Bunny Clark Fishing Update

Gulf of Maine haddock

Saturday, August 30, 2025

Today seemed like a warm fall day with very little wind, clear skies and excellent visibility. The air temperature did warm up after a chilly morning. I saw 75°F. The sky was cloudless in the morning, partly cloudy in the afternoon. The air temperature seemed cool when the clouds were in front of the sun. During the later part of the afternoon, the clouds disappeared and the sun warmed everything up. We had light westerly wind in the morning, no wind and flat calm ocean during the later morning and light southerly winds in the afternoon. Wind speeds might have been as high as ten knots but I didn't notice this. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 77°F (with a low of 58°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 49°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 72°F (with a low of 52°F).

I spent the morning working on Bunny Clark stuff, catching up in the office and working on the website. The rest of the day was spent in the restaurants. It was a great day; very controlled as far as business was concerned.

I received a generous $100.00 donation from Marc & Claire St.Onge (ME) sponsoring me in my cancer project with the Pan-Mass Challenge. They donate to my fundraiser every year. Thank you so very much for the support and your thoughtfulness. I very much appreciate this!

Sunday, August 31, 2025

It was another wonderful weather day in southern Maine. The sky was mostly clear all day with some clouds but less clouds than the two previous days. The sun was available to us all day with limited exceptions. The visibility was excellent. The wind was light out of the northwest in the earlier part of the morning, there was no wind in the later part of the morning and, then, the wind started blowing out of the south after noon. The wind blew out of the south for the rest of the day. Wind speeds reached ten knots by mid afternoon and then backed off to about seven knots going into the evening. The wind was very light out of the southwest when I went to bed. The highest air temperature that I saw was 75°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 72°F (with a low of 59°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 81°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 78°F (with a low of 48°F).

I spent the day at both Barnacle Billy's restaurants today. It was busy but smoothly so. We saw a lot of Canadians today. It was nice to hear the French accents again.

Labor Day, Monday, September 1, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the north and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

The wind blew up to almost fifteen knots out of the northeast by 8:00 AM. This wind was not predicted. But just when I thought it might get sloppy, it started to back off. By noon, we had northeast wind of eight knots. And very little wind after that. By 3:00 PM, the ocean was flat calm with a ruffle of east southeast wind. The ocean was glassy by 6:00 PM. The air temperature reached a high of 76°F after noon. The viability was excellent. The sky was clear until 4:00 PM, when some clouds started to move in. The sky was mostly cloudy by 6:00 PM. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 73°F (with a low of 60°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 48°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 78°F (with a low of 53°F).

I worked on the Bunny Clark when the sun came up enough so that I didn't have to turn the engine room lights on to work on the engine. I needed to warm the engine up, charge batteries and change fuel filters.

Once I got back home, I continued with items I needed to complete before taking the boat offshore tomorrow. That done, I was back in the restaurants at 11:00 AM. It was a steady day. It was a beautiful day. And it was a day of regular patrons.

Bob & Melinda Blanchard (FL) were two of our patrons I most like to see. We are all about the same age. But they are accomplished restaurateurs. I don't consider myself accomplished as I didn't start the restaurants I own. Bob & Mel started Blanchards in Anguilla, BWI. It was the nicest restaurant in the Caribbean. They have since sold the restaurants and are, now, consultants. They are also hard workers, as you would have to be to start such a wonderful restaurants in such hard places to have restaurants. They went through the normal Caribbean "Don't Stop the Carnival" (Herman Wouk - a wonderful read) stuff at the onset, went through the mishandling of Covid and barely survived a hurricane. Once all was settled, they sold to the local workers who helped them become successful. I believe they have written six books. I could be wrong on the number. Anyway, besides their successes, they are just wonderful people who I just love to be around. Friends. And I'm overjoyed that they like to visit us at Barnacle Billy's.

Senator Bernie Sanders ate at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. today. One of our waitresses, Flavia, attended to his every culinary desire. He was very nice and gracious, as you might imagine. And she really enjoyed herself in the process. I never did ask if he left a good tip! He was here before a rally in Portland to endorse Graham Platner, a Democratic Mainiac running for Susan Collins' seat in the U.S. Senate. Susan Collins has done a lot for Maine, a lot for the fishermen of New England and a lot for the Town of Ogunquit. I have always loved what she does and will always support her in any way I can. But it was nice to see Bernie Sanders.

Tim Tuesday, September 2, 2025

At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 59°F, the sky was overcast, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

We couldn't have had a better ride to the fishing grounds. The ocean's surface was mirror calm, the sky was mostly clear with some clouds, the air temperature hung between 65°F and 66°F, the visibility was excellent and we had a wonderful sunrise.

On the fishing grounds, it was calm all day. The ocean was flat calm for the first part of the morning, calm with a light southerly wind until noon. We had light south southeast wind that might have blown three knots in the early afternoon. Light southerly wind dominated the rest of the day. We might have had two knots of wind for the rest of the day. The air temperature reached a high of 75°F. The sky was mostly clear with some clouds. The visibility ranged to over twenty-five miles. The tide (current) was light. The surface water temperature reached a high just under 66°F.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 78°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 74°F (with a low of 60°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 55°F).

The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were very good to excellent. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included one-hundred and forty-four good sized redfish, twenty-one haddock, three cod, three white hake, a whiting and twenty-three cusk. Released fish included four sub-legal cod, eight sub-legal haddock, forty-two small pollock, nine sub-legal redfish, four blue sharks with jewelry and nine dogfish. We drift fished all day. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.

Steve LaFlam (NH) was high hook with the most legal fish. He also won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the third largest fish, an 18 pound cod. This is the fourth largest cod of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. Some of his other good fish included a 14 pound pollock and a double that included a 9 pound pollock and a 9.5 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time! Bill Harding won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 26 pound Maine state trophy white hake. This is the first trophy white hake we have seen since the big offshore trip in early July. I took a picture of Bill with his prize hake. This digital image appears on the left. Karilyn Bonney (ME) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 19 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest pollock of the fishing season so far. It's also the largest pollock that she has ever caught. I took a picture of Karilyn holding her big pollock, this digital image appears on the right. Karilyn also caught the largest haddock that I have seen in weeks weighing in at 5.5 pounds. And she caught the second largest cusk at 9 pounds.

Other Angler Highlights: Rand Richards (ME) started off the day with the first fish I could weigh, a 10 pound pollock. He also caught the largest cusk of the trip at 10 pounds. Boo Whitten (ME) landed a 3 pound Maine state trophy redfish, the second 3 pound redfish we have seen this season, a tie for the largest redfish of the Bunny Clark season to date and her largest redfish ever. It's also the longest redfish that I have seen this season so far at seventeen inches caliper fork length. Her largest pollock weighed 10.25 pounds. Jacob "Jake" Johnson (ME) landed an 11.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. He also caught an 8 pound cusk that I weighed for him. Larry Reed (ME) caught nary a dogfish, a first in the many trips that he has fished with me over the years. His largest fish was a 9 pound pollock. But he caught plenty of smaller keepers (as did Jake). Bob Jones (ME) caught the second biggest cod at 8.5 pounds. Kris Cichon (NJ) caught a 10.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Travis Mahan (ME) caught the best double of the day. His catch included an 11.5 pound pollock and an 8 pound pollock. He also caught an 8.5 pound pollock early in the day. But his biggest pollock was caught with about five minutes left in the trip. It weighed 13.75 pounds.

I received several donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising cycling ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Those wonderful people and their donations included the Larry Reed crew for $70.00, Karl Joslin for $60.00, Bill Harding for $50.00, Steve LaFlam for $20.00 and Bill Busch (NY) for a generous $100.00. Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. I so appreciate the support I get from all of you, many of whom donate every season. It certainly makes it a better season for me but more so for the researchers who I support at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. They continue to do such innovative work and I am proud that you make me a part of all this!

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was cloudless overhead and to the west with clouds towards the eastern horizon, there was no wind and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

By late morning, all the clouds in the sky disappeared leaving us with a completely clear sky, cloudless. By full daylight, the wind became established out of the south southwest. Wind speeds by noon were a bit less than ten knots. But that didn't last. By 2:00 PM, the wind was blowing over twenty knots and creating dust devils in the parking lot of Barnacle Billy's. By 7:00 PM, the wind had backed off to about ten knots. The sky stayed cloudless for the rest of the day. The visibility remained excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 77°F in Perkins Cove before the wind struck. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 76°F (with a low of 58°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 51°F).

I spent from 9:00 AM until after noon in a joint Recreational Advisory Panel/Groundfish Advisory Panel (recreational fishing/commercial fishing panels advising the New England Fishery Management Council) meeting via Zoom. I hold a seat on the RAP. This meeting was hosted by Council staff. Most of this meeting was directed toward commercial effort, quotas, species specifications and the ongoing saga of limiting the catch of cod, particularly in southern New England. Gear marking alternatives were also part of the discussion. Because of the right whale crisis, they want us to use ropeless on-demand gear, when lobstering or gillnetting. This has been something in the works for years. I'm not against it but the only successful implementation of such gear has happened in fairly shallow water.

I was back in the restaurant at 12:30 PM. I worked there until 5:00 PM when I had to get the Bunny Clark provisioned for tomorrow's trip.

Flavia finally sent me a picture of she and Senator Sanders. It's a good picture and appears on the left in this missive.

I received two donations sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge. These donations included a generous $100.00 from Westy Lord (ME), my first deck hand on the Bunny Clark in 1983, and a very generous $1,000.00 from Howie & Barbara Goldenfarb (ME). Thank you all so very much for your generosity and thoughtfulness. I'm amazed at how nice people are in so many ways. I really appreciate this kind of support. But many others appreciate it more!

Thursday, September 4, 2025

At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the southwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

The wind blew out of the south southwest on the ride to the fishing grounds. There was about ten knots of wind the whole way. Seas were a couple of feet. We were taking the chops and a bit of a sea on the starboard stern quarter. So the ride was comfortable enough with a minimum amount of spray. The sky was cloudless, the visibility was excellent and the air temperature hung around 65°F for the whole ride out.

On the fishing grounds, the wind might have blown up to fifteen knots out of the south or south southwest. Seas ranged from two to three feet in chops along with the stronger tide.which gave us a shallower or steeper chop at times. The air temperature reached a high of 67°F. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The visibility ranged to over twenty-five miles. The sky remained cloudless. The surface water temperature reached a high of 65°F.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 74°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 79°F (with a low of 58°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 83°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 52°F).

The fishing was good, no better than that. We had the most blue shark attacks of the year today. At least twenty-six terminal tackle rigs were lost to them today. The drift was faster than I would have liked. The sea state wasn't the greatest. Still, no anglers were sea sick. The catching was excellent. It was nearly a fish a cast all day long. Landings were good to very good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included three cod, thirty-three cusk, twenty-nine haddock and one white hake. Released fish included the blue sharks, nine small cod, twenty-six sub-legal haddock, six legal haddock, forty-eight small pollock (an estimate) and one dogfish. We drift fished all day. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.

I couldn't tell you who was high hook today with the most legal fish. I could think of six good candidates. Karl Day (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 22.5 pound pollock. This is the largest pollock of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. He caught this fish as a double with another pollock of 9 pounds, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest double of the season so far. I took a picture of Karl holding up his double for the camera. This digital image appears on the right. I also weighed a pollock of 12.75 pounds for him. The second largest fish was a 16.25 pollock caught by Kevin Walter (OH). Kevin was not in the boat pool. Buzz Leonard (ME) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the third largest fish, a 15.25 pound pollock. He also tied for the largest haddock of the trip at 5 pounds.

Jim Koplar (CT) and Steve Selmer (NH) both won the boat pool for the third largest fish of the trip with the fourth largest fish of the trip at 13.5 pounds each. Steve's fish was a 13.5 pound white hake. Jim's was a 13.5 pound Maine state trophy cusk. I took a picture of Jim holding his big cusk. This digital image appears on the left. He also tied with Buzz for the largest haddock of the day at 5 pounds. I also weighed a 12 pound pollock, an 11 pound pollock and a 10 pound pollock for Steve Selmer. Steve also released six legal haddock. Although, it wasn't his choice to do so!

Other Angler Highlights: Jim Walker (NJ) caught the first fish to start off the boat pool, a 7.5 pound pollock. I also weighed a 10 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock for him. Patty Bergeron (VT) landed a 9.75 pound pollock and a 12.25 pound pollock, her two biggest fish. Guy Hesketh (CT) caught a 10 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Leo Lamoureux (VT) caught a 10 pound pollock and a 10.75 pound pollock. Muhtsyr Yee (ME) caught a 10 pound pollock, his best fish. Eligah Hamilton (SC) boated an 11 pound pollock, his biggest fish of the trip. Randy Bergeron (VT) caught the largest cod at 9 pounds.

I received a several donations today sponsoring me on my ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge, a cycling event to raise money for cancer research. Those donors and their donations included: Harry & Sue Bajakian (ME) for a generous $150.00, Theresa Laskey (VT) for a generous $100.00, Lynn Welsch (NM) for a generous $100.00, Randy & Patty Bergeron for $20.00, Guy Hesketh for $20.00 and Andy Barowsky (ME/FL) for a very generous $1,000.00. Harry, Susie, Lynn and Andy all made their donations in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site. This is a big day for Dana-Farber and the research team who I support! Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. I really, so much, appreciate your support for my part in what I'm trying to accomplish and the direction of your thinking!

Friday, September 5, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 63°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining, the wind was blowing out of the south at almost fifteen knots and the visibility over the ocean was good to very good in precipitation, with and without the rain.

It was a choppy ride to the fishing grounds. The wind was out of the south at fifteen knots, more or less, with four foot seas, mostly. I couldn't run full cruise as we were half way into being full on into the seas. And I didn't want to launch us into space if I didn't have to. As it was, we lost two anglers to sea sickness well before the five mile mark. It had stopped raining before we left the dock but the sky remained mostly cloudy until we reached our destination. The air temperature held at 66°F for the whole ride out. The visibility was very good.

On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south all day. Wind speeds were about fifteen knots the whole day. Seas were about four feet in chops in the morning and three to four feet in the afternoon, according to the sounding machine. It was mostly cloudy all morning with clear skies after 1:00 PM. It never rained. The air temperature reached a high of 71°F. But it was a bit humid. The tide (current) was surprisingly light. The visibility ranged to ten miles or more in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 66°F.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 78°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 84°F (with a low of 65°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 63°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 64°F).

The fishing was fair overall. The conditions were such that we lost more anglers to sea sickness when we started fishing. The most anglers we had fishing at one time was nine. The swells made it hard to stay off the bottom with the swells. The drift was a bit too fast. The catching and landings were both good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. In fact, by noon, it was the only species we had aboard! Legal landings also included one cod, fifteen cusk, a redfish, five whiting, two herring, a cunner and six mackerel. Released fish included three blue sharks with jewelry, seven small cod, fifteen sub-legal pollock, five sub-legal haddock, two sculpins and a couple of mackerel. We drift fished and anchored. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.

I couldn't tell you who was high hook with the most legal fish. I couldn't even guess. But that was because everyone pooled their fish and, even after polling everyone, I still couldn't come up with an answer. It might have been the proceedings of the night before that sullied their memory. Fourteen year old Trystan Mitchell Shea (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15 pound pollock. Mike Perez (NJ) caught the second largest fish, a 14 pound pollock. Some of the other fish of his that I weighed included an 11 pound pollock, an 8 pound pollock and a 9 pound pollock. I accused him of being high hook but he denied it. Josh Trudo (VT) caught the third largest fish, a 13.75 pound pollock. He also caught the largest cusk, weighing in at 10 pounds. And, actually, that cusk was the first cusk of six in a row that he caught - one got off the hook and floated away.

Other Angler Highlights: Colby Ducharm (VT) caught the first fish I could weigh this morning, a 9.75 pound pollock. Chris Stanhope (VT) landed a 7 pound pollock shortly after. Chris also caught a double that included a 9 pound pollock and a 7 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. The largest double of the day included a 10.5 pound pollock and a 12.5 pound pollock, caught by Frank Consiglio (VT). Kyle Santor caught the only legal cod. As he was mooning over this fish in the water, a blue shark came up and ruined the cod dinner he was planning to have. Kyle's biggest fish was an 8 pound pollock.

I received a generous $100.00 donation from Kyle Santor sponsoring me in my cancer research project with the Pan-Mass Challenge this morning. Kyle has fished with me for many years. This isn't the first time that he has helped me out. Thanks so much, Kyle. I really appreciate the support!

Saturday, September 6, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 64°F, the sky was hazy clear, the wind was blowing out of the south at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was good in a thick haze bordering on fog.

It never did get foggy today. The sky was hazy, clear most of the morning with hazy partly cloudy conditions during the later morning. The clouds started to move in after noon. It was overcast by 2:00 PM, raining lightly by 2:30 PM. It rained for the rest of the day and on into the night. Minor thunder and lightning were evident around 3:30 PM. Tornado warnings were issued for our region. But nothing like this occurred in Ogunquit. We did have a pouring torrential rain around 4:00 PM. But this only lasted about fifteen minutes. Before all this, in the morning, the air temperature got up to 80°F, before noon. And it was a bit humid. The wind started blowing out of the south but it never got much over ten knots until noon. Sustained wind speeds were fifteen knots around the time that the rained started. And some gusts were over twenty knots when the pouring rain happened. By 5:00 PM, the wind died and hauled out of the southwest. Southwest winds were six or seven knots going into the night. The visibility over the ocean was good in the morning in haze, good to very good in the afternoon (except in the downpour) and very good going into the night. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 86°F (with a low of 67°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 60°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 62°F).

Today was the height of the Plein Air Painting Event in Ogunquit. Painters filled the Marginal Way along the shore and in Perkins Cove. Unfortunately, the rainy weather predictions put a damper on the proceedings. It wasn't as well attended as it could have been. Nor did it last as long as it should have. There were many paintings that were produced on site that were bought. Many were extremely good including one of the Bunny Clark tied stern to the float at Barnacle Billy's dock. Someone took a picture of the painting and sent it to Deb. Deb, in turn, walked to the Cove to look at it. I think she was considering buying the painting. But, before she could even consider it, the painting was bought for $1,000.00 by a woman who got there just before her. There was also a great painting that was of our other boat, the Petrel. That too was sold, almost before Deb could get a look at it. I don't know the price that the artist was asking for that painting.

The event continued until the first rain sprinkles descended from the sky. Many of those purchasers of paintings came to the restaurant asking for plastic bags to put the paintings in. Others carried their purchases in rain coats or under umbrellas. This is the fifth time the Plein Air event has taken place in Perkins Cove. They have been very successful in the past. And, I believe, that this one would have been the most successful had the weather been better.

Business at the restaurants was booming until the rain came. It slowed to a crawl in the afternoon but was a bit better through the night. But this allowed me to get caught up on the items that I could have gotten completed had I not been on the Bunny Clark with fishing guests. Life does go on with or without you. And I do have some wonderful managers at the restaurants who make it easy for me to divide my time between the boat and the restaurants. I'm very lucky in that regard.

Sunday, September 7, 2025

The wind blew lightly out of the northeast for almost the whole day. Wind speeds might have been as much at ten knots, maybe a little bit more, in the early part of the morning. But the wind speed sustained a slow death. By noon, we had less than eight knots. There was zero wind by 4:00 PM; the ocean was flat calm. It must have been around 6:00 PM that I saw the wind had hauled out of the south. Wind speeds, again, were light. It rained all day, starting at 4:00 AM. It stopped for good at about 5:00 PM. The sky stayed overcast until nightfall. The visibility was very good even in precipitation. The air temperature dropped to 59°F by 1:00 PM but rebounded to 62°F later in the afternoon. It really didn't feel that cold. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 67°F (with a low of 61°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 68°F (with a low of 51°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 56°F).

It was slow at the restaurants today. Rain usually does this to us. I did my normal routine, leaving for the day at 5:00 PM so I could get the Bunny Clark provisioned and all my stuff in order.

Monday, September 8, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 53°F (51°F in Perkins Cove), the sky was clear with a full moon half way to the western horizon, the wind was light out of the northwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

It was a beautiful morning to be leaving Perkins Cove to go fishing. The visibility was the clearest it has been for a while. The air temperature was a bit cool on this ride out. It never went above 58°F the whole ride out. The ocean was fairly calm with a five knot northwest wind to start and a northerly wind of seven knots just as we were arriving to our destination. The sky was mostly clear.

On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the north to start. We had northerly wind of about seven knots for the first hour or two of fishing. The wind started dropping about mid morning. Around noon, the wind dropped to nothing, leaving the ocean flat glassy calm. The wind blew up to almost ten knots out of the south southwest before we left to go home. The air temperature reached a high of 75°F. The visibility ranged to over thirty miles. The sky was mostly sunny with some cloud cover here and there. The tide (current) went from strong to moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 66.4°F.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 72°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 68°F (with a low of 55°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 74°F (with a low of 43°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 49°F).

The fishing was good at best. It was perfect weather, the sea state was perfect as was the air temperature. The tide just dropped it down a couple of pegs. We had more tangles than we would normally have. The catching was very good. Landings were good or a bit better than that. Most legal fish landed were good sized redfish, a pile of them. Normally, I wouldn't get so excited. But there were all of such good size. Legal landings also included four cod, eighteen cusk, eighteen haddock, four white hake, seventeen pollock and a whiting. Released fish included three blue sharks with jewelry, one sculpin, seven dogfish, eleven small cod, twenty-six sub-legal haddock and eleven sub-legal redfish. We anchored and drift fished. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.

The angler with the most legal fish, or high hook, was a Hopkins, either Roger or Justin. Roger won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 23 pound white hake. This might be Roger's largest ever white hake. He also caught the largest cusk at 8.5 pounds. He brought about a 200 pound blue shark to gaff, twice! No one wanted the shark so Roger broke his jig off to let it go. The jig was caught right in the corner of the sharks jaw. The second largest fish was a 19 pound white hake caught by Hank Small (NH). It was our first big hake of the day so I took a picture of him holding his fish. This digital image appears on the left. He also caught an 11 pound white hake. Jason Ridolfi (NY) caught the third largest fish, an 18.5 pound white hake. Jason also caught an 8 pound cusk.

Other Angler Highlights: I weighed an 8.5 pound pollock for Justin Hopkins. He caught the largest cod of the day at 15.5 pounds. This might be his biggest cod, he said.Ken Meinke (VT) caught the biggest pollock today. The ones I weighed included an 8.25 pound pollock, a 14 pound pollock and a 17 pound pollock. The 17 pound pollock is the Bunny Clark's ninth largest pollock of the fishing season to date. Jason Kenyon (NY) fought a jonah crab for at least fifteen minutes. I thought it was a halibut. Turns out he was just tired! Jason's largest fish was a 13 pound pollock. Lori Moore (NH) caught a 12 pound pollock, her biggest fish. David Moore's (NH) biggest fish was a 9 pound pollock. Shawn Lafferty (NY) caught the second largest cod of the day weighing 14 pounds. Steve McGrath (NH), my longest serving patron, was in the wrong position on the boat and was most tangled. This is my fiftieth year taking anglers fishing. He has been with me for all fifty of them! With his vast captaining experience, it never is a bad thing to have Steve aboard!

Several anglers sponsored me today in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge, a cycling event to raise money for cancer research in Boston, Massachusetts. (Dana-Farber/Jimmy Fund) The event, which I did ride in this year, took place the first Saturday in August. Those anglers and their donations included Steve McGrath (NH) for $60.00 (he already donated $50.00 just a couple of weeks ago), Pete Lussier (NY) donated $20.00, Jason Kenyon donated $10.00, Gary McCullough (VT) donated $50.00, Brian Hilliker (NY) donated $50.00 and Justin Hopkins & Roger Hopkins for $60.00. Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. And I know I have used that previous sentence so many times. But I truly mean it and very much appreciate it!

Tim Tuesday, September 9, 2025

At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 49°F in Perkins Cove, the sky was clear, the full moon had cleared the apogee heading west, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

Going through the gate, headed to the fishing grounds, we met a north northeast wind. I had just looked at one of the weather buoys just a little bit before and saw that it was showing westerly winds at one or two knots. Further out, we had northeast winds of about five knots, probably less. This remained for the rest of the ride. A setting moon in a clear sky followed us most of the way out. The air temperature had warmed to 62°F by the time of arrival. The visibility was excellent. The ocean was calm with a chop of about a half a foot.

On the fishing grounds, we had light wind all day. The wind started out of the northeast, hauled east and then east southeast. Wind speeds were never more that five knots. Seas were a half a foot all day. I never did see a white cap. The air temperature reached a high of 72°F. The visibility ranged to over thirty-five miles. The tide (current) was very strong today, the strongest I have seen it this season. The sky was mostly clear with high thin hazy clouds giving the day a soft lighting in the afternoon. It was much clearer in the morning. The highest water temperature that I saw was 64°F.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 71°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 69°F (with a low of 53°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 74°F (with a low of 40°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 45°F).

The fishing was good. Everything was perfect except for the tide. It was too strong on anchor, while using the sea anchor and drifting. And I tried everything, including motor drifting. For the last two hours of the day, the tide let go enough that anglers could control their gear. And this was the same time that we got into the pollock. And that was really fun. The catching overall was very good. Landings were good to very good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included three cod, twenty-six cusk, ten haddock, a redfish, six white hake, two squid and seven mackerel. Released fish included three small cod, fifteen sub-legal haddock, twenty sub-legal pollock, three dogfish and three blue sharks. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.

I could not tell you who was high hook. Keith Quigel (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 27 pound Maine state trophy white hake. He also caught the best double of the day. His catch included a 12 pound pollock and an 11.5 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. There was a tie for the second largest fish at 18.5 pounds each, both white hake. Ny Nhath (VT) caught one while Brian Hilliker (NY) caught the other. They split the boat pool for second and third largest fish.

Other Angler Highlights: Mark Peterson (NY) landed a 13.5 pound white hake. It was his biggest fish. But he would have had a bigger fish had I gaffed his big pollock instead of trying to lift the fish out of the water by the fly! Normally, pollock of that size float for a few seconds. This one did not. It swam straight to bottom! Lucas Quigel (PA) caught a 17 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Jason Ridolfi (NY) boated a 12.5 pound white hake and the trip's only wolffish of the trip, weighing in at 14.5 pounds. Joe Jenks (MA) caught a 17 pound white hake. His biggest pollock weighed 14 pounds. Russ Jarvis (MA) landed a 9 pound pollock, his best fish. He also caught the most haddock of any angler today with a total count of four. Jim Jarvis, Jr. (MA) caught a 17 pound pollock and a 14 pound pollock, his two biggest fish. Jim Jarvis, Sr. (MA) landed a 12 pound pollock. Travis Carpenter's (ME) biggest fish looked like a 10 pound pollock. I didn't weigh this fish. He caught quite a few doubles. Lane Winney (NY) caught our largest cusk of the trip, a Maine state trophy of 12.5 pounds. Liam Jenks (MA) fought a leg wire from a dragger that lost gear trying to go over a piece of structure (I assume). It looked for all the world like the fight some of our previous halibut have given us before reaching the surface. How he got it off the bottom without breaking his jig off is a mystery to me! Liam caught a lot of pollock today. And Pete Lussier (NY) didn't over-sleep this morning!

I received a great $50.00 donation from Jason Ridolfi today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. He has sponsored me since I started this project in 2007. Thanks so very much, Jay. I really appreciate your support and, of course, you fishing on the Bunny Clark every year.

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 48°F, the sky was mostly light overcast, the wind was out of the northeast at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

At 8:15 AM, the fog rolled in to Perkins Cove. Black thick. It's funny, when we get fog in September, it's always so thick that you can cut it with a knife. This was no different. The fog stayed with us for two hours and was gone, like it never happened. The wind was light out of the northeast when the fog came in, the north northeast wind of about ten knots blew it away. The wind hauled out of the northeast near noon with wind speeds approaching fifteen knots. This kept up into the afternoon but gradually subsided to about eight knots at 6:00 PM. The sky was mostly clear all day but it was a hazy clear with soft lighting and some clouds. The visibility was very good to excellent. The air temperature reached a high, that I saw, of 70°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 68°F (with a low of 57°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 40°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 68°F (with a low of 45°F).

I spent the day catching up at the restaurants after two days of being away from the restaurants, on the boat. It was a nice day, a relaxing day from the heavy business we went through this summer. We haven't been breaking any records as of late. But it has been fun.

Some of my favorite customers from California, Malcolm & Kathie (CA) & Susan (NY) showed up for the their first day of a nine day stint in Ogunquit. I love having them here. It's, honestly, a treat to see if I can find them the largest lobsters in Maine. Of course, we are limited to an oversize guage limit so I can only get them so big. But sometimes, with a male lobster with big claws, I can get one approaching 5 pounds. We shall see how successful I am in this session.

Thursday, September 11, 2025

At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F (49° in Perkins Cove), the sky was hazy clear, the wind was out of the northwest at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

When we left to go down the channel to the gate and head to the fishing grounds, I realized why the stars looked like they were in a "hazy sky". It was because a nearly full moon was directly overhead, so bright that it was keeping only the brightest stars from shinning through. The sky was actually cloudless The wind blew out of the north the whole ride out. Wind speeds were about ten knots, more or less. Seas were two feet in chops. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature took almost the whole ride out to get to 62°F.

On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the north at ten to fifteen or more knots. Seas were three feet, more or less. For an hour or so the tide had the chops straight up and down. After noon, the wind dropped out of the day. It was surprising how calm the ocean got in so short a time. For the last half hour of fishing the wind blew out of the west at three knots. The air temperature reached a high of 71°F. The visibility ranged to over thirty miles. The sky was cloudless all day. The tide (current) was strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 62°F.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 77°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 74°F (with a low of 55°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 41°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 81°F (with a low of 46°F).

The fishing was good, again, at best. The tide was marginally better than Tuesday but the sea state wasn't great and the blue sharks were a pain in the ass. The catching was excellent. Landings were very good to excellent, our best trip for weeks. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. It was nearly the only fish coming over the rail at times. There were so many in the 6 to 9 pound range that I only weighed the biggest fish. Legal landings also included eight cod, fifty-eight of the cleanest cusk I have seen all year, eleven haddock, a monkfish and about twenty mackerel. Released fish included about eighteen blue sharks with jewelry, twelve sub-legal cod, five cusk, no short haddock, no dogfish, only fifteen sub-legal pollock and ten mackerel. We anchored once, drift fished the rest of the time. Jigs and cod flies caught all the fish.

I couldn't tell you who was high hook with the most legal fish but I suspect it was Rich Mallott (NY) or Rod Langevin (NY). Rod and Rich both caught fish to weigh as soon as we started fishing. Rod caught a 7 pound pollock. Rich caught an 8 pound pollock and a 10 pound pollock shortly after. Rod caught the most legal pollock in a row or fifteen fish as fast as he could get them aboard. Rich caught the only monkfish. It weighed 5 pounds.

John Kennedy (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 20 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's third largest pollock of fishing season to date. I took a picture of John with his big pollock. This digital image appears on the left. Some of his other notable fish included a 15.5 pound pollock and a 13 pound pollock. The second largest fish was an 18 pound pollock caught by Joel Russell (NY). This is the sixth largest pollock of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. Kevin "Sarge" Robinson (NY) boated the third largest fish, a 16.5 pound pollock. Sarge also caught a 9.75 pound pollock that I weighed.

Other Angler Highlights: John Gardner (NY) boated a 13.5 pound pollock. Karl Ostergaard (NY) caught a 16 pound pollock. By popular demand, I gave the "hard luck award" (an older PMC shirt) to Kirk Hollis (NY) for being the sole (soul?) hurler of the trip! I've seen worse!

I received a several donations today sponsoring me on my ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge,a cycling event to raise money for cancer research. Those donors and their gifts included: Betsy McLaughlin for a very generous $500.00, again, [Betsy has donated to my cause since I started in 2007] John Kennedy for a generous $220.00, John Gardner for a generous $100.00, Kirk Hollis for $50.00 and Paul Smith (NY) for $20.00. Thank you all so very much for generosity, thoughtfulness and support. It means a lot to me but, as I always say, more to those who do the research and for those of whom the research is intended.

Friday, September 12, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was clear, the wind was out of the north northeast at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

It was another beautiful day in Ogunquit, Maine today. The sky was clear all day with minimal clouds. The visibility was excellent throughout. The wind blew out of the north northeast up to almost fourteen knots in the morning, dying out to less than ten knots by 10:00 AM, flunking out at noon and slowing coming around to the southeast from an easterly pattern with a southerly wind follow up. By sunset, the wind was fully established out of the south. Wind speeds were less than ten knots for as long as I was awake. The air temperature reached a high of 70°F in Perkins Cove. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 68°F (with a low of 58°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 42°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 52°F).

Today was not a day full of surprises.

I have been getting in the habit, this season, of bringing the motor scooter home after working at the restaurants, dropping it off at home and taking our border collie, Gill, for a walk down to the Cove to get the truck and bring it back home. Before I get to the truck, I always stop at Takeout, in Barnacle Billy's, so Gill can see "the grils" and, maybe, get a treat. He is excited about Takeout visiting. On the way down, we always take our time so that Gill can get the most of the walk before driving home in the truck. Keeping him off lease always inlightens the freedom aspect of being outside. It also brings out more of his personality (and stubborness, at times). He is twelve years old now and slowing down a bit. Time flies.

Saturday, September 13, 2025

The wind was already blowing out of the southwest when the full daylight arrived. Wind speeds of less than ten knots prevailed all morning. After noon, the wind picked up and backed out of the south, where the velocity increased even more. Wind speeds increased to over fifteen knots in the later afternoon, turning the leaves on the trees backwards. The wind was still out of the south by the time both restaurants closed but it wasn't blowing more than ten knots. The sky was clear all morning, clouding up by mid afternoon. It looked like it was going to rain around mid afternoon with the cloud cover. It didn't. Later afternoon, most of the clouds cleared out. The visibility was very good to excellent all day. The air temperature got up to 75°F before the wind shift and increase in the early afternoon, then dropped to the high and mid 60s with the wind increase. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 71°F (with a low of 55°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 74°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 49°F).

I spent the day at the restaurants. It was busy. But it was also like old home week as there were many patrons who I have seen before. It was a very enjoyable day. Nothing went on today that was dramatically inspiring to write about.

Sunday, September 14, 2025

It was a beautiful day today, the best day of the last two weeks. There was no wind to write about. We had very light northwest wind in the morning. It was so light the wind streaks on the ocean were inter spaced with calm patches. The ocean surface was a flat as a mill pond. What little wind that there was followed in a clockwise pattern around the compass until it settled in out of the southwest. We may have had a southerly wind of five knots at one point before it hauled southwest. The ocean was calm the whole time. And there was no wave action in the little coves around the shore and Marginal Way. There was zero humidity. The visibility was excellent all day. The sky was sunny to start, a big cloud patch moved in and moved out an hour later leaving the sky clear and sunny for the rest of the day. The air temperature rose to 75°F after noon, dropped to around 70°F but rebounded to a value of 78°F at 3:00 PM. The day was what my father, Billy, would have called a "111" - perfect in all categories. As I told someone on the deck today, we will be thinking of this day in February. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 75°F (with a low of 59°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 51°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 54°F).

Today was one of those relaxing Sunday afternoons at the end of the summer season, in September, that is so relaxing where the restaurant has nearly a regular patron at every table and everyone is so much fun to get reacquainted with. I spent most of the day talking to customers at tables who I recognized and some who I didn't at first but came to wonder how did I not recognize these people right away? When I was leaving to get the boat ready for sailing tomorrow, I had people waving to me from the deck while I was on the Bunny Clark; "Come see us." It was Bob LePage, Sr. and Bob LePage, Jr. or Bob and Bob! Bob, Sr. started fishing with me on the Mary E. in 1978. But the family has been coming to Barnacle Billy's for years. They don't fish with me as much but it's always great to see them. And some of the fishing trips I enjoyed with them I shall never forget or I hope to never forget.

I was with Gill, our border collie, when the Bobs called me to the restaurant. I don't allow dogs in the restaurant or on the deck. But Gill is so well mannered and, well, I own the place. So I fashioned a leash out of pot warp and walked him through the dining room and out to the deck where the LePage family was sitting. Like I said, it's always great to see them!

Monday, September 15, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F (55°F at the Bunny Clark), the sky was cloudless with a crescent moon hanging directly overhead, the wind was blowing out of the north at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

As soon as we poked our nose out of the gate, we found the wind; northeast at about ten knots. The wind increased to about fifteen knots at the ten mile mark. Seas were chops of two to three feet. The air temperature was 57°F when we split the can buoys but increased to about 62°F by the time we almost got to the fishing grounds. The sky was mostly clear with a mackerel cloud formation. The visibility was excellent. The water temperature went from 59°F to 63°F.

On the fishing grounds, the wind continued to blow out of the northeast. Fifteen knots at first, the wind dropped gradually all day long. There was no wind when it was time to head her to the barn. Seas started at two to three feet to barely a half foot small roll. The air temperature reached a high of 68°F. The visibility ranged to thirty miles. Except for a few clouds to the south, the sky was cloudless. The tide (current) was light to moderate, into the wind in the morning and very light in the afternoon without the wind. The surface water temperature reached a high of 65°F.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 72°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 72°F (with a low of 60°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 78°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 52°F).

The fishing was good. It could have been better but the blue sharks bothered, we had a few dogfish today, the sea state wasn't the greatest and the morning's current created more tangles than we needed. The catching was very good. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. We hardly caught anything else. I only weighed one fish under 10 pounds. That was because it was caught at the end of the day and it looked bigger than it was; I had planned to not get caught up in weighing smaller fish. Legal landings also included a cod, three cusk, nine haddock, a redfish and a couple small whiting. Released fish included six small cod, twenty-five sub-legal haddock, twelve sub-legal pollock, three blue sharks with jewelry, twenty-one dogfish and three sculpins. We drift fished all day. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.

Chris Galletta was the fisherman of the day. He won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13.75 pound pollock. And he was high hook with the most legal fish. He caught the only keeper cod, weighing in at 10 pounds. Chris caught the two biggest haddock of the trip, two cusk and quite a few pollock. Dan Maynes caught the second largest fish, a 12.5 pound pollock. The third largest fish was an 11.5 pound pollock caught by Tommy Fitzgerald (VT).

Other Angler Highlights: Aldin Konjuhovac (VT) caught a 10.75 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Josh Jodoin (VT) landed a 10.5 pound pollock. Cody Amstead (VT) caught a 10.25 pound pollock at the very end of the day. Ryan Chase (VT) did the same but his pollock was 8.5 pounds.

I received several donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. The anglers and their donations included Chris Galletta for another $20.00, Ryan Chase for $50.00, Scott Trojanowski (VT) for generous $100.00 and Tony Curtis (VT) for $40.00. Thank you so very much for your support and thoughtfulness. You could have very easily walked off the boat tonight and I would have been just as happy that you fished with us. But you went a hell of a lot further than that. And I so appreciate it.

Tim Tuesday, September 16, 2025

At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F (53°F at the Bunny Clark), the sky was cloudless with a crescent moon above the horizon with Venus close by, there was no wind, it was very still in Oarweed Cove across the parking lot and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

It was a bit hubbly going through the gate in the dark on the way to the fishing grounds. A sea was making up at the mouth of Perkins Cove. It was almost low tide so the seas were accentuated a bit. And it almost seemed like the wind was out of the northeast. Once I got out to the bell buoy, I left all those feelings behind, the seas straightened out and I found that there was no wind at all. By daylight, the ocean was glass calm. The sky was nearly cloudless. The air temperature never made it higher than 62°F. The visibility was excellent.

When we first arrived on the fishing grounds, the ocean was, again, glass calm. There was also zero drift (and zero bite). The ocean stayed flat calm all day. When we did have wind, it wasn't much and it seemed to always be from the south or southeast. There was no time when there weren't glass calm patches on the ocean surface. It was the calmest day of the year. The air temperature reached a high of 75°F. The tide (current) was zero to light. The visibility ranged to twenty-five miles or more. The sky was sunny through high thin clouds. The surface water temperature reached a high of 64°F.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 75°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 68°F (with a low of 57°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 78°F (with a low of 46°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 75°F (with a low of 48°F).

The fishing was nearly excellent. The sea state was as good as it gets, there wasn't much current (so less tangles) and there were blue sharks and dogfish but they didn't bother too much. The catching was very good overall, slow for the first few drifts in the morning. Landings were good to very good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. After noon, it was a fish a cast for the rest of the trip. We didn't get any big pollock. But there were plenty of 3 to 5 pounders. Legal landings also included twenty-eight cusk, twenty haddock, eight white hake, twelve redfish and seven mackerel. Released fish included seven small cod, seven sub-legal haddock, forty-three small pollock, eight dogfish and three blue sharks with jewelry. We drift fished all day. The drift was perfect. Jigs and flies caught the most fish.

I could not tell you who was high hook. Ron Sheerer won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 21.5 pound white hake. [I love seeing these bigger fish caught on the open bottom!] On the last drift of the day, Ron asked me to get his jig off bottom. So I took his rod as two big head shakes bent the rod. He had a halibut on the end of his line. So I gave him the rod. He said; "What do you want me to do with this?" I said; "Reel it in." And so he did. But the fight didn't last long enough. Maybe not even five minutes. When he retrieved the jig, the cod fly was chewed off! Apparently, the fish bit the fly and the monofilament holding it, chaffing the line off. It was a very nice sized fish and I was so sorry to not see it!

The second largest fish was a 21 pound white hake caught by Billy DiBello. On the trip last year all he caught was one dogfish. Not this year. He also caught the first Maine state trophy haddock I have seen since June 17th. It weighed 7.25 pounds. Billy also caught a 13.5 pound Maine state trophy cusk! The third largest fish was an 18 pound white hake caught by Mike Blackmer.

Other Angler Highlights: Jake Allen caught the first fish I could weigh for the boat pool, a 7 pound pollock, the second fish in the boat this morning. Sam Sweenor caught an 11 pound white hake, his biggest fish. Moon Mannion landed the largest pollock of the trip at 9 pounds. Stuffy House caught the second largest pollock at 8.5 pounds. Chris Galletta caught his first Maine state trophy fish off my boat today, a 13 pound cusk. Chris has been fishing on the Bunny Clark since he was eleven years old, over twenty-five years ago. I took a picture of Chris holding his fish. This digital image appears on the left. His biggest fish was a 15 pound white hake. Keith House caught a 10.25 pound cusk, his best fish. Pat Sweenor landed a 13.5 pound white hake, his biggest fish today. Mike McGuire landed a 17.5 pound Maine state trophy cusk, his biggest fish. This is a tie for the Bunny Clark's seventh largest cusk of the season so far. It's Mike's largest groundfish ever. I took a picture of Mike holding his big cusk. This digital image appears on the right.

I received a few donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Those anglers and their donations included Stuffy House for $10.00, Ron Sheerer for $20.00, Moon Mannion for a generous $100.00 and Sam Sweenor for $20.00. Thank you all so much for your support today. As you know, I am very high on this research team who I support. And I am so glad that you feel as I do knowing how serious I am about the things I do. I appreciate your trust in me, your generosity and your thoughtfulness. All this to make a better world for us all. Thanks again.

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 50°F, the sky was clear overhead with clouds to the south, there was no wind, the ocean was flat calm, there was no wave action in the coves along the shore and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

Today was another "111" day, just like yesterday. There wasn't enough wind to blow out a candle, the ocean was so calm you could float a scallop shell and there was zero wave action on Ogunquit Beach. Just a very quiet day. The sky was most sunny with some high cirrus clouds here and there. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 73°F in Perkins Cove. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 70°F (with a low of 56°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 76°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 72°F (with a low of 48°F).

I spent the early part of the morning working on upgrading this website. The later part of the morning, I worked at the restaurant.

At noon, I drove to Portsmouth to meet my new doctor (GP). I was very pleased with her. She seemed very intelligent or, in short, exactly like a young female version of my previous doctor, who I thought the world of. After my doctor visit, I stopped at the computer store to pick up another cord to charge my Mac. One of our cats, Mizzen, chewed it, shorting it out. She chewed it enough so it wouldn't charge my laptop battery. She follows me around the house like a dog. But when she's not sleeping near me, she's getting into things like eating plastic, chewing power cords or getting into the trash. I enjoy her when she's sleeping.

The rest of the afternoon, I spent at the restaurant, talking to patrons but, mostly, catching up in the office after two days on the boat.

Thursday, September 18, 2025

At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 58°F, the sky was overcast, there was no wind and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

It seemed unusually mild when we poked the bow out of the gate to head to the fishing grounds. The air temperature was about 59°F at the time. And it was humid. But not the humidity you might associate with a hot day. It was like the air was thick, the only way I can describe it. The ocean was calm but there was a light wind out of the northeast. This light wind persisted until we arrived at our destination. The sky was overcast for the first half of the journey and clear for the rest of the ride. There was cloud cover to the west of us. We had a persistent three foot roll from the southeast but this was under a very smooth surface. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature was 61 to 62°F.

On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east for the first couple of hours. We might have had two knots, maybe. The wind would come and go, the surface glassy at one time, light ripples at other times. The air temperature reached a high of 70°F. The sky stayed clear and sunny for the first two or three hours. We had clouds to the east and west of us. After that time, the clouds, fog and a very light mist rolled in. We had this for a couple of hours, maybe more. It was mostly clear and sunny for the ride home. There was also zero wind over a glassy surface as well. The tide (current) was moderate. Except for the fog that left us after half an hour, the visibility ranged to over twenty miles in some haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 63°F.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 75°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 74°F (with a low of 62°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 83°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 74°F (with a low of 56°F).

The fishing was excellent. The sea state was perfect, the drift was perfect, there were very few dogfish and only a couple blue sharks bothered. The catching was very good as were the landings. Most legal fish landed were pollock in the 3 to 10 pound range. I didn't weigh a pollock today unless it was at least 10 pounds. We had only two pollock that were 10 pounds or over. Legal landings also included two cod, forty cusk, twenty-two haddock and seventeen white hake. It was our best day of white hake landings since the offshore trips in July. Released fish included seven small cod, six sub-legal haddock, twenty-one sub-legal pollock, five dogfish, two blue sharks with jewelry and one wolffish. We drift fished all day. All terminal gear worked well.

Ray Westermann (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish. Or at least it seemed that way. If it wasn't Ray then it had to be Jonathan "Griff" Griffin (MA). But I'm pretty sure it was Ray. Ray's three largest fish included an 18.5 pound white hake, a 20.25 pound white hake and a 16.5 pound white hake. Griff boated a 22.5 pound white hake, a 16.5 pound white hake and a 22.25 pound white hake.

Seth Daniels (CT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 24.75 pound white hake. This is the largest hake that Seth has ever caught. I took a picture of Seth with his big hake. This digital image appears on the left. Seth also won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the third largest fish, a 23 pound white hake. He also caught a 15 pound white hake and the largest cod at 7 pounds. His keeper haddock count was five. I also took a picture of Seth holding his cod. This image appears on the right in this missive. Stephane Cloutier (MA) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 24.25 pound white hake. His second largest fish was a 17.5 pound white hake.

Other Angler Highlights: Chris Galletta (NY) caught a 16.5 pound white hake and a 14 pound white hake. Dave Haberl (VT) landed a 16 pound white hake. Neil Hickey (VT) boated a 15.5 pound white hake and a 14.25 pound white hake. Steve LaPlante (CT) landed an 18 pound white hake. Mike Bragg (MA) caught a 17.25 pound white hake. Hannah Smith (VT) landed the largest haddock at 4.5 pounds. She also caught the only wolffish at about 7 pounds. I didn't weigh the wolffish. Dennis Scanlon (NY) landed the largest pollock of the trip at 11 pounds. Jon "The Staten Island Assassin" Tesnakis had the most tangles of the trip. Jon caught the second largest haddock of the trip, a 4 pounder.

I received several donations today sponsoring me on my ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge,a cycling event to raise money for cancer research. Those donors and their donations included Chris Galletta, again, for $20.00, Seth Daniels for $25.00, Stephane Cloutier for $40.00, Jon Tesnakis for $40.00, Dave Haberl & Hannah Smith for $50.00 and a very generous $300.00 from Steve Clark & family. They had already donated a very generous $350.00 earlier in the season! Thank you so very much for your generosity and support. In the insane world around us, this gesture of kindness stands out like a sore thumb to me and rekindles a faith I have always had in people. I appreciate seeing this good side! And I appreciate the help in my cancer quest.

Friday, September 19, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 61°F, the sky was crystal clear with the lower limb of a waning crescent moon hanging just above Venus and the star Regulus, there was no wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

It was another beautiful day in Ogunquit. The wind blew out of the northwest in Perkins Cove up to ten knots until around noon. At the same time it was calm off shore. This wind didn't reach off. After noon, the wind dropped to nothing. We had very light southeast winds in the afternoon. We had no wind at 6:00 PM. I didn't pay attention to the wind after that. The sky was clear and sunny all day long. The air temperature warmed to at least 77°F. The visibility was excellent all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 82°F (with a low of 61°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 78°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 53°F).

I spent the day at the restaurant. I opened them before 5:00 AM and did my normal opening things until 9:30 AM. I was back at noon to continue on. It was a wonderful day with mostly regular patrons who I really enjoy talking to. It would have been a nice day to be anywhere today.

Saturday, September 20, 2025

It turned out to another beautiful day. The air temperature dropped to 46°F before 7:00 AM before starting it's climb back up. But the air temperature never got up to the values it reached yesterday. The highest air temperature I could find was 65°F. The visibility was excellent all day. The sky was clear with few clouds, indeed, cloudless all morning. The wind along the shore was light out of the northeast all morning. At noon, the wind died altogether. After noon, the wind blew out of the south. Lightly at first, southerly wind speeds were blowing almost ten knots at 5:00 PM. That's the strongest the wind got. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 65°F (with a low of 54°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 71°F (with a low of 38°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 66°F (with a low of 44°F).

Today was a very busy day in Ogunquit. It wasn't as busy as a summer weekend but it was close. There were lots of people uptown and everywhere it seemed. I spent the whole day in the restaurants.

And here's a disturbing piece of information. As one of the Finestkind Scenic Tour boats was making the passage around bald head cliff, under the Cliff House resort, men were hitting golf balls into the water from the gazebo there. Several bounced off the Fineskind boat itself and one ball nearly hit a pregnant lady in the head. She was sitting on the stern. According to the captain who was running the boat, had she not seen the ball coming her way, she might have had a very serious head injury! As it was, the ball landed in the corner of the stern right next to this woman. Why this resort is allowing people to hit plastic golf balls into the ocean in the first place boggles my mind. But these individuals appeared to be actually targeting the boat as it was motoring by. It disrupted the boat tour and many of the passengers were upset at this occurrence. Luckily no one got hurt.

Sunday, September 21, 2025

It was another beautiful day. It was a bit warmer today with, what I saw, was a high of 70°F. The wind died out of the northeast, blew lightly out of the northwest for a while, died out to nothing at noon and then started blowing out of the southeast and south. At 5:00 PM, the wind was blowing out of the south at eight knots or so. The sky was clear all day, cloudless for most of the morning with a few clouds during the rest of the day. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 66°F (with a low of 51°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 71°F (with a low of 34°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 39°F).

I provisioned the Bunny Clark for tomorrow's trip along with updating this site and doing a few things at the restaurants.

Next, I had to drive to Sonya (and Ian) Keniston's house. She is selling the house. So I need to get all my reel parts out of the garage before that happens. I just needed to go up there to take a look at what I would need to bring to get it all back home. Turns out it's all in one place. So it will be easy to get it all. And it should take about an hour. Ian was a much neater person than I. I would have this stuff all over the house. If it had been me that passed, someone would have had to have ten men and a detective to find all the reel parts in the house. Thankfully, Ian was not like me. And I miss that guy.

The Cliff House debacle was straightened out today. Grant Hubbard, the President of Finestkind Scenic Cruises, was able to talk to the police who contacted the Cliff House management. As of today, the driving range activities have been suspended. I just don't know if this is forever or until they can find a better way to make sure they are just pumping plastic into the water without endangering individuals on boats. You know how I feel about dumping plastic in the water. If I were the Cliff House management team, I would send someone down to apologize for all this. To my knowledge, this hasn't happened yet.

Monday, September 22, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 48°F, the sky was cloudless (it appeared), the wind was very light out of the west and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. I was surprised to see light northwest wind as we broached the gate to the open ocean and to the fishing grounds. It was calm except for a light hubble from the south, where it had been blowing from that direction at night. The sky was clear with some high cirrus clouds. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature warmed to 59°F before we got to the grounds. The air temperature was 49°F at the gate with a surface water temperature of 60°F.

On the fishing grounds, the wind was out of the west or northwest to start, came light southwest and then light southerly. It blew up to ten knots out of the south by 1:00 PM, died out and then came up out of the southwest. Wind speeds were ten knots when we left the fishing grounds. The air temperature reached a high of 71°F. The tide (current) was light to moderate, mostly into the wind. The sky was clear with high thin cirrus clouds above and hazy cloudiness in a 360° circle on the horizon. Seas were either non-existent or a foot in chops. There was no discernable swell. The visibility ranged to thirty miles. The surface water temperature reached a high of 65°F.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 69°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 69°F (with a low of 54°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 38°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 67°F (with a low of 42°F).

The fishing was excellent. There was only one dogfish caught, no blue sharks, the drift was perfect all day and the weather and sea state was also perfect. The catching was very good as were the landings. Most legal fish landed were pollock by far. Legal landings also included the full cod bag limit (or twenty-two legal), seven cusk, eleven haddock, two white hake, thirty-four redfish and fifteen mackerel. Released fish included five sub-legal cod, one 10 pound cod, thirty-one sub-legal haddock, nineteen sub-legal pollock, eighteen small redfish and a sculpin. We drift fished all day. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.

I couldn't tell you for sure who was high hook with the most legal fish. Chuck Mannings (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13.75 pound cod. He also caught a 9.5 pound cod and a double that included a 10.75 pound cod and a 9 pound cod, both fish caught on the same line at the same time! The second largest fish was a 13.5 pound pollock caught by Bill Socha (NH). Bill also caught a 12.75 pound pollock and a double that included an 8.75 pound pollock and a 10.25 pound pollock. There were three fish that tied for third place at 13 pounds, all pollock. Dave Houtz (MI) caught one, Barry Ano (NY) caught one and Tom Dubay (MA) caught one. Tom also caught a 10.5 pound pollock and an 8.5 pound cod. Dave caught the largest cusk at 7 pounds. Barry also caught a 9.5 pound pollock and three legal cod, the biggest an 8 pounder.

Other Angler Highlights: Gabe Rice (VT) caught an 8.5 pound pollock, a 12.25 pound pollock and a 7 pound cod, his three best fish. Andy Morris (NH) caught an 11 pound cod, a 10 pound pollock and another cod that weighed 7 pounds. Ryan Lavigne (NY) caught a 12.25 pound pollock. Gail Place (NH) caught a 12.25 pound cod, her largest fish. Alison Mannings (VT) landed an 11 pound pollock. Ernie Searles (NH) caught an 8.5 pound cod and a 9 pound pollock, his two best fish. James Bishop (VT) boated a double that included an 11.5 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock. Beth Bessette (NH) caught the 10 pound cod that had to be released as we had already caught the bag limit.

I received another $50.00 donation from Barry Ano sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge. He has donated every day that he has been up here fishing with me. I do so appreciate his help and support. Thank you so much, again!

Tim Tuesday, September 23, 2025

At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 59°F, the sky was clear, the wind was out of the west at ten knots (it was out of the southwest at thirteen to fifteen knots at the lightship) and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

Fifteen knots of southwest wind greeted us when we hit the open ocean after going through the gate. It wasn't a bad ride to the fishing grounds was we had a beam sea. We were able to cruise at fifteen knots the whole way there. I was even able to keep a cup of coffee on the console as I steered out. Albeit, I had to wedge it between a towel and the hauler lever. Seas were three to four feet in long chops for the most part. The air temperature hung around 62°F the whole way. The sky was clear. The visibility was excellent.

On the fishing grounds, the wind was out of the west southwest or southwest at about fifteen knots when we first arrived. Seas were three to four feet. But, when the tide changed, the seas dropped a foot almost immediately, leaving the tide and the wind going in the same direction. The wind dropped all day. By noon, we had westerly wind of about eight knots. By 1:00 PM, we had no wind at all. It wasn't flat calm but the ocean surface was glassy. The air temperature reached a high of 71°F. The tide (current) was strong to moderate. The visibility ranged to twenty-five miles. The sky was clear and sunny for the first part of the morning. Clouds started showing up around 11:00 AM. The sky became overcast by 1:00 PM. The surface water temperature reached a high of 62.4°F.

The ride in was over a glassy surface and overcast skies. A half hour in, it started to rain. It rained all the way back to Perkins Cove. The visibility dropped in the rain and some haze. The rain had stopped by the time we had reached the gate at Perkins Cove. It never rained again while I was awake.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature spiked at 80°F before the rain. This was really for only a few minutes! In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 80°F (with a low of 60°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 52°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 54°F).

The day didn't start out that great. I was working deep edges from sixty to seventy-five fathoms. But it was uncomfortable. Most couldn't handle it even though the drift was fine; the tide was into the wind. But we weren't catching much either. About that time I found that someone had plugged up the head. While Danny ran the deck, I took the head apart. It wasn't the worst thing I had ever done. But, while I was there, the fishing got worse. I don't know how long it took but it was no more than a half hour. So I decided to anchor on a fifty-five fathom hump. There were plenty of fish (pollock) there but we couldn't get through the blue sharks. Plus, the tide had turned and was running a river. There used to be a time when I could pull my hair out. Now I have none - time or hair! It did get better after that, much better. But I wasted three hours before getting it right. I was not happy with myself.

The fishing was good overall. We had a lot of tangles even when the day became much more productive. So it was no better than good. The catching was very good once we got out of the deep water. Landings were good overall. I very thankful for a good rating after the morning I made for myself and our anglers. There was a time when I was wondering if we would fill two totes by the end of the day. My worries were over after 11:00 AM.

Most legal fish landed were pollock by far. Legal landings also included six cod, twenty-one cusk, sixteen haddock and twenty-four redfish. During the good fishing, it was hard to get through the pollock to catch anything else. We also had a couple of spots where we couldn't get away from the mackerel. So we kept quite a few of them as well. Released fish included fourteen sub-legal cod, thirteen sub-legal haddock, forty or more sub-legal pollock, five small redfish and five blue sharks with jewelry. We also released quite a few mackerel. We didn't see a single dogfish today.

I could not tell you who was high hook. Phil Wilson (TX) and Erik Grove (ME) did the best. They fished in the bow pulpit all day, using jig sticks, casting and never getting a single tangle. It's always a wonderful compliment to me to have anglers that are so good a jig fishing. Erik's best fish was a 12.25 pound pollock. Phil caught some nice pollock but not as big as Erik's. Phil's best fish was a 10 pound cod. They caught a tote or more of fish between them.

Darlene Chin (VT/FL) also fished in the bow. She only had a couple of tangles. But the most impressive part of the day for her was not seeing a dogfish caught on the boat today. This was a first for her. Darlene has been my lucky charm this season. She has also been one of my best anglers, in the top three!

Nick Kirychuk, II (CT) caught the largest fish, a 16.25 pound cod. He did not enter the boat pool for the largest fish. But he did enter the boat pool for second largest fish, which he did win with this biggest fish of the trip! This is the largest cod that he has caught in years. It's also the sixth largest cod of the Bunny Clark fishing season so far. I took a picture of Nick with his phone, which he sent to me at the end of the day. This digital image appears on the left in this missive. His biggest pollock weighed 10.5 pounds. Chris Silver (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 13.5 pound pollock. Donnie Jones (MD) won the boat pool for the third largest fish, a 13 pound cod.

Other Angler Highlights: Derek Thomas (NY) caught the first fish I could weigh for the boat pool, a 6.5 pound cusk. Later, he caught pollock that weighed more. Rob Trottier (NH) caught the first legal cod weighing in at 6.5 pounds. Brian St. Saviour (ME) landed a 9 pound pollock and a 9.25 pound pollock. Barry Ano (NY) caught a 6.5 pound pollock when the pool leading fish was still 6.5 pounds. His largest fish ended up being an 11 pound pollock. The real Joe Sinkler (NY) caught a 10.5 pound pollock, his best fish.

I received four donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Those wonderful people included Donnie Jones for $40.00, Phil Wilson for $50.00, Barry Ano for another $50.00 (he has blessed me with several $50.00 donations this season and many seasons before) and Nick Kirychuk for $20.00. Thank you all so very much for the support and the generosity. You are all so thoughtful. And I certainly appreciate it!

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was a mild 63°F, the sky was overcast or seemed that way, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was fair in, what seemed like, ground fog.

The day stayed dry all day, albeit, overcast, looking like it was going rain all morning and into the afternoon. It did start raining at 3:00 PM but, then, stopped and was more misting than it was anything else. It wasn't even misting at 7:00 PM. But it was foggy at that time, the fog rolling in about 4:00 PM. The wind was surprisingly strong out of the northeast starting at noon. Before then, the wind was out of the northeast but only about ten knots. There was no fog after 8:00 AM. The visibility was very good. The wind blew out of the east northeast at fifteen to twenty knots at noon but increased to a sustained twenty knots with higher gusts through most of the afternoon. Some wind gusts were up to twenty-three knots. The visibility dropped to good after noon. By sunset, the wind was out of the east at fifteen to twenty knots. The highest air temperature that I saw was 66°F. But it could have been slightly higher earlier in the morning. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 66°F (with a low of 63°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 66°F (with a low of 59°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 57°F).

As usual, I spent the day at the restaurants. It was a slow pace today but a relaxing day which, actually, felt pretty good.

Thursday, September 25, 2025

At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was a mild 61°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining lightly, the wind was blowing out of the east at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was fair in mist, precipitation and fog.

It was still raining when we cruised down the channel to the gate and the open ocean for our journey to the fishing grounds. It was choppy the whole ride out, limiting me to a slower cruising speed. The rain stopped fifteen minutes into the trip. We had no rain for the rest of the way out. The air temperature seemed to maintain at 62°F. The visibility was fair. There was no fog but I couldn't get a visual on a radar target three and a half miles away. [It turned out to be the only boat we saw all day.] The wind was out of the east or east southeast. Seas weren't bad at about three feet in chops, maybe a bit more at times. There was no discernable ground swell from former hurricane Gabrielle. And there was no noticeable surge in the Cove before we left.

On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southeast at fifteen knots or more for most of the morning. Sometimes we had higher gusts and it was stronger in the late morning. After noon, wind speeds increased to twenty knots. Seas were about four feet, give or take, all morning with the occasional queer one. In the afternoon, seas ranged from four to six feet in chops with six second intervals. It rained all day, never letting up. When we first got there, we had no rain. But this only lasted about a half hour. I thought, initially, I wasn't going to have wear and oil top. Not! I full oil gear on all day, as did everyone else. The high air temperature for the day was 63°F. The visibility ranged to five and seven miles in precipitation, fog and haze. The tide (current) was moderate. In fact, it was a perfect drift. However, the seas became too much to drift so I resorted to the sea anchor which made us much more comfortable and didn't diminish the catching to any discernable degree. The sky remained overcast all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 63°F.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was reported as being 66°F. I checked the air temperature after I was ashore for an hour and it had risen to 70°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 72°F (with a low of 63°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 71°F (with a low of 60°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 67°F (with a low of 59°F).

The fishing was poor. It rained all day, the sea state was gross and some anglers weren't dressed as warm as they could have been. This is the only charter we take where everyone knows how to rig their own rods and lines, they all have their own equipment and, except for a few tangles, can take care of themselves. The catching was fair as were the landings. I found fish everywhere I decided to go. But they would not bite. I did anchor on a pollock spot where we got pollock as soon as we dropped. But the blue sharks (and one thresher shark) were so thick that we were only able to get one pollock to the boat. We lost jigs immediately. Opportunity lost! Landings were fair. I have done worse, but not this season - yet! There's still time! Legal landings included exactly fifty pollock, five cod, three haddock, eight cusk, seventeen mackerel, a red hake and two whiting. Released fish included ten sub-legal cod, five sub-legal haddock, approximately twenty-five sub-legal pollock, a sculpin, two blue back herring and three blue sharks with jewelry. We were lucky to only lose three jigs to sharks. But I did move right out of there. We anchored twice with very little success. Drifting and drifting on the sea anchor worked the best. Everyone used jigs and cod flies.

I couldn't tell you who was high hook. But I would have to say that it was Chris Schetter followed closely by his brother, Anthony Schetter. Although, Bob Bready and Mike Hall also were right up there. Bob was held back in the morning by spending too much time catching forty fathoms of pot warp off the bottom! Mike Schetter was looking like he was going to be high hook, the way he started out. But he faded while Chris and Anthony came into it during the second half of the trip.

Mike Schetter won the charter pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 12.5 pound pollock. He also caught the second largest fish and the largest cod at 11 pounds. His two other fish of note included a 10 pound pollock and an 8 pound cod. I didn't weigh any of the pollock under 10 pounds. The third largest fish was a 10.5 pound pollock caught by Mike Hall.

Raymond "Ray" Hickman caught a 3.75 pound Maine state trophy whiting during the early part of the morning. This ties with another 3.75 pound whiting, caught by Greg Kidd (ME) on July 11th, as our largest whiting of the season to date. I took a picture of Ray holding this trophy fish. The digital image appears on the right.

Friday, September 26, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was a mild 63°F, the sky was mostly cloudy with stars peeking through the holes, the wind was light out of the west and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

The sky remained mostly cloudy in the morning. The sky was so clouded over in the morning that I thought it might rain. And I even imagined feeling a drop fall when I was leaving the house at one point. But it wasn't to be. By later morning, the clouds were all but gone. The sky stayed sunny for the day. The wind started off out of the west, came southwest for a bit but light, was out of the northwest enough to raise a flag at noon and then died out completely. In the mid to later afternoon, the ocean looked like a mill pond, it was so calm and glassy. There wasn't a breath of wind on the ocean along the shore at sunset. The air temperature went from mild to warm, better than a summer day as we didn't have the humidity. The highest air temperature that I saw was 75°F. But I never looked at the thermometer during the warmest part of the day as I was in bed. One of my employees told me that it got up to 80°F. It certainly did feel warm. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 82°F (with a low of 69°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 57°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 60°F).

Friday is the day I open the restaurants, as I have said in many previous updates. So I got there before 5:00 AM and went through the motions. This was along with the internet chores at the house. So there was a bit of going back and forth..Once Matt Pedersen showed up to take over at 9:00 AM. I changed the oil in the Bunny Clark afterward. The rest of the day was spent taking care of myself. I did go home, shower and change for work at the restaurants. And I did work for an hour. But I was sick. So I ended up spend the rest of the day in bed, hoping this wouldn't get worse.

On Wednesday night, I felt, what I thought, was a flu coming on. I felt worse Thursday morning. The trip wasn't fun because of the way I felt along with the wind, rain and extra energy I had to expend to get the boat in the right fishing mode. The charter/people, of course, was the best. Couldn't have been better; a shining light on the day. But I felt worse as the day went on. And I felt worse today. So I stayed away from the employees for the hour I was at the restaurants and laid low for the rest of the day.

Danny, on Thursday, looked like death warmed over. I'm not sure if I got what I have from Danny. But his symptoms were worse. And, as I said, he looked it. So I had him sleep for two hours on the way out as he didn't have to rig rods. And he slept for an hour on the way in. But he was miserable. But it didn't affect his work ethic and he didn't show it except for his looks and the coughing. And, no, he doesn't have Covid. Luckily, with the rain, he had less work to do cleaning on the way in and at the float. That isn't to say that there wasn't a lot of work for him. But it was moderately easier. Thanks, Danny, you did it!

Saturday, September 27, 2025

Today was another gorgeous day, not typical of September weather. The air temperature reached a high of 75°F at noon and then dipped lower as the afternoon progressed. This was mostly due to a southerly wind that developed during the mid afternoon. We had no wind until around 3:00 PM when the southerly wind kicked up. Wind speeds never got to ten knots. The ocean, for the most part, was flat calm all day. We didn't even have much wave action on the beach. The sky was mostly clear all day. The visibility remained excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 76°F (with a low of 64°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 78°F (with a low of 52°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 55°F).

I opened the restaurants again today and will do so again tomorrow. I spent the rest of the morning down there after I updated this site.

Sunday, September 28, 2025

Happy Birthday to my sister, Meg, Paul "Hez" Haseltine, Dick Lyle & Rosie Geer!!!!!

Today could have been the best trip of the year. It was a beautiful day, a summer day without the humidity and the insects. The highest air temperature that I saw was 81°F. But it was probably higher. The wind blew out of the west in the early part of the morning. The sky was nearly overcast. The clouds cleared away to leave a sunny day all day. The wind continued to blow out of the west ashore. Wind speeds were as much as ten knots. Offshore, the wind blew out of the southwest up to ten knots, hauling out of the south and blowing up over fifteen knots after noon. The visibility was very good in some haze during the day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 84°F (with a low of 65°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 87°F (with a low of 55°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 85°F (with a low of 61°F). The high air temperature of 85°F seen in Portland today breaks the record high for this date of 82°F, set in 1948, almost the year they started recording records in Portland.

I had to open the restaurants again today. Plus, I also washed the street, sorted lobsters, organized the outside trash containers and put liners in them, etc., etc.

Once that was done, I started finishing up the engine on the Bunny Clark. This meant a bit of cleaning and changing filters. It's hard not to do this when the weather is so nice.

Once I got done, I went home to take a shower and come back to the restaurants; I was done by 5:00 PM. I needed to get my stuff ready to take the boat tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.

Monday, September 29, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was clear, there was no detectable wind except you could hear the bell buoy very clearly (meaning that the wind direction was probably out of the northeast) and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

It was a gorgeous ride out to the fishing grounds, calm all the way. Winds were about three to five knots out of the northwest, right on our tail. So there was no spray and no rolling motion. The sky was crystal clear. The air temperature hung around 65°F. The visibility was excellent.

On the grounds, the wind started out of the northwest but then backed westerly. The westerly wind never got any stronger than five knots, and maybe not even that. By 1:00 PM, the wind had backed out of the southwest. Again, wind speeds were light. We had southwesterly wind speeds of ten knots or more on the way back to Perkins Cove. The air temperature reached a high of 71°F. The tide (current) was light in the morning and moderate in the afternoon. The visibility ranged to thirty miles. The sky was clear in the morning with a layer of clouds that overtook us in the afternoon. Half the sky was overcast, the other half, to the east, was clear. The surface water temperature reached a high of 64°F.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 80°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 78°F (with a low of 63°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 82°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 51°F).

The fishing was excellent. The weather and sea state were perfect, the drift was perfect, there were no dogfish, we only saw two blue sharks and we had anglers who were really on top of things. The catching was fair. Landings were good. I found just about nothing on the first six stops, a few redfish of small sizes and just a handful of sub-legal fish and cusk. I had to go deeper than sixty fathoms before I saw any fish on the machine. Most legal fish landed were cusk, by far. Legal landings also included thirty-one good sized redfish, fifteen white hake and five pollock. Released fish included one sub-legal cod, one sub-legal haddock, seven sub-legal pollock and seven sub-legal redfish. We drift fished all day. All terminal gear worked about the same.

Jeff Larson (NH) was high hook with the most legal fish. Some of his fish included a 2 pound monkfish, a 4.5 pound cusk (both fish weighed to start the boat pool off), a 7 pound cusk and a 21 pound white hake. Jeremy Malo (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 24 pound white hake with his friend, Bob Dolengewicz (NH). He also caught the largest pollock at 13.5 pounds and another hake that weighed 10 pounds. The second largest fish was a 22.75 pound white hake caught by James Wims (NH). James also caught a 12.5 pound white hake. Bobby Dolengewicz (NH) caught the third largest fish, a 22.25 pound white hake. Some of his other fish was a 5.25 pound white hake which he caught early in the trip, a 9.5 pound cusk and another hake that weighed 14.25 pounds.

Other Angler Highlights: Josh Valley (NH) caught a 2.75 pound cusk, early in the trip, and a 17 pound white hake. Randy Fournier (NH) landed a 6 pound pollock, a 9 pound pollock, a 13 pound white hake, a 12.5 pound white hake and a 20 pound white hake. Fritz Heckel (NH) boated a 9.25 pound white hake. Craig Healy (NY) landed a 13 pound white hake and a 15 pound white hake. Dave Fournier (NH) caught a 14.5 pound white hake, his biggest fish. Bill Allen (NH) boated an 18.5 pound white hake. Jon Lee (NH) caught two cusk back to back. One was probably 10 pounds. The other was slightly smaller.

I received three donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. The anglers and their donations included Randy Fournier for $20.00, Fritz Heckel for $50.00 and Jeff Larson for a generous $100.00. Thank you all so very much for the support and your thoughtfulness. I very much appreciate this but not as much as the patients who will surely benefit and the researchers who will help them get better - in the long run.

Tim Tuesday, September 30, 2025

At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 63°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the west at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

When we left the lights of Perkins Cove behind, I expected some chops or wave action from eight knots of westerly wind that we had inside. In fact, we might have had three knots. We had light westerly, northwest and north winds on the way to the fishing grounds, in that order. I don't believe we ever saw more than five knots. The ocean was calm the whole way. The sky, although overcast to start, cleared as we progressed offshore.. The sky was clear upon arrival. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature got as high as 62°F.

On the fishing grounds, the wind was light and the ocean was calm for about fifteen minutes. After that, we had fifteen knots of north northeast wind that showed up streaking towards us with white caps. It might have blown harder in that initial thrust. But it settled at fifteen knots. Seas built to about three feet as the wind settled in out of the northeast. The tide gave us steeper chops at times. But the wind had no teeth. By noon, the northeast wind was about ten knots, less later when it hauled out of the east northeast. We carried an east wind with a two foot chop all the way home. The air temperature reached a high of 65°F. The visibility ranged to thirty miles plus. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was clear with few clouds. The surface water temperature reached a high of 58.8°F.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 72°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 72°F (with a low of 57°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 43°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 71°F (with a low of 50°F).

The fishing was fair to good. The sea state had several anglers sea sick all day, still others fell to the curse of the mal de mer at the half way mark, during the fishing. We had no blue sharks or dogfish. But the tangles were many to start. We had the tide opposing the wind and the boat was drifting obliquely to leeward, bow first. We could not sustain this drift. So I went on the sea anchor. This made the lines run to the bow. This method was a little easier to handle but we caught less fish. After two hours, the drift settled so we could go back to open drifting. For the rest of the trip the drift was fine but you still had to pay attention.

Ken Bowring (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 20.5 pound steaker cod. It was almost the last fish landed for the trip. I stood beside him with the gaff saying; "I hope this is one fish.", thinking it might be a double pollock. I was surprised to see the cod! Officially, this is the Bunny Clark's largest cod of the fishing season so far. I say officially because we had a young man lose a cod of 25 pounds or more right next to the boat a couple days before the cod season started. We didn't want to kill it just to get a weight and, in the mix, the fish got off the hook and swam to bottom. I took a picture of Ken holding his steaker. This digital image appears on the left. The largest pollock of his that I weighed was 12 pounds. Emile Gallant (ME) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the fourth largest fish, a 17 pound pollock. Greg White (MA) won the boat pool for third largest fish with the second largest fish, a 19 pound pollock. This was the first fish of the trip. He had a double that broke his jig off, the 19 pounder coming in on the fly above the jig. Greg only entered the pool for the third largest fish. I took a picture of Greg and said pollock. This digital image appears on the right. He also caught the third largest fish, a 17.25 pound pollock.

Other Angler Highlights: Paul Killmyer (ME) landed a 10 pound pollock and a 13.5 pound pollock. Kevin Viel (NH) might have caught a pollock over 10 pounds but the only one I weighed came out at 9.5 pounds. Buzz Leonard (ME) caught his first ever Maine state trophy cusk today. It weighed 12.5 pounds. It looked and felt bigger than that when I gaffed it. Some of Buzz's other fish included a double with an 11.25 pound pollock and an 11.25 cod, a 12.5 pound pollock and a 15 pound pollock. Kevin White (ME) landed a 10 pound pollock and two other pollock I didn't weigh that looked to be the same or a bit bigger. Chris Sullivan (VT) landed a double that included an 11.5 pound pollock and a 14 pound pollock. Darlene Chin (NH/FL) landed a double that included a 13 pound pollock and an 11.75 pound pollock. A good time was had by at least two thirds of the anglers aboard!

I received a nice $55.00 donation from Kevin White sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge. I haven't seen Kevin all year even though he lives in the area. It was nice to have him aboard today. Thanks, Kevin, I appreciate the support!

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 49°F, the sky was crystal clear, the wind was blowing out of the north northeast at twenty knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

The day started off crisp and fall like. Although we have had colder mornings in September, this morning felt colder still. This maybe because it took a while to get light outside? The wind was blowing out of the northeast and it kept up all day. Wind gusts in the morning got up to twenty-five knots. But the wind was already tapering off by late morning. In the afternoon, the northeast wind dropped down to almost ten knots but, then, increased again to almost twenty knots by sunset or shortly afterward. The wind kept up and the bell buoy clanged all night. The visibility was excellent. The sky was clear with some clouds all day. The air temperature reached a high of 64°F. But it was warmer than that in the shelter of the deck over Perkins Cove at Barnacle Billy's restaurant. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 63°F (with a low of 52°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 68°F (with a low of 37°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 65°F (with a low of 44°F).

I spent the morning putting up this new report, opening up the restaurant, pawing through the garbage with the collector, washing the street and getting everything ship shape for my son, Micah, who was going to take over at 9:00 AM. After a shower, I worked in the restaurant, talking to patrons at tables and working in the office.

At 2:30 PM, I took off with Deb and my sister, Meg, to watch Meg's grandson, Landon Mitchell, in an Amsbury, Massachusetts cross country meet. Landon is a sophomore in high school. They ran against Ipswich. Landon came in forth. Landon is in better shape than all the runners he competes with. However, he isn't in running shape. He's into cycling, Lacrosse and a variety of other sports and athletic activities. If he stuck to running, he would be the best. His form in terrific. Anyway, I relived my cross country running episodes in his race; the feelings, the anguish and the great joy that I got out of running. It was a wonderful event in a perfect place to run with rolling grassy hills on a beautiful day.

I didn't go back to work after that. I'm tired after yesterday's "beat up". I work at the restaurant all day tomorrow anyway.

Thursday, October 2, 2025

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 47°F, the sky was crystal clear, the wind was blowing out of the north northeast at twenty knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. More later.

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