Captain Satch and Sons...The Gath IV / India
Marie!
Captain's Club....
Your 2010 Season Highlights!
January 31, 2011
Wells Harbor Me, July 17th 2010,
with Andy Berhely's (NH) 10 foot Blue shark.."Left to right" Kayden and
Kyla Birch (ME),McCarey
McCatty(ME),1st mate Keith McAvoy (ME), Apprentice Eric Sprague (MA),
Captain Whit
(ME), and Ben Brossard
(LA).
Video
on facebook page!
*Reservations
for
the
2011
season
begin
on
Tuesday
morning
March
1st @ 8am sharp!
The best numbers to get
through Tuesday morning are (207) 475-4676 , (207) 475- 4705 and
(207)324-9655
Dear
Friends,
Spring greetings from the Captain Satch and Sons crew….Captain’s
Whit,
Den,
Tom,
and
Satch,
along with our entire crew
Keith, Nick,Christian and Eric sincerely thank you for your
generosity and understanding in “2010. We
appreciate the faith and goodwill you've demonstrated by fishing with
us over the last 13 seasons.This is the first year, that I've decided
to issue our annual guest letter in a digitalized format. As much as I
love the printed word and mailing the guest letters," you just have to keep up with the
times". I am confident that most of you will be able to find and
enjoy the guest letter in this format. It certainly has its good
points, we can show more of your pictures, tell even more exciting
stories about your on-board adventures, and save over a thousand
dollars in printing and mailing costs. So here goes..... Starting with
a bit of history!
Fifteen years ago we started
our family business when Mrs. Gath Coombs had the wisdom and a
bit of faith to trust my sons, Den and
Whit with
her late husband’s Captain
Bobby Coombs charter vessel the Gath III.
They were just teenagers at
the time, just moments after seeing their youthful enthusiasm, she
trusted them to rebuild the Gath III.
Gath was originally build in Bailey Isle Maine in 1944, she was
refurbished over a three year period beginning in 1995 by my family and
our close friend Keith McAvoy.
Gath III is by far the prettiest and oldest charter fishing boat in
Maine.For the first five years my sons and I operated inshore striper
trips aboard the Gath III out
of Wells Harbor Me.We were the
only charter boat in the harbor at that time with the exception of our
friend Captain
Jim Shaw's, Karen Ann.
In the
Fall of 2001, Captain Whit and I purchased our 2nd boat the "India Marie". With Kieth's boat
building expertise, and Captain Ken Malone's mechanical skills we
refurbished and outfitted her for offshore cod
fishing.Our success continued and in order to accommodate all our
families and guests we purchased the new Gath IV in the spring of 2008. Gath IV is a Coast Guard
documented vessel certified to carry up to twelve
passengers, up to twenty miles offshore.To insure the personal service
our guests have come to expect, we limit ourselves to ten fishing
guests aboard the new Gath..For
the
last
two
seasons,
our
guests
have
truly
enjoyed inshore fishing
with Captain Whit and his crew.I
am
hopeful
that
with
the
upturn
in the economy the crew and I will be able
shine up the Gath III in "Bristol
Fashion" and get
her ready to
rejoin her sister ships ,so that our friends of so many years can again cruise
aboard the "Classic Gath III"
on 2 hour charters this July and August.
2010 season highlights: Our first offshore trip of the 2010
season was on
May 7th with our good friends John
Manser, Danny Weldon (NH) and crew. Cod fishing started right
off
with a bang, in fact it was the best spring cod fishing we've ever
experienced on the "India Marie".
By Memorial day weekend, with experienced fishermen Les and Linda Paul (ME), Jeanette
DeBlois(ME), Dennis Cassidy(VT), and Peter Cacciapaglia(MA) we
landed our daily limit of cod for the first time in over three years.
With over seventy "nice size keepers" we headed home a bit early.
Dennis Cassidy won the pool with our first trophy
cod
of the new season with a 27.5
pound Maine State Trophy, which he was kind enough to released
alive to help insure the recovery of our cod stocks.
Brian
Pinger
(NY) with his friends Ray,
Gary and Scott on their June
4th charter. Jim Keely (NY)
background is reeling in his pool winning 25 pound plus trophy cod.
The 2010 season was the
summer of excellent weather, for three months June, July and August
we experienced the nicest continuous fair weather pattern that I have
ever experienced in over twenty years of taking folks fishing. Both "Gath and India" ran every day taking a record number of guests
to enjoy a fun day with the boys and I. By the time the tropical storms
blew up the coast in September, we already had one of our best business
seasons ever. But, good weather "like all things" can't last forever
and the fall months of September and October brought gale force winds
almost every weekend.We were forced to either cancel or bring some
of the most tenacious, hardy anglers back to the dock on their knees
begging for
mercy. In
short, many of our best anglers had their annual fall offshore trips
rescheduled or
canceled. Quite a few excellent
fishermen, who always take advantage of "Maine's fall fishing bonanza"
found their freezers a bit short of their
annual allotment of
Keith's boneless fillets.
The unusually warm water made for exceptional shark fishing in July and
August. On our ride offshore we sighted large sharks darn near every
day, most were Blue sharks, but the occasional mako,
porbeagle, thresher,and gummer were present as well. I would point them
out, if our
guests wished to target them. We would haul out the shark gear and give
it a shot. After hooking, up most fights lasted for an hour or two,
landing us at least a mile from our initial spot. As you can
imagine this is a serious game, even for the most
experienced crew. It's imperative to listen to Keith's advise and
instruction. After all, these fish are more than twice the size of the
person on the other end of the line. Greg
Washburn
(VT)
followed our advise to the tee and
thoroughly
enjoyed
whooping
a
300 plus pound, 11
footer. Quentin Kuel's grandson,Tim Sieffert (MA) (age 16), single
handedly fought and landed a 100 plus
pounder on a half day trip.
Dylan Boyle
(NY) landed the largest Blue shark of the season on August
19th, Captain Whit estimated it at 12
foot long, and 550 pounds. Not really that
palatable as table fare we suggest releasing the blue sharks, and
keeping only mako's and porbeagles. In fact, we don't enter shark
tournaments because it's against my morals to kill such a beautiful
creature if you're not going to eat it. The only shark (top of page)
that Captain Whit and Keith
brought back
to the dock was specifically targeted from the day before. Andy Berhely (NH) fought and landed
his 10 foot, 250 pounder after
a two hour fight. Everyone in Jerry
St. Jeans Charter party put on the harness and took a crack at
it, but Andy took the brunt of the fight and Captain Whit credited him
with the catch.Captain Whit had no mercy for this particular shark,he
felt fairly confident it was the same one that had pulled a hook into
Keith's finger the day
before.
" Shark videos can be
viewed on
my Capt Satch and Sons facebook
page."
Let the good times
roll. We had perfect weather and some of the most
compatible guests ever on this Spring's
overnight
adventure
to
the
Isle
of
Shoals
(NH).
In the picture below (left to right) 1st mate Keith
McAvoy(ME), Bob "I love you man"
Posner (NH) and Wayne Guyette (NH)
settle in to enjoy some of Ms. Jeanette Mom's honey roasted chicken as the sun
sets in the background.After the first days fishing, Keith choose the finest mooring @
Gosport Harbor and we settled in for our six coarse meal. Starting off
with Jeanette's tomato, mozzarella and vinaigrette salad.
Leisurely
moving
on
to
Greg's marinated venison steak, Wayne's roasted potatoes, peppers, and
onions, "ILYM Bob's" homemade venison sausage, Satchie's grilled shrimp, Marlene's honey chicken, topped off with "Mackerel Bob's" Bubba burgers, and a smooth
dessert provided by "Harley" Bob.
Mackerel Bob after intense consulting with his Chinese friends via a
wireless snipe connection managed to complete his hammock assembly
around mid night. Just a few hours later, Ms.Jeanette roused us all to witness
a spectacular sunrise, complete with a 18 foot Bull shark feeding
within a few feet of the "India
Marie". After enjoying a cup of Keith's
famous
Isle
of
Shoals
coffee, we were headed back offshore for
our second round of fishing by 4:30 am.
My campsite neighbor "Harley"Bob Conner (MA) was
high hook on Friday afternoon, but another neighbor and friend Greg
Brown (NH) cleaned everybody's clock on Saturday
morning catching the most fish, cumulating with this beautiful 27.5 Maine State trophy cod.
Greg was kind
enough to release this beauty shortly after this picture was taken.
Many of our close friends
landed truly spectacular fish this season. Steve
Schonberg (FL) won the "Annual Gath Coombs Silver Trophy Cup honors"
for the largest
striper of the year and the
largest striper ever landed on any of our boats. Steve's "Maine
State trophy" landed on the Gath
IV, weighed in at over 52 pounds.My
good
friend
Ron Koshorik (MI)
landed the largest cod of the season on the "Indi Marie", Ron's "Maine State Trophy cod"
weighed in at over 34 pounds.
Both these beautiful fish
were released unharmed. Rob "Bear"
Both (NY) landed the largest white hake we have ever landed on
any of
our boats. Bear's "Trophy Hake"
weighed in at over 42 pounds.
John Orosz (NY) landed the largest
cusk of the of his life also a Maine State
Trophy 16 pounder. Peter Kocut(MA)
lost his annual Blue Fin Tuna after hooking up for the third year in a
row. Brendon Gallager (MA)
won the pool on his families charter with a double keeper catch, a 23 and 12 pound pollock, caught on
the same line at the same time. Amber
Lamb(NY) landed and released the largest monkfish of the season,
a nice 15
pounder.
Rob "Bear" Both (NY) 42 # Trophy
Hake Steve Schonberg
(FL) 52# Trophy Striper w/ Capt
Whit Ron Koshorik(MI) 34# Trophy
Cod w/ Capt Tom
*********************************************************************************************************
2011 Season Plans...
Offshore fishing …The "India Marie" will
begin this seasons "spring cod fishing trips" on Saturday
May
7th.
Our popular 10-hour
Charters
are
recommended
for
most
offshore
trips
aboard
the "India Marie. "India" is a very safe and stable
vessel, nicely equipped to travel up to 25 miles offshore. We
strive to catch large ground fish; cod, haddock, pollock, cusk and
hake. We also enjoy and are federally licensed and
properly equipped to target various species of shark, and Blue
fin tuna upon request.Captain
Satch will be the primary captain on the "India Marie" again this season with
Captain Whit acting as his
backup. With just six anglers aboard on all India's trips you can be
assured of receiving
personal and caring service.The
smaller
crew
also
gives
us
the
ability
to
quickly
adjust
to any fishing
opportunities and conditions that may arise, and
minimize tangles to afford you a better chance of landing your special
fish. While a good number of our offshore trips are group charters, I
enjoy and have never hesitated to put trips together for the individual
anglers. Our
"Fair Weather
Fishermen’s Club" offers a sure way that individual anglers can experience offshore fishing without chartering the
whole boat. These 10 hr Open boat
trips are held
every Friday throughout the season.We also try to put together
other open boat trips whenever possible, so please let us know when
you'd like to go and we'll do our best to accommodate you.We have a
nice
fishing arsenal of custom cod jigging poles
matched with quality Penn Baha, and
Newel 4.6 reels. Stand up tuna and shark poles w/ 2 speed Shimano reels are aboard to
target Blue fin tuna, or sharks when sited. Frank J. Davis, Ms. Jeanette and I
will be spending a week in March pouring and rigging at least seventy-five of her dad's famous "16 oz Burkett jigs". Satchie's jig of chose on the "India Marie".That
ought
to
be
enough
for
Bernie, Butch,
Wayne, Rev Tom, Terry, Al, Jeremy,Brad and Jodie to make it
through
another season.
Remember to check out our Captain Satch and Sons "facebook page" for
daily
updates,
your
pictures,and
offshore openings....
Our offshore fishing season begins in earnest in early May as schools
of nice size cod and haddock migrate into our area from Georges and
other offshore banks.Most of our experienced guests truly enjoy
spending a full 10 hour day deep seas fishing for these beautiful and
tasty fish.We target them in deep water as they move up the coast
feeding on the masses of krill and herring. In the spring,
large schools of whales "sometimes fifty or more" can be seen all
around the boat,
pushing literally tons of the little shrimp like creatures into great
balls that you can literally scoop up in your hands.Blue fin Tuna also
arrive in
June, these are a highly prized targeted species and "put up the best fight of any species in
the world" with fights lasting typically up to 2 or 3 hours.They
are very hard to land due to their overpowering size and strength. All of the North Atlantic
shark species can be found in the warm waters of July and August,
although most of the highly prized makos and porbeagle are caught early
in the spring months.
We land a good number of our trophy size cod in the month of June, as
they arrive at their inshore spawning grounds. We strongly encourage
the
release of cod over 25 pounds, in fact we take great pictures and
present our guests with a free Captain
Satch
T
shirt if they are
willing to release their trophy fish. With this attitude more than 90
percent of our Trophy cod and stripers are released unharmed. By mid
July schools of nice size pollock arrive.They are one of my favorite
targeted species as they put up such a great fight, are plentiful with
their stocks in good health and are super table fare. Many experienced
party boat fishermen often comment that they find fishing in late
August distressing, because of the high incidence of spiny
dogfish shark tangling their lines.This is not the case on India with
just six anglers aboard, we move quickly to avoid the "dreaded dogs".
We do very well
on our offshore trips throughout the summer landing a good
variety of nice size cod, haddock,
pollock, cusk, white and silver
hake, and red fish.Wolfish are now a protected species and must
be released after their pictures are taken.Fall fishing is best for
total numbers of fish landed as both cod and pollock are well
established. Weather wise, fishing in September and October is also
more challenging. Flexible scheduling is often required to work around
the storm
swells that frequent the coast that time of year.We end our
recreational offshore season the last weekend in October. The "India
Marie" continues to commercial lobster fish through the end of
December. Quite a few of our summer guests bundle up, put on their
winter gloves and pick out their Christmas lobster while watching Capt
Whit, Little Dennis and I
pull his traps.
I will be
forced to have a slight fare increase for the 2011 season.I'm anxious
and concerned with the rapid increase in diesel fuel costs, prices are
already approaching the 3.75/4.00 per gal rates of the 2009 season. The
business absorbed the additional fuel costs that summer, but it was
very hard on my family and crew that winter. Another big pain is the
new Maine State Saltwater fishing
license fees imposed by our inept Maine legislature.Despite
beating it back with your letter campaign three years ago, our "repress"entitives
have come in through the back door requiring
a "salt water fee add on" to a
fresh water fishing license. Our vacationing families can no longer
fish off the shoreline, jetty's docks and beaches without buying a $25
license fee. You will not need this license to
fish aboard "Gath or India" because I've already received the
new tax application for each boat and have included the costs in your
trip with us. This will be our first price increase in three or four
years.I've always catered to working and middle class families, and our
crew will continue to work hard to insure you receive a good value for
your hard earned money
.
This
salt
water
license
is
a
real
shame
for
the
kids. I plan
on working to repeal the Maine State salt water fishing license because
it discourages so many average working families from enjoying a special
day learning the sport of ocean fishing. Future generations are being
stripped of a basic right that goes back to colonial times, all for an
added dollar in state tax revenues. I am the successful and contented
fisherman I am today because my dad took the time to bring me to the
jetty on Sunday mornings when all we could afford was a drop
line.What's next a tax on hiking...Count me in to help beat back
this onerous tax!
Inshore fishing. ..The new
“Gath
IV"will begin
her fourth season on Memorial Day weekend, Friday May 25th.
Our
four hour mackerel and striped
bass trip is still the most popular with guests overall..Kids
and adults alike really enjoy the opportunity to catch the largest fish
of their lives within a short ride of the harbor.You
are
allowed
to
book
fares
for
these
trips
on
an
individual
basis.Captain Whit will be the primary
captain on the "Gath IV" this
season with Captain Tom, Captain Kenny
and Captain Satch acting as
his backups. Four and six hour trips are scheduled
every
day throughout the summer primarily targeting
striper,
mackerel and bluefish as they migrate along the coast.
Last season we
began offering six hour deep sea
fishing trips aboard the Gath IV as
well.These trips range to about 10 to 14 miles offshore and are a great
introduction to the "full 10 hour day" offered aboard the India Marie. For the 2011 season Gath will be fully
equipped with a nice selection of jigging poles matched with quality
Penn 113H reels and a full
compliment of jigs and fly's. I plan on
personally introducing our guests and crew to more half- day cod trips
when the ground fishing and weather conditions are favorable. To avoid overcrowding, we've made
a commitment to limit the number of fishing guests aboard the "Gath
IV"
to
10
maximum .If you
charter the
whole boat and would like to take 2 additional guests as observers, we
are licensed and permitted to do by USCG inspection standards.
A
great
day
of
Blue
fishing
with
Paco
and
friends aboard the Gath IV,
Aug 27th 2010
Generally speaking the best striped bass fishing aboard Gath IV runs
from Memorial day through August 1st, schoolies come first "18-28
inchers" followed by trophy size stripers in the"32-52 inch range".They
migrate along our unspoiled shoreline enjoying the plentiful food
supply.By early August the water has warmed up sufficiently enough for
large schools of blue fish "10-15 pounders" to reach the northern part
of
their range. This exciting fishery lasts into September.The ravenous
Blues tend to scare" the stripers out of their minds" so striper
fishing generally slows down when the bluefish are active.On a typical
August day we either target striper or blues or both based on the
opportunity. With the advent of fall weather, the blues begin moving
south out of our area, and big schools of mixed size stripers begin
returning. This time headed down the coast on their way to their
winter/spring spawning grounds in Delaware and Maryland. Another round
of very good striper fishing for a few weeks in late September,
then we finish off Gath
IV's
inshore
season
chasing
hugh schools horse mackerel "2 pounders" through the Columbus Day
weekend in October.
Our 2 hr family discovery trips are fast becoming
a favorite for young folks and their families A fun, safe introduction
especially for those who've never fished on the ocean before.These
trips are scheduled every evening at 6:15PM. We try hard to get
some
quick fishing action for the kids, either a lot of makerel, or a large
striper or blue without venturing to far from the harbor.A real
learning experience where families can see harbor seals, catch a few
nice fish, enjoy the sunset and interact with our crew.Captain Tom is the primary Captain
on our evening trips,with Captain Satch acting as his backup.Many
families come back year after year just to enjoy this special 2 hour
adventure.Many others move on to our 4 and 6 hour inshores or even
venture offshore as the kids skills and ambitions grow.
Captain Satch with
my grandson McCarey's Jamaican side of the family on a 2 hr
evening trip. Cousin Lanie
landed her 1st ever striper.
Please check out "hundreds of your Family Fun photos" on
our
facebook
page!
Special 2 hr evening trips .....Sea
Shantie sing alongs... Gath began her 2010 season on Sunday
evening May 28th.We dedicated the season to my mom, Carolyn and got it off with
a bang with flowers for the ladies, and a spectacular premiere
performance by Sir Ernie Pigeon
one of our area's
best guitar players and sea shantie enthusiasts. Everyone enjoyed a cup of Grammie
Opal's
fresh fish
chowder, thanks to my lovely wife Gloria.
Pictured below is Ernie with our guests singing along.Folks enjoyed it
so much that Ernie returned by
request to entertain three more times
during the summer. I felt a real sense of accomplishment
watching my
friends enjoy the music and each
others company as the sun set over the estuary.
Ernie has offered to return in 2011. With a
performance every month in May, June, July, and August. Our first
scheduled date is Memorial day eve, Sunday
May 29th,. Call early for reservations. Last year we filled up
both
"Gath
and Indi" for Ernie's special performances.The feeling is authentic and
carries you back to the good old days!
Each year the Maine
Dept.
of
Marine
resources
sponsors an association of saltwater
anglers who have landed the
big one and awards them
a "Maine State Trophy" designation.
Our guests landed Twenty eight of
these State Trophy fish in 2010 including the largest striped bass and
the
largest white hake we've ever landed on any of our boats.
This is real special achievement for
these anglers, and for our crew. Congratulations
and
thanks
to
our
class
of
2010
trophy winners!
Striped Bass trophies
*Steve Schonberg(FL)
46.75 inches.. 52 #s, Jamie
Frank(MA) 42.75 inches.. 44 #s, Tyler
Rice(MA) 38inches..26.5 #'s, Jason
Love
(CO) 38.5 inches.. 26#'s,
Sandy Spalding (VT) 38 inches..25.5 #'s, Aaron Managan (VT) landed two
trophies on the same trip, 37.5 inches.. 25 #'s and 36.5 inches.. 25
#'s.
Cod Trophies… Ron Koshorik(MI) 34
#s,
Randy Jewett (ME) 30 #s, Greg Brown (VT) 27.5#s, and Jim
Kelly
(NY)
25.5
#s.
(VT) 40#s.
Hake Trophies…* Rob "Bear" Both(NY) 42 pounds, and
Sam Earl (NY) 25.5 pounds.
.
Cusk Trophies......
Fred
Marchaland
Jr.(NY)
16.5 #s, John
Orosz 16 #s, Sandy Van
Avery(NY) 14#'s,and Rev. Tom
Gregg(NY) 12.5 #'s
Haddock Trophies...Larry Dube(CT) 7.25 pounds, and Jim DeWitt(ME) 7.25 pounds.
Pollock Trophies… Whit
McMahon(ME) 30 #'s, Randy Jewett(ME) 29#'s, Dennis
Cassidy(VT) 27.5#'s and Bruce Greenhalgh(MA) 26#s.
Redfish Trophies.Jeanette Deblois(ME) 2.5 #s, Terry Lamb(NY) 2.25 #s, Paul Dvoretsky(NJ) 2 #s, Frank Davis(ME) 2#’s and Jim
Junean(MN) 2#s.
* Designates
the largest fish of that species, ever landed aboard the Gath III
or the India Marie.
1st mate Nick,entertains Emily, Alyse, Megan, Tara, Laura and James@
Chrisy's bachlorette party.The girls slew a bunch of Blues. Nubble Lighthouse in the
backgroud!
Before
I
end
this
guest
letter,
I would like to reflect upon a few
other special moments of
the
2010 season: Many of these memories flash back to the
culinary pallet ... The finest campsite feast ever, with Ed Baisley, and George Delahey's
crew, a
summer
evening's
back
porch
chat
with Ron
and
Marylin, supper with John and Paulie's wonderful
grandfather, my Chinese birthday spread with Mackerel Bob and Sue, our quick
retreat from an unnamed restaurant with Dick
and Kim, the wonderful time Gloria and I enjoyed at Wayne and Karen's chilly contest,
our first family reunion lobster bake with Joanne, Kenny, Megan, Brett, Bob, Donny
and all the grand nieces and nephews, our annual summer cookout at Mark and Laurie's, and all the
family fun @ Leo and Gails
famous beer batter fish fry.No wonder I have to go on a diet.How bout, Ms Jeanette, cool and a just bit wet
after filling in for Kieth on our 1st offshore trip of the season, the
first
time
I
ever
met
first mate Nick
covered with dust grinding Gath's deck, Christian and I trying to untangle
Gath IV's biggest tangle ever,
Gwen falling out of the head with a
giant spider nipping at her heels,
Chuck finally taking Mellisa offshore.. Ohhhh Boy!,
Seth insisting on posing as
"India's masthead, Mike
blessing the giant schools of Blue fish jumping on our lines with "just
a touch of Jameson", finally a fair weather day with Don and Linda aboard,Terry Ann
teasing poor old Satchie with a piece of candy,
the most quality time I've spent w/Cousin
Don in over 50 years, Al Timm
offering a chew of his "road kill
jerky" to Dennis, Mike's
invited you back on his annual "Skip
Albert charter" by the way ,
and
finally
a thrilled Captain Tom
after landing his first trophy
as captain.Sure
glad
I
got
him
that book on ol' fashioned fishing techniques.
Just seeing so many families that started fishing with us on the Ol'
Gath III over thirteen years
ago still supporting and enjoying a day
with us year after year.The Frechette's,
Diluzio's, Frankenfield's,
Fazio's,
Brandts's,
Mally's,
Miers,
Dvoretsky's,
Porters,
Lambs, Quarry's,
Hehir's Cronins, Gralia's,Van Gelder's, Romain's, Saum's, Parrow's,
OConner's, Lacki's, Wilmer's, Wetmore's, Al
Maynes, Joy Larimee, Jim Olmstead.You've
become our fishing family and
we love you man!
Every December we hold our annual company Christmas party and
annual board meeting to thank everyone for their effort. I recognized
just how much the
growth and success of our little company is dependent on our hard
working and caring crew. The personal development of the
best
crew on
the coast is our real success. First, I need to thank my sons
Dennis
and Whit, my wife Gloria and my best friend Keith for their
unconditional effort, freeing me to run our own company for the best
thirteen years of my working life.Captain
Tom
Corbett
joined our bodacious crew this summer to help take command of
Gath IV's two hour evening
trips. Tom is the kindest captain I've ever had the pleasure of
knowing. His empathy earned him the
immediate love and respect of our guests. Captain Tom quickly
learned the
ropes inshore, catching folks a slew of stripers and blues,
culminating with
he and Sandy Spalding (VT) catching
their
first
25 pound plus Trophy
Striper this fall. He fast became a trusted relief captain
for Captain Whit, and a trusted advisor to me. "Little
Dennis Bourgeois"offered his gifted mechanical ability during
the 2008 season, his dedicated
effort since that time has
assured that the boats are "always"
in tip top mechanical
shape. Den is retiring from his full time engineers job this winter, so
you just may see more of him in 2011.
Ensign Ed, our guests often comment on your caring
attention to their needs, but I'm the only one that truly knows the
personal effort you put in to" help
keep
me on course". I sincerely thank you for all the extra effort
and
help you put in to keep our
days running smoothly. Little Eric
worked his butt off this summer, apprenticing towards his Coast Guard Captains license "days
at sea requirements". With two
seasons behind him, he's very close to the halfway mark, I'm confident
that by his 18 th birthday Captain
Tom's hat will fit nicely
atop his head. Eric's
conscientious attitude is contagious to the rest of our
crew, including myself. I always seem to catch bigger fish with Eric's
drive and encouragement. My grandson Joey,
arrived
back
in
New
England
in
September
after
his
dad's
two year
military stint at Fort Hood Texas. Joey's been fishing with me on the
Gath III since his1st birthday. He loves fishing and is a fine worker,
his Uncle and I are excited to have him back and look forward to him
will joining Eric in our Captains apprentice program in this summer.
In the
spring, Captain Whit an I had the opportunity to train two new 1st
mate's to replace Whit's caring 1st mate the Bobinator who retired after many
years of dedicated service.We were very lucky to find two outstanding
young men, Nick Boudreau and Christian Fenderson who
took turns mating with Captain Whit this summer aboard the Gath IV. As
our guests who fished
with them this summer can attest. They are intelligent, dedicated and
hardworking, but their most important quality is that they really care
about your
experience with us. I'm extremely pleased to be surrounded by such a
competent crew. Nick will
be
receiving
his
BS
degree
this
spring
in
Environmental science and wildlife management from Paul Smith College
(NY). Christian has
returned from his
commercial fishing forays in Alaska to settle down and begin a family. Both Christian and Captain Whit
became engaged to be married this winter." No...Not to each other". Anyway I
wish both couples big happy families, and many happy years together.
I'm hopeful that our entire crew will return and be at your service
again this
summer.
Ensign
Ed,
Jodi,Captain
Tom,Eric
and
Gloria.
As always
we
have
so
many behind the scenes helpers to thank.My " little sister" Jeanette somehow figures out your
scribbles and turns them into entries for our address book. The succesful effort of Ms Laurie to bring our website
into the future. Frank J. Davis whose
always there to help and keep me motivated all winter.Our empathetic
attorney Kevin, and our
meticulous accountant Tony. We
love
our
bank
"SIS", thanks to Jamie, Dee, Sharon,Theresa, Suzette.Linda
and Anthony. Our fuel man Bob. whose always there when
needed.Our harbormaster, Chick
who gave our first mooring is retiring this winter after 30 years of
dedicated service. Trudy Dixon has been there
since our first year, making our brochures with a
little extra care.Todd and Seth
who insure I get my
proper rest @ Ocean view Campsite. Cousin
John,
Kevin,
DJ,
Ms.Linda,
Paul,Mary
Ann,Jeanette and Ensign Ed who act as our board members and providethier
valued guidance when appropriate. And thank
God for my lovely and caring wife Gloria. She’s always there
to meet the boats, answer your questions, and make something of our
three grand kids. And finally, I
want
to
sincerely
thank
the
fine
gentlemen
and
ladies
that think enough
of us to come back year after year. We
genuinely
enjoy
welcoming you aboard the boats each day and were truly
honored you return to fish with us.
Keep your dreams alive!
Captain
Satch
My
Buddy, Leo Drinkwine (NY) with
a big old monk! Could you
help me get that hook out please....