Rock Water, the 30-foot boat I had custom-built in the tiny village of Arichat, Nova Scotia, nearly 25 years ago, has provided me with some of my greatest memories on the water.
She’s been a very good and trusted friend, and has proven herself over and over, whether I’m fishing, trapping lobsters, or simply dropping my iron dredges off the stern deck for scallops every fall. She’s taken a lot of abuse over the years from yours truly.
Watching her being constructed was another joy. The boatbuilders at Samson Enterprises did a fine job, and I’m still grateful for their work and craftsmanship.
As an aside, Arichat itself is a lovely and quaint seaside village on Isle Madame, a small island off Cape Breton Island where Acadian French is spoken by most of the 1,500 residents. It’s a different world there. Fishing, mainly of a commercial nature, still remains true to her core. And that will probably never change.
The picturesque landscape and weather-worn seashore make for a perfect postcard that one would send to friends and family. Do people send postcards when traveling anymore? It’s been probably 20 years since I received or wrote one myself.
Sadly, the Rock Water has begun to show her age. And that’s not a surprise. She’s tired, and my wrist is tired of writing all the checks for her repairs.
The most recent issue occurred last Thursday. After a quick morning of fishing for blackfish off Gull Island, I gained air in my diesel fuel line in the turbulent waters of the Sluiceway, a two-mile-wide passageway of water between Plum and Big Gull Islands.
Combined with a new moon incoming tide that strongly battled a stiff northwesterly wind, the seas quickly stacked up. It became nasty real quick. The turbulence stirred up rubbery rust particles in my twin 90-gallon fuel tanks, and my engine conked out.
Getting a prime on the 370-horsepower engine in the chaotic waters was not easy. It took about 15 minutes as the sea bounced us about to and fro.
Thankfully, we ultimately got under power and we played it safe cruising at around five knots until we entered the lee of Big Ram Island on the east side of Shelter Island.
Unfortunately, we stalled again about half a mile from the breakwater to Sag Harbor. So close, yet so far. I could not get Rock Water restarted and needed assistance.
I dialed Adrian Pickering, the owner of Ship Ashore Marina in the backwaters of Sag Harbor Cove, where I have docked my various boats for several decades. Pickering quickly came out to us in his Boston Whaler skiff and got the engine started, but we stalled out once again as we neared the Jordan Haerter bridge. Under his tow line, we thankfully made it back to my slip. Our long and arduous day on the water was over, and so was my season on the Rock Water.
I will launch her again in late March when I put my lobster traps back into the drink. I hope she’ll be ready for it.
As for the fishing scene, striped bass and blackfish are the news of late.
“Bass up to 34 inches have been plentiful along the ocean beaches from Montauk to Southampton,” said Ken Morse, the proprietor of Tight Lines Tackle in Southampton and Sag Harbor. “The best lure has been a small diamond jig with a teaser tied two feet above.”
Turning to blackfish, the action has been terrific, so long as the winds allow boaters to untie their dock lines.
Wally Johnsen, my former longtime neighbor here on North Haven, hit blackfish heaven on Friday. Fishing in only 20 feet of water on the south side of Fishers Island, Johnsen and crew landed a full limit of large blackfish.
“I was only using a one-ounce jig,” he said when I bumped into him at Tight Lines Tackle on Sunday. “The fishing was really great. We had our limit of fish with all over 18 inches. We had a blast.”
Over at Mrs. Sam’s Bait and Tackle in East Hampton, the owner, Sebastian Gorgone, was enthusiastic about the run of striped bass along the ocean beaches. “Small diamond jigs have been flying out of the shop,” he said of the slender metallic lure that mimics a sand eel. “Mixed in with the bass have been a few bluefish and shad. And don’t overlook the bayside. Stripers can be had at Napeague, Maidstone, and Sammy’s Beach.”
Gorgone added that blackfish have been cooperating for anglers baiting up with green crabs. “So long as you have a good weather day with little wind, you are most likely to do well.”
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