F/V Erica Lee & BOAT CAMP Inc.

Over the horizon

2010-01-12T19:33:00.002-05:00

Sooooo....... we're sitting by an open fire trying to shake the January chill, but we can see summer just over the horizon, and for that we are very excited. We've spent the past few months reflecting on summer '09, freshening up the website, launching a new online registration system, refining our summer 2010 curriculum and programming....and we took a family trip to Monterey, California. Yes we LOVED the Monterey Aquarium, and the tidepooling, and the redwoods, and Capt. Rob's great giant humboldt squid adventures. We've posted a lot of photos on our Facebook page.

Registration is open at www.boatcamp.org. Don't miss the boat!

Hello, August

2009-08-03T19:55:00.004-04:00

We are crossing our fingers that this great summer weather will hold for the month of August! It's been a crazy past few weeks as we wrestled with the unsettled, wet, foggy weather. But not today! What a beautiful day. The older kids were out on the Erica Lee and they traveled up to the Shoals for some fantastic mackerel fishing, then it was off to see the gray seals on Duck Island, and swimming in Gosport Harbor.

Meanwhile, today the Young Scientists got underway on the Yankee Clipper for some water sampling by the river mouth as we begin our exploration of this great estuary. We discovered the water temperature just outside the river was 66 degrees, and inside was 74 degrees. We also did an experiment to make out own salt water estuary inside the boathouse where it was a cool, air conditioned 74 degrees, too!

This afternoon, Capt Rob and I scouted a great marsh hike for tomorrow morning--can't wait!

July 13: BOAT CAMP on the Erica Lee

2009-07-13T15:18:00.002-04:00

So we were supposed to go to the Isles of Shoals today and haul lobster traps. Well, that was the plan till I heard about some humpback whales 14 miles off the beach. The wind and seas were just right, and I had clams on board. So I turned east and headed out to sea. We came across a very curious Mola mola (ocean sunfish), humpback and Fin back whales and we caught a few cod, cusk and spiny dogfish. Not a bad way to start the week!

June 30: Field Marine Science Course for Teachers!

2009-06-30T19:00:00.002-04:00

Ok, so, there's still no sun, but there was no rain, either! Went out to the Isles of Shoals today. Once on the island, we discussed island formation, soil production, rafting of reptiles and plants that inhabit the island. We also discussed a rookery and classification and biology of two species of gulls on the island. During the hike to the other end of Smuttynose, we encountered a pair of goats that followed us out and back, our own embassadors! Back at the beach, we looked at the sand/shell mixture that covers the beach and the structure of different macro algae of the cove we were in. Tomorrow, lobster traps and otter trawls!

June 29: Field Marine Science Course for Teachers!

2009-06-29T19:13:00.001-04:00

Had our first class today for teachers for professional development. Always changing with the weather, our plans WERE to go out to the Isles of Shoals today. But after a quick call to the captain of the Captain's Lady III, we realized a shore based lesson plan was in order for the day. Drove down to Sandy Point and had Gary guide us through the dunes, marine forest and estuaries for three hours. Nice. Got to see what the print of a fisher cat looks like. We had lunch back at the boathouse and discussed the geology of the area, energy pyramids and plankton productivity before ending class for the day. No, I didn't take any pictures. Tomorrow! I promise!

June 27: Charter

2009-06-29T19:08:00.002-04:00

Had Adam Derosa and his charter on the boat today. First of all, lets talk fog. Seriously, is there anything more fun that NOT seeing anything all day? Once on the fishing grounds, we got into some fish IF you had a jig on. If you bait fished, well, lets just say the green eyed monsters were thick (aka dog fish). Here's a picture of the pool fish caught by Adam's wife Amy. Just got a call from him tonight and he's booked a bunch of charters for 2010. Lets hope they are on days I don't have to use the RADAR. See you out there!

June 25: Jimmy Buffett!!!

2009-06-26T18:29:00.006-04:00

So after hauling nets and being on the boat all day, Kate and I packed up the black bug and headed to Mansfield to see Jimmy. Great show! Still can fill a house after so many years! He got rid of those clouds hanging over our heads for the past four days and brought some tropical weather to our neck of the woods.

Oh yeah, my cell phone does not do Jimmy any justice. While taking this picture I had to keep ducking from the falling beach balls!

June 25: BOAT CAMP

2009-06-26T18:08:00.005-04:00

What IS that bright thingy in the sky??? Needed my sunglasses today. Discussed horseshoe crab ecology and their importance to some birds called red knots. Apparently, these birds migrate from Argentina to the Arctic in one season. Along the way, they stop off at JUST the right moment to feed on horseshoe crab eggs. Wow. Then, we headed out for some flounder fishing. But between the big, rolling waves and numerous aircraft overhead-- three helicopters and a jet-- the only thing biting were skates. We came into Plum Island Point to do some sandeeling. Got about 20 gallons of eels, mostly small but some were really big. Just really nice to be at the beach in the sun after so many days in the rain. I wonder what caused all this sunshine?

June 24: BOAT CAMP

2009-06-24T19:25:00.004-04:00

Sooooooooooo, the weather might be bad and the whole fleet is tied to the dock-- except us. In the morning, we discussed the formation of Jeffrey's ledge and upwelling using Google Earth, then discussed striped bass and their population decline and comeback. We jumped on the boat at 10:30 in the morning and anchored up SHORTLY after that for a little bass fishing on the incoming tide. Yikes! Fish were hungry! For 7 anglers, we caught and released 35 schoolies, a keeper flounder (Yes, in the river), and put one 14 pound keeper bass in the cooler for diner. Before we cleaned it, we discussed the external and internal anatomy of the fish and used its scales and digital microscopes to figure out how old it was. To end the day, we handled and discussed the animals in the touch tank. Nice day. Need some sun soon.

Fun on the beach!

2009-06-23T20:21:00.008-04:00

We kicked off the first day of our older kid's program aboard the Erica Lee with a great day at the beach! Too rough to go to sea, but plenty to do by the shore as we explored Sandy Point, including tracking animals and investigating the wrack line....and doing a little old fashioned shell sorting, tide-stopping, and picnicking by the dunes!

June 13 Charter

2009-06-15T11:19:00.002-04:00

Took the boat back to where we were last weekend to hopefully do the same thing. We did, sort of. We got them in the morning, nice market cod, all on jigs. But the tide turned and things shut down after that. Moved around a bit mid morning, came back the area in the afternoon and picked a few more. Not a bad day and everyone went home happy.

June 7 Charter

2009-06-07T16:55:00.002-04:00

So, at 4am, we put all the fishing gear back on the boat, added 10 fishermen, and headed east to fish where we were yesterday. That was not so good. Picked 6 fish right away and then the tide changed and everything shut down. Moved around a bit and then the captain of the F/V Sara Rose told me to just stop and fish where we were. We all quickly changed to jigs and put 30+ fish in the boat. Average weight was 25 pounds, but the charter boated a 54 lb, a 52 lb and several 40 pounders. Mine could not be weighed, because it topped the scale past 50, so we figure it was a 60+ pounder. Big thanks to Sara Rose.

June 6: Night Trip

2009-06-06T19:43:00.002-04:00

Scrubbed the boat stem to stern and took all the fishing gear off. Added some tables, wine, captain's chairs and A LOT of good food and left the dock at 6pm with 18 people bound for-- no where! Took a nice cruise upriver to see the bald eagles, then moseyed down river to the mouth and back. Good food, new friends, nice night.

June 6: Charter

2009-06-06T19:22:00.002-04:00

We left the dock at 7am under really cold conditions; east wind, overcast, 3ft roll. Anchored up SHORTLY after that. From 8am to about 11:30am, the fish were rabid! Three or four at a time, mostly haddock, big haddock. Some cod. It shut off with the tide turn and we went hunting to other locations to no avail. We picked a few more but it was nothing like the morning. Most went off the boat with four or five, a few with eight or nine. Pool fish was a three way combo between a cod, wolf fish and a haddock-- each nine pounds.

June 4: Afterschool Trip

2009-06-05T09:30:00.002-04:00

So we didn't have15 people like yesterday, we only had 12. Hauled the other 5 lobster traps and caught more shorts and one keeper! We gave that one away to one lucky boy for supper. Made a 10 minute tow with the otter trawl and bagged a half dozen baby fluke, some flounder, a lobster, two crabs and five gallons of sand dollars (we couldn't count them all). Weather was the best we've had all spring!

June 3: Afterschool Trip

2009-06-03T20:16:00.004-04:00

Well, Kate said we only had 4 kids on the books for today. Maybe the possibility of rain kept people away. But when 3:30 pm rolled around, 15 people came down the ramp! No rain, light winds and happy kids. Pulled five of our 10 traps. Caught 4 throwback lobsters-- one was the littlest egger I've ever seen! We also tested a bottom sampler. Gonna need more work because we didn't catch any bottom. Gonna haul the other five traps on tomorrow's trip and make a tow with the otter trawl. See you out there!

May 31: Charter

2009-06-02T18:07:00.002-04:00

Went to southern Jeffreys with a charter of 15 people today for some groundfishing. Forcast was supposed to be light winds out of the southwest. We dropped anchor at 9am and started in on haddock and cod right off the bat. Things were looking good till someone put the brakes on things at 10:45. Total shut down. Moved several times to different locations and different depths to find some hungrey fish We picked a few, but it was much slower in the afternoon. Oh yeah, those light winds out of the southwest was really 20 knotes or better out of the southeast. Great job.

May 30 in the pm: Birthday Party (aka mackerel fishing!)

2009-06-02T17:53:00.002-04:00

We got back to the dock from our boating class at 2pm and loaded it right back up again at 2:30 with 14 kids to go mackerel fishing and then enjoy pizza and cupcakes in the Boathouse. Winds were light when we anchored up off the coast and the macks showed up 1o minutes later. The dust settled an hour and a half later with a dirty boat, happy kids and 75 fish in the cooler. Nice ride home. Pizza and cupcakes were good, too!

May 30 in the AM: Boating on the Merrimack.

2009-06-02T17:49:00.002-04:00

Had 10 people participate in our Boating on the Merrimack class that is run through Newburyport's Adult Ed program. Great morning discussions as we discussed basic boating skills, buoys, and a digital tour of the Merrimack River. Yes, I will post the powerpoint to Boatcamp.org this week! After our lunch, we all took a turn at the helm traveling first upriver by our winter home at Merrimar Yacht Marina and then down to the mouth. Along the way we saw seals, kayaks and a lot of boaters enjoying the river. We have openings for our June 20th class. Sign up! Hope to see you there!

May 27: After School Program

2009-06-02T17:45:00.003-04:00

We went out with two, count 'em, two kids plus Kate, Jack and Cody under north east winds and overcast skies. Kids had a ball moving, baiting and watching us deploy our traps to a "secret" location that is just bug infested! Gonna haul 'em next week. Winds will be light with just a hint at T-storms. There's room on the boat so call Kate and sign up as we haul our catch, test out a bottom sampler and MAYBE make a tow with the otter trawl.

Charter May 24

2009-05-24T20:25:00.001-04:00

Today's trip was a good one. Took Bud Demmons and his crew out to Jeffrey's . . . 28 miles away. Once there, we anchored in deep water and slowly picked at haddock in the am. The tide turned at noon and picked up, making fishing on anchor much harder as the lines scaled behind the boat. We hauled anchor and drifted across the ledge and the haddock fishing picked up. We made several drifts and stayed an extra half hour, putting 50 fish or so in the boat for the day.

Charter May 23

2009-05-24T20:24:00.000-04:00

That was fun . . NOT!

May 22 Charter.

2009-05-22T10:34:00.002-04:00

It seems the entire Jeffrey's ledge is either void of life, full of anorexic fish OR there is so much bait on the ledge that the groundfish are stuffed. I'm hoping the last choice is the correct one. We headed out to 17 miles off the beach to start under clear skies and blustery south west winds. We fished for a couple hours out there and caught 1 keeper cod fish who was lost and threw back about 6 undersized fish. So we once again headed into my "secret" spot and managed to put some nice market cod on the boat. All in all, everyone went home with fish and they booked for next year. As of now, I have 5 trips for 2010.

May 17 Charter

2009-05-18T05:49:00.002-04:00

We left the dock at 5am, looking to get an early bite with 15 people on board. Of course, there was no way I was going near Jeffrey's Ledge, so we headed to my "secret" spot. For the first two hours, we dealt with fog, fast currents and rain-- and no fish. Then a front moved through at about 1,000,000 knots and that blew the fog and rain out. After the winds died, the fishing picked up. We quickly ran out of shrimp that I supply to the fishermen, because the market cod were inhaling those and not the clams. But then the clams started working, then the jigs. By the end of our day, I had half the boat fishing jigs, the other with bait, and both were catching. When the dust settled and we started heading west, we had 52 fish on the boat-- two 24 pounders and a couple of 19's.

More photos from Saturday's trip!

2009-05-17T19:25:00.004-04:00

Thanks Peter!

May 16

2009-05-16T19:51:00.006-04:00

Here's the stats: 60 fish: 3 hours: 7 fishermen. Ok, so maybe a little background info. We headed out to southern Jeffreys cuz that's where EVERYBODY got them, yesterday. We arrived and quickly put 2 in the box and released 8. That was it. FOR THE DAY. We drove all over hell and back, in the fog, stopping here and there and getting nothing. At 11:30, I asked the charter if we could make a move, a long move (almost took an hour). We tossed the anchor and for the next 3 hours put 60 fish in the boat. Biggest was 24 pounds. Stayed a little bit late, too. On the way home, we booked the boat for May 15, 2010.

May 10

2009-05-10T07:44:00.005-04:00

Took Harold Congdon and his group out today. Tried the inside super secret big fish spot-- but we are still a little early for that funny business. Fishing was slow to start once we got on the Ledge, but then, around 10am, rods doubled over and a herd of cod came on deck. We had to weed our way through the small ones (we released over 50 for the day) to get the keepers, and they were all nice keepers. Got some haddock, too. At noon thirty, the tide changed and the fishing shut down on the entire ledge. We made several moves and picked up a few more fish-- marked lots of them on the machine-- for the day before heading west for the big ledge. On the way home, Harold wanted to know what days I had open for 2010 NOT on a full moon!

May 2. First Trip!

2009-05-06T10:55:00.003-04:00

Hi everybody. Hope you all had a good winter. My charter of 13 passengers left the dock at 7am for the fishing grounds on southern Jeffreys. The weather was great for May. In the morning, we anchored on the western edge and caught some keepers and a ton of throwbacks. Mostly haddock. The tide let up by noon and we drifted and motor drifted the rest of the day. Picked away at more keepers among the babies. Caught an ocean cat that was the pool winner and ended the day with 35 keepers, mostly haddock, 4 cod, a cat and one cusk. I still have available spots in July and August, but they are going fast, so call me to book a date soon!

Rob

VERY happy with our Humboldts!

2009-03-13T14:08:00.001-04:00

Thank you Daily News for sharing our story!

What's in the box Capt. Rob?

2009-02-24T13:43:00.003-05:00

Capt. Rob and our new very best friends at Stanford have partnered to bring a frozen, giant humboldt squid to BOAT CAMP, and it arrived today! Capt. Rob will be sharing this one with his marine biology students at Newburyport High School in a few weeks. We hope to get another one or two to share with boat campers this summer! Thanks Dr. Gilly!

Looking towards summer!

2009-01-19T11:08:00.002-05:00

We've been busy putting together all kinds of programs for spring and summer, and you'll find information and online registration at www.boatcamp.org. (Make sure you "refresh" the web pages as they load, so that you get the most up-to-date information!)

NEW! Join us February vacation week inside the boathouse for a day or more of ocean exploration...while staying warm!

Capt. Rob has also been working inside the tent that he built around the Erica Lee, who's looking awfully pretty with her new black paint!

Celebrating Winter Solstice

2008-12-21T19:25:00.002-05:00

Today is one of the best days of the year. Starting with tomorrow's sunrise (and yes, the sun will rise finally without snow clouds!), we'll see more daylight each day as we ease our way towards spring. It may not feel that springlike, especially not after all of that shoveling, but trust us... it's right around the corner....

In the meantime, the Merrimack River sure is beautiful as the ice forms and ebbs and flows with the tide. After the holidays, we'll be at the boathouse more regularly, so feel free to stop in and gaze out at the great view of the harbor, while staying warm!

New View!

2008-12-04T20:59:00.002-05:00

We've got a new view! We are very excited to announce that we're expanding our boathouse learning center into the adjoining former Hilton's tackle shop. This nearly doubles our classroom size.... and that means a whole lot more room for arts and crafts, games and fun (and maybe another saltwater tank or two.....).

We'll be open more regularly starting in late January, but feel free to stop in any time for a sneak peak!

Lobster feng shui?

2008-11-18T13:12:00.002-05:00

The other day, after an especially busy morning of young visitors at the touch tank, our assortment of shellfish were scattered everywhere along the tank--scallops, oysters, quohogs, mahoganys and steamer clams.

The next morning, to my surprise, all of the bivalves had been gathered together in a neat and orderly pile. I asked Ellen if she had been in after hours to visit, and thought perhaps her children might have made order out of disorder.

"Not us," she replied.

I asked Capt. Rob if he had been messing about at the tank.

"Not me," he replied. After a long pause, he said, "It's lobster feng shui."

What?

According to Capt. Rob, female lobsters are sometimes known to make order out of disorder, and, in this case, the young miss lobster in the tank likely got to work afterhours and gathered all of the shellfish together into a lovely little pile.

This morning, we noticed the sea star had eased on into her spread and was cozied up to a tasty mussel, while miss lobster watched.

Wonder what she thinks about THAT?

Our One Year Anniversary!

2008-11-07T17:30:00.003-05:00

Today we celebrated our first anniversary of BOAT CAMP Inc. by attending the Ocean Literacy Summit in Boston. It was really energizing to be among friends who share our passion for educating others about the sea, and we are full of excitement and new ideas for 2009 programming.

Upon our return home, we were greeted with a great surprise--two bucket loads of new critters for our touch tank. If you haven't been by to visit lately, you won't want to miss these new guest animals!

NEXT Sunday at 11 a.m. we'll host another "Coffee & Critters with Capt. Rob." Join us!

2009 Here we come!

2008-10-29T06:49:00.004-04:00

Ok, soooooooo we didn't do the best job at keeping up with our summer blog....summer was crazy and very fun. We're very excited about the great momentum we have carrying us into 2009. We are busy planning all of our programs--starting on January 26--and will have more details to announce soon....

It's finally July!

2008-07-05T14:48:00.003-04:00

Yikes! Where did the weeks go? Since our last post, we have been very busy finishing up the spring afterschool program and diving head-first into summer camp programming. During the week of June 23rd, by special request we ran a four-day camp that was a lot of fun. We painted t-shirts and caught a ton of mackerel and flounder, and dodged ALL of the rain and thundershowers.

We've had great luck with the sandeel net, and have been using the bait to catch more flounder and striped bass. Last week, we spent our days with a great group of kids from the Amesbury-based Jumpstart Program. Their week aboard was paid in full through the exceptional generosity of the Newburyport Bank.

And did we mention the fun we're having with our BOAT CAMP by-the-sea kids? On Monday mornings we're exploring tidepool animals with our class of 2 to 4 year-olds, and it has been fantastic. This week--all about crustaceans!

Our summer camp aboard the Erica Lee continues Monday. We do have a few spots left the week of July 28th, so spend your Yankee Homecoming week on the water with us!

Flounder mackerel?

2008-06-13T07:26:00.004-04:00

What a day we had yesterday! With only crew onboard, we started out at 7: 30 a.m. and towed the sandeeling skiff to Plum Island Basin in search of more sandeels. After two sets, it all fell apart--too many wind driven snafus--so we abandoned that project and came back to the dock with hopes for better luck next time....and no wind!

In the afternoon, we loaded up with a dozen kids and parents--and a grandparent!--and went out afterschool in search of flounder. Quite by accident, we started catching mackerel! All switched their gear to mackerel and we finished the day with a very dirty boat and very happy faces.

At night, we filled the boathouse with adults participating in our "Boating on the Merrimack River" class... lots of good conversation and questions! It's always good to see people who who share the waterway wanting to learn best how to do it safely and smartly.

We still have a few spots left all around in a variety of our programs, so give us a call if you'd like to know more!

This weekend the Erica Lee is going fishing...all day deep-sea on Saturday and a half-day bass trip Sunday, a great Father's Day treat!

Sand eels and striped bass are here!

2008-06-07T19:59:00.004-04:00

The afterschool program this week had some luck with striped bass... but boy was that Northeast wind cold...and boy was it HOT on the beach today! We gave the sand eel net a workout, and ended up with several gallons of bait for summer... should keep the mackerel and striped bass happy! We'll have lots more fun with the net this summer during BOAT CAMP...but the kids will do the hauling then! ;)

First Family BOAT CAMP eco-trip!

2008-05-26T19:48:00.003-04:00

Could the weather have been more beautiful? Quite a bit breezy this morning, but we had a good time hauling lobster traps and doing two tows with the otter trawl. The second tow turned up dozens of sand dollars, four juvenile flounder, some hermit crabs and a shrimp bearing thousands of eggs. In the afternoon, we tried to capture the elusive Atlantic mackerel, and while there were more than a few schools who swarmed under the boat, none were hungry--not even a nibble!

Oh well... more fun this week with some after school trips and nice weather. We'll be doing our next family BOAT CAMP day on August 10, with a trip to the Isles of Shoals. If you've never been there--it's a must visit!

A very good day on Jeffreys Ledge

2008-05-17T16:48:00.003-04:00

All day deep-sea fishing..11 guys...60 fish...one 65-pounder and a few 45-pounders....

2008-05-15T20:54:00.005-04:00

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!

We're almost ready... are you?

2008-04-19T17:38:00.002-04:00

Are YOU ready? No really, after this winter it's a good question to ask. Acres of snow. Long, windy nights. Soaring fuel prices--$4+ a gallon for diesel these days...... But she slid into the slings this afternoon, and that's where she'll spend the night, her bow facing the Merrimack. She's ready. Lots of fresh paint. New head deck. New electronic toys. I have a shake down cruise next Sunday. Me and some friends go ground fishing for fun. Just once. Then I have charters almost every weekend till June, then the season really gets rocking. Right now, sounds like the fleet has their up and down days, so we're not missing too much.

I don't know when high water is, but it's gotta be mid-afternoon or so. That means I'll have a week to get my fishing gear together. Gotta get to Surfland and bug Kay about a few things. Boat's ready. I'm almost ready. Are you? See you out there.

Rob

Global Warming??????????

2008-02-17T20:19:00.003-05:00

What a winter! Ice, snow, rain, ice, more snow, the flu and maybe a little snow. Miss the days of floating out on Jefferys, catching some fish and ducking from the burning sun. February 17. It's cold today, gonna monsoon on us tomorrow, and then freeze up for a couple of days. But it's all right. Got the wood stove burning, the boats wrapped up tight, and I got a few winter projects underway. New configuration on the anchor hauler. New deck in the cabin head. The toilet will be a little lower for us vertically challenged people. And soon, if all goes well, we'll all be in the water, sending our hooks to the bottom in search of cod and haddock (maybe a few cusk, too). So stay warm, fellow mariners, the warm summer sun can't be far away.

Oh yeah, we've got 20 trips booked so far. Never had so many so early. If you want to book with us, better do it soon!

Season Finale!!!

2007-10-07T08:26:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a picture perfect way to finish off the season. Brian and I took John Durnley and 12 of his friends to Jeffreys for the day in dense fog and no wind.

It cleared up when we reached the Ledge. Our first drift yielded 35 fish-- some cod, mostly haddock. Our next spot, while motor drifting, produced large numbers of cusk right off the bat. When that subsided, a herd of haddock moved in and the back deck was lit up again.

We moved to the Curl and, chute drifting, caught a few pollock in the 12 to 15 pound range, while also taking some market cod and some more haddock. We caught more cusk and haddock at the last drop of the day, while the mate started filleting at 1:30 to keep up with all the fish--88 in all.

Most anglers had between 5 to 7 fish, while others had upwards of 15 or more!

Where did the summer go?

2007-09-14T06:32:00.000-04:00

September 8, 2007

Hi faithfull readers. No, my last trip out was not June 27. We've run about 28 trips so far, and this is the first chance I've had to sit and report back. Today's trip was a perfect example of how it should be everytime. The 12 man charter left at 7, we got out to the grounds and picked away at market haddock, cod, cusk and pollack on anchor till about 12:30. During that time, we hooked up and dropped a 10 foot blue shark. We made one move to the west, picked up some more market cod, haddock and cusk and called it a day at 2. Everyone left the boat with 4 or 5 fish and they're planning a trip for next year. If you are interested, call us soon as 16 charters have been booked so far, including all of the Saturdays in May.

June 27, 2007

Chuck Russo and his crew from Grassfields came out today to duck out of the 95+ degree heat and do some groundfishing. It was spotty at best in the morning until we anchored up in about 285 feet of water and slowly picked away at some nice size haddock. It was sweatshirt weather till we were 3 miles off the beach!

June 25 AND 26, 2007

Six good ol' boys from Pennsylvania booked the boat for two days of groundfishing-- for the first day, after learning a few jigging techniques, we caught a mix of cusk and market cod in 240 feet of water. On the way home, we stopped at a spot and jigged up six nice fish ranging in size from 10 to 16 pounds. On the 26th, we went right back out to the same grounds and picked up 26 more fish on the jig. Not bad for a bunch of guys from a state with no ocean!