Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Saturday, October 17, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT
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Note: Note: The new fishing regulations for cod and haddock in the Western Gulf of Maine for the 2026 appear below. These regulations were approved for the season starting on April 1, 2026 and will extend until May 1, 2027.
Gulf of Maine cod
Gulf of Maine haddock
Danny DellaMonica and I ran the marathon trip today.
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the sky was clear, the wind was very light out of the northeast but just strong enough that you could clearly hear the bell buoy and the visibility over the ocean was not quite excellent in some haze.
It was a mild morning, compared to the last two. And I was happy for it. We broached the gate with an air temperature of 62°F and a surface water temperature of 60°F. We carried a surface water temperature of 58°F the whole ride to the fishing grounds. The temperature made the drop about two miles out. The air temperature stayed about the same. We had no wind. The light northeast disappeared after couple miles. We did have a left over hubble made by the wind that was around yesterday. So it wasn't a flat calm smooth ride out. But there was no spray. The visibility was very good in haze. We had mixed cloud cover but mostly clear skies. We maintained a sixteen knot cruising speed the whole way.
On the fishing grounds, we had light and variable winds at first. The wind was so light that wind ripples were an anomaly. The wind disappeared altogether for the whole rest of the fishing day. We did have very light south southeast wind on the ride back to Perkins Cove that increased to about five knots before we got in. The ocean surface was smooth. The air temperature reached a high of 72°F. The sky was a mix of sun and clouds. The sky was overcast for the last two or three hours of fishing. The sky cleared an hour inside of the grounds but filled in afterward. We had no rain. The tide (current) was light all day, too light after noon. The visibility ranged to twenty miles or more in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 63°F.
On the ride back to Perkins Cove, about the half way mark, we had increased cloud cover and, then, completely overcast skies. We got completely fogged in with eight miles to go. It was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. In fact, Deb called to ask when we would hit the dock, worried about me getting in under the cover of darkness. There wasn't even a chance of us being in that late. I had enough of the evil eye from Danny on the last trip when I misjudged the time. I won't be doing that any time soon. As it was, the fog disappeared after we were in Perkins Cove about ten minutes. It would have cleared out before darkness fell anyway. It was replaced by rain. It rained from 5:30 PM all through the night.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature was 74°F. 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 79°F (with a low of 58°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 all day. The weather was perfect, albeit, the drift too slow. There were few blue sharks. Almost no dogfish. We had tangles but they weren't bad. The catching was very good. Landings were good to very good, excellent for quality. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. I decided to change my approach today and not target pollock so much. This mainly because it was so calm; a good pollock bite needs the wind. The drift wasn't good enough for pollock. Legal landings also included two cod, twenty-four good sized cusk, thirty-seven pollock to 8 pounds, twelve white hake, eighteen redfish and seven squid. Released fish included five sub-legal cod, thirty-eight sub-legal pollock, one sub-legal haddock, two blue sharks with jewelry and one dogfish. Everyone fished with jigs and cod flies, despite the fact that I anchored on a huge school of haddock. Try as I might, I could not convince anyone to go with a bait rig. [Griff did switch and caught three doubles in a row. But he switched late. Where's Ray Westermann when you need him?] We anchored once for the haddock. We drift fished for the rest of the trip.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook for sure as we don't count fillets. However, Jason Rivera (CT) seemed the most consistent with few tangles and a fish a drop. Leslie Lauritsen (IA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 30.5 pound Maine state trophy cusk. I don't believe that there has been a bigger cusk caught in New England this year yet. It's certainly our largest cusk this season to date. And it's also the eleventh largest cusk that has ever been caught on one of my boats in the fifty-one years that I have been taking passengers out on the high seas. I took a picture of this fish with Leslie holding it. This digital image appears on the left. He also caught a cusk that weighed 10.75 pounds earlier. Jason Rivera won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 25.5 pound Maine state trophy cusk. This is Jason's largest cusk ever and it's also the Bunny Clark's second largest cusk of the fishing season to date. Jason also caught the third largest hake of the day at 22.5 pounds, a 6 pound haddock and a haddock double that included a 4 pound haddock and a 5 pound haddock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. He caught a lot of haddock today. The third largest fish was a 24 pound Maine state trophy cusk caught by Darlene Chin (VT/FL). This is the largest cusk that Darlene has ever caught. It's also the Bunny Clark's third largest cusk of the fishing season to date. I took a picture of Darlene holding her big cusk. This digital image appears on the right. She also caught her biggest white hake of the season today. It weighed 19.5 pounds.
Other Angler Hightlights: Bryan Lewer (ME) caught a 20 pound white hake right off the bat. I believe that it was the first fish in the boat this morning. He mostly worked the deck with Danny and I. The first fish he caught when he went back to it was a 7.5 pound Maine state trophy haddock! This is his personal best haddock this season even though he has guided his passengers to haddock over 8.5 pounds on his own boat earlier this season. Mike Bragg (MA) caught an 11.5 pound white hake, his biggest fish. Mike Tirrito (VT) landed the largest pollock today weighing 8 pounds. He also caught a 6 pound haddock and a 17 pound white hake. Steve LaPlante (CT) caught his largest haddock of the season today, a 8 pound Maine state trophy. He has caught two other trophy haddock this season. One was caught with me. The other was caught with Bryan Lewer, Salty Lewer Charters, out of Ogunquit, Perkins Cove. His first 8 pounder was caught with Bryan. But I'm not sure on the exact weight. It could have been bigger. I took a picture of Steve holding the 8 pound haddock that he caught with me today. This digital image appears on the lower left. Steve also caught his largest ever cusk, a 22.5 Maine state trophy. This cusk is the Bunny Clark's fifth largest cusk of the season so far. And he caught a 20.5 pound white hake.
Hannah Smith (VT) caught the first Maine state trophy cusk of the day. It weighed 14 pounds, the largest cusk that she has ever caught. It's also the eighth largest cusk that has been caught on the Bunny Clark this season, so far. Victor Tirrito's (VT) fish of note included a 10 pound cusk and a 6 pound haddock. Emile Gallant (ME) boated his largest haddock of the last few years, an 8 pound Maine state trophy. He had a bad start when he found that his reel stopped working. Jonathan Griffin (MA) tied for the largest white hake of the trip with a 23 pounder. Dave Haberl had the other 23 pound white hake. Dave also caught a 19 pound white hake about a half hour before his bigger one. He did well all day long. Nick Kirychuk (CT) lost the biggest haddock of the season, unfortunately. He also caught the only dogfish. It wasn't his best day but his dory make, Jason, really did well. Both Danny and Bryan believed that Jason was high hook with the most legal fish today. Jason had a lot of bags of fillets. I think Nick was happier about that. Ed Brozo (MA) caught a 14.5 pound Maine state trophy cusk. Ed's cusk is tied for the sixth largest cusk the Bunny Clark has boated this season to date. Buzz Leonard (ME) boated the largest cod at 6.5 pounds, about half the size of the cod he catches at West Cod Ledge!
I received three donations from anglers who were fishing with me today, sponsoring me in this season's Pan-Mass Challenge. The cycling event was completed at the end of the day on Sunday, August 2, 2026. But cancer never sleeps and the fundraising for this year continues until the dying breath of the last day in December 2026. Then I will start again in 2027. Those wonderful people who help me out, some every year, included David Haberl and Hannah Smith for $60.00, Nick Kirychuk for $20.00 and Tom & Noreen Zido (NY) for $50.00. Thank you all so very much for supporting me in these efforts, your thoughtfulness in so doing and your generosity. As those who donate know, this is very important to me, the researchers who need the money and to those patients who may never know who contributed. This is so much appreciated!
There was very little wind all morning. What wind we did have seemed to be out of the northwest. This by judging the ripples on the water in Oarweed Cove. Flags were limp. The ocean along the shore was flat calm. We didn't see any wind at all until sometime in the early afternoon, when I realized that the wind was out of the south. At that time it could have been five knots? By later afternoon the wind was out of the south at almost ten knots. The wind was out of the northwest at twelve knots at sunset. I didn't pay attention after that. The visibility was excellent all day. The sky was clear and sunny. The air temperature reached a high of 79°F! But there was no humidity. So it felt really nice. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 80°F (with a low of 62°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 78°F (with a low of 56°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 55°F).
It was, again, Friday. I worked at the restaurant starting at 4:30 AM and leaving after 9:00 AM. I had a lot to do with the fishing report. A lot of images and much to write about. It took some time. Too much time to complete.
I had to stop to get ready for working at the restaurant. I was there before noon. I had to leave after 1:00 PM because I had a cardiac stress test at 2:00 PM. I had an MRI earlier in the year to scan for calcium in my coronary arteries. My calcium score came back at 756. A reading of 100 is of concern. So my cardiologist set up the stress test to see if I was getting any blockage of the coronary arteries. My father had issues there, of which I was very concerned about myself with. He had to have two angioplasties. I thought I might be taking the same route. You can't fight genetics. Turns out a lot of endurance athletes have calcium buildup in their coronary arteries; even as young as twenty-five, if they are heavy cyclists. (this from a study done on athletes in the Tour de France). Turns out, I was in that league. There wasn't even a hint of a blockage after the stress test with the EKG and electrocardiogram videos. I was so relieved, I can't tell you. I've been worried since I got the calcium score. That's not to say something won't happen in the future. But, for now, I'm okay.
After the stress test, I went back to work at the restaurants. I left after 6:00 PM.
We had a north northeast wind today that was stronger offshore than it was near shore. Wind speeds were no more than ten knots. It was a bit hubbly for the Fineskind Scenic Tour boats but all the trips were taken today. I didn't ask for a hurling count. The sky stayed clear with some clouds.The visibility was excellent. The air temperature warmed to a high of 65°F. It was cool in the morning with a 57°F at 9:15 AM and an increase to 61°F over an hour later. In the sun on the garden patio at Etc, it was nice and on the leeward side of the deck at Billy's.The wind was light in the afternoon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 62°F (with a low of 54°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 42°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 65°F (with a low of 45°F).
I spent a fair amount of time working on finishing up the Thursday fishing report and writing yesterday's entry. That was the thrust of today's morning. I didn't finish all the desk work at home, waiting to finish up tomorrow morning. This also gave me some time to go for a run before work.
Saturday is my long day at the restaurants. As is typical of the fall, business slacks off at night, particularly when the air temperature drops. Such was the state of business this night. Barnacle Billy's, Etc. hung on for a while longer and did better business. I saw many customers today. It was a particularly fun restaurant day.
We have been having incontinence issues with old Gill. Today was no exception. He has to be let out all the time now. Oddly, he seems to be okay between 8 PM and 3 AM, the next morning. We put a diaper on him. And he stands up for me to wrap it around his body. I also have a wrap with handles that I put around his torso in order to, basically, carry him upstairs. Some nights he goes up on his own with me just stabilizing him and using the wrap as a safety net. Other times, I carry the full weight of him upstairs. If we leave him downstairs, he will bark every half hour until I take him up.
He still loves going to the Cove with me in the morning. He lingered long this morning, on the walk home. But I indulge him. Deb goes outside with him during the day but does not walk him now. It's too much on the top of the dog's hind paws to take him on the road. Even in the morning, I try to keep him on the grass as much as I can. Not having one hundred percent on the back legs gives the dog some issues. I hate to see the dog disabled like this. But that's life.
Looking at our future weather, it looks like we are going to experience an easterly flow. The wind for Tuesday's trip has been upgraded with gusts out of the east to twenty-five knots for the inshore forecast (within 25 miles) and fifteen to twenty knots with no higher gusts on the offshore forecast. Keep in mind that this is a weekend forecast which, in most cases, is not as reliable as a forecast during the week. Also, with a forecast three days out, a lot can change to make the predictions better or worse. Keep informed.
The sky became completely overcast by 8:00 AM. The sky remained so all morning. At 11:45 AM, a light rain started to fall. It remained very light but kept up for about twenty minutes before stopping. We had very light periodic rain in the early afternoon and, then, no rain after 1:00 PM. The sky stayed overcast with no rain until 5:30 PM, when I light rain started to fall again. The rain became more steady as the evening progressed. By 7:00 PM, the rain became steady, almost heavy, thing. It rained on into the night. The visibility dropped to good or maybe better than that. But there was a fog or heavy haze element to it. This largely because the wind had a southeast edge to it. It was mostly out of the south. By noon, the wind was directly out of the southeast. Wind speeds started at daylight and ten knots. But it never really got any windier. Sometimes it was over ten knots, sometimes no quite. By sunset, the wind was out of the east and the visibility over the ocean improved. The air temperature rose slowly into the 50s by mid morning. The highest air temperature that I saw was 62°F. Fall is coming. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 62°F (with a low of 54°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 59°F (with a low of 40°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 40°F).
My day, like every Sunday, was centered about lunch time activity at the restaurants. Usually, we are busy during lunch. Then it tapers off with dinner time not nearly as busy as a Saturday night. This was one of those days. But it was less busy than a normal Sunday with the weather forecast, long before this day, with the warning of rain. So business was even a bit less than expected. And it did rain. Albeit, not as much or as soon as predicted.
Normally, I do some preparing for the fishing trip on Tuesday. I did some. But not as much as I would do if I was confident of good weather for that trip. We are going to experience an easterly flow from a system that had formed in the lower part offshore of the mid Atlantic over a week to ten days ago. At that time there was a 30% chance that a hurricane would form. That didn't happen. Wind shear had something to do with this. At that time, also, I was thinking that this might be something we might need to look out for.The system kept migrating northwest. More because of it's position and direction of travel did I expect that it would impact us. The ocean water has been so clear for the last week, I expected something would happen. Clear water has always been a warning sign in the past. Now I'm not sure how much this storm will impact us because it seems to be moving more north than northwest. The prediction for Tuesday with the inshore forecast is ten to fifteen knots with gusts to twenty-five knots out of the northeast. Expected seas are three to four feet. Not horrible. But will that really be what we can expect? northeast wind is not the best wind as, wherever I want to go fishing, I have travel right into it, the most uncomfortable direction of travel. If seas are less than expected it's no problem. If they are larger than expected? Well, that's the quandary. At least the crew I'm taking on Tuesday are driving up in the morning. That will give me a bit more time to come up with a salient decision. This, hopefully, by noon tomorrow.
The sky stayed mostly clear for the rest of the day. This was not in the forecast. There were very few clouds. What clouds we did have were insignificant in size and rain quantity. In fact, I never thought, for one second, that we would see any rain at all. And, indeed, we didn't. The wind started out from the north northeast at ten knots and slowly, throughout the morning and afternoon, diminished to nothing. The ocean was flat glassy calm in the afternoon. There was so little wind, you could have sat on the beach and lit a candle, knowing it wasn't going to get blown out. The viability remained excellent all day. The air temperature rose to a value of 70°F. By the helm of the Bunny Clark, tied stern to, to the float, the air temperature was 74°F. With no wind and the bright sun it was warmer than normal. It was really like a perfect summer day today, the day before the first day of fall. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 65°F (with a low of 55°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 69°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 47°F).
I was befuddled today as I was unsure about how to handle tomorrow's fishing trip. In my heart, I knew we could get to the grounds. But I wasn't sure how the day would progress. It was a charter with anglers, most of whom had fished with me for over thirty years. We have had some amazing trips in the past. And I was concerned that they wouldn't have a good time because of the weather. I like rougher weather in general because the chances are better that I would be on the grounds alone. I do like to fish when I can go anywhere without disturbing another boat's privacy. But northeast is not a great wind. When I leave the Cove, wherever I want to go to go fishing, the direction is always into the wind. And, depending on how much wind, the ride can be uncomfortable. Also, the boat's speed plus the wind direction always makes it seem rougher than it is. I have had patrons break legs in these conditions going in that direction. Thankfully, this never happened while I was the captain. But it very well could have. It wasn't until later afternoon that I made the decision to pull the plug and cancel the trip. This put me in a better mood but the day was already over. The thoughts of making the decision had kept me from being all that I could be in the restaurant. But I wanted to give it every chance so I didn't make the wrong decision. Of course, having canceled, the weather will turn out better than expected. And it's another trip denied, a trip I was really looking forward to taking.
Maybe it was this quandary in the back of my mind or maybe it would have happened anyway but going down the driveway headed to the restaurants, I went off the edge of the driveway with my motor scooter. Trying to get back on the driving, hitting that same ridge, made me dump the scooter. I wasn't going that fast. But, the way I dropped the bike, got me more banged up than I would have expected. I got my right leg caught under the scooter and tore some skin on the back side of my achilles, wrenched my shoulder by landing on my hands and hit my chin on the tar, jerking my head back in the process. I thought; "For Christ's sake, Tim, you idiot!" It was surprising how I felt I had to hide my true feelings when I started talking to patrons on the deck of Barnacle Billy's. My chin was throbbing, my leg hurt and my upper body was sore. My hands got over the fall relatively quickly. I discovered later, at 5:00 PM, when I was sitting down that I actually tore some skin off above my heel. It had been hurting all day but there was no blood soaking through my pants so I figured that was the way it was going to be. There was blood but, apparently, it was too far away from my white pants cuffs. The blood had seeped into my socks. I dressed the wound once it was discovered. No big deal, really. Just another annoying thing I do to myself with more frequency than I would like and a waste of time during a day when I feel I haven't enough of it.
My day was filled with getting the boat ready in case I decided to sail. I was hoping for more positivity in the weather forecast. I was also working at the restaurants. At some point I realized that I had the wrong cap on my head. I insist to employees that a Barnacle Billy's cap be worn if you are wearing a cap. I certainly want to lead by example. Plus, I usually change me glasses, which I hadn't. When one of our J1 students asked if I had something to measure blood pressure (she has some minor health issues), I took advantage of the opportunity to go home, change hat and glasses and, at the same time, honor her request.
The rest of the afternoon and evening went well.
I received a very generous $500.00 donation from Betsy McLaughlin (NY) sponsoring me in this season's Pan-Mass Challenge. Of course, the cycling event it over but I ask at least one person a day for donations. The fundraising goes until the end of the season or December 31, 2026. Cancer doesn't sleep and I am too serious about fighting it to stop. Of course, I am encouraged by the more money I garner in a season. And with a genetic component to pancreatic cancer discovered at Dana-Farber through genetic profiling, the very place and research I support, I'm more encouraged than ever. When the drug was first experimented with three years ago, there is a women who had stage 4 pancreatic cancer who is still alive today because of this drug that, essentially, shuts off the gene that's largely responsible for her cancer. That this comes out of Boston boosted on by the very money I am funding through my wonderful donors makes all this so real to me. So I thank Betsy and people like her, who, every year, donate to what is more than ever shown as a very good thing to do to save people with cancer. I appreciate this so much. But think how appreciative the person is who is living thanks to you all!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at fifteen knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The weather turned out to be better than expected. We had light northeast winds early that strengthened to twenty-three knots by 6:00 AM. The offshore buoys had the wind out of the north northeast at seventeen to twenty-three knots until the later morning. By noon, the wind had come fully northeast but only at ten knots. This hung on until 1:00 PM, when the wind dropped further still. By 3:00 PM, the wind was hardly even five knots. Along the shore, the ocean was calm by mid afternoon, glassy calm by 4:00 PM. When I went to bed there was no wind at all. The sky was clear all day. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 65°F according to the thermometer at home and the high in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Incidently, the air temperature under the canopy at low tide under the bright sun was 77°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 63°F (with a low of 53°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 43°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 45°F).
The day was, of course, centered around the restaurants. We had a good early afternoon lunch followed by, what I would call, a relaxing afternoon with just enough business to keep everyone busy. For patrons, it was really good on the deck. There were enough tables available and it was really warm out of the wind.
My sister, Meg, showed up to sit with some of our more regular patrons. It was nice to see her. She has retired but does come by every once and a while to visit. It was nice to see her.
The visibility stayed excellent all day. The sky was nearly cloudless all day. The wind blew out of the northeast and, then, east at as much as eighteen knots in gusts but was, generally, about fifteen knots for most of the day, dying out to about five knots out of the east at 6:00 PM. The wind did pick up again to about ten knots or less going into the night. The air temperature rose to the low high of 64°F. In the lee of the wind, on the deck of Barnacle Billy's, it was t-shirt weather or 75°F in the sun from opening to about 3:00 PM. It was lovely. I expect another day like this tomorrow. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 64°F (with a low of 51°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 36°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 44°F).
As this low pressure weather system churns in a nearly stationary position well south of Cape Cod, the isobars are getting closer together. Or, the winds are getting stronger. This storm is planted right between the Cape and Hatteras not two hundred miles or so offshore or about two hundred and fifty miles east of Cape Hatteras. The wind field of this system is enormous with threads of northeast wind affecting the Maine coast to the Delaware coast. My fear is that it will strengthen and move north, taking it right over Cape Cod, or worse, taking it outside Cape Cod and stalling again. The high pressure area above it is strong and holding it back for now. This has, pretty much, stymied the National Weather Service and prevented me from going fishing when it would have been fine to take the trip on Tuesday and, possibly, today. What worries me most is that this system could evolve into a sub-tropical storm similar to the "Perfect Storm" or even the blizzard of '78. Those two storms were a bit different as they became planted off our coast whereas this present one is south of us. I guess a lot depends on thunder storms becoming more prevalent in the middle of this whirling system, taping into the ocean heat energy, sending it aloft and creating more convection, increasing it's strength. The NWS, then, might be able to give it a name, which suggests that, if this happens, that they are agreeing with me. Wouldn't that be something? Right now the American model suggests a regular noreaster. The European model suggests my line of worst case scenario thinking. And, yes, I have put some time into working this whole weather scene out. Right now the water temperature in the area that the storm is located is about 78°F, which is plenty warm enough to create a heat rise into this thing. The fact that we have lighter wind than expected today makes me think that this system is becoming more tightly wound? And talk about tightly wound, take a look at super Hurricane Polo on the west coast of Mexico. Wow. Stay tuned.
I spent most of my time in the restaurant today, early in the morning, from noon until 3:00 PM and after 5:30 PM. Between times, I was working on Bunny Clark issues, visiting the eye doctor for my six month check, working out a plan for dealing with a noreaster or worse and visiting a high school cross country meet where my great nephew (and he is, certainly, a great nephew), Landon Mitchell, was competing. I rode up to the meet with Deb and my sister, Meg, Landon's grandmother. Landon's form is really good, in my opinion. He hasn't got that running maturity it takes to make him a winner yet. But, boy, the potential is there. He is a physical specimen. It will be interesting to see if he is interested in expanding his commitment to running or if he will just become an excellent well rounded athlete. I just know that it is very much fun watching him.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 46°F, the sky was crystal clear and full of stars, the wind was blowing out of the north at ten knots along the shore and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
As it has done every day since we had this easterly flow, the wind blew about fifteen knots out of the north to northeast and died in the afternoon. The wind gradually started dropping after noon. By 5:00 PM, we had three knots of wind in Perkins Cove. The sky stayed clear, almost cloudless, all day. The visibility remained excellent. The air temperature followed the same pattern it has been doing. Lows in the forties before daylight and a warming into the 60s by noon. The highest air temperature that I saw today was at home, a third of a mile from Perkins Cove. That reading value was 66°F. It was probably a bit cooler in the Cove. But you wouldn't know it sitting on the deck at Barnacle Billy's, in the sun and out of the wind. It was t-shirt weather there until about 4:00 PM, when it started to cool down. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 65°F (with a low of 49°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 39°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 66°F (with a low of 41°F).
The focus on most mariner's minds today was on the impending coast low centered off Cape Hatteras. It's so strange, this lack of movement north. There was so much talk about it strengthening into a sub-tropical storm. Looking at it in detail without any facts to go on, I believed it was getting stronger too. It could have. But it doesn't seem to be now. And the direction the European model is giving shows it going more ashore than out to sea, hitting the Rhode Island/Cape Cod area first before going east and out to see. This will spare us the huge seas (if the storm actually follows this path) we were predicted to get. So I'm cautious but optimistic. Rainfall totals are an enigma to me now. We will have to see how that goes. How long it will linger in our coastal waters is also and unknown as well. It almost looks like it will be tough to get Tuesday's trip in. I would hate to miss another trip. We shall see.
As I wasn't on the marathon trip yesterday, I was in the restaurant all afternoon and into the night. I was also having a water shut off put in the house in the afternoon. So I had to keep going back and forth between the restaurant and the house. It was only a couple of times, really. But it was on my mind until it was completed.
Our border collie, Gill, seems to be maintaining the same level of health. Who knows what's going on internally. But he is still happy, still waiting for me in anticipation to take him to the Cove, still eating his food (although, he has to be coaxed at times) and still sniffing around every bush, hedge and fire hydrant whenever I take him walking anywhere. This is good.
And, yes, we could have sailed today.
The sky stayed clear for part of the morning with clouds moving in later. The afternoon saw mostly overcast skies with clear breaks. There was no hint of rain. The wind blew out of the north to northeast at fifteen knots with higher gusts and seven or eight foot seas (according to the weather buoys). The wind dropped off to five knots before sunset but stayed about eight to ten knots offshore of us, again, as observed by the offshore weather buoys. The visibility over the ocean remained excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 69°F in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I didn't look at the thermometer but once and saw 67°F as a high. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 64°F (with a low of 50°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 74°F (with a low of 36°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 41°F).
I neglected to mention the tying of storm lines the day before. This morning, I secured these storm lines, making sure we were ready for the worst. There is quite a surge in Perkins Cove with boats moving fore and aft. It was amazing that so much surge was experienced with such small seas. Seas ranged from seven to eight feet, at most.
Aside from securing our boats in the Cove, it was, again, Friday. So I was down at the restaurants from 4:30 AM until 9:00 AM. At noon and a bit before, we had splash over in the "corral" parking lot across from Barnacle Billy's (Original). It wasn't enough to move cars. But it might be tomorrow at high tide at noon. It depends on how much easterly wind we get.
The rest of the day I went between restaurants, talking to patrons as I usually do.
I received a very generous $500.00 donation from Dennis Pietro (NH) sponsoring me in the season's Pan-Mass Challenge. Dennis has been an excellent fishing patron of mine and an excellent angler. He is responsible for hooking the largest fish that has ever been hooked on the Bunny Clark. Between him and Shane Anderson, they brought a 26' basking shark to gaff after three hours of fighting it and seven miles of chasing it around with the Bunny Clark. Of course, when we got it to the boat we cut the jig off the line that it had lodged in the corner of it's mouth. Thank you for the special gift, Dennis. This is so very much appreciated by so many!
The sky became more overcast as the day progressed, totally overcast by noon. We had a hint of rain at 10:30 AM. This was not enough to see it on the ground and was only evident on the truck windshield. We had periodic rain starting at 4:00 PM and more continuous light rain after 7:00 PM. According to the closest weather buoy, the wind strength ranged from twenty to thirty knots for most of the day and twenty-five to thirty-five knots after sunset until midnight. We had a light splash-over in the parking lot of Barnacle Billy's from 11:00 AM until almost 1:00 PM. This was not steady. Seas at the time were averaging about 8', again, according to the closest weather buoy. The surge in the Cove wasn't horrible. The visibility dropped as the day went on. Looking over the ocean, it was good with mist and haze. The air temperature reached a high of 66°F, that I saw. It was mild, for sure. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 61°F (with a low of 55°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 55°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 71°F (with a low of 56°F).
At 6:00 AM, the strong low pressure system was east of Washington, D. C., about one hundred and fifty miles or more. It was inching it's way north, expecting to strike Rhode Island and then move around the Cape Cod region. I don't think anyone can tell me definitively what is going to happen. Another model I looked at this morning showed it continuing inland. I'm not sure I have ever experienced a storm quite like this one. I have no idea what is going to happen. The National Weather Service has downgraded the wind strength in the offshore weather forecast to twenty to thirty knots for today and Sunday. The inshore forecast is the same except they predict gusts to forty-five knots. Nine to thirteen foot seas are predicted for the inshore while nine to fifteen foot seas are predicted for the offshore. I have no idea what is going to play out. We are prepared for gale strength winds but my feeling is that they will be less. But I'm certainly not convinced of anything right now.
At this same time, Frank Blount and his Francis Fleet in Point Judith, Rhode Island were experiencing light rain and forty knots of wind. I didn't ask Frank about the tides at the time. But he did send me digital images of his boats with the water almost level with the parking lot next to them. I assumed that it would be problematic for him but it turned out to be okay.
We some minor splash-over in the parking lot in to the ocean side of Barnacle Billy's. For a while, the valet's parked cars closer to the road away from the ocean side of the lot. That lasted about an hour before normal parking resumed. The rest of the day was fine, as the next high tide would occur at midnight.
This is normally my day to spend at the restaurant. Except for a nap in the afternoon, I was there from noon on. Originally, I thought I would have to go down early. But that proved to be unnecessary. Instead, I used that time to go for a four mile run with a session on the stat bike afterward.
Business at the two restaurants was not much with the weather report and the weather. We did have a large number of people walking the Marginal Way to see the surf.
Around 9:00 AM, it started to rain in earnest. That was also at the same time I decided to go for a walk/run. It rained for the whole time I was out, getting drenching wet in the process. As runners know, as long as you keep running, you will stay warm. So I ran, mostly. The rain continued after I stopped running but let up, somewhat, when I walked to the Cove from the house to start work at noon. My walk takes me right in front of the parking lot in front of Barnacle Billy's. So I had to time it, between waves crashing over the rocks onto the parking lot, to run through without getting soaked. I, actually, mis-timed it but the wave I needed to avoid was small enough as to not break over into the parking lot and over me. Thus I made it to work, dry.
The wind started to pick up on the tide, around noon. Wind speeds increased to a sustained thirty knots with gusts just shy of forty knots. Wave heights remained at ten feet or less through all this wind. I found this incredible. But it wasn't as if the storm was directly east of us. We were still protected by Cape Cod. Had the storm been to the east of us, we would have seen seas over twenty feet. And, when the National Weather Service predicted that it would move around Cape Cod and park itself out in front of us, seas were predicted to be as much as twenty-five feet. I'm so glad this didn't happen. The wind never slacked off all day, the seas never got larger, the rain never stopped (albeit, it was a misty rain for the rest of the day with the occasional rare moment when it poured) and no one lost power because the wind never got to the 40 knots value. We really lucked out. The visibility over the ocean was just good at best. The air temperature never got higher than 58°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 60°F (with a low of 56°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 61°F (with a low of 56°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 58°F (with a low of 54°F).
The storm was still only a hundred miles south of the south shore of Long Island at 6:00 AM. But it appeared to be losing steam down there. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet told me that it was blowing twenty to thirty knots off Point Judith, Rhode Island. It was blowing that here at the time he told me this. I wonder if it picked up in speed like it did here during the day. We had a little bit of splash-over in the parking lot at 1:00 AM this morning. The splash over at noon was a bit more than yesterday at high tide. But not as much as I would have expected. The tide in the Cove rose two more feet than it did yesterday, lifting the dock leaves up. I saw this at noon and got help to take the leaves up, out and to higher ground for fear of having them float off. This may not have been warranted but piece of mind is worth much in a storm like this.
The business reflected the weather. We didn't have much. At times, we only had a single table in the house. It was worth staying open even if employee pay was greater than the gross sales.
I worked until 5:30 PM. Deb and I came down later for dinner as it was so quiet.
The Calypso King of the Caribbean, the Mighty Sparrow, died today at ninety-one years old. He was my favorite artist when I was running sailboats through the Caribbean winters from 1975 through 1985. His songs like Jean and Dinah, Congo Man and Erasmus B. Black were funny, witty, right on the edge and commented on social mores and politics. The music and melody were the best of any Calypso band and he won many awards for his music, particularly in Trinidad. I loved his music and brought it up north. No band was better, in my mind. He had a deep baritone voice that shook the Caribbean. And every year I would head down there, the first thought on my mind was; "Will Sparrow have a new song?" He always did. I can remember bringing my people to Anguilla and running into a guy who had pirated Sparrow tapes. It was like Christmas. And I played these tapes in my truck until the tapes died. If you look in Apple Music or Spotify, you won't find all his best songs, unfortunately. Some of the songs would never be socially acceptable here on radio. I do play the music I have found on Spotify and I have downloaded a few from Apple Music. But they will never match seeing him live at Carnival or living the experience of his music in the Caribbean. A sad loss indeed.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the sky was overcast, it was drizzling rain, the wind was out of the northeast at twenty-five to over thirty knots with reported seas of ten feet and the visibility over the ocean was good in haze and mist. More later.
The storm was still pretty bad in southern Maine. With this lingering on through the night, no fisherman clearing storm lines before tomorrow, seas at the mouth and trying to leave in the dark, I have canceled tomorrow's fishing trip. I didn't want to. But I couldn't see us being able to complete it. That, and all the flotsam that is out there on the surface, makes it hard to even think about going. Better days are coming. I'm looking forward to Thursday.
The wind blew out of the north northeast at twenty-five to thirty knots until almost the middle of the afternoon. Around 2:30 PM, I noticed that the gusts weren't quite as strong, although strong enough. There was splash over again at the seaward side of the parking lot. It was about the same as it was the last couple of days. The tide was as high as the day before with the Cove water level slightly over the lower part of the Barnacle Billy's dock and the ramp inclined up to the float attached to it. It rained all day, heavy at times. The wind made it worse. Seas were still ten feet. But, still, no higher. As I've said before, had this system been parked outside of us, it could have been so much worse. At sunset, wind had gusts over twenty knots while sustained winds were less. The visibility was good, at best. It never stopped raining while I was awake. The highest air temperature that I saw was 58°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 58°F (with a low of 56°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 56°F (with a low of 54°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 56°F (with a low of 54°F).
I spent my time checking the boat and working in both restaurants. As was true yesterday, the restaurants suffered for business. The rain all day made it hard for people to be outside. We did have people on the Marginal Way watching the surf. I left the restaurants before 7:00 PM.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the sky was overcast, it was drizzling very light rain, the wind was light out of the north and the visibility over the ocean was good in haze and mist.
The wind blew up to, maybe, fifteen knots out of the north at daylight. By later morning, the wind had already dropped to about eight knots. There was no wind at noon. In fact, by 2:00 PM, you could have lit a candle and walked along the beach without it blowing out. The afternoon saw the ocean in front of Oarweek Cove a mirror of calmness. At that point, I wanted to kick myself in the ass for not taking the Bunny Clark out. But, on the other hand, I couldn't have left the float until 6:00 AM, waiting for others to pull the storm lines out of the way. And there wasn't a guarantee that that was going to happen. So gypped out of three trips in a row. The sky became partly cloudy but was overcast for most of the day. The visibility went from good to excellent before noon. The air temperature reached a high of 66°F, that I saw. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 66°F (with a low of 56°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 55°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 55°F).
I left shortly after 5:00 AM to bring Gill, our border collie, with the Bunny Clark truck to the Cove. At the same time I was looking at the Cove to see if there was any surge left. There was very little. In fact, there was so little that I took the bow storm lines that led from the bow of the BC to the shore and town floats off. I coiled the lines on the bow. I will leave them there through the day so they will dry out and weigh less when I carry them up to the truck and, later, the house. A couple of lobstermen were also taking storm lines off so they could get out fishing.
Regardless of the weather, there were only three lobster boats who sailed today. I spent my time in the morning getting the Bunny Clark ready to sail on Thursday. This was mostly my stuff. I did spend some time getting the windows cleaned both inside and out so I can see better when heading out on the first trip in nearly two weeks.
The rest of my day was spent at the restaurants. Nothing out of the ordinary happened except that I decided, probably wrongly, to walk Gill to the Cove to get the Bunny Clark truck after work. We had no problem until we got to Barnacle Billy's. After that, Gill had a problem, more of a problem with his right back leg. I thought I was going to have to carry him the rest of the way. He was limping more than normal for the rest of the night. Heart rending stuff.
The sky stayed overcast for most of the day. Partly cloudy skies arrived at 4:00 PM. It was nice to see the sun. The visibility was excellent all day. The wind, when there was some, was light and variable in direction. The ocean along the shore stayed calm all day. The air temperature reached a high of 64°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 66°F (with a low of 60°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 55°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 56°F).
I spent a couple hours in the morning taking down storm lines, bringing them home and getting the Bunny Clark ready for tomorrow's fishing trip. The rest of the day I spent in the restaurants. Nothing exciting happened today except that Gill made it back home okay this morning after bringing the truck down to the Cove. He was limping less than he was last night.
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, the sky was clear with a waning, almost half moon high overhead, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was very good in some haze and partial fog.
When I got up at 1:00 AM this morning, I looked outside to find Boon Island light but found thick fog instead. Ground fog, obviously, as the moon was shinning overhead in a nearly cloudless sky. There was less fog when I got to the dock with Gill in tow. Gill hunkered down at the head of the dock and watched as I got the boat ready to roll. There was no fog left when I lifted Gill back into the truck to go home and wait for Danny to grab the truck to take back down there.
When we poked our nose out between the gate we had haze but no fog. The air temperature had risen to 59°F and the sky was mostly cloudy. In fact, it was cloudy all the way to the fishing grounds. We saw the sun at sunrise as it appeared over the eastern horizon but it was quickly lost in the clouds after a sun's width. There was only a narrow band of clear ahead of us for most of the continuing ride. We carried a water temperature of 57°F all the way to our destination. The wind was light out of the south southwest. This turned into southwest with a third of the ride to go. Seas were about a foot in chops. The visibility for most of the ride was excellent.
On the fishing grounds, we had very light southwest wind. It might have been three knots at most. The ocean was flat with a wind ripple. The southwest wind increased all day, slowly, evenly. We had ten knots or more of southwest wind by the end of the trip. Seas increased to about two feet at most. The air temperature reached a high of 64°F. The visibility ranged to twenty-five miles. The tide (current) was strong all day. The sky cleared and was sunny almost all morning. After noon, the clouds rolled in for a period of overcast skies for the rest of the afternoon. The surface water temperature reached a high of 58°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature was 77°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 79°F (with a low of 59°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 54°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 72°F (with a low of 54°F).
The fishing was very good. If the tide hadn't been so strong, it would have been excellent. We had more tangles than normal because of it. Pollock also contributed to the tangles. The catching was excellent. Landings were excellent. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Too many pollock, really. Legal landings also included forty-seven haddock, eight cusk, three squid and twelve redfish. Released fish included two blue sharks, five small cod, four sub-legal haddock, three barndoor skates and fifty-eight small pollock. We didn't see a single dogfish. We anchored and drift fished. It didn't matter; the fishing was the same. Most of the haddock were caught on bait. Jigs and flies were best with the pollock.
Captain Jason Kenyon (NY) was probably high hook with the most legal fish (It could also have been Jason Ridolfi (NY). Reason being he (they) only got in one tangle all day. And like the other pros on the boat, he (they) had a fish a cast all day long. He (they) caught very few sub-legal fish. His biggest fish was a 10 pound pollock that he lost right next to the boat. I know it was 10 pounds because I weighed a smaller one a minute later to start the boat pool and that fish weighed 8 pounds.
Jonathan "Griff" Griffin (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 29.5 pound barndoor skate. This is the Bunny Clark's largest barndoor skate of the fishing season so far. It's also the Bunny Clark's sixth largest barndoor skate all time. It wasn't ten minutes later, Griff caught an 20 pound barndoor skate. This was the third largest fish of the trip. Griff has now caught three barndoor skates off the Bunny Clark. He too didn't get tangled which put him in high hook contention. His biggest pollock was 10 pounds. Jason Ridolfi (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 21 pound barndoor skate. This is his second barndoor skate with us on the Bunny Clark. He tied for the largest pollock of the trip with a 12 pounder.
Interestingly enough, Jason hooked his barndoor skate at the same time that Griff hooked the bigger one. However, I was in the bow with Jason when he hooked his, completely oblivious to Griff who was fishing in the cockpit and had the bigger of the two barndoor skates. Griff was actually having a harder time bringing his fish to the surface because he was using a reel with a 5 to 1 retreive ratio. Captain Bryan Lewer had stopped fishing by then and was helping both Danny and I with the crush of pollock we were experiencing. Bryan was watching Griff. And I told Bryan; "If Griff get's tangled with Jason, cut his line." Of course, I thought that Jason had a halibut; both fish fight similarly until the halibut reveals itself by making that initial run to bottom. When I finally figured out what was going on, I could see Jason's fish and could also see that Griff was well clear of Jason and his line. Both anglers were not only fighting their respective "flat" fish, they were also fighting the massive tide we were experiencing. At any rate, I'm glad that I didn't order Griff's line to be cut, damn glad!
We have now caught eighty-four barndoor skates by recreational anglers in the fifty-one years that I have owned boats to take people deep sea fishing. The first one that I ever heard of being caught by rod and reel happened with Captain Ian Keniston on the Bunny Clark, October 4, 2008. The fish was caught by Rick Gelaznik (MA), a very good friend of Griff's. And I believe that Griff was there that day as well. At the time, I was envious of Ian seeing the first one! Griff's last skate gives us nine barndoors caught this season so far. Griff becomes one of three anglers who have caught more than one barndoor skate on the same trip. A few years ago Steve Selmer (NH) caught two, a male and a female. This year, Dave Burton (MA) caught three barndoor skates on one trip.
Other Angler Hightlights: Captain Bryan Lewer (ME) caught the first good sized haddock of the trip at 5.5 pounds. He wanted a couple of haddock for his grandfather. He did that, two, plus a couple of pollock. . Peter Wiese (NJ) caught the first pollock I could weigh for the boat pool at 8 pounds. His biggest haddock weighed 5 pounds. Ray Westermann (MA) caught a haddock double, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. Both haddock weighed 4 pounds. I took a picture of Ray with his fish just as he caught them. This digital image appears on the left. Fred Kunz (NH), also a high hook contender who never had a single tangle, caught a haddock that weighed 5.25 pounds. I took a picture of his fish. This digital image appears on the right. His two biggest pollock weighed 11 pounds and 11.5 pounds. Bruce Andersen (FL) boated a 6 pound haddock, the largest haddock of the trip, and a 5 pound haddock, his two "best" fish. He caught several pollock in the 8 plus pound size range.
Howard Smith (VT) caught a 5 pound haddock and lots of pollock. Nino Pierdipino (NY) caught the first good double of the day. His double included an 8.5 pound pollock and a 9 pound pollock. His biggest haddock weighed 5 pounds. Bill Kelson (MA) caught the biggest double of the day. It included a 7 pound pollock and a 12 pound pollock. Of course, the 12 pound pollock tied for the biggest pollock of the trip. Galen Rhode (VT) caught a 10 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Darlene Chin (FL) also caught a 10 pound pollock. I believe that was her largest fish of the trip as well. Captain Shawn Rosenberger (PA) should have been high hook today but for his many tangles. Oh, for want of a hard luck of the day award t-shirt! His largest fish was also a 10 pound pollock.
I received four donations today from anglers aboard, sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge. Those anglers and their contributions to the cause included Galen Rhode for $50.00, Jason Ridolfi for $50.00, Bruce Andersen for $50.00 and Bill Kelson for $50.00. Thank you all so very much for your help and support. Very thoughful of you and very much appreciated by me, those who do all the research work and those patients who may never know those who were so generous and kind.
The air temperature was 76°F at 10:00 AM when I stepped outside to go for a five mile run. It was also humid. I was not accustomed to running with it so warm. After every mile I considered walking but kept deciding against it. But it took me a while to recover. Even after a shower, my face was still red. It was a summer day in the fall today.
The wind blew out of the south all morning and most of the afternoon. Before sunset, the wind had backed out of the north. It blew out of the north at five or six knots at first but, then, petered out to nothing. The ocean along the shore was flat calm when there was still light enough to notice. The sky was clear for most of the morning with clouds moving in around noon. For most of the afternoon, it looked like it was going to rain. It actually did rain around 4:00 PM. But it was so light as to only be noticed partially on the roads. There was no wind with the rain clouds. The sky became mostly clear going into the night. The visibility was excellent but went to very good in some haze later in the day. The air temperature got as high as 83°F in Ogunquit, tempered by the southerly wind after noon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 87°F (with a low of 66°F). Incidentally, the record high for this date in Boston occurred in 1954. That high temperature was 88°F, a degree off from today. 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 83°F (with a low of 59°F).
I spent a lot of time on the website this morning. So much time that I could only do a run for exercise before going in to work. I would have walked with running intervals had I had more time. Running the whole route takes less time, more bang for the buck, so to say. Probably not as good for me and I could get injured. But it turned out okay. Of course, it's also the day, Friday, when I open up the restaurants. I was down in the Cove at 4:30 AM opening restaurants and doing my chores around there before walking Gill back home with me, after leaving the Bunny Clark truck in it's parking place. I worked on the website before I went to the Cove, for half hour while there and after getting back home. I almost thought I would have to finish it up tomorrow. But I managed to get it all day. It takes up more time when I have to do research on the fish we catch on a given trip.
The rest of the day was spent in the restaurants. I had lunch with Bob Cary and his wife, Janet, while there. Bob's father was my father's first accountant when he started Barnacle Billy's in 1961. Bob took over from his father and was also my accountant. He gave me advice on buying my first fishing boat, starting a fishing business and throughout my life until he retired a few years ago. A good personal friend of the family, it was wonderful to talk to him and Janet.
I worked through the day until I left to go home at 6:30 PM.
It was a beautiful fall day today, all day. The sky was clear with a bright sun, the visibility remained excellent all day and the air temperature, although cooler than most days, was just warm enough in the sun to be very pleasant in the garden patio at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. and warm on the deck at Billy's. The highest air temperature that I saw was 66°F. The wind started out from the north until later morning, when it hauled easterly. We had an east wind for most of the afternoon that hauled southeast at the end. A southerly wind rounded off the day after sunset. Most of the wind today was less than ten knots. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 67°F (with a low of 54°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 69°F (with a low of 42°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 68°F (with a low of 47°F).
I didn't go near the Bunny Clark today. It was all restaurants for me today. I did have some desk work at home to clean up, in the morning. I ended up leaving the restaurants at 7:45 PM. Nothing extra special went on today in my world, except the weather. It was a typical warm October fall day. The garden patio at Etc. stayed active, even after sunset. But the cooler air temperature at night kept the business light after 7:00 PM. My brother, Court, used to call it the "insect theory".
This was the first day that our border collie, Gill, didn't show any interest in going to the Cove in the truck. After I came back from the Cove, he seemed disappointed that he didn't go. But I tried everything to get him to come with me. I even tried to lift his backside up off the floor. He is a very stubborn dog, though. I think he had regrets.
We had a light easterly or northeast wind in the morning that blew up to ten knots or so closer to noon. This wind didn't really back off in the afternoon as expected but kept blowing about eight knots, more or less, through into the night. You could still hear the bell buoy ringing as I went to bed. The visibility was excellent all day. The sky was mostly clear with a few clouds here and there. It was cooler today. The highest air temperature that I witnessed was 63°F. That was sometime around noon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 63°F (with a low of 50°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 36°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 42°F).
I spent about two hours on the Bunny Clark today, changing filters and getting her ready for the Tuesday trip. It looks like there will be a bit of wind on Tuesday but not horrible and, definitely doable.
I had planned to attend a meeting about taking on a new manager at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. That fell through as she was needed to take someone's place where she is working now. This gave me the extra time needed to complete the Bunny Clark stuff. I went right from there to working in the restaurants. It was a very nice day. In the lee of the Barnacle Billy's, on the deck, it was warm, again. The wind was out of the east. So, with the sun out, it was beautiful and calm.
I keep getting drawn back to when my father was running the restaurants. There were some people from Michigan and California who were eating lobsters for the first time. The had ordered 2 pounders. Showing one of the women at the table, I went through the whole process of how to take one apart and eat it from each individual leg, through the tamale and into the body. It reminded me so much of what my father used to do. I even hear the sound of his laugh when I laugh. Although, my brother looks more like my father than I do.
The wind started out light out of the northwest or west, then west. Wind speeds were about ten knots at noon. Offshore a bit, it was southerly at ten knots while it was light northwest in Perkins Cove. Right around 2:00 PM, the wind started to howl from the west northwest. Wind speeds reached twenty-five knots or more. There were gusts to thirty knots at times. The wind started to drop at 4:00 PM. It was westerly then with speeds of twenty knots, more or less. The sky was almost overcast for most of the early part of the morning. We had clearing after noon. For most of the afternoon, the sky was clear with scattered cumulus clouds. the visibility was excellent all day. The air temperature reached a high of 70°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 71°F (with a low of 53°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 44°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 at the restaurants and, between times, working on getting the Bunny Clark ready to sail. Nothing very exciting happened today.
I had this guy, Nick Johnson interview me the other day. He's a YouTube influencer. YouTube.com@InterviewsAcrossAmerica (YouTube.com@Nick.Johnson). I don't watch myself in these things but people have told me about it. Check it out if you are interested.
At 3:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 46°F, the sky was crystal clear with the planet, Jupiter (our largest planet in our solar system), right next to a crescent moon just above the horizon in the east, the flags were, again, limp in Perkins Cove (the closest weather buoy report was giving twenty to twenty-five knots) and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
We left the gate with a noticeable wind from behind. The air temperature at that time was 45°F with a surface water temperature of 56°F. The water temperature would drop two degrees before we reached the fishing grounds. But the air temperature would rise a couple of degrees. The wind was out of the west at speeds over twenty knots, more as we got further off. Near the grounds, we were surfing down the chops but feeling okay because it was behind us. But, also, anticipating the first stop and our nose right into it. The sky was clear, the visibility was excellent and the seas were four to five feet when we got close to our first stop.
On the fishing grounds, the wind and seas were all that I expected them to be. Seas were four to five feet with the occasional queer one and the wind was, pretty much, a sustained twenty-five knots with higher gusts. This would come and go, as westerly through northwest winds do. Pumping winds are what we expect in weather like this. There was a time during the day when the seas were about three feet, more or less. The tide and the wind were heading in the same direction at that time. This didn't last. The wind started out of the west, was west northwest for a while and northwest at the end. The wind stayed at twenty-five knots, more or less, the whole day. Seas were also, pretty much, the same throughout the day. It was choppy; there was no doubt. The air temperature reached a high of 53°F. The visibility ranged to over thirty-five miles. The sky was clear with few clouds; the westerly component of the wind being responsible for that. The tide (current) was moderate to fairly strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 55°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature was 62°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 63°F (with a low of 47°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 62°F (with a low of 33°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 40°F).
The fishing was tainted by my lack of mobility, the ability to move quickly from spot to spot, regardless of direction. I was hampered by the seas and wind. So I planned for that. However, all the planning in the world doesn't put you in the minds and movements of the fish. The fishing itself was just about excellent. There wasn't enough tide to bother us on anchor and the drifting was about as good as it gets if you know how to cast. I wouldn't say that the bite was great. The fish seemed to shy away from us either anchoring or drifting. But it was certainly better on anchor. The catching was good on the desired species, very good on the dogfish. Landings were good overall. Very good for size. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included two cod, five cusk, five haddock, a whiting, two mud hake, a couple squid and fifty-five or more mackerel. Released fish included fourteen sub-legal cod, two sub-legal haddock, four sub-legal pollock, one sub-legal redfish, over seventy-eight dogfish and a couple mackerel. We did see a blue shark that didn't seem interested enough in us. As you can see, we saw very few small fish of any species. Jigs and cod flies worked the best. Bait caught mostly dogfish.
I believe that Fred Kunz was high hook with the most legal fish. Mark Girard (NH) was close as was Bryan Lewer (ME). Rory MacEachern (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 19.5 pound pollock. This is the Bunny Clark's third largest pollock of the fishing season to date, by a half pound. I took a picture of Rory holding his prize fish. This digital image appears on the left. Some of his other fish included a 12.5 pound pollock, an 11.5 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock. His best double included a 9.5 pound pollock and a 10.5 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. Mark Girard won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 17 pound pollock. This fish ties for the eighth largest pollock caught on the Bunny Clark this season so far. He also lost a massive pollock, probably a big double on the first drop, as the first angler to get to bottom with his line. He broke off. He thought it was a shark, it happened so fast. My first thought was a tuna - which it also could have been. We will never know for sure. Some of Mark's other fish included an 11 pound pollock, a 13.5 pound pollock, a 12.5 pound pollock, a 10.5 pound pollock and 12 pound pollock. His best double included a 9.5 pound pollock and a 13 pound pollock. Fred Kunz caught the third largest fish, a 16 pound pollock. Some of his other notable fish included two pollock of 12.5 pounds each, a 12 pound pollock and a 15.5 pound pollock, the fourth largest fish of the trip. He also caught three of the five legal haddock boated today. His best double included a 7 pound pollock and another 12 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Bryan Lewer caught a 13 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Dave Burton (MA) caught a 14 pound pollock, a 12 pound pollock and a 10.5 pound pollock. Shawn Rosenberger (PA) caught an 11 pound pollock and a 13 pound pollock, his two biggest fish. He also lost three good fish on the surface, one was a nice sized haddock. Darlene Chin (FL) had a touch of the mal de mer. She hid it well. When I asked her how she was doing near the end of the day she replied; "I've been sea sick all day." I never would have known. She never stopped fishing until the very end when the spot had slowed and it was almost time to quit. Very few anglers would bend to the rail like Darlene when sea sick. Most would not fish at all! Her best fish included a 14.5 pound pollock, two pollock of 11 pounds each and a 15 pound pollock. She caught the only two sub-legal haddock. I was able to fish for a while. I caught a pollock that wasn't 10 pounds. Maybe 7 pounds? But I lost a huge pollock that I never really got off the bottom for, what seemed like, forever. I finally managed to get it, maybe, twenty or more feet off the bottom and lost it. I probably foul hooked the fish.
I received three donations sponsoring me in my cancer research project with the Pan-Mass Challenge, the Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. This from anglers who have been very generous over the twenty years that I have been involved. Those anglers included Dave Burton for $60.00, Mark Girard for $70.00 and Fred Kunz for $10.00. Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness and continued support of cancer research. One hundred percent of you donation goes to the researchers who I support, no percentage of it goes to administrative costs. I really appreciate the support and your generosity, of course!
The sky was cloudless all morning and, nearly so, the rest of the day. The visibility was excellent. There was no wind during the early part of the morning. When the wind did come up, it was about 11:00 AM, out of the south. It blew out of the south at ten to fifteen knots by noon, but fifteen to twenty knots by 2:00 PM. White caps could be seen from shore. The southerly wind was starting to die a bit when I went to bed. The air temperature reached a high of 63°F, that I saw. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 66°F (with a low of 43°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 29°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 59°F (with a low of 33°F).
I spent most of the morning getting ready for the trip tomorrow. By noon, I was back in the restaurants. I had an hour meeting during the mid-afternoon. Afterward, I warmed the engine of the Bunny Clark up and moved the boat to southern end of the float, so I head straight to the bridge once the lines were untied. I left for home at 5:30 PM.
I can tell you that I am some sick of the political ads on TV. I don't watch TV. I love movies. And I am very fond of the streaming services. Deb has the TV on in the background when she is in the kitchen. It seems like every time I walk through, there is some negative ad about a politician running for office. November can't come soon enough.
At 3:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F(50°F in the Cove), the sky was clear with limited stars (a tad hazy), the wind was blowing eight knots out of the west in Perkins Cove and the visibility over the ocean seemed very good to excellent.
It started to rain just as we were leaving the dock to head down the channel to the open sea. Just a light rain. But I didn't expect it. I didn't even see the cloud it came from. Once we got to the gate, you could see the lower rib of the moon just making it's way above the horizon. It was so close to the horizon the lighted edge of the moon looked orange. The air temperature was 54°F a half mile outside the gate. At the same time, the surface water temperature was 55°F. We carried the same surface water temperature all the way to the fishing grounds. The sky was clear. The further we went out, the less stars we could see towards the western horizon. The visibility was very good. The wind was blowing a solid twenty knots for the first half of the ride out. Less for the second half. Seas were four to five feet in chops for the first half of the trip out, four feet or less until we arrived at our destination.
On the fishing grounds, the wind was out of the southwest at fifteen to twenty knots. Seas were about four feet or less with the occasional queer one. rain clouds approached from the west. Before they arrived we had lightning and a clap of thunder. It poured for the better part of an hour. It must have been between 8 and 9:00 AM in the morning. We had no rain for the rest of the day. The wind and seas diminished all day. By 10:00 AM, the wind had dropped to fifteen knots with a three foot chop, mostly left over from the earlier wind. The sky had cleared. By noon, the wind was out of the west at ten knots or more. We had a two foot roll over a half foot chop driven by a light westerly wind, when it was time to leave to head back. The air temperature reached a high of 60°F. The visibility ranged to thirty miles. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The surface water stayed at 55°F all day.
Two thirds of the way back to Perkins Cove, we had a fifteen to twenty knot west northwest wind come up including a two foot chop. We carried this all the way to the gate.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature was 73°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 73°F (with a low of 56°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°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 49°F).
The fishing was very good, bordering on excellent. We could drift or anchor, depending on how I thought that we should attack the fish. The drift was perfect all day. Maybe if you include the dogfish, it was very good. But they really weren't much of a distraction. The catching was very good most of the day. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Almost everywhere we went we found pollock. On one spot the pollock were of very good size. Legal landings also included seven squid, five cod, three cusk, eleven haddock, eight redfish and two whiting. Released fish included one smallish bluefin tuna, nineteen sub-legal cod, two sub-legal haddock, one pee-wee monkfish, twenty-seven sub-legal pollock and a sculpin. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Mark Girard (NH) was high hook with the most legal fish. The largest fish of his that I weighed was a 10.5 pound pollock. Shawn Rosenberger (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 17 pound cod. This is the fourth largest cod that has been caught on the Bunny Clark this season so far. I took a picture of Shawn holding this cod. This digital image appears on the left. Shawn also caught our second largest monkfish of the season, a 2 pound peewee. I also took a picture of Shawn holding the monkfish. This digital image appears on the right. His two biggest pollock weighed 13 pounds and 13.5 pounds. Nolan Signor (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 15.25 pound pollock. Nolan also caught a pollock that weighed 11.5 pounds. The third largest fish was a 14 pound pollock caught by Pat Sweenor.(NY).
Other Angler Hightlights: Dallas Jackson (NY) caught one of the first fish that I could weigh for the boat pool, an 11 pound pollock. Rodney Sharp (NY) caught two pollock of 10 pounds each. His biggest fish would have been a small bluefin tuna that he hooked near the end of the trip. The fish changed directions so quickly and was so fast that it got everyone tangled and broke off. It happened so fast that there was nothing Rodney could do. After last year, Bill DiBello (NY) has turned into such a good fisherman, I expect him to catch something wonderful. This year he held his own. His largest fish was an 11.5 pound pollock. Alan Thomas (NY), new to the Bunny Clark and deep sea fishing, caught a 10.25 pound pollock as his biggest fish. But he caught plenty of fish today. The pollock is the biggest fish he has ever caught. It was the first pollock that he has ever seen.
I received two donations sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge today. The event is a cycling event to raise money for a very specific group of researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. One hundred percent of the donation goes to these researchers. No percentage goes to administrative costs as the event is underwritten by businesses in the Boston area. Today's donors included Mark Girard for $100.00. Mark has been supporting me in the endeavor since I got involved twenty years ago. He has been very thoughtful and, certainly, generous. He never forgets me and this project. Stuffy House (NY), one of the most underrated anglers on the boat today, donated $20.00. Thank you both so very much for your kindness and help. So many people appreciate this so much!
The visibility stayed excellent all day. The sky remained clear with many cumulus clouds over the Cove after noon. The wind blew out of the west for almost all morning and afternoon. After noon, the westerly wind went from ten knots to fifteen and over twenty knots at times. In the Cove, it was more west northwest or northwest after noon. Offshore, the wind was out of the west. Not the best wind for groundfishing but not the worst. The air temperature reached a high of 68°F, mostly because of the westerly component of the wind. It would have been cooler if it were directly out of the northwest. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 69°F (with a low of 55°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 38°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 65°F (with a low of 43°F).
As I say every Friday, this is my morning to open the restaurants. I was down in the Cove with Gill at 4:45 AM, getting everything open and getting prepared for the employees. I had a few other items to prepare for. I had a meeting after noon. And I had the added desk work that I never did get done today. Since this is the first day before the big Columbus Day Weekend, it was like old home week with so many regular patrons I enjoyed seeing and talking to. I was actually going to stay later than normal today but, instead, I decided to stay with the plan and leave at 6:00 PM. Most of our regulars show up before 6:00 PM.
The sky was cloudless all morning and most of the day today. The visibility remained excellent throughout the day. The wind blew out of the west northwest or west at fifteen to twenty knots in the morning, tapering off during the mid morning and dropping off a bit more in the afternoon. We had about eight knots of westerly wind by 5:00 PM. The air temperature got as high as it was going to get a bit after noon. I saw 60°F. It could have been a bit higher. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 63°F (with a low of 49°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 60°F (with a low of 33°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 36°F).
It's amazing what a good weather prediction can do well before a holiday weekend, particularly when the weather prediction proves to be right. Take into account that it's "leaf peeper season" and it's the last big weekend until the winter and you have what Ogunquit saw today; a lot of people. Every establishment in town was busy today. And people were very happy, it seemed everywhere I went. It's also a weekend where I seem to know everyone who comes to dine at our restaurants. So I was busy talking to patrons from the moment we opened until we closed. The day moved like it was on jet engines. The day goes by like a shot for me, these days, anyway. It seemed faster today.
I have to say that Gill, our border collie, is not doing as well. He won't eat. We have changed his food to see if that would make a difference. It doesn't. We both have spoon fed the dog. That worked for a while. Then it would work for half his food. Now he just doesn't seem interested. He is still interested in going to the Cove in the truck with me. At least, he was today. It's harder every time. We will have to see what tomorrow morning brings. It's hard because he was always such an active dog. And he still wants to be. But he can't walk very well. So we can't take him anywhere as it hurts his legs. Walking him up from the Cove has worked. But walking him down to the Cove to get the truck in the same day makes him lame and, the last time, I thought I would have to carry him the rest of the way. He weighs 65 pounds. So we wait and see for the final time to come. It's truly sad.
By 8:00 AM, clouds were starting to fill the sky from the west. By 10:00 AM, it was fully overcast. We had a sprinkle of rain around 2:00 PM. Other than that, we saw no rain until 6:30 PM. The rain continued at a steady rate on into the night and all night. The visbility remained excellent until after sunset when it dropped down a couple notches. At about the time it became fully overcast, the wind was freshening out of the south southwest. By noon, we had twelve knots of it. It continued out of the southwest for the rest of the day with wind speeds less than ten knots. So, not really much wind. The air temperature reached a high of just under 60°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 60°F (with a low of 48°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 56°F (with a low of 34°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 56°F (with a low of 35°F).
Business was off because of the weather report. But it was better than it was on this date last year. We had the beginnings of a minor nor'easter last year on this date with thirty knots of northeast wind blowing across the parking lot. They do call for northeast wind on Tuesday, which isn't great for us taking a fishing trip. This is unfortunate. I'll call the trip, one way or the other around noon.
I stayed later at the restaurant than I normally would with this being a holiday weekend. I left to go home at 7:30 PM.
The morning showed us almost no wind until late morning. And, even then, the wind speeds were five or six knots at most. After noon we had an established wind out of the south southwest at ten knots. This wind direction and, maybe, a slightly stronger wind speed remained the same throughout the afternoon. In the Cove, we hardly felt any wind at all because of the wind direction. By sunset, there was no wind at all with a calm ocean surface in front of the Cove. The sky was clear with few clouds all day. The visibility was excellent. The high air temperature, which I saw at 71°F, was probably higher than what I saw. On the deck at Barnacle Billy's, it was more like a mild summer day devoid of wind and air temperatures in the sun in the mid to upper 70s. My father would have certainly called this a "111". In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 71°F (with a low of 50°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 71°F (with a low of 48°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 71°F (with a low of 49°F). This is the first day in 2026 where every high air temperature is the same.
At 11:30 PM, last night, I got up with Gill and stayed up with him until my wife, Deb, got up. Then I went back to bed. He's wasn't doing very well and it's the very first time that he really looked unhappy. It's been a struggle for the last week. But he seemed to enjoy life, albeit, a bit harder to walk for him. I took him with me to the Cove with the Bunny Clark truck because he showed a strong desire to go this morning. But it was tough walking home. And, despite the mobility issues, he sniffed around on a lower scale but seemed happy enough doing so. This was the last time we would make the walk from the Cove to the house. It's hard not to be selfish with an animal that you have grown to love. It can't help but be a subjective decision as to when to end it in a situation such as this. A sad day indeed.
I don't think we waited too long. I think we waited just the right amount of time. By 10:00 AM, he laid down and just didn't want to get up. Before then, we made a call to a service we use that sends out a tech to euthanize animals. The time we were able to get her here was just before 2:00 PM. Of the three shots that were given to the dog, the first to anesthetize Gill, he didn't even flinch, which is unlike him. The whole process was fairly quick by ultimately sad. But I believe he had a great life with us. And I certainly enjoyed having the dog; one of the best dogs we have ever had, our fifth. This put a damper on the day. And, as I write this now, at 7:30 AM, October 13th, I'm still melancholy and finding it hard to adapt to the day.
I canceled tomorrow's fishing trip today with the weather report. Any other wind direction I wouldn't have called it. But northeast is so hard to leave the Cove with a lee shore and seas right on the nose all the way to the fishing grounds. Although I hesitated to make the call, initially, when I made the call, I felt justified in so doing.
I spend the day at the restaurants. It was such a beautiful day, unlike many Columbus Day's. At this time of year you don't know what kind of weather to expect. So, to get a nice day like today is such a bonus. With good weather predictions and good weather following a good prediction, we get good business. Such was the result of the good weather today.
Having such a nice day on a day that seemed so sad also seemed so appropriate and almost like a stamp on the day that we did the right thing. You never know. And even time can't tell you that.
The wind continued to blow out of the northeast with a wind of about twenty knots, more or less, until mid morning. It would not have been a fun ride to the fishing grounds as, at most weather buoys, seas were approximately running at seven feet. That's a very slow go to the fishing grounds for the old Bunny Clark. Seas dropped to about five feet every seven seconds by noon. But that's still a good chop and uncomfortable. The wind was out of the northeast at fifteen knots, more or less, by then. By mid afternoon, the wind direction had hauled out of the east southeast and was blowing twenty to twenty-five knots. Seas were still in the five foot category but five feet every five seconds. So a steeper chop. It rained all day. And it was cold. I saw a high of 56°F in Perkins Cove with the wind blowing across the parking lot. This was later in the afternoon before the wind shift. It was a great day to stay home and watch Champions League football! In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 62°F (with a low of 53°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 58°F - at 1:25 AM - (with a low of 46°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 59°F - at 3:46 AM - (with a low of 43°F - at 2:24 PM).
After a 4 mile wet run in the morning, the rest of the day was spent at the restaurant. Business was slow. Nothing makes for a poor business day at Barnacle Billy's like a poor weather report followed by, actual, poor weather. As most know, the National Weather Service has a poor record of predictability for getting it right. Usually they side on a bad weather prediction first and tell about how good the weather was after.
One thing about seasonal weather and bad conditions; we have the fire places going and it's a great time to have a clam chowder followed by hot steamers and lobster in front of them.
I received a generous $100.00 donation sponsoring me in my cancer research project with the Pan-Mass Challenge from Jean-Denis Jacob (QC) today. This donation was sent as an "eGift" through the PMC site with the message; "After a loss, a small investment to continue what is meaningful in life.". Such a nice gift with such a nice message. Thank you so very much, Jean-Denis. This is very kind and thoughtful of you. And it's very much appreciated!
It took a couple of hours or more for the fog to clear out. The sky started losing clouds from 7:00 AM onwards. By mid morning the sun was out fully in a clear sky and the air temperature had risen to 57°F. Around noon, the clouds started rolling in again. By 2:00 PM, the sky was overcast again. Around 3:00 PM, it started to rain. It was so light that the roads only became spotted with water. By 4:00 PM, the sky was clearing from the west. By 5:00 PM, we had clear skies again. The visibility became excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 68°F. It was very pleasant. There was no wind today. I guess there was wind. But it was so light and variable in direction that we didn't see it in Perkins Cove. Indeed, the ocean along the shore was flat calm all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 77°F (with a low of 59°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 73°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 65°F (with a low of 46°F).
I spent some time on the Bunny Clark icing up the coolers, working on the bait situation, checking on the engine vitals, starting her up, provisioning her and getting all my things ready.
After I got back home, I caught up on other things. By noon, I was back at Barnacle Billy's doing my thing. There were a lot of people in the Cove today. Many were walking on the Marginal Way.
My sister, Meg, came to visit customers in the restaurant. This is where I saw her. It is always nice to have her in the building. I think retirement suits her.
At 3:15 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, the sky was crystal clear, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at fifteen knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
When we came out of the gate headed to the fishing grounds, the sky was so clear is looked like the stars we going to fall in the water ahead of us. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature was 52°F. The wind was blowing out of the northwest at fifteen knots. The surface water was 54°F. Half way to the fishing grounds, the wind hauled out of the north. Wind speeds increased to about twenty knots or a bit less. Seas went from two feet to three and four feet. The air temperature got slightly warmer but the water temperature stayed about the same.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the north at twenty knots upon arrival. It increased to a sustained twenty-five knots and stayed that way for a couple hours at least with some higher gusts. Seas were four to five feet with many queer ones in between. We did see the occasional six to seven footer. But those were rare. The northerly wind died out very slowly during the day. Winds at noon were northerly still but only about fifteen knots, more or less, with a two to three foot chop. There was no swell today. When I finally called the day, the wind was very light from the north northwest. Seas were about a foot. The air temperature reached a high of 60°F with the wind drop. The visibility ranged to over thirty miles. The tide (current) was strong all day. The sky was clear and sunny with few clouds. The surface water temperature reached a high of 54°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature was 64°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 62°F (with a low of 51°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 62°F (with a low of 38°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 39°F).
The fishing was very good. But this was probably because all my current angling heroes were aboard today. What would phase many anglers, like the tide, seas, wind and dogfish, did not bother these guys. The catching was very good to excellent. Landings were very good. Most legal fish caught and landed were pollock, by far. There were only eight anglers aboard today. So it wasn't long before they had enough pollock. When they started releasing everything they caught I decided to leave the pollock and do some exploring. Right behind the pollock were haddock, the second most prevalent legal fish landed. We had no sub-legal haddock today. Legal landings also included two cod, three cusk, twenty-four white hake, sixteen redfish, nine squid, three red hake and a whiting. Released fish included sixteen dogfish, forty or so pollock to 8 pounds, four sub-legal pollock, ten sub-legal cod, two mackerel and a couple squid. We tried drifting once. It was doable. But we weren't in the right area to drift. We anchored on every spot but that one. All terminal gear worked well. The haddock would only take bait and the occasional fly today.
I'm not sure who was high hook. I believe it was between Fred Kunz and Bryan Lewer (ME), with Bryan Lewer coming out on top. Bryan caught one more legal fish than Fred did. But looking at high hook today was moot, meaning that there wasn't an angler aboard who didn't catch at least twenty legal fish. And if you looked at everyone aboard from a drone all day, I don't believe you could have known who was high hook or not. Both Fred and Bryan have sharp mathematical minds and memories, like no one angler I have ever met before. Both can look at my data sheet and tell me the fish totals at a glance. No other angler aboard counts their fish. We don't count fillets. So, again, who really knows. Fred won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 30 pound Maine state trophy white hake. I took a picture of Fred holding this beautiful fish. This digital image appears on the left. This is Fred's biggest hake of the last two fishing seasons. Some of Fred's other good fish of note included a 22 pound white hake and a 24.5 pound white hake. He caught pollock to 8 pounds and landed a total of five haddock. Some of the fish I weighed for Bryan included an 8.5 pound pollock, an 8 pound pollock, an 11 pound pollock and a 10.5 pound pollock. He also caught a hake that weighed 20 pounds.
Shawn Rosenberger (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 34.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake. It was the last fish of the trip. I took a picture of Shawn holding his big hake. This digital image appears on the right. This is the largest hake that he has caught in the last two seasons. It's also tied for our seventh largest white hake of the season so far. Before Fred's hake, Shawn had been leading the boat pool with an 11.5 pound cod. Some of Shawn's other good fish included a 27 pound Maine state trophy white hake, the third largest fish of the trip, an 8 pound pollock, a 16 pound white hake and a 16.5 pound white hake.
Other Angler Hightlights: Dave Burton (MA) caught the most haddock with a count over ten. He caught a lot of haddock, enough so that I wished I had counted his fillets. His largest fish was a 14 pound white hake. I also weighed two pollock for him. One was 8.5 pounds. The other weighed 9.5 pounds. Steve LaPlante (CT) caught a 21 pound white hake as his biggest fish. Other fish of his that I weighed included a 7.5 pound pollock, an 8.25 pound pollock, an 8 pound pollock, a 13.5 pound white hake and a 16 pound white hake. Jonathan "Griff" Griffin (MA) boated an 18 pound white hake as his biggest fish. He was the second person to catch a white hake today. Fred caught one on open bottom earlier in the trip, the first white hake in shallow water that we have seen this season. The biggest pollock that I weighed for Griff was 8 pounds. Augie Nigro (MA) caught a lot of haddock as well. We had a lot of good sized ones in the 4 pound range. But Augie caught the largest at 5 pounds. His biggest fish was a 9.75 pound pollock. But there was a hake that was probably bigger.
I received two donations toward my cancer research project with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. One was a $60.00 gift from Dave Burton. The other was a $20.00 gift from Fred Kunz. Both anglers help me continuously in the cancer fight throughout each year. They are both appreciated in so many other ways as well. Thank you so very much!
It did start to rain a bit before 7:00 AM. It was very light at first. It became steadier as the morning progressed. But it was never a downpour. After 1:00 PM, I noticed that it had stopped raining. It never rained again after 2:00 PM, maybe before that. The sky remained overcast until after sunset when I saw a break in the clouds. To my knowledge, it never rained before midnight. The visibility ranged from good to very good most of the day. It was very good at 8:00 PM. The wind started out of the south blowing fifteen to twenty knots. It became twenty knots sustained by mid morning. It backed off around noon and, slowly, decreased. By 2:30 PM, the wind was out of the south at ten knots, more or less. Surprisingly, there was zero wind at sunset. At 8:00 PM, I saw that the wind had come up out of the west (maybe even southwest) at ten knots. The air temperature reached a high of 67°F in the afternoon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 69°F (with a low of 51°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 40°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 38°F).
As is normal on Friday, I was at the Cove before 5:00 AM opening the restaurants and parking the Bunny Clark truck. Alas, without my buddy, Gill. That is going to get some getting used to. I worked until 9:00 AM, when I left to bring David & Jeri Pease (ME) some haddock that Dave Burton (MA) had gifted me on yesterday's fishing trip. Dave caught the most haddock of the trip and was going to give them away anyway. I, in turn, took the fillets home, skinned them and packed them up to bring to Dave & Jeri. Dave finished off the Bunny Clark after I brought the hull to his barn from Young Brothers yard in November of 1982. The wheel house was Dave's unique design which I have loved all these years. And, of course, the Bunny Clark itself, made my life very special. Captain Ian Keniston used to bring haddock to Dave & Jeri when he was alive, on his way back home from a day on the Bunny Clark. I felt obligated to do the same and carry on the tradition. It's always a joy to visit at Dave's Boat Shop. Of course, you can't get haddock any fresher than when you catch the fish yourself, bleed the fish, fillet it after it has all bled out and put it directly on ice after quick brine bath. I talked with them for over an hour. This have me no time to work on the previous day's fish report, which I caught up with later the next day, this day.
We were surprisingly busy at the restaurants today. It certainly wasn't a busy day, just busier.
As the Iran war continues, and our involvement deepens, so does the increase in fuel prices. Today, the price is over double the price I paid for fuel last year. I thought it was high last year. I will continue to request a fuel surcharge of $20.00 per person for the more inshore trips but am going to have to increase it to $30.00 when I can go offshore further. I will make the determination on the day of the trip.. Hopefully, that will be the most I have to charge. I'm sorry I have to do this. And I hope you understand. Hopefully, these fuel prices will decrease sooner than later. Whatever it is, it will not keep me from going where I need to go to catch you the number of fish you like to bring home including a few big ones here and there.
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