The USS Coalman came out of storage tonight and was put into dry dock.


She needs some TLC but will be seaworthy in a flash. Need to do some cosmetics. Loosen a few moving parts and launching will be imminent.

Welcome to Bugs and Bass Great Bay 2009.

can't wait, really enjoyed last years tales from the sea

Coalman....lookin forward to your pics plus your fishin tales...I started the bass season off with a 4 lb 14 oz largemouth bass thursday, with a Green watermellon worm fished wacky style....(sorry no pics of it)...put it back to grow up ..lol...hey have a good and safe fishin season...Catch ya later...and keep the pics rollin....Gene...

June 06-07, 2009
The cobwebs are out. All systems are go. The USS Coalman was launched from her home port on the Squamscott River. This is one of my favorite places to walk. Be it by land or sea if you get my drift?

Swazey Parkway Squamscott River Exeter, NH.


I first saw the USS Coalman on a mooring in this cove below the farm in 1994. She was up in dry dock by the blue building on the left when I bought her in 1997.


A few miles up the river and we arrive at her summer berth.


It didn't take long to get the saddle on her back.


After setting traps we put her out to anchor.


It took a couple hours of bent back work.


To pick enough oysters off the bottom.


And during our dig the boat went high and dry. During our wait for the tide to return we talked about the Native Americans who footprints we were stepping on. Two buckets of oysters equals Great Bay bounties.


Twenty lobster traps are sitting on the bottom of Great Bay. I think I can dig up about ten more.

06-12-09
Got four more traps ready tonight. Took a trip down............


.......to get to the boat and save a step for tomorrow morning. I know I am in like company when I turn left on Great Bay Drive.


The osprey are nesting. Haven't seen any young. Will keep an eye on it.


06-13-09
It was time to check traps this morning. First keepa of the year. Hard bottom in forty feet.


Picture of Great Bay from Adam's Point.


I call this Keepa Beach. I watched the pogies beach themselves here last year to avoid the cows.


All good trips end with a bait check. Two checks of the eel traps have produced enough free bait for a month.


The Bay was like glass today. I wish everyday was like today. Twenty traps today six keepa lobster.

Armand and I are scooping some eels and will be hitting the first of outgoing tonight at Fox Point.
Striper fishing here we come.

06-13-09 PM

Armand and I drowned eels in two holes at Fox Point till dark. Nothing. No worries, no bites. We did mark fish on the points and drop offs.

A strong southeast wind kept blowing the boat towards shore and the flats on a falling tide. The trolling motor served us well by keeping us in the drift.

What was comical were the two boats who were fishing with live bait. I know these guys from hand greetings through the years. Armand and I saw them both load up the bait wells in each boat with small live bait. Then they both zoom off.

I told Armand I had seen this before. These two boats can't keep still. So we watched them fish Fox Point. Zoom here, zoom there, zoom back get more bait. Zoom out to fish. One drift here , zoom over there. Never saw them land a fish.

At least they didn't let me down.

We did get chased out by a nasty looking weather system coming from the Rochester way. We joked when we got to the trestle because the system followed right behind us the whole boat ride across the Bay.

I heard a pogie report from the Bay last week. I will be keeping my eye out for that familiar wake.

It is good to be back on the water.

I love reading these... Thanks!

love the pics, keep them coming!

CM,

I have used eels here on the Chesapeake, they work pretty well, but are a pain to hang on to. I started to put them on ice and use a rag to get a grip. Since then I have gone to artificial bait. Catch just about as many without the mess. We are going to catch some perch and spot and do some live line later this summer. Stripers and blues love them.

Have to ask, what is a pogie?

Vic

A pogie is a menhaden. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/store ... subcatID=0

Even though the picture is a cast net it looks like me when I catch them in my gill net. They make great lobster bait too.

To consistently boat cow stripers I prefer live bait. And a high tide at daybreak.

Yea, live lining spot and perch work well for stripers. I am starting to rethink catching large ones though. MD just put out a notice about consumption of fish. They are now saying young children shouldn't eat large stripers (rockfish) because of mercury. Adults shouldn't eat too much either. What they mean by large is over 28". I put a 35" and 38" in the freezer this year. I just wonder how big a deal it really is. Might not do trophy rockfish in the future if I can't eat them. May have to focus on smaller ones later in the season.

Do you all have any restrictions like that up there?

Vic

We were issued the same warning. We are allowed 2 stripers per day. Keepa's start at 28". We are only allowed one per day over 40"

Massachusetts allows 2 per day, 28" limit.

Maine allows two and has a slot. 20" to 26" is a keeper, 26"+ to 39.999" you have to throw back and one fish a day over 40".

I like MA rules best.

This is my MA fishing partner, Captain Danny. You have read posts from our adventures in the past. Saturday night 3 AM live eel

44 inches, 37 lbs 4 oz.



This is his families camp on Plum Island. That is the Merrimack River in the background. Last year on Fourth of July we ate lobsters, watched the fireworks and then went cow fishing. Danny landed and released a 41 pounder. I already have me seat reserved for 2009.

06-20-09
Armand came with me today. We used the alewives he caught this spring for bait. ( Darn Coalman was out turkey hunting. Where are his priorities? )


We started hot, cooled down in deep water and ended hot in 18'. 24 traps = 8 keepa's.

Checking traps at the Point we could see birds crashing the water. After all the traps were checked we took a cunner we caught in a trap, hooked him through the nostril and let him swim in the Coalman and Dad honey hole. No bites, no worries. I gotta talk to the guys who said cunners were good bait. The bass were crashing feet from the boat. And not one tug on Armand's pole. Give us a tom cod any day.

The water was glass the the bass were popping the surface as far as we could see. This is a crowd in Great Bay.


There were a few boats around throwing plastic and metal. The only one to land a fish we saw was the fly fisherman in this boat.


Thanks for the help Armand. Next time on the bass.

Coalman, i just found your post from last year and i agree with everyone else, i really enjoyed it and it sure makes for some interesting pictures and reading, looking forward to reading about your "bugs" this summer. good luck,

the only bad thing is i get so hungry...

This will hurt T.W.

06-26-09 and the car salesman.

Tonight was my long anticipated July 4th all nighter with Captain Danny. It had to be pushed up a week this year due to the tides. But you couldn't ask for better. High tide was at 0400 in the honey hole.
We got underway with our trip about 11PM. Captain Danny was at the helm.


The first spot we hit that was so good to us last year only produced a boat load of drunken fisherman. Even though I say fisherman they were a disgrace to all boaters but truefully very comical. Every other word started with F. And I think the captain had the most to drink. In a wide open bay upon their exit they went 30 feet off our stern. They were rewarded with Danny's 25 pound mono and an eel around their prop. Wonder when they will find it?

Our second spot came up short as in one shorty in the boat. The southwest wind was our enemy and kept the drift inconsistent. A bluefish also put a hurt on my eel.

So off the the honey hole for high tide.

I met a car salesman a few years ago. We hit it off pretty well. Turns out we both loved to striper fish and we both have a fur trapping past. I have shared his boat a few times.

We made arrangements to radio fish together. About 3AM we made contact. Fishing had been slow for Captain Dan and I. We only managed a 28" bass so far as the tide crept to its highest point. Our counterpart though had caught and released many fine fish. A shutter flash caught our attention and we were informed a 32 pounder had been caught and released.

As with any good salesman he invited Dan and I over to see his new line of cars. As we approached we were bewildered at the sight. All around his boat huge striped bass were boiling.

It didn't take long and yours truly had a 30 pounder on the floor of the boat. As Dan was weighing the fish, I was digging for the camera. I never got there.
Dan had put his rod in the holder as he netted my fish. Just as I was about to retrieve my camera Dan's rod came to full attention and the fight was on.

As I released my fish, Dan fought his. A beautiful 25 pound specimen, released to fight again another day.


It was quite a sight to be in a parking lot with so many find choices. One car wanted to be sold so bad it breached. I have never seen a striped bass that size fully breach. I put a down payment on one immediately. Our friend the car salesman also showed us his plugging finesse and took 2 monster bass on his own turned plugs when the dawn turned off the eel bite.

Thank you Mr. Isuzu.

06-27-09
With a couple hours sleep and a falling tide I ran the Great Bay lobster line. Again I started hot, cooled down in the channel and ended hot where I had no competition with other lobster traps.

Twenty five traps produced 15 keepers with the biggest, approx three pounds coming from nine feet of water. The car was heavy today.


Quoting Lee and Tiffany, Life is good. Life is fine.