A Port-side view of the Atlantic Queen ll docked at Rye Harbour, New Hampshire.
This summer, my family and I had the good fortune of spending the day aboard this marvelous vessel in search of New England torpedoes – otherwise known as the mighty mackerel!
With the prospect of going after the coveted Boston Bluefish, I had brought my muskie rods along just in case, but as it turned out this would be a mackerel-only voyage and heavy equipment wasn’t required.
Oh well, next year for Blues perhaps…
A nice view of Rye Harbour. You may have heard of Rye, New Hampshire if you watch the TV show Wicked Tuna. The new season features a tuna boat out of Rye called the Pin Wheel featuring youg gun Captain Tyler McLaughlin.
Rye NH is just a short distance up the coast from Gloucester, Mass where the show is filmed out of.
A nice shot of the famous lighthouse which sits on the Isle of Shoals – a rock outcrop approximately 6 miles off the coast, and a spot I have fished around several times over the years. Isle of Shoals is very picturesque location that many tourists cruise out to and photograph.
Keep your eyes open when you’re there as you might even spot a seal. We saw several throughout the day! Apparently the warmer water off this coast this year has brought out more seals than ever before, and in turn more sharks!
The torpedo action started…they may not be especially large, but what these fish lack in size they make up for in muscle!
Terrific day to be out on the Atlantic Ocean!
My daughter Grace with a good-sized mackerel, one of 8 she pulled-in that morning, and more than double my catch for the day.
A nice bucketful of colourful macks!
An inside look at Captain Brad’s wheelhouse. Shussh, don’t tell anyone!
I felt privileged to be allowed inside to take a few photographs. Brad and the Atlantic Queen ll staff were more than accommodating to my family and I this summer.
A quick peak at Captain Brad’s electronics. Please disregard those ‘numbers’ folks – fans of Wicked Tuna also understand how secretive captains are about that sort of thing.
A great big thanks to Tony Carnes, the rest of the staff and crew of the Atlantic Queen ll, and to Captain Brad Cook for an incredible day out on the water! Oh, did I mention they also do whale watching?
If you’ve never done a fishing charter off the New England Coast, be sure to stop-by Rye Harbour and check out the Atlantic Queen ll, otherwise known as the Big Blue Boat.
I have been out on more than a dozen fishing charters in New England over the years, and the Atlantic Queen was, by-far, the best operation I’ve seen yet. Sure, we didn’t get any Bluefish, but that’s all in the timing, we had more makerel action than you can shake a stick at! For Bluesfish , I will just plan to vacation a bit later in August next time…
For more information, log onto: http://www.atlanticqueenfishing.com/
Outdoorsguy