Ground Fishing: First trip out was May 3 with John Dernley's group. They've been going out with me since before I could cut fish. They helped teach me. We tried the inside stuff-- big ones aren't there yet. Then we headed to the curl. It was a little cold, choppy and overcast. Lot's of small fish. Screaming tide cuz of the new moon. And tons and tons of bait in the water. What self respecting groundfish would want a frozen clam with all that fresh stuff floating around? We managed 20 keepers for the day. Good part was that our keepers didn't need to be measured. Nice size haddock and cod. Got blown out last weekend, so we're gonna try again tomorrow.
Teachers: Our first class was May 4 with wind and rain. Our class was held in the boat house for a majority of the day, due to conditions. We talked about the geography of the area, upwelling and the numerous critters in the touch tank. Then we went for a river cruise, pointing out the cormorants, gulls and seals in the river. At the mouth, we witnessed the reason the Merrimack is the most dangerous river entrance on the eastern seaboard-- low tide, NE winds made for some huge, breaking swells at the mouth. For the second class, we talked about tides, then collected clams, mussels and seaworms on the mudflats and finished off the day by completing a beach profile.
Kids: Our first trip out! We talked about the animals in the tank (new addition, a yellow sea raven), then went for a river cruise to look at the fat seals, schools of stripers, and the Coast Guard doing drills in the mouth. Not bad for two hours!
What's in the tank? Stone crabs, hermit crabs and green crabs. Sea urchins, sea stars (one is ten armed), sea anemones, periwinkles, dog whelks, steamer clams, blue mussels and some sand worms. Oh yeah, the sea raven, too!
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