Captain Whit McMahon's.......Notes from the bridge.....



                                                                                                                    

                              

1st peek! This winter we were able to purchase and install a new Cummins diesel engine for our "India Marie". After three years of working on  "Indi", the new engine installation finally completes all our major projects on the "Indi Marie".  She's fully  ready to join the Gath III taking guests inshore fishing in style, but she also has the capacity to take you safely 25 miles offshore on a moments notice!  No small task and we thank you for your continued support over the years.......

I've spent the last four days catching up on the long neglected things that have to be done around the house,after having spent the whole summer offshore. My lovely wife Gloria asked me to make a web-page to help her with her quilting business sales. I spent the morning getting started on her new web- page. So please check it out!  Ill be updating it with the latest pictures of all the beautiful quilts she's made this summer, as soon as the fishing season winds down. I would highly recommend contacting Gloria so you can get the best choice on that very special gift for the holidays ahead.           click here:   Mrs. Satches... Maine country quilts...

  Week ending Sept 7th! I'd like to wish the best to all my very close friends in New Orleans.  Our prayers are with you. Please call me to let us know if your alright and if you need a place to stay!
         On the "Coast of Maine" we are currently keeping alert for the three active storms churning this week in the Southern Atlantic  the closest one @ 700 miles is causing small swells to break along the shore.With a little luck they'll head out to sea and we'll continue to experience great fishing during the month of September. We have quite a few offshore charters booked and our open boat "Fair weather fishermans club" Fridays have been a big success. Inshore the blue fish continue to break on the surface some really spectacular and some really slow trips depending on the feed and the bite! God knows! The stripers are also schooling up and moving along the coast on their annual fall migration. Same deal......... it seems to be either super fishing or stinky fishing depending on if we can find the many large schools during their feeding frenzies. I'm confident Capt Whit and I will land a few more trophy stripers inshore this month, as they fatten up on their way south. As I mentioned last week "Pollock fishing" is the best its been in years. Most pollock are in the "10 to 15 pound" range, and double keeper catches are not uncommon. If you'd like to experience good offshore fishing and take a few fillets home for the winter......nows the time to book an offshore trip on the "India Marie."

 A couple more pictures of some of this August's lucky anglers. I hadn't seen John Flaterly "NH" (left) since the old "BC" days. What a great guy! Captain Whit was lucky enough to enjoy a day offshore fishing with John. I'm not sure of the size or the story behind his double wolfish catch, but I couldn't wait to post this picture any longer. " I don't have Capt Whit record book at this time.more details later". (Center picture) Jack Judge"CT" with his 8 pound trophy haddock as he enjoyed a day of solitude fishing on India's pulpit. And Ed Joseph "NY..NY" and his son Matthew with his pool winning 26 pound cod !

  Week ending Aug 27th........Labor days fast approach! I'm thoroughly enjoying the last week of summer vacation, before my grandkids return to school next week. Capt Whit and I have been so busy taking all of you, that we've had no time for the web site, dinners out, or even mowing the lawn. Thanks so much for your support!
 
        Inshore "blue fishing" has been spectacular this week with "balls of bait" and blues breaking the surface all the way from Cape Porpoise to Nuble light. If you've been waiting for the summers best blue fishing nows the time! Striper fishing has slowed down with the tremendous amount of blue fish activity, but I did manage to land a nice "25 plus pound trophy striper" on the "India Marie" this week. See Liz's picture below.. Schools of large stripers have already begun their migration south and the 1st three weeks of September should be a great time to try for a large striper for those who care to try.

Week ending Oct 3rd! Beautiful October weather has ushered in a string of great offshore fishing days. Our last three offshore trips have all been very enjoyable for me. Our great guests have really enjoyed themselves. The fishing has been super and the company even better. On the Don Richardson (NH) charter the catching was mostly cod and haddock. Satch, Andrew and Damon with a few of the days haddock catch..Andrew landed the only trophies of the day a 7.5 haddock and a 16 pound cusk, but everyone landed nice keepers all day and the price of cod fillets in "Keene" certainly took a plunge.........

 
Also I'd like to remind you that the only way to make a reservation is to call my office phone (207) 337-0716. My step daughter Erin is doing a superb job getting back to you on time and keeping all our reservations running smoothly. I didn't think any one could possible do it right, and I'm very proud of her and the great job she' doing. So put your trust in Erin, she has my ear and full attention. if there are any problems or questions. Thanks again Satch

  Week ending August 1st..    An  update on the run!  Both boats are fine tuned, the weather has been excellent and the season is in high gear. Fishing is very good both inshore and offshore. Captain Whit and I have very little time onshore to update the site ect. as we are very busy bringing all our good friends in search of the big one. Striper fishing has again picked up over the last 10 days and most folks are very pleased with the size and quantity of the catch. One of Capt Whit's guests landed the 3rd trophy striper of the 2005 season "over 25 pounds" this week ..details forthcoming.... Blues have also arrived in greater numbers, yesterday we caught them breaking the surface inshore so we now have two species to fish for on most of our inshore trips.
         Offshore fishing continues to remain excellent.We usually have a very few openings on our 10 hour,"Fair weather fisherman offshore trips". I try to post any open spots on this page. In fact I've been so busy that for the 1st time ever... I've asked my step daughter Erin to handle the calls and the reservation book for me. She is doing a really great job and is getting back to you much quicker and more efficiently than I possible could this time of year. Anyway I wanted to post a few pictures of some pool winners taken over the last few days.

  Dave Manning (NH) refused to give up the ghost, and landed our largest fish of the 2005 season this week. Dave's cod was a 33 pound Maine state trophy. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy and it sure made Keith and my day when he hauled her over the rail. Casey Gobertus (FL) and his son Greg. Casey was "King of the world" as he enjoyed fishing in solitude on the pulpit. Casey's 29 pound Maine state trophy cod was also the largest fish he's ever landed. His son Greg's pollack was a mere 16 pounder..............

  On right, Richie Hasterhagen Jr. (NJ) with his pool winning 26 pound Maine state trophy cod, Richie out fished his dad Rich Sr. who also landed a nice large 14 pound Maine state trophy cusk!

 In other offshore news, Les Paul won the pool on Capt. Whits offshore trip the week with a 19 pound cod, Les also landed a 16 pound trophy wolfish. I don't have these pics yet as they are on Whit's camera and he's back offshore. Not to be outdone Les's wife, Linda landed our 2nd" blue tagged" cod of the year. The blue tags are worth $100 awarded by the New England research cod tagging program. The tagging program is a conservation effort to further understand the nature and health of our offshore cod fishery.

Week ending April 20th........Splash Down! This morning at 8 am sharp "India" left the farm for her trip to the harbor for the official launch of our 2005 season. We all worked so hard to get everything ready to meet our launch deadline and everything came together perfectly.Thanks to all our great customers without whose support we couldn't even begin to get it all together every spring. In the picture below you can see the scope of the move. "Indi" is completely blocking the road as she is backed out of our driveway for the 17 mile ride to Wells Harbor.

      I was very thrilled to have my old friend Irwin Liberskind aboard "India" for the 1st time yesterday. Irwin treated my sons Whit and Dennis to a day blue fishing in Boston harbor when they were just 12 and 13 years old.... how time flys. Anyway Irwin landed some very nice fish steadily throughout the day and had a great time. His largest was this 16 pound cod, the 2nd biggest cod of the day and just seven pounds short of the pool. Irwin's quote..    "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride"!

Week ending July 20th...The girls of summer...   
                                                                                        

Gloria with her largest ever 17 pound pollock and Jeanette with a matching 12 pounder caught on the same drop. "Center" Linda Paul with her 26 pound trophy cod the largest fish of the day, an Derrick with his largest ever 16 pound cod.

We also had a great time offshore last week with Don Rush (CT) and his family. I believe Bob Belnap was high hook of the day, but the defining moment was Don catching the largest cod of his life and the largest cod of the year to date on" India." Don Rush (CT ) with his 30 pound Maine state trophy !                               

 I have had no time to update my web page because we are so very busy taking all the fine families that come with us every summer. Since my last update on July 7th most of Capt Whit's and my days have been spent inshore striper and blue fishing . We are so busy trying to land our guests as many fish as we can that we simply don't have time to post all your great pictures during this fishing frenzy!
    Striper fishing has slowed down a bit the last few weeks with the arrival of the blues. On some trips the fishing is slow, on others the stripers bite to "Beat He'll".  But I'm fairly confident that all our guests have had as much fun chasing them all over the coast from York harbor to Cape Porpoise, as I have over the last couple of weeks. Captain Whit, Joe, Bob, Kieth and I really appreciate your continued support and confidence and we'll get some of your pictures and stories posted when things wind down a bit.

The early influx of blue fish has provided a lot of fun for the kids. Pictured left to right, Johnny Mier (PA) and his girlfriend Kendra, my grandson little Whit, Shawn Ringo(PA), and Paulie Mier on right. All the kids landed a blue on a day so foggy I could'nt see the pulpit on "Indi." John and paulie are 2003 graduates of our "Capt Satch and Sons summer fishing camp" and they can always be counted on to land a few super fish.. Sue Danaher and her dad Bob Frechette (MA) with a nice set of stripers, enjoying a great day on their annual summer outing. It's all the great families that come back every year that make it such fun for our crew.