Fishing on the Yellow Bird
With Betty Gagne
My first ever deep sea fishing excursion took place recently when I boarded the Yellow Bird, a 60-foot fishing boat that’s moored in Hampton Harbor and holds 24 passengers comfortably for a day at sea. It’s been years since I’ve been on an ocean voyage, and I remembered to take my Dramamine just to be safe. Turns out I didn’t need it because the weather was perfect: a deep blue sky, bright sunshine and little wisps of clouds that would soon disappear. The early morning air was clean and fresh with just a hint of salt, and the ocean water was smooth and tranquil.
Surrounded by seasoned fishermen who were anxious to get out on the water, I was told we were on a two-hour jaunt to what these folks hoped would be a hot fishing spot. They assured me they always find and catch fish, and I believed them.
We took off, and I used this time to sneak into the bridge and chat with Captain Rick LaPierre. He’s owned the Yellow Bird since 1996 and describes his early years around the Seacoast.
“I was an average dock rat,” he said with a shrug. “Always been around boats.”
I could tell he has a love for what he does. He praised his crew and his line of work.
“We made 199 trips last season,” he told me.
Expect a warm welcome from the Captain and, if you’re lucky, he’ll sing for you in his Elvis voice. He’s also very comical, and this helps him build rapport with his passengers.
Captain Rick is heading out to new waters today.
“We often fish Jeffrey’s Ledge, but this morning I’m trying a different area called the Nipper,” he said.
He points out the location on the chart plotter, and the zone is just slightly southwest of the center of the ledge.
“We’ve been catching a lot of dogfish lately, so I want to shake it up a bit,” he shared.
Our crew were two very helpful guys in waders, Eddie and Jose. They made their way around the deck, offering help and answering questions. Most of the people on the Yellow Bird seemed to know what they were doing, and some of them even had their own fishing rods. I felt kind of needy because it was my first time deep sea fishing, and I didn’t want to make any mistakes.
At first, I figured it wasn’t much different from lake fishing, which I’m familiar with, but I was wrong. I was surprised to see the fishing lines had two hooks and was told this was so you could catch two fish at once. Smirking, I just wished I’d be lucky enough to snare one nice haddock. Eddie helped me with the rod, showing me how to let the line spin out and hold it with my thumb. This is important advice; the line will get all tangled up if you just let it go.
Suddenly Eddie handed me the rod after letting the line drop until it hit the ocean bottom, saying, “You got a fish! You got a fish! Reel it in!” I was so excited I almost dropped the pole. I kept reeling in the line for what seemed like forever; we were fishing at around 200 feet, so it does take a little time. What surfaced was a beautiful haddock — just what I wanted. You can identify haddock by the gray marks underneath the gills. Captain Rick calls these spots “God’s thumbprint.” The thumbprints were there and Eddie smiled at me as he pulled the fish off the hook. I wanted to get a better look at it but he just tossed it right back into the ocean. I was floored. “What are you doing?!” I yelled. “That was my fish!”
A person behind me explained, “Too short. Can’t keep it.” Boom. Legally, a haddock must be at least 17 inches long to keep. I’d guess mine was maybe 13 or 14.
We dropped anchor where we were, and the fish were pretty plentiful for a while. Some were keepers and others had to be dropped back. My friend Karen LaBrie was fishing about 6 feet away from me, and she was catching one fish after another. She even hooked two redfish at once. Redfish look like giant goldfish; they’re very pretty and they yield small, sweet, tasty filets.
As I’m watching her reel in all these fish, I’m not getting one bite. Or am I? Yes, I definitely felt that little tug on my pole! Elated, I reeled and reeled, cranking that line, being careful to move it on the spool from left to right to left to keep it from raveling too much on one side. It took a few minutes, but here comes my fish — a greenish, smaller fish, certainly not a haddock — a mackerel.
“They can use it for bait,” one of the guys said as he plucked it off the hook and tossed it into the bin with the rest of the caught fish. Wow. I wasn’t sure if I was upset that I snagged a lousy fish or happy that I contributed to the cause. I shook it off and continued to observe Karen outfish everyone. She hooked double haddocks several times while I watched. She even landed a huge cusk. It’s a good thing I like her.
Captain Rick’s objective is for his passengers to be happy.
“We always try to catch as many fish as possible,” he said.
He does this by using a fish finder, a sonar which shows the water’s depth and the sea bottom. Several times during the day, when things were slow, he instructed those fishing to “reel ’em in” while he plotted his next fishing course. If the fish are too small, or if they’re not biting, Captain Rick moves on.
As we sped to the next spot, I kept my eyes open for dolphins, whales and sunfish. I’m told it’s common to see these ocean creatures during fishing voyages. We actually witnessed some black-backed seagulls on one of our stops. They were miles from land, out in the middle of nowhere, and they spent some time swimming around the boat and making plenty of noise while they duked it out over the fish that didn’t make it and were floating on the water’s surface. Their shrill cries sounded like babies. These birds have beautiful black plumage that spreads across the back of their wings and are very aggressive when hunting for food. Seeing and hearing them in action added another dimension to the trip.
On our last stop, I hooked a classy redfish and was very happy, because there was so much haddock caught on the trip that I still got to bring some home to enjoy for dinner that night, plus two more bags of haddock in my freezer. Jose fileted the fish for everyone on the way back to the harbor — a messy job, but he did it with a smile.
What a fun experience Captain Rick, his crew and the Yellow Bird provide their guests!
Yellow Bird Deep Sea Fishing
Where: 1 Ocean Blvd. E., Hampton
When: Daily, April through November. All-day trips run from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; 10-hour trips run from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and marathon trips run from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Private charters are available.
Cost: $75 for an all-day trip, plus $5 for a rod rental; $90 for a 10-hour trip, with rod included; and $100 for a marathon trip, with rod included.
More info: 603-929-1995, yellowbirdfishing.com
Featured photo: Betty Gagne. Photo by Todd Dupre.
