Seining 2025 Part 1

Good friends

   I went seining for the first time this year in Charlestown. It took some much needed prodding from friends since I hate the summer traffic in southern RI. I'm glad they prodded. We worked hard to get cool things. Many of our attempts only had Silversides in them. Still, we got some pretty cool stuff. Below are the coolest things we saw. Thanks to Sue Palmer for providing some of the best photos below

Permit

Northern Puffer

Longfin Inshore Squid

I had a macrolens on my camera instead of my big 600 mm. So I took off the macro but this is the best I could get of the most cooperative Yellow Crowned Night Heron I've seen in half a decade.

Crevalle Jack

Winter Flounder

Below are wonderful photos that Sue took. The Night Heron is not yelling at us. It yawned. As you can see from the photo where it is circled in a tree it was really comfortable with us around. We went through all of the fish in the seine and moved to the next little beach. The Heron stayed in the tree until it decided to feed (while walking right in our direction)

The Jesse Liam Band

    A few years ago we went to have drinks and a bite to eat at the Nordic Lodge. There was an outdoor concert going on. We weren't there to get the all you can eat lobster. Outside there was just apps and drinks. We went because my friend Jan from birding invited us. She knew the lead singer of the group (Jesse Liam) because they did line dancing together. We enjoyed ourselves very much and have followed the JLB ever since. 

   The JLB tours all around Rhode Island during the warmer months. They usually play outdoor concerts and private venues like the Dunes Club. They have become a Rhode Island tradition, so much so that the play at The Big E on Rhode Island Day. Whenever they play close enough to make it worth our time we go see them. 

   The band has four members. Jesse is the lead singer. His dad , Jack,is the lead guitarist and does back up vocals. He is actually a two time  Grammy nominee. There is also a bass player (who is new this year and don't know his name) and of course a very skilled drummer named Michael DeQuattro. Jesse is full of energy and dances the whole time. He also manages to jump rope, do cartwheels, and sometimes push ups. Somehow he never seems to be breathing heavy. The guys runs around the entire show and puts on a series of dance moves. 

 

 The band does a bunch of pop songs from The Beatles to Walk on the Moon (Shut up and Dance with me). Most of their songs are from the sixties and seventies. Usually they play "Drift Away" "Joy to the World", "Listen to the Music" and a bunch of other fun songs. They do at least two mash ups. One of them is "Iko, Iko" and "I love candy". It is pretty cool how seamlessly they transition back and forth. 

   Many of their outdoor concerts are at libraries and town commons. Sometimes they draw a huge crowd especially when they have been playing the same venue for years such as Franklin, MA, or Crescent Park. Going to these free summer concerts is really fun. Jesse has so much energy and we never get bored. To the contrary, on a night that we know we can go see the band we really look forward to it. It is getting harder to have our nights match up to when they are close enough to see thanks to working a few evenings a week. So far this year, we have seen the JLB twice. 

   The JLB also has a few original songs. They are really good. My favorite (and Laurie's) is "Ya, ya dance!" It is a really catchy song. They also have about five other originals and I mean it, they are very good. 

Horn Pond and Concord

 

Last week Laurie Lynn and I went up to Concord. We really just went because we both have National Park passports and we wanted to get the stamp. We've obviously been to Concord dozens of times but since we decided to go, we made a day of it. Before we went to the places we usually go, we went up to Woburn and explored a pond I'd heard about for years.

   There is a pond in Woburn name Horn Pond. I've read bird reports for years and I know that it is a hotspot for birders/birds. We decided to check it out. We put Horn Pond Recreation Area into the GPS. Parking was along the street at the pond and there is a 2.8 mile trail that circles the pond. Considering this area is in the Rt 128 corridor in suburban Boston it was still really pretty. The walk is partial woods walking and partially shoreline walking. Though the entire area is public you walk through three parklike areas. We walked by a boat ramp with a couple dozen parking spots and a restroom.

Horn  Pond is pretty famous for its winter waterfowl. Quite a few good rarities also show up in the spring. I didn't expect to see too many birds during our walk on a hot summer day. From what I understand, the pond has the normal bass, perch, and sunfish that you'd expect. Perch are the most numerous fish caught according to Mass Wildlife. It is also stocked with trout. All in all, our walk was pleasant. 

    After we left Woburn we took the short trip to Concord. The first stop was the Visitor Center at the Minuteman National Historic Park. We watch the little multimedia presentation  and got out passport stamped.

   After we left the visitor center we went to the North Bridge. I took another photo of the bridge and "The Minuteman" statue by Daniel Chester French. After we left the North Bridge we went to Great Meadows.

   The goal at Great Meadows was to see snakes and Leopard Frogs. We saw plenty of frogs. Leopard Frog were hopping along the path everywhere there was shade. Getting a photo proved impossible. The grass was tall enough so that we couldn't see them until they were hopping right off of the trail at our feet. We did see one large Garter Snake too. I lifted a rock and we saw it but it slithered to the high grass also. 

We had planned on having a picnic but it was so hot and muggy cooking on the grill did not seem like fun. So we stopped at a store and got a cold drink and a snack before heading home.

   

Barnstable County Fair and fair season

 

 On Sunday I went to the fair. Laurie and I went to the Barnstable County Fair. The main reason that we went was because the band The Buckinghams was playing on the main stage. The Buckinghams were a group in the late 60's. Their number one hit was called "Kind of a Drag". They also had other hits such as "Hey Baby" and "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy".

   We spent a few hours at the fair before the concert started. We did my favorite thing of course...looking at the livestock. There were far less animals that I remembered. There were only a dozen rabbits instead of an entire barn. We looked at the one pig, the cows and sheep.

 

   We did get some fair food. I bought a doughboy. Doughboys have become a white whale for me. I plan on getting one at every fair that I go to but when I see the prices for a piece of dough I get all cheapskate. This time I pulled the trigger and bought one. It was really good and missed them. They are a treat I'd eat sparingly even if they were half the price that I paid. 

   The Buckinghams went on at 6 pm. they played for an hour and a half. They not only played their songs but many other oldies. They played songs from the Happy Together tour from other artists. They also played a Doors song. In short they were awesome. It blows me away how good a group can be that has been around since 1967. 

   As we were about to leave we heard an announcement for a stunt show called Off Axis. We had to walk by to get to the car anyway so we stayed. I'm glad we did. These guys had BMX bikes, scooters, a half pipe to do tricks on,  and a trampoline. It was all awesome but the best part was the trampoline. These guys were athletes and did some amazing gymnastics. They flew up fifteen feet doing flips and twists. The halfpipe tricks were also really cool. It was amazing to see guys do 360 flips in the air on a scooter. 

Though the Barnstable County Fair is over there are many other fairs in New England over the next three months. I love going to agricultural fairs. I enjoy seeing the livestock and poultry.  Usually I only go to the fairs that have a band I'd like to see so I get a 2-1 in a fair and a concert. Many of them have really good entertainment to attract crowds. 

Here is a partial list from a few minutes of research

Skowhegan State Fair, Skowhegan, ME      Aug 7-16

Washington County Fair, Richmond, RI      Aug 13-17

Marshfield Fair, Marshfield, MA                 Aug 15-24

Woodstock Fair,  Woodstock, CT                Aug 28- Sept 1

Lancaster Fair, Lancaster, NH                     Aug 28-Sept 1

The Big E, West Springfield, MA                        Sept 12-25

Deedfield Fair, Deerfield, NH                    Sept 25-28

Fryeburg Fair, Fryeburg, ME                      Sept 27- Oct 5

Topsfield Fair, Topsfield, MA                     Oct 3-13

Above is just a partial list of fairs in the area. Below are links to a calendar of events for Mass, RI, and New Hampshire. One could easily find fairs, festivals, and carnivals of the other New England states (or any other state) with a little internet research.

https://www.mass.gov/fairs-and-festivals 

https://www.visitri.com/state/fairs-and-festivals/ 

https://www.nhmagazine.com/nhfairs/

I caught a shark

   

   When you last came to this blog, you may recall that we left off  with a night of shark fishing with two of my buddies. One of them, Adam, hooked into a behemoth that we took turns fighting for over two hours. Adam's fish made it clear to me that my ten foot medium heavy surf rod was far too small for an ordeal like that.

   So I returned my rod (it was on its maiden voyage so it could be resold) and ordered a twelve foot heavy spinning rod. I had to wait for it to come in so I was in shark fishing limbo until I could pick it up in the store. Once in, I made plans with Adam and James to go shark fishing again. That trip was last night.

    We met at 6 pm and rushed to buy eels at Red Top. From there, and a quick stop at McDonald's we made our way to the beach. We set up our rods right about dark and waited.  James bought some glow sticks so after we casted we put them on our rods. We all converged in the middle so we could talk. My new rod was at the far left. 

   About an hour in, my glow stick fell to the ground and I ran over to it...nothing. Probably the wind. This happened again so instead of putting the glow stick on the tip I moved it down to the third guide from the top. Again I had my glow stick fall and I ran to my rod. My Shimano Baitrunner was screaming. I pulled my rod out of the sand spike and set the hook. As I did, I felt the fish drop the eel. Heartbreaking. Adam, never one to pass up a chance to make a moment more awkward, gave me a hug. We suspected it was probably a skate pulling the bait because any size shark could have handled that eel.

   A few moments later I felt some tugs on my rod but nothing took it and I left it alone. This was a good decision. I had another run. This time I took the rod out of the sand spike gently. I let the fish run for quite some time. I even took the glow stick off of my rod while it was running. After I felt it make a brief pause I finally set the hook. Fish on!

Unlike the fish we fought ten days ago, I knew within fifteen seconds I was going to see this fish as long as it didn't fall off. After I set the hook it kept running despite my drag being as tight as I could tighten it. But it quickly slowed and I could gain line by pulling back on my rod, reeling down and repeating. During this process the shark had three more runs in it and I had to recover line that I  previously had on the spool seconds earlier. Once I got the fish into the shallows it fought much harder. It did not want to go into skinny water. I'd say half the battle was when the fish was within thirty feet of dry sand.

   

   The battle lasted about twenty minutes. I turned on my head lamp just as I got the fish in the wash. Adam pulled it up by the tail. I held it down and lifted the mouth so Adam could pop the hook. James took photos. After the hook came out we took five more photos and got the fish back into the drink. I tried to lead it into the deeper water but it turned on me to bite me. Adam pulled the tail and got  it just under knee depth and it swam away. 

   A half hour after we released the shark, Adam hooked up into a small Dogfish. I had never caught a Dogfish before and I actually get teased about it at work. Adam caught one earlier in the day on a boat and caught hundred fishing bait in southern RI. So to get the monkey off of my back, Adam let me reel in his small Dogfish. There wasn't any fight on the huge rod but it was cute as hell. It definitely has a better smile than I have.

   We fished another ninety minutes but the current really picked up bringing with it a lot of weed. The weed was clinging to our line and dragging our rigs down the shoreline. I even put on ten ounces of lead and the sinkers still rolled. So we packed it in and we drove home.

   

Lastly, I know next to nothing about shark fishing. Like I did with pike, I ask anyone with experience what I hope are the right questions. With pike, it still hasn't mattered yet since I still haven't caught one. The shark that I caught was the manifestation of learning what size bait to use, time, and the right gear (replacing what I realized was a rod not up to the task with one that is basically a 2x4). After the first fish dropped the bait, I remembered being told to let the fish run and set the hook at a pause. I did this and it paid off. Do not discount getting info from books, the web, or people you can talk to face to face. 

Shark fishing!

    Don't ask where but sharks do roam close to shore in New England. Believe it or not people can catch them from shore. Usually it is a night thing. One of the pioneers of night time shark fishing is Roy Leva. I have always wanted to try to catch a shark. 

 

 I went with two of my work buddies (Adam and James) the other night. We set up our rods about dark and waited. We only waited an hour before Adam hooked up. We were using chunks of eels with shark leaders. Adam's fish took off. We had four rods out. Of the four, the strongest was the one that the shark hit. The rod that Adam was using is a twelve foot conventional with fifty pound mono for line. The conventional reel had over 40 pounds of drag!

Ignore this 
duplicate 
photo

   After fighting the shark for forty five minutes Adam's back, forearms, and legs were done. He handed the rod off to James who took his turn fighting the fish. After James got burned out I took a turn. While one of us was fighting the fish holding the rod and reel, another one of us would hold the rod about five feet up. We would try to drop the rod, reel in line, and pull the shark up and repeat. We did this for the better part of the next ninety minutes. The shark would not move. Every time we pulled in thirty yards of line on the reel, it would take it back at will. 

 

 I have never felt anything in my life as strong as this shark. It had to be huge. After over two hours, the line snapped. We never had the fish closer than eighty yards from shore. It would seem to be a crushing blow to fight a fish for two hours and never even see it, but it was such an epic battle that the three of us were just grateful to experience it. By the time the line broke, it was almost midnight. We had been watching lightning all night and it was getting closer so it was time to leave. 

   We made the right decision because our entire ride home was in a rain storm. We tried to figure out what could have been done better, but I think it was the perfect fight. The shark hit the strongest fishing rod/reel we had. We fought it to a standstill but this time the shark won. None the less, it was an amazing night!

Not all whale watches end in a whale of a tale

 

Saturday we went on a whale watch out of Galilee on the Francis Fleet. For me, the point of this trip was to hopefully find Scopoli's Shearwater, Last year, a species called Cory's Shearwater split into two species. It was determined that a subspecies of Cory's was actually a different species. So the birds that have all black at the wingtips remain Cory's and the ones that have white near the wingtips are Scopoli's. There are other genetic differences too but for birders that is the key field mark. 

    I've seen Scopoli's in North Carolina when I went on pelagics. I've almost certainly seen them in Rhode Island too. But since they were all considered the same species I never really tried to pick them out. Now that their are two species, I can pick up a species on my Rhode Island list by identifying a Scopoli's. 

   Six of us went out on the whale watch. Obviously, most people wanted to see whales. However, the six of us would have been happy to see birds and no whales. If no whales are spotted, the company gives out a free ticket to come back at a later time. 

   We travelled twenty three miles from port without seeing a whale and our prospects were good to not see one. Then one stupid Humpback decided to surface. Now don't get me wrong, I do love to see whales and I've had incredible whale watch experiences. This whale was feeding. It surfaced a mile from the boat for thirty seconds then dove again. We motored over to where it was seen and waited. It stayed down for over ten minutes before it came up for air. It did this three times. Each time it came up it was hundreds of yards from the boat. These disappointing sightings meant we were not going to get a free ticket for a future whale watch.

   

Wilson's Storm Petrel

Because it took so long to find the whale, we only had this thirty minute window to watch it. It did the three deep dives and off we went. The birding was very good. We saw plenty of Great and Cory's Shearwaters. We saw two Manx and a possible Sooty Shearwater. Wilson's Storm Petrel, a common pelagic bird was out on the water by the hundreds.  Unfortunately, I am still without a Rhode Island Scopoli's.  The finacial cost it is taking to see this bird is adding up quickly!