature reached a high of 75°F. The tide was screwy all morning with the boat drifting bow first. We had a perfect drift for the last two hours of the day. The tide (current) ranged from strong/moderate to very light. The visibility ranged to twenty-five miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 70.8°F, the highest value we have seen all season.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature was 88°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 89°F (with a low of 74°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 86°F (with a low of 63°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 86°F (with a low of 62°F).
The fishing was very good overall, despite the flukey current. No one had a problem tending bottom and the weather/sea conditions were perfect. It wasn't excellent because there were too many blue sharks and dogfish at times. The catching was excellent. Landings were nearly so. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included seventeen cusk, fifty-two haddock, twenty-one redfish and a whiting. Released fish included two cod over 6 pounds, twenty-six small cod, twelve sub-legal haddock, twenty-eight sub-legal pollock, four blue sharks with jewelry, one good sized halibut with jewelry, a tuna with jewelry and seventy-one dogfish. We drift fished, mostly, anchored once. Jigs and cod flies caught the most landed fish.
Randy Clark (VT) and Dan Dorr (ME) were tied for high hook with the most legal fish by noon. Dan slipped ahead of Randy in the afternoon. Dan caught eight keeper haddock. Randy won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 17.5 pound pollock.This pollock is tied for the Bunny Clark's largest pollock of the season so far. I also weighed a 10 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock for Randy.
Steve Linn (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 19.5 pound cod. This is the third largest weighed cod of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. [I dropped a cod for an angler on the surface last week that was approximately the same size that swam to bottom.] I took a picture of Steve holding this cod just before releasing it back to the ocean alive. And it was very much alive. This digital image appears on the left. I also weighed a 10.5 pound pollock for Steve before I could find a decent fish to weigh for the boat pool. The third largest fish was a 13.5 pound pollock caught by Bob Hensley (NH).
. Other Angler Hightlights: Pete Atwood (VT) caught a double that included a 13 pound pollock and a 9 pound pollock, both fish on the same line at the same time. It was the biggest double of the trip. I weighed a 10 pound pollock and a 12.5 pound pollock for Rob Kishbaugh (PA). Rodd Froebel (NY) caught a double that included a 12 pound pollock and a 7 pound pollock. Steve Clark (VT) caught the largest haddock of the day at 6 pounds. Steve caught eight keeper haddock today. The second largest haddock was one that weighed 5.25 pounds, caught by Marty Rivard (VT). Matt Elmer (NY) had the biggest losses today. He lost a small tuna. He lost a halibut that looked to be hooked in the side when it got tangled in some lines and busted off heading to bottom (100 or so pounds?). And he lost two keeper haddock that bounced off the washrail, in the water and back down to bottom. Matt would have won the hard luck award had I still be giving them out!
And then there was Mike Szczepanski (NY) who was fishing for halibut exlusively. Whenever a live mackerel was caught, Danny saved it for him to put on a hook so he could drop it to bottom. Closer to the end of the trip, he hooked into something big on the bottom. He called for me right away. After about a minute or more, I realized that this fish wasn't acting like a halibut. The more time I spent looking at the fight, the more I was convinced it was a blue shark. Because of the large tackle Mike was using, he had the shark to the boat in short order. I took a picture of Mike with the shark on the end of the line just before he cut the line and let the shark go. The fish looked to be about 200 pounds or so. This digital image appears on the right. It was exciting for a while, thinking that his wish had come true. We were certainly fishing around the halibut all day. Maybe if the bite had been a little less, one of those big boys (big girls) would have ended up on the deck of the Bunny Clark.
I received three donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drve with the Pan-Mass Challenge, a cyclinPg event to raise money to support a team of scientists who specialize in genetic profiling. These donors and their donations included Steve & Gail Linn for $60.00. Randy Clark donated a generous $100.00. He made the donation in memory of Alexis "Lexy" Giallella and, also, in memory of Captain Ian Keniston. I also received a very generous $250.00 donation from Roger "Bo" & Cindy Adams (ME). They made their donation in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site, this one with the message; "Two great guys doing a lot of good! Hope to see you one of these days, Hez! All the best!". Thank you all so much for your thoughtfulness, generosity and support. It means so much to so many!
It was greasy calm for most of the morning again today. There was no wave action along the shore. And this is probably the longest time we have had such calm weather, at any time of year, for a long time. The water, for almost two weeks, has been so clear, I'll bet that most times you can see down thirty feet or more. This afternoon, we saw more wind than we have been seeing in the last few days. I started seeing the wind after noon. Southwest. It had increased to ten knots by 4:00 PM. Offshore a bit it was out of the southeast. Wind speeds there increased to twelve knots at the closest weather buoy. The sky was sunny with some clouds here and there. The visibility was very good in some haze. The highest air temperature that I saw was 84°F. It was not humid at all today. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 84°F (with a low of 70°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 58°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 83°F (with a low of 59°F).
Today was a mix of working at the house in the morning and working at the restaurant starting at 11:30 AM. I did work on the Bunny Clark getting her ready to sail. But that didn't take very long. I Ieft restaurant and boat at 5:00 PM.
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 66°F at the Bunny Clark, the sky was mostly cloudy, the wind was light out of the northwest and the visibility over the ocean seemed excellent.
We left Perkins Cove under overcast skies with very good visibility. This continued for the whole ride out to the fishing grounds. Once we were out a couple miles, we established an air temperature of 69°F. That temperature never wavered until we stopped. There was no wind. The ocean was flat calm. We kept a constant water temperature of 69°F. Half way to the fishing grounds, I started seeing rain showers here and there on radar. Some of these had lightning showing. There was no rain when we first arrived at our destination.
On the fishing grounds, we had light southwest winds to start, very light. We started to have light showers during the first long drift. The wind direction was variable and light at that time. At 8:20 AM, we had very heavy rain showers with thunder and lightning. We had to anchor to make it more comfortable for the passengers and to keep them dry. No one, it seemed, had brought oil gear. The wind was about ten knots out of the northwest. When the rain passed, we had light northwest wind and clearing skies. From then on, the sky was a mix of sun and clouds. We were rain free for the rest of the day. The wind was light out of the north, dropped out and blew out of the southwest and west at five knots. The air temperature reached a high of 81°F. The tide (current) was strong for most of the day. The visibility ranged to over twenty-five miles after noon. The water temperature reached a high of 70°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature was 84°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 86°F (with a low of 70°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 83°F (with a low of 60°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 55°F).
The fishing was good to very good overall. It could have been excellent if it were not for the strong current, the dogfish and the added annoyance of blue sharks. The catching was excellent; everyone had fish on all the time. Landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included eleven cusk, thirty-nine haddock, fourteen redfish, a cunner, five mackerel and a whiting. Released fish included thirty small cod, six cod from 6 to 10.5 pounds, four sub-legal haddock, fifty-five (or more) sub-legal pollock, seven blue sharks with jewelry and eighty-five dogfish. 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. There was too much going on and many did very well on fish count. If I were to guess, I would say it was Chris Atkins (PA). Chris ended up winning the boat pool for the second largest fish with the fourth largest fish, a 10.5 pound cod. He also caught the first good sized haddock, a 5 pounder. I took a picture of Chris holding this haddock. The digital image of him appears on the left.
Eddie Kantar (NY) caught the largest fish of the trip, a 14.5 pound pollock. He was not in the boat pool . I also weighed a 7 pound cod for him before it was released. Eddie's son, Kevin Kantar, (NY) caught the second largest fish, a 12.5 pound pollock. Kevin, too, was not in the boat pool. I also weighed an 8 pound pollock for him. Kevin caught the largest haddock of the day, weighing 6 pounds. Chad Roy (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the third largest fish, an 11.25 pound pollock.
Other Angler Hightlights: Kenny Mosher (NY) caught the first fish I could weigh for the boat pool, a 9 pound pollock. He also caught eight legal haddock, the largest of which weighed 5.25 pounds. Ken Andrews (ME) caught a 7.5 pound cod and an 8 pound cod that I weighed before releasing. His largest weighed fish was a 10 pound pollock. But he lost a bigger pollock right beside the boat. Steve LaPlante (CT) caught four or five haddock. I weighed a 4 pound haddock for him. But it wasn't his largest haddock.
I received four donations sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge. Those donors and their donations included our own Danny DellaMonica for $20.00, Bob Munroe and Linda Burgess (both MA) for $20.00 each, Chad Roy for $70.00 and Steve LaPlante for a generous $100.00. Thank you all so very much for your support and thoughtfulness. I really do appreciate all the help, the generosity and the trust you put in me!
It was a beautiful day today. The sky was cloudless for most of the morning. Later, cumulus clouds started to show up dotting the sky, started from the west and moving east over the water. At the same time the wind picked up out of the northwest. Wind blew out of the northwest to fifteen knots. The visibility remained excellent. The sun was bright. There was no humidity. The highest air temperature that I saw was 80°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 84°F (with a low of 69°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 55°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 57°F).
It was my normal Friday at the restaurant at 4:30 AM morning. I stayed for a while getting things organized before I walked Gill back home. Then, it was back down to the restaurant. I was back to the house at 9:30 AM to get ready for my restaurant day.
I received a generous $150.00 donation from Linda Hamel (NH) sponsoring me in my cancer project with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Linda has been supporting me in this cause for as long as I have been involved. Thank you, Linda, very much I so appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity!
Today was another perfect day with very light wind, perfect air temperatures, sunny skies and excellent visibility. The day started out with light northwest wind. That died out before noon and left us with a glassy ocean along the shore. Light southerly wind dominated the afternoon and evening. The visibility was excellent all day. The sky was clear with some clouds. The air temperature just barely cracked 76°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 76°F (with a low of 66°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 49°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 54°F).
Today was the busiest day, for traffic, that I have ever seen in Perkins Cove. There was a constant line of cars coming in and leaving Perkins Cove. The restaurants were busy. And it was the longest time I have spent at the restaurants for a day. I was so wound up after leaving them, I didn't get to sleep for another hour and a half after getting home.
I received a nice $50.00 donation from Bill & Barbara Finkle (ME) sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge cancer research project today. Thank you both for thinking of me and the support in this mission of mine with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in our own back yard of Boston, Massachusetts! I appreciate this so very much!
I worked on getting the Bunny Clark ready, on and off, during the day. I did a bit of work in the office at Barnacle Billy's in the morning. I had Gill with me. He spent some time finding the areas that weren't perfectly cleaned. I think that if you want a restaurant perfectly cleaned, bring a dog in to find the spots you missed.
My official work day at the restaurant started at noon again today. I left at 5:00 PM. I used the time after work to take Gill down to the Cove again to get the Bunny Clark truck. The rest of the time I spent starting to build my lunch for the Tuesday trip.
By 9:30 AM, the rain was done for the day. The sky remained overcast for the rest of the day. It looked like it was going to rain from time to time but it never did. The wind blew as much as twenty knots out of the south southwest in the early morning but dropped to ten knots, out of the south, at noon. The wind stayed out of the south at light speeds throughout the afternoon. By 6:00 PM, the wind was about six knots out of the south, at most. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 74°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 76°F (with a low of 66°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 66°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 65°F).
I was planning to write this report and post it on Tuesday morning early. But my computer died. I will need a generous amount of time to fix this problem. In the meantime, I have transferred all my saved files to a laptop I use in emergencies. Otherwise, there would be no reports at all.
Updating my PMC page will come along a little later.
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 66°F, the sky seemed overcast, there was a light breeze from the east blowing over the parking lot and the visibility was poor in fog.
A third of the way to the fishing grounds we had an air temperature of 70°F. The air temperature stayed the same until we reefed the side curtains with a mile left to go. The air temperature dropped three degrees in so doing. The surface water temperature stayed at 65°F for the whole ride out. The sky was overcast. We had fog for the first few miles. This fog let go for the rest of the ride. We seemed to have ten miles of visibility after that. The wind was light out of the northeast. Seas were four foot swells out of the east with a light chops over them.
On the fishing grounds, we started with an air temperature of 67°F and a surface water temperature of 64°F. The wind was about six knots out of the northeast for the whole time fishing. Seas were less than a foot in chops over three to four foot long ground swell. The visibility ranged to ten miles for the first part of the day and twenty miles after noon. The highest air temperature that I saw was 70°F. The sky was overcast all day until the last hour of fishing, clear with clouds after that. The tide (current) was moderate to light. The surface water temperature reached a high of 66°F
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature was 78°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 76°F (with a low of 66°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 86°F (with a low of 66°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 78°F (with a low of 62°F).
The fishing was excellent. The drift was perfect, we only saw three dogfish all day, one or two blue sharks that really didn't bother, one mako that did take a jig and very few sub-legal fish. The catching was excellent. Landings were very good to excellent. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. We released about three totes of pollock from 3 to 8 pounds back to the ocean alive. [We just had too many pollock] Legal landings also included three cusk, twenty-two haddock, twenty white hake, fourteen redfish, thirty or so squid and two whiting. Released fish included the mako (unintentionally), a small tuna or a halibut (we didn't get to see it), twenty-one small cod, one 7 pound cod, seven sub-legal haddock, thirty-eight sub-legal pollock, seven sub-legal redfish and three dogfish. We drift fished for every stop. All terminal gear worked well. Bait was best for the hake and haddock.
Jeff Crawford (NH) was high hook with the most legal fish. Joe Columbus (MA) looked like he was going to be high hook for a time, fell off for a time and then picked it up again at the end. Joe was king of the small legal fish today. The big ones seemed to avoid him. Jeff, just the opposite. They were fishing side by side. In the end, I can't really tell you who was high hook. They both had a similar number of fillet bags when we got back to the dock.
Jeff won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 28.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake. Matt Divito (NH) was the one who lost the mako. We would not have known that except the it left two feet under it's tail as it jumped out of the water for all to see. There is a slim chance that it was a great white. But it looked like a mako to me. Matt won the boat for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 29 pound Maine state trophy white hake. Neither Matt nor Jeff had ever caught a hake that big before. I took a picture of both of them holding their big fish. This digital image appears on the left. Matt also caught a pollock of 14.5 pounds and another I weighed that was 10 pounds. Jeff's second largest fish was a 15.5 pound white hake. The third largest fish was a 26 pound Maine state trophy white hake caught by Logan Racioppo (NY). That is the largest hake that Logan has ever caught. It was also his first white hake!
Other Angler Highlights: Tom Maracle (ONT) boated a 3 pound Maine state trophy redfish. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest redfish of the season so far. I took a picture of Tom holding his big red. This digital image appears on the right. Mike McNamara (MA) caught the largest pollock of the trip, weighing in at 16.25 pounds. This is the Bunny Clark's fourth largest pollock of the fishing season to date. I also weighed a pollock of 11.5 pounds for him. Nick Divito (NH) landed a 12 pound pollock, his best pollock. He might have caught a bigger hake. Cody Winch (NY) caught an 8.5 pound pollock that, I thought, looked like a 10 pounder. Cass Fabbie (NY) boated an 11 pound pollock and a 10.75 pound pollock. Roger Strauss (ME) was the one who had the tuna - or it could have been a foul hooked halibut. It took the jig when it was well off the bottom. But it came up quite a way before realizing it was hooked and screamed to bottom. It went faster than any halibut I have ever seen or remember. So it seemed more like a tuna. But it just dropped the jig, like a halibut would. He fought the fish long enough so that I would have known it was a shark; the whole mono leader was as smooth as if it had just come new off the spool Had it been a shark, the leader would have been chaffed. Roger caught the largest cod of the trip at 7 pounds. Noah Daigle (ME) caught a 10 pound pollock. Matt Luce (ME) landed a 10.5 pound pollock. Bruce Fortier (ME) boated a 19.5 pound white hake.
I received several donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Those donors and their donations included Tom Maracle who gave a very generous $200.00, Jeff Crawford (ME) with a generous $130.00, Mike McNamara for $10.00, David Hutchins (ME) for $20.00 and Joe Columbus with a generous gift of $135.00. Thank you all so very much for being so thoughtful and kind. This has been a pet project of mine that has really saved lives in real time, some of them my best friends. So I really appreciate this. Those affected, maybe more!
The sky was overcast for part of the morning. By 11:00 AM, the sky was clear. There was fog here and there as well. When I looked over the ocean this morning for the 5:00 AM report, I couldn't see Boon Island but it looked clear enough along the shore. Turns out there was a fog bank obscuring my view of the light. All the fog, even offshore, was gone by 1:00 PM. And this was probably because the wind picked up. There was barely any wind at all at 10:00 AM. By 11:00 AM, the southerly wind started to blow. By noon, we had ten knots of southerly wind. This became southwest along the shore at ten knots but remained out of the south only a mile out. At one point, the velocity was fifteen knots. By 6:00 PM, there was barely any wind at all along the shore. The closest weather buoy had ten knots out of the south southeast at the same time. I am expecting fog in the morning tomorrow. It was a bit humid today, more so than yesterday. But, with the wind mostly off the water, it was perfect on the deck at the restaurant. The highest air temperature that I saw was 81°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 89°F (with a low of 68°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 86°F (with a low of 61°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 62°F).
My day was a lot of work. I started with getting my core work done starting at 3:00 AM. This was followed by taking the Bunny Clark truck down to the Cove with Gill. He had a hard day yesterday. So I was reluctant to take him this morning. But he did okay, even wandering off to investigate a much wider area. I ended up just following him. When he laid down, as if to say; "I'm done", I found the shortest route home with the most grass to walk on and went back.
At 2:00 AM yesterday morning my computer died, the one that I have been doing my updates on for years. I had partially set up a laptop with the same operating system (XP Pro). And I had backed up most of my files. Because I didn't back up all my files, it took me an extra hour to finish up. And I'm sooo lucky I did finish up. I was nervous all morning. I worked from 5:00 AM straight through until 11:00 AM before I got far enough to stop. I still have more to do. But, at least, I'm comfortable with it now. I'm no computer geek.
The rest of the day I spent at the restaurant and getting the Bunny Clark ready to sail tomorrow.
Deb had Gill outside for most of the day today. This was good because it was really hard for him to walk with me to the Cove last time. And this might be the last time. I will keep bringing him to the Cove with me to leave the truck in the morning and when I'm getting the boat ready at 1:45 AM tomorrow morning. He likes that as it's down and back in the truck with a bit of walking around as I am on the boat.
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 66°F, the sky was hazy clear, the wind was very light from the west and the visibility over the ocean was very good in some haze.
It was a pleasure going through the gate, headed to the fishing grounds, this morning. The visibility was just about as good as it gets without being excellent. The air temperature was 64°F. There was no wind to write about. We had a little hubble of a sea from the southwest. The stars were out in a hazy sky. We carried a surface water temperature of 64°F all the way to the fishing grounds. The ride to the grounds was completely uneventful.
On the fishing grounds, the wind was light and variable in direction all day. At no time did we have a wind speed over four knots. Except for the hubble I mentioned that we had on the ride out, the ocean surface was smooth all day. Even that little bit of slop was gone during the last two hours of fishing. The air temperature reached a high of 83°F. The visibility ranged to twenty miles. The tide (current) was moderate to light. The sky was clear with clouds mostly around the edges with few clouds overhead. The surface water temperature reached a high of 71.7°F, the highest surface water temperature that I have noticed all season.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature was 87°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 85°F (with a low of 65°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 86°F (with a low of 57°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 84°F (with a low of 68°F).
The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were very good, excellent in the morning. Most legal fish landed were pollock of about 4 pounds. But we caught a variety of pollock to 15.5 pounds. Legal landings also included thirty-three cusk, fifteen haddock, a monkfish, fifteen or more mackerel and twenty redfish. Released fish included five blue sharks with jewelry, a few mackerel, seventeen sub-legal pollock, two cusk, sixty-two small cod, four cod over 6 pounds, two redfish and two dogfish. We drift fished for most of the day, anchoring once. All terminal gear worked well.
I could not tell you who was high hook with the most legal fish. It was between six anglers, some of whom were keeping their fillets with others. So it was impossible to tell.
Darlene Chin (FL/VT) caught the largest fish of the trip, a 15.5 pound pollock. This is a tie with the Bunny Clark's sixth largest pollock of the fishing season to date. Last week she caught a 17 pound pollock which, currently, is our third largest pollock of the season so far. Darlene never enters the boat pool. Today was no exception.
Jonathan Dobbs (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 13.5 pound pollock. He also caught a cusk that weighed 10 pounds. Ray Vaillancourt (OH) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the third largest fish, a 12.5 pound pollock. He also caught the fourth largest fish, a 12.25 pound pollock. Two other fish of his that I weighed included an 11.25 pound pollock and a 10.5 pound pollock. He was certainly a contender for high hook.
Other Angler Highlights: Sam Johnson (ME) caught our first weighable monkfish of the season today. It weighed 12 pounds. I took a picture of Sam holding this anglerfish for my iPhone 16. This digital image appears on the left. Sam did well overall. He even put up with the sharks fighting him from behind! Dennis Mora (MA) caught a 10 pound cusk, a tie for the largest cusk of the trip. He also caught the second largest cod at 8 pounds. Brad Roche (NJ) caught the third largest cusk at 9 pounds. John Andreychak (NJ) caught the largest cod at 8.5 pounds. He also caught a 7 pound cod. Both fish, of course, were released alive. He and Jonathan were both high hook contenders.
The overcast skies didn't last but for only the early part of the morning. The rest of the day gave us mostly clear skies with a warm sun and few clouds. The wind almost reached the ten knot border. But not quite. Most of the day was six or eight knots tops. After 3:00 PM, what little wind we did have dropped away to nothing. By 6:00 PM, there was no wind. The ocean flattened right out. The visibility remained excellent all day. The air temperature at our house reached a high of 79°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 71°F (with a low of 66°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 62°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 79°F (with a low of 65°F).
Last night, after the boat was stern to the float for the weekend, I drained the engine lubricating oil while the engine was still warm and took the oil to the reclamation barrel. This was the first part of changing the oil. This would also eliminate the time I would need to start the engine, get it warm enough and drain the oil then. Plus, I have to open Barnacle Billy's on Fridays. So I might have more work than could cope with.
So I opened the restaurants at 4:45 AM today after bringing the Bunny Clark truck down with Gill, our border collie. I took my time walking Gill home so that the dog could enjoy himself. He doesn't get much freedom these days because of his walking disability. But he seemed not to notice his back legs as he sniffed around and we made our way back home.
I had written this post just after 3:00 AM so, when I got home, I posted it and then went back to the Cove. My time, until 9:15 AM, was totally absorbed in restaurant work. So I finished the oil change in the Bunny Clark by 10:45, a little later than I had wanted but just as I suspected. The rest of the day was spent at the restaurant. Although I did take a break to watch the first EPL game of the season with Arsenal vs Coventry, the League champions against the newly promoted side.
Since Friday is my early in, I got out of the restaurants at 7:00 PM.
Denise & Larry Green (ME) donated a generous $150.00 to sponsor me in this season's Pan-Mass Challenge, a cycling event which I didn't participate in this season but the event's fundraising mission I am very dedicated to. Their donation came in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site with the message; "Thanks for your dedication to the Pan-Mass. Challenge. The research it funds really matters. To all of us!". Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. You are good friends but, most of all, good people. And I appreciate all of it!
The sky stayed overcast all morning and into the afternoon. By 1:15 PM, it started to rain. The rain lasted an hour or two. I didn't really keep track. But there was no rain by 3:00 PM. The sky continued to remain overcast on into the night. The wind blew out of the northeast and increased. Later in the morning, wind speeds were ten to, almost, fifteen knots. Seas marching to the shore looked to be about two feet. The wind never really did back off. But it never got really strong either. The visibility remained excellent, maybe less so in the rain. But we had no fog or haze. The air temperature increased to 71°F but most of the day the air temperature hung around 68°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 71°F (with a low of 65°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 74°F (with a low of 63°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 71°F (with a low of 64°F).
Today was just another Saturday but with less than perfect weather. The business at the restaurants reflected that.
The Finestkind Scenic Cruise boats never did run today. There were six pack striper charters that ran. You could see them off the beach. The afternoon was, pretty much, devoid of people on the water. Some of the sailboats sailed a bit later.
The visibility remained very good for a couple of hours. Just before 8:00 AM, I noticed that the fog had moved in. By 8:00 AM and after that time the fog was as thick as it gets. The fog remained with us for only a couple of hours before moving out. It didn't even hang offshore. The sky stayed overcast for the day. It rained between 2:30 PM and 3:30 PM. We were rain free for the rest of the day after that. The visibility remained very good for the day. The air temperature reached a high of 71°F, that I saw. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 71°F (with a low of 65°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 72°F (with a low of 64°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 63°F).
Sundays are usually a bit more relaxing as it's a day off for most of the vendors, at least the salesmen. This allows me to concentrate more on the restaurant business at hand.
The weather didn't allow us to have the better day that I expected for business. It certainly seemed more relaxed.
Gill got an injection for his back legs a couple of days ago. And it takes a couple days for the medicine to kick in. Today was the day. He did much better walking. He's still having fun, it seems. So all is okay right now. I still have to carry him up and down stairs, lift him in and out of the truck and coax him to do other things. But he still eats his meals, walks with me sniffing around after leaving the truck in the Cove and loves milk bones.
The fog never came back. Later in the morning the visibility over the ocean was very good at least, excellent by late afternoon. The calm water didn't last either, although, it never got rough. We had southerly wind that started just after dawn. It did increase to over ten knots in the afternoon. But not for very long. When I left to go home from the restaurants, we had about eight knots of southerly wind. The sky was mostly clear all day after a mostly cloudy start. The highest air temperature that I saw was 81°F. It was also a bit humid. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 85°F (with a low of 65°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°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 63°F).
The day started as it normally does, getting my preliminary stuff done at home and then taking the dog (Gill) down to the Cove in the truck. You can park in the town parking spots at 5:00 AM. The Town allows me to park there earlier before a fishing trip. I never park there earlier otherwise. And that's good because it's still starting to get light by then. Lately, I have been letting the dog do his thing as I walk behind him. Once he stops or lays down, I lead him home.
Most of my day was spent working at the restaurant and getting the boat ready to go fishing. It wasn't a busy day. But the weather was perfect for our patrons.
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 63°F, the sky was clear with stars and a waxing gibbous moon just behind the trees in the west, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
There was a little left over rolling chop, apparently, from yesterday. But it was more noticeable when we first cleared the gate than it was further out. We had lost the moon completely by the time we entered the open ocean. The wind was very light from the west the whole ride to the fishing grounds. The ocean was calm. At the eight mile mark, we had an air temperature 63°F and a surface water temperature of 66°F. The visibility was excellent. The sky was clear with stars and few clouds.
On the fishing grounds, the wind was light from the west. The ocean was calm with ripples. We had a long rolling sea swell of three feet all day. After noon, the wind backed out of the southwest. We had ten knots of southwest wind on the last drift of the day. Seas were a foot in chops over the swell I already mentioned. The highest air temperature was 72°F. The visibility ranged to over twenty-five miles in some haze. The tide (current) was light. The sky was clear with scattered clouds. The surface water temperature reached a high of 66°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 81°F (with a low of 65°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 79°F (with a low of 55°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 78°F (with a low of 57°F).
The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were very good to excellent. We did have some dogfish in the morning and a few blue sharks but never saw another shark species of any kind after 11:00 AM. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. In fact, starting later morning, most of the legal pollock were returned back to the ocean alive except for some of the pollock over 8 pounds. Legal landings also included twenty-three haddock, seven squid, twenty-three cusk, seven redfish and twenty-nine mackerel. Released fish included four cod from 6 to 8 pounds, twenty-one small cod, five blue sharks with jewelry, twenty-five dogfish, one sub-legal haddock, seventeen sub-legal pollock, close to forty legal pollock, six sub-legal redfish and eleven mackerel. We drift fished and anchored. We caught our biggest fish on anchor, our most fish drifting. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
On one drift we had an ocean sunfish hang around the boat. We had the same thing happen on a trip last week. Today's fish was in such a perfect location with respect to the sun that I couldn't resist taking a picture of it with my iPhone 16 camera. This digital image appears on the right.
Neil Feldman (NJ) was high hook with the most legal fish by far. He's never going to have enough cooler space for all the fillets with the coolers he brought with him. He caught three legal haddock that I know of. His largest fish was a 9 pound pollock. Steve Laflam (VT), who is usually in the running for high hook, got off to a slow start. He slammed them late morning and in the afternoon. But, by then, it was too late to best Neil.
Bob Nason (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15 pound pollock. At forty-one inches caliper fork length, it's our longest pollock of the fishing season so far. I took a picture of gorgeous Bob holding this long pollock. This digital image appears on the left. Bob also caught the largest cusk at 8.5 pounds. I weighed an 8 pound pollock for him earlier in the day. Gerald "Jr" Drochu (ME) would have boated a bigger pollock had he not lost the fish to a blue shark earlier in the day! Jr won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the third largest fish, a 10 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 12.5 pound pollock caught by Todd Martin (ME). Todd did not enter the boat pool, either one.
Other Angler Hightlights: Cliff Gilman (ME) caught an 8 pound pollock early that I weighed when I was trying to find a pool fish. Joe Snide (NY) also caught an 8 pound pollock early. He also caught an 8 pound cusk. Alan Marden (ME) started by catching the bottom of the ocean. On the third snag, I could not get his jig back. A miracle happened after I gave him another jig: he caught fish! And lots of them. His largest was a 9 pound pollock. Samuel Martin (ME) caught an 8.5 pound pollock. Larry Lawrence (NY) didn't keep a legal pollock, although he caught quite a few. He wanted a haddock. He finally caught one with an hour to go in the trip. One! Larry last fished with me sixteen years ago. He used to charter the boat for many years with his crew from the Old Forge area. I loved that crew. Many many good memories and a lot of big fish!
I received three donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drve with the Pan-Mass Challenge, a cycling event to raise money to support a team of scientists who specialize in genetic profiling. These donors and their donations included Larry Lawrence for $50.00, Steve Laflam for $40.00 and Todd Martin for $20.00. Thank you all so very very much for the support and your generosity. It means so much to so many. And I certainly appreciate it.
It was a wonderful weather day today, all day. By 8:00 AM through until after 10:00 AM, there wasn't a breath of wind. The ocean along the shore was glassy calm. There was no wave action along the beach either. Wind spots appeared on the ocean after that. But it wasn't until after noon that we started to see any wind to write about. The wind direction was south when it finally showed up. But it never blew more than ten knots a mile or more offshore. Along the shore, and in Perkins Cove, the wind was out of the southwest at ten knots with higher gusts. This is typical with a southerly wind just offshore. We never saw more wind than that. The sky stayed clear all day. The visibility remained excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw was 76°F at home at 12:15 PM. In Portsmouth, usually a mirror of Ogunquit air temperatures in the early morning, the air temperature reached a high of 77°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 78°F (with a low of 65°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 52°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 81°F (with a low of 59°F).
Writing up the fishing report takes longer now that I don't have my old computer up and running. I will have to work on this over the winter. Right now I'm happy to have my old laptop. At least I can do it. It just takes longer. So I spent a fair amount of time doing that until 8:00 AM.
The rest of the day was restaurant stuff and getting me and the Bunny Clark ready to sail tomorrow. Nothing very exciting to write about.
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 66°F, the sky was clear with some clouds and a nearly full moon high over the trees in the southeast sky, there wasn't enough wind to write about in Perkins Cove and the visibility over the ocean was very good in some haze.
We had very little wind on the ride to the fishing grounds. The wind was from the south but it wasn't much. The moon set behind us on the way out but left the stars until we couldn't see them anymore. The air temperature and the surface water temperature at the gate were both 65.8°F as we passed through to the open ocean. The visibility was very good. At the sixteen mile mark, the air temperature was 69°F and the surface water temperature was 67°F. It wasn't flat calm but there was a short roll, making it seem like there was a chop.
On the fishing grounds, the wind was out of the south at six knots to start. There was really no sea except for a long three foot swell. The wind kept moving clockwise until it settled in out of the south southwest. The wind was about ten knots around noon with a one foot chop. This wind increased to twelve knots or more on the last drift of the day. Seas were chops of about two feet. The air temperature reached a high of 72°F. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The sky was mostly sunny with cloud patches. The visibility ranged to twenty-five miles, more or less. The surface water temperature reached a high of 67°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature was 83°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 85°F (with a low of 66°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 83°F (with a low of 58°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 78°F (with a low of 61°F).
The fishing was really excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were very good to excellent. We did have more dogfish than normal. But when we started to get more dogs, the bite was off and it was time to move anyway. There were just about no dogfish during the last half of the day. We only saw a couple of blue sharks and only in the early part of the morning. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. We really couldn't get away from them. Legal landings also included four cusk, forty-one haddock to 4.75 pounds, three redfish, a cunner and thirty or so mackerel. Released fish included thirty-eight small cod, three cod over 6 pounds, four sub-legal haddock, fifteen sub-legal pollock, fifty-nine dogfish and two blue sharks with jewelry. We drift fished the whole day. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Liam Jenks (MA) and Ryan Schwartz (FL) were both high hook today. If everyone had the frequency of catch that those two did, we would have had too many fish or we would have been back at the dock by noon. For them, it was a fish a drop/cast all day long. It was actually pretty fun to watch. Liam's two biggest fish included a 10.5 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock. I weighed a 9 pound pollock for Ryan.
Nick Longo (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 17 pound barndoor skate. He caught a lot of fish but this was, by far, his biggest fish. He and Jeff Corey (MA) were fishing side by side up in the bow pulpit. They both released a lot of legal pollock back to the ocean alive. I took a picture of Nick holding his big skate before releasing it back to the ocean alive. This digital image appears on the left. Jeff's biggest fish was an 11.25 pound pollock. Mark Majewsky (MN) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 13.5 pound pollock. There was a tie for the third largest fish at 12 pounds. There were two, both pollock. Mark caught one and Klajdi Isaku (Albania) caught the other. I took a picture of Klajdi holding an earlier catch of pollock (he was fishing in the bow), a double, that included a 10 pound pollock and a 7 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. This digital image appears on the right.
Other Angler Highlights: Bob Kent (ME) caught a 10 pound pollock right off the bat this morning. Joe Jenks (MA) caught an 11.75 pound pollock. Dana Decormier (NH) boated a 10.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. His son, Jack Decormier (NH) was high hook for the first two hours of the day. This gave him a huge jump on fish count with a lot of doubles. Bruce Fuller (ME) caught a 10 pound pollock.
I received four donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising project with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Those donors and their donations included: Cliff Gilman (NH) for a generous $100.00, Nick Longo for $50.00, Jeff Corey for $40.00 (along with a few other $40.00 donations this season already!) and the Dana Decormier Family for $25.00. Thank you all so very much for the support and your kindness. It always feels like it's a personal thing. It is for me, only because I am close to a few with the disease and who are still alive because of Dana-Farber. And, of course, there are a top notch group of scientists with proven results who you are supporting. So thanks again!
By mid morning we still had clouds but it never threatened rain. They were talking about a line of showers showing up around 3 or 4 PM. But the sky, at that time, had the least cloud cover of any time before it this day. After 4:00 PM, the sky was mostly clear with few clouds. Essentially, the sky was overcast until 3:00 PM, when it started to clear. The visibility became excellent after noon. There was very little wind all morning. The ocean along the shore was flat calm. The wind became established out of the south after noon. By 1:00 PM, we had six knots of southerly wind coming across the parking lot. The most wind that I saw was nine knots in the afternoon. The highest air temperature that I saw was 83°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 83°F (with a low of 70°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 87°F (with a low of 64°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 66°F).
As I tell you every Friday, Friday is the day I open the restaurants. I usually get down there at 4:30 AM, put the dog in the Bunny Clark truck, drive down, spent a half hour getting lights on and things ready. When done, I walk the dog home. That wasn't the case this morning. Try as I might, I could not get Gill interested in going down in the truck with me. I tempted him with milk bones, I used different voice levels (all of them), I tried to pick him up. He just wouldn't budge. So I went down on my own. And it's probably a good thing.
At 5:15 AM, I had just got done pouring clam broth into the clam cooker tank. I checked the level of the broth. Then I checked the lobster cooker tank. It was half full of sea water. My first thought; "Ah, Matt forgot to fill the tank to level." Then I realized; "Wait, Matt doesn't do that!" So I checked the valve at the drain and noticed water on the floor. The copper fitting had let go. I texted Matt, as I didn't want to wake him up with a phone call that early. I called our plumber who was with his daughter getting her ready for college in North Carolina. At any rate, I never went home. Matt showed up. I showed him where the leak was. Our plumber called one of our old plumbers who, being so generous with his time, showed up and, in short, fixed the problem.
I didn't get all that I needed to get done at the restaurant before I left. Those things, except for washing down the street in front of Barnacle Billy's, were done by others. I went home, showered and shaved and got back at 12:15 PM. I left the restaurant at 6:15 PM. Early in, early out. I've got a wonderful staff behind me.
Meanwhile, on the Bunny Clark, Danny DellaMonica worked on cleaning the windows, the fishing equipment and other odd jobs, turning her into a super ship or super ship shape, so that we will be ready to go for Tuesday. When you fillet more than six hundred fish in two days, some things don't get taken care of as well as they should be, in Danny's estimation. Of course, that's my estimation too. But I would never tell him to take time off to get everything perfect. He does this on his own. It's what makes him so special and me so lucky!
It was a beautiful day. And it was Saturday, which made it even better. The visibility stayed excellent all day. The sky was mostly clear with clouds here and there. The wind, light out of the north at first, died out, leaving us with no wind and a calm ocean along the shore. After noon, the wind started up out of the south. Wind speeds picked up to over ten knots by mid-afternoon. By sunset, southerly wind speeds were fifteen knots, more or less. The air temperature rose to 77°F. This was brief. Mostly, the high was around 75°F. It was cooler with the southerly wind coming across the parking lot. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 74°F (with a low of 64°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 79°F (with a low of 51°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 56°F).
I spent the morning working at home, catching up on my exercising and walking around with me favorite "climber" (No, not Danny - but it could be!) about what trees to take down, within the next two weeks, around my parent's house. We have a few big pines that are on their way out and tilting toward the house. I hate to take down the trees but I don't want to lose them in a storm, landing on the house or garage.
Gill was excited to come with me in the Bunny Clark truck to visit the Cove. After Thursday and Friday, I thought it might be the end. But, no, it was, apparently, a short break. He didn't do very well walking back to the house with me. But he was the happy sniffing dog that I have come to know and love and will miss when his time is over. I hate to think about it.
The sky was partly sunny/partly cloudy all day. Sometimes it looked like it was going to rain and, other times, it was sunny. It never did rain. The wind blew out of the southwest or west southwest in the morning starting at ten knots and maintaining eight to ten knots until noon and a bit after. By mid afternoon, the wind had hauled out of the west but dropping. By 4:00 PM, there was no wind. The ocean along the shore was calm and glassy. The offshore buoys showed more wind after that but I didn't see it; it remained the same looking from the shore. The wind was very good in some haze. The air temperature reached a high of 81°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 86°F (with a low of 65°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 51°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 79°F (with a low of 56°F).
The main focus of this morning was to meet a crew from Patton's Landscaping and direct them to move about four hundred of my lobster traps from behind my parent's house to the end of the property so I could get some heavy machinery in there to take down eight trees. I also had bait barrels and the like to move with the traps. It took two guys over four hours to do this, maybe five. I kept going up and checking on the progress. They got up there a little after 9:00 AM.
Before that, earlier, I moved the Bunny Clark truck to Perkins Cove with Gill. He was excited to go, unlike a couple days previously. And he did okay. His walking is about the same but he seemed to enjoy himself, sniffing around as he followed me on the walk home. I never need a leash on him anymore, not that "I" ever did. Deb has always used a leash.
The rest of the day was spent at the restaurants. It was a good day, a beautiful day in Perkins Cove. I got home after 6:00 PM.
It really felt like a warm fall day to me. There was zero humidity, the visibility was excellent all day and the highest air temperature that I saw was 74°F. The wind blew out of the northwest at about eight knots during the daylight morning. Then it blew out of the east for a short period of time in the later part of the morning. After noon, it was blowing out of the south offshore but blowing out of the northwest in Perkins Cove. The wind speed was ten knots in the Cove. By 4:00 PM, the wind in the Cove was out of the southwest, enough to lift a flag and then some or ten knots. The sky was nearly cloudless all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 73°F (with a low of 63°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 83°F (with a low of ?°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of ?°F).
I was dreaming of getting the boat ready when I woke up at 1:45 this morning. I flew out of bed, thinking I was late to get to the boat. I grabbed my phone and thought about all the things I didn't get ready the night before! I have a special pair of shorts where I have my belt and accessories in place that wasn't in place, my coffee not ready, etc., etc. Then I realized that it was Monday. I was so wound up that I decided to get back into bed and read, hopefully, to get back to sleep. That lasted about twenty minutes and I decided to get up for the day. I usually get up at 3:00 AM anyway so it really wasn't that much earlier. It's funny; I had the hardest time trying to figure out why my alarm didn't go off. I don't usually need it but have it as a backup. I guess it really doesn't go off if you set it up for a day later!
I did get a lot more done with the early start this morning. I had the normal boat stuff to get ready; some of the items I just mentioned and more. Also, Gill was ready to go to the Cove with me this morning. And, I have to say, he did really well. We took our time getting home. He accomplished two different types of nature breaks, which was important and appeared in the typed up report to my wife. She needs the details. Of course, she is concerned about the dog's health.
I had a meeting at 8:30 AM with a former employee who wanted to work at the restaurant starting in the next day or so. I had some items of interest that I needed to go over with him. That went well and was no more than twenty minutes.
I worked on the fishing report after that and got to the restaurant ready to work before noon. It was an expected slower day. But it was so nice on the deck at Barnacle Billy's (Original) that the table were full all day. It was the warmest place in Town. I get done at 5:00 PM so I can warm the boat engine up, move the Bunny Clark to the other side of the float and start writing part of this report so I don't have as much to do before sailing. It was a good day.
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the sky was mostly clear with a diminishing fullish moon almost to the apex of it's diurnal journey, the wind was light out of the northwest and the visibility over the ocean excellent.
Another calm departure through the gate into the open ocean and on the way to the fishing grounds. I know this calm weather is not going to last. Fall is coming. But it sure is nice while it lasts. We carried light northwest wind half way to the fishing grounds. The last half was flat glassy calm with no wind at all. The ocean was calm the whole way. A mile offshore, the air temperature was 60°F and the surface water temperature was 62°F. The air temperature improved as we got further offshore. But the water temperature only rose a degree. The sky was clear with some clouds and a partial full moon settling in the west. The visibility was nearly excellent.
On the fishing grounds, the ocean's surface was calm in the morning with, about, a one foot chop in the afternoon. The wind was light northwest to start, calm with no wind a half hour later and then light northerly for most of the rest of the morning. Around 11:00 AM, the wind hauled out of the north northeast and blew up to eight knots. This wind started to back off at 1:00 PM. By 1:30 PM, the wind had let go and the fog moved in. The visibility ranged from a tenth of a mile to a mile. The air temperature reached a high of 68°F. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The visibility ranged from over twenty miles to what we had in the fog. The sky was overcast the whole time fishing. The surface water temperature reached a high of 63°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature was 68°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 69°F (with a low of 63°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 58°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 72°F (with a low of 53°F).
The fishing was nearly excellent all day. We did have a few tangles, a few dogfish and a couple of blue shark attacks. The catching was excellent. Landings were good to very good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. However, the average size was smaller than it has been. We never did get a pollock of 10 pounds or larger. We did have quite a few 8 pound pollock. Legal landings also included three cusk, fourteen haddock, fifteen white hake, fifteen redfish and ten squid. Released fish included thirteen small cod, three sub-legal haddock, twenty-eight sub-legal pollock, fifteen sub-legal redfish, a couple squid, two blue sharks with jewelry and twenty-one dogfish. We anchored once, drift fished the rest of the time. All terminal gear worked well.
I suspect that Dave Burton (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish. I don't know this for certain but he was the only angler who never got tangled and who caught a fish a cast all day long. He also won the boat pool by default. He won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 26.25 pound Maine state trophy white hake. He caught a pile of pollock, most of which he released back to the ocean alive. He caught three legal haddock, two of which he gave to my wife, Deb.
Dave Struzik (VT) caught the largest fish of the trip, a 30.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake. His is the largest hake he has ever seen and, certainly, the largest white hake of his life. I took a picture of Dave holding his big hake. This digital image appears on the left. Dave did not enter the boat pool. Jim Watson (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the third largest fish, a 26 pound Maine state trophy white hake.
Other Angler Hightlights: Josh DeBerardinis (TX) caught the largest redfish of the trip,a 2.5 pound Maine state trophy. This is the Bunny Clark's fifth largest redfish of the season to date. I took a picture of Josh holding said ocean perch. This digital image appears on the right. Bruce Sowards (NC) landed an 8.5 pound white hake and a 20 pound white hake, his two biggest fish. Stan Johnson (MA), who usually catches the biggest fish of the trip, didn't do so today. This was probably the most unusual and unexpected part of the day for me. He was close; he lost a big fish and landed a 19 pound white hake and a 24 pound white hake. Chris Deschambault (ME) caught the largest white hake of his life today, a 25.5 pound Maine state trophy. This was the fourth largest fish of the trip. He also caught a 10 pound white hake. Dennis Pine (NC) boated a 24 pound white hake, his biggest fish. Smoky Dorsey (NC) caught the largest cusk at 8 pounds.
I received three donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising efforts with the Pan-Mass Challenge. These donors and their donations included Dave Burton for a very generous $200.00, Lorian Lachance for $10.00 and Smoky Dorsey for $50.00. Thank you all so very very much for the support and your generosity. It means so much to so many. And I certainly appreciate it.
The wind stayed at ten knots all morning. The wind direction was northeast. After noon, the wind started to drop. There was no wind by 4:00 PM, the ocean along the shore was calm. At 4:15 PM, we saw the sun break out. A little over an hour later, the overcast sky came back. The sky was overcast all day until that break at 4:15 PM. It never rained, even though, at times, it looked like it was going to. The fog cleared away by mid morning. The visibility was very good to excellent after that. The high air temperature that I saw was 68°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 72°F (with a low of 64°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 73°F (with a low of 62°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 66°F (with a low of 60°F).
I spent most of the morning working on my computer. My son, Micah, had fixed my desktop computer. But I had a lot of rearranging to do. I did get finished before noon. I still have some tinkering to do but it's good enough so that I'm back up to getting this report completed quicker and more effectively. It's like coming home. And I so appreciate what he did for me. That was so nice of him. I didn't even ask him. I also didn't realize how savvy he is around computers. Who knew?
The rest of the day I worked at the restaurants. I had quite a bit of office work today as well as writing and mailing a letter of recommendation. The second one in three days.
I received a very generous $1,000.00 donation sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge today. This huge contribution was received from Elinor Payeur and Cathy Harrison, as an "eGift" through the PMC site with the message;"In loving memory of Richard Payeur and Arnold "Harry" Harrison. Thank you, Tim!". Thank you so so much. This is so very much appreciated in so many ways. You both are the best!
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 64°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was out of the northwest at six knots in the Cove (six knots out of the southeast at the Portland Lightship buoy) and the visibility over the ocean was very good at least. More later.
As the Iran war continues, so does the increase in fuel prices. Today, the price is approaching almost double the price I paid for fuel last year. I thought it was high last year. I will continue to request a fuel surcharge of $20.00 per person until that becomes untenable. Hopefully, that will be the most I have to charge. I'm sorry I have to do this. And I hope you understand. Hopefully, these fuel prices will decrease sooner than later. Whatever it is, it will not keep me from going where I need to go to catch you the number of fish you like to bring home including a few big ones here and there..
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