We had a great trip planned for our maiden voyage today, leave this am from Quincy, fish for tuna/bass all day off of southwest corner, stay at the free slip the Coast Guard offered us in Provincetown, and then stay at the free condo on the beach in downtown Provincetown my brothers friend offered us, get up and fish again all day tomorrow and cruise into Saquatucket Harbor with a giant tuna, Beastie Boys blaring, and the new rig. Would have been straight out of a movie. But, I submarined the whole deal – have some important stuff at work I just couldn’t miss.
Plan B, my brother and our buddy Seamus (captain of the 3rd place boat last year), are grabbing the rig right about now (10 am) and going to cruise straight around the point and to Harwich – going to try to make the 100 mile run in one straight shot. Of course they brought two 50s, some squid bars, and a couple bass rods just in case.
I’m going to be posting live updates of the adventure on here, so stay tuned.
9:55 am – Just texted my brother. No response.
9:58 am – Updates off to a very slow start.
9:59 am – What the hell am I doing? I need to get to work.
10:15 am – Seamus – ‘very nice so far, getting the rundown’ – good insight. I feel like I’m there.
11:00 am – no updates, just called Sean – they’re on the boat still at the dock getting the full tour of everything – some issue potentially with the sounder, but having another guy check it out. Billy Burke is still on the scene, surprised he was let out of the house after his performance at the Hot Stove last night.
11:01 am – still wish I was there.
11:25 am – Sean and Seamus are clearly not into this.
11:26 am – These updates still suck.
11:44 am – FINALLY, a text from Sean – “We’re off to Bermuda. Thanks for the boat bro!”. Um, that’s not funny.
11:45 am – Sean “we’re running drugs and selling the boat, this was all a set up” I’m calling the Feds.
11:46 am – Just talked to Sean, sounder is all set, they’re off and running and heading out of Boston Harbor. I’m so jealous I could cry.
12:30 pm – Sean “just cleared the fog in the harbor, could not be nicer. Have fun at work boyz” – I hate him. Only thing worse will be if they happen to catch a tuna. Ethan, who was supposed to join on the trip said this morning “If they fish and get nothing, you are forgiven. If you get a tuna, you will not see Monday”. For those of you who don’t know, Ethan is yeti-ish, so I take his threats seriously.
1:15 pm – new pic from Sean below – what the hell is Seamus doing behind the wheel? I’m pissed.
1:38 pm – getting read
4:40 pm – just got out of a long meeting. updates so far include –
(Seamus) – “trying to troll up a tuna now, a lot of whales, thick fog”
(Sean) – “on stellwagen, whales and mixed fog. Beer tastes f*cking great as does the dip” – he goes right for the jugular.
(Sean) – “Unreal boat, better than I expected – yeaaaahhh!!” – I can’t wait to see her
(Sean) – “Satellite radio for tunes is nice, me and Seamus are rocking to Menudo” – made up the last part, but good to hear they’re having a nice dance party.
(Sean) – “working a weed line, got our first catch” (pics below).
4:42 pm – on the phone with Sean now, they are east of chatham –
“This is F*cking awesome, boat is so far beyond my expectations, rides like a f**cking beast, cruises smooth as sh*t, this is everything we f$*cking wanted, holy f$#ck”
Woah. Settle down Beavis and watch the language. Sounds like he and Seamus are loving the new rig, say the electronics are sweet, boat is heavy and can handle some snot. Sean did catch one sheerwater on a sluggo. Nice work, popped the cherry. They are getting into some decent fog towards Monomoy so had to drop off.
Going to try to get on this baby myself tomorrow, tourney needs to watch out – Burkes finally have a boat and are ready to do some damage.
Is it actually officially summer today or are we living in an eternal northeast rainforest with Harry Corduroy and a few Hot Stove bartenders lurking in the moldy tree tops like spider monkeys? Do walnut shells and rubber bands count as clothing for these stealth fishermen or are walnut shells a bit of overkill?
Who are the challengers this year? ???
Do the local guys let the Bay fishermen and charter captains with this thing again or can the founders of this tourney, the new “team JACKAL” , finally make their move if they are able to ever get their new rig?
Could it be O’Brien and his team again? Oh please say no as the locals and I cannot take it or could it be “Team Powe” who are being lead again by Capt. Seamus who is going to be cruisin once again with a team of fired up city boyz who would love to take this thing in the same way their Capt jokes about wanting to take my wife.
Another question?
Is the South and South east side of the Cape under an extreme disadvantage to the bay crews? ??? If so, I ask why as I have heard many reasons as to why the bay and the deeper water provide more of an opportunity for cow bass but I want to get this blog rolling with some talk and some scientific reports like the ones I hear on the streets of Harwich so speak up teams and Captains and whoever!!
My brother and I as the founders of this tourney are open to all and every angle so JUMP IN NOW guys as this whole thing is supposed to be more about teamwork, competition, shared knowledge, and fun more than anything else.
My wife sat down next to me last night after working a double shift at Cape Cod Hospital and while looking at the new T-shirt asked “why don’t you call it the Harwich Headhunt anymore?” Good question I said even though it is a tough one to answer.
The few boats that were in this from the beginning may also be asking the same type of questions but many other locals and fishermen in general have ragged on us for years for the tourney being a “small time” joke that they were unwilling to get involved in.
I/we do not want to try and coerce anyone to get involved but we also want to give people what they want and that obviously is not always possible.
Too big? Too small? T-shirts should be this and that??? Blah blah blah ! Who knows?
All I can say is at least we are getting it done with this tourney even though at times I seriously question if it worth it?
Maybe I wish that I could be more of a business man but then again maybe not??
This is it again folks and I/we are looking forward to this year’s event even though it is and has been hard work and we just want it to be an event that those involved have fun with before anything else.
On the other hand, I do not care if Seamus and his crew, Corduroy, Tim and Jack at the Stove, Ethan and Ben and his crew, Rob and the EscapeLandscape crew, Chris. Spirro, and their crew, Chris and Kevin and their crew from Brewster FD, and many more for that matter have any fun but my team and the local definitely want to have some serious fun this year.
It has been a tough year for many of us and that makes this even that much more important for me at least but hopefully not for corduroy and his crew.
I need to go now but before I go:
· Where are Corduroy and Ethan and Ben and Tria and Seamus and anyone else involved on the response section of this blog? You guys have more to say than my brother and I do at this time as I have yet to make a salt water cast and Ryan and I continue to wait for our boat amidst kiddo chaos.
· Did I mention that I will be hitting the stage next Wednesday morning to discuss the headhunt on Harwich’s local access channel? We hope to be able to get this up on youtube even though it looks like it just going to be talking up the tourney.
· We are this year also looking to make a few bucks off the event for a local Cape Cod high school scholarship fund. We will see how the chips fall as they have not fallen so well in previous years but we defiantly are planning on giving away some money to a local kid who is planning on heading to college, trade school, or apprenticeship.
· Most importantly, the new t-shirts will be available tomorrow so get them now during our initial order or give us special size orders in writing and we will do all that we can to get everyone what they want.
· Did I forget to mention that it is actually summer even though this cold swamp like weather makes me feel like we live in a cold swamp with Harry and his boyz hangin n the treez like lawyers looking for an EZ way to make us all pay without committing to any true stance. My money is on team “Jackal” this year!!! Where is yours?
· ANY CALCUTTAS This year BOYZ??????
T-shirts are in. The pictures show the basic design, and with a few minor tweaks they will be in our hands on Wednesday. Get your orders in now – email us at headhunt@gmail.com and let us know what you want. We’re also going to make a limited number of golf shirts (and maybe sweatshirts) if you want anything. A big thank you to all of our sponsors again (we’ll put the list up here once I get the final list from Sean) and you sponsors will be getting special edition shirts (big $$ on eBay).
Still hoping the weather holds for our maiden voyage on the ‘Jackal’ this week. Down in Plymouth today where the winds and seas are unreal. Went to lunch at Berts and there was a lobster pot in the parking lot that had been washed over the 8 ft high seawall.
We’re also getting our first TV exposure this week – Sean will be featured on a local Harwich TV show (no clue what it is) and will be talking about the Headhunt.
Well, we got blown out. Our maiden voyage was supposed to take place Friday am, but a combination of the weather, and logistics with Russo Marine, forced us to cancel. No more than 5 minutes after my brother and I spoke, and decided that regardless of the weather we were going to go for it, Russo called and told us there were some issues that, combined with the weather, made it a no go to pick up our new boat.
The plan is to try for this week, potentially leave Thursday am, fish all day on Stellwagen, hit Provincetown for the night, and then cruise around the backside to Harwich. If the weather is still an issue, may just cruise through the canal.
Either way, tourney is approaching and shirts are being finalized today. I will put some pics up on the site as soon as my brother sends them over (don’t hold your breath) and get your orders in.
Keep an eye on the weather and we’ll update you on the entries as they start to come in. Should be the biggest tourney to date, we just need folks to start sending in the registrations so we can lock down the numbers.
Only a few more days and we should be picking up the new rig. As of now, we can get her in Quincy around 9 am, then have a quick rundown with the Russo team, and should be off. The only wild card right now is the weather, which looks a bit dodgy, but we’re going to make this happen.
Ethan is joining my bro and I for the trip, and we will be packing plenty of tuna gear for the run to Harwich. Pending the weather, plan is to head to Stellwagen from Quincy and look for tuna. We have a free condo in Provincetown Friday night, so plan to hang there and rip it up, and then head down the backside to Plymouth on Saturday – hopefully fishing a good stretch.
If anyone has any more fishing reports, send them in for us to post. Word is the bluefish are making their way up already and some early reports that the rips on Monomoy are starting to heat up. Here in beantown, I was down by the aquarium last weekend and in broad daylight, with a million tourists and multiple ferries moving around, there was a school of big bass just hanging out, eating the hot dog buns tourists were throwing to them right where the ferries launch. Saw the same thing last year (later in the year) and still amazes me.
Lastly, for some light summer reading, if anyone is looking for a good book – just finished MEG – the story of a 70 foot prehistoric great white that is discovered living in the Marianas Trench and goes on a killing spree – good stuff. The 3rd book in the series just came out – MEG: Hell’s Aquarium . They’re making a movie out of it, so check it out.
Speaking of movies – look at this trailer for the upcoming movie ‘Mega Shark versus Giant Octopus’ and tell me this doesn’t look like the best movie since ‘Orca’ or ‘Spring Break Shark Attack’. And it stars the Debbie Gibson.
Ok, back to the fishing – had a few more inquiries on the site this week so keep spreading the word. T-shirts should be finalized this week so let us know if you want us to send any out, otherwise we’ll be leaving a few with folks across Harwich and you can always find them at the Hot Stove Saloon downtown.
As always, let us know if you have any questions and get those registration forms in.
Wish us luck this weekend, hopefully the weather, and MEG, cooperate.
The trophy is finished minus the placards and the T-shirts are on order and the adventures of this summer are just starting. Well, the fishing season is already full on for many of those around me and it makes me more jealous than …………#$%^&*(*&^%$……..
-Ben in the Westport area is catching more keeper bass from the shore than he knows what to do with
-Last year’s Headhunt winner Bill Hatfield reported that he is taking solid stripers in Cape Cod Bay while recently being unexpectedly surrounded by bluefin tuna.
- The Plymouth Bite is on for Ethan, Ryan, and the gang in Plymouth like nothing any of them and/or us have ever witnessed.
-Jeff Farrington from Falmouth is giving regular reports of huge striped bass catches with photos to prove it. He also reported that he actually smashed into a Bass with a thud on his hull due to the fact that the fish were so thick on the surface chasing bait.
-Our boy (and tourney team member) Dave Tria in Westerly Rhode Island has been quiet recently but I am sure that he is busy catching and selling various groundfish in the midst of his striped bass hunt. TRIA??? Let’s get some reports!
- Seamus and I witnessed our labs catch about 500 ticks in the grass outside Saquatucket Harbor today, but other than that I need our BOAT!!! The tick situation was unreal and like nothing I have ever seen before.
Keep up the reports everyone and I/we need to work on giving the supporters of this Tourney more of an opportunity to post reports and share photos of “the catch”.
The season looks like it off to great start from what I hear and not from what I experienced!!!
This is all going to change though in a week or so but until then I appreciate all of the great reports from everyone out there. I seriously do not know if I have ever heard things be so positive this early.
Did people hear about our new rig? Just kidding even though I could not be more psyched about our new boat thanks to my bro and our pops. We are now just chomping at the bit waiting for her to set up with a new radar and some outriggers.
It is now all about getting the new boat and getting T-shirts made. Both of those tasks hope to be wrapped up this week which will hopefully allow me to soon be able to make a cast on the ocean. I keep hearing reports of people crushing the stripers in all areas and now to rub it in even more the tuna are around and I have been unable to get out on the water.
The trophy is being finished up this week by my High School students and primarily by our wood Lab teacher Len Harty. This “cup” will be displayed at local spots for years to come with all past and future winners having their names placed on the side with a dated placard.
Who wants to have that next spot on this mount? I know for damn sure that our team wants to finally win this tourney that we created as we have some so close in past years without be able to take the title. It gets harder and harder to win this thing every year as more and more people are getting involved and more and more people want to give their all to take the prize and make the day like this year’s July 25th more than just an easy going day of relaxed striper fishing.
The local chatter around the Headhunt is slowly growing as the fish arrive and the weather begins to get us in summer mode.
I do not know about anyone but I am in “full on” this year and want to win it more than any past seasons.
New Boat, no more new kids on the way, and no excuses this year.
Team “@#$^^&$” (still trying to come up with a name for our boat) is FULL ON!
Like our shirt said a few years back “no fish guts no glory”
Where the hell is Harry Corduroy??? Is that chump coming up with excuses again as to why he has to fish from the shore this year in a tree with a monkey on his back?
Did people hear about our new rig? Just kidding even though I could not be more psyched about our new boat thanks to my bro and our pops. We are now just chomping at the bit waiting for her to set up with a new radar and some outriggers.
In the meantime I was able to land a couple of solid freshwater bass today. It was the first time I have fished for anything this year which is sad but true.
On another note, finding a cool striped bass image for our T-shirts is becoming a huge pain in the ass. We have the design ready and sponsorships wrapping up but getting that one image to pull it all together is stalling us. Someone help so we can get these things printed! FIND US A SOLID STRIPER DESIGN!!!
Shirts will be available soon and my fishing will increase with the new boat and in just over two weeks when my work in the school system is over for the summer.
As many of you know, the Burkes sold our boat last season and were without a rig throughout the summer of 08. Our good friend Mick Carrier was nice enough to give us a lift for the tourney, but we’ve been looking for a new boat for over a year now and the wait may be coming to an end.
For those of you involved, there was little confidence the Burke clan would get it done. I can’t blame them, we are not always known for being quick on the trigger with these types of decisions, but we may be changing that tune very quickly – and with a vengeance.
My brother and I took a sea trial on our potential new home. We have the deposit in, sea trial in the books, and are now finalizing a few specs (including adding radar, outriggers, etc.) and could be good to go. I’m still using ‘could’, ‘maybe’ and ‘potential’ because being in sales, I know the deal is never done until the paperwork is signed. And this baby is sweet, so I’m don’t want to get too excited. Yet.
The boat is a 2004 Boston Whaler 275 Conquest. The price was a little more than we were looking at, but decided that we wanted something we could rely on for the next 10 years (at least) and have a rig equally fitted for the family and for fishing. This baby comes with a 2 year warranty and has everything we’re looking for – size/stability for chasing tuna and handling the rips, twin 225 Mercury 4-strokes, a full head (only a matter of time before Ethan destroys it), space to sleep 4, and clean as a whistle.
The sea trial today was great – boat is a tank. Got her up to 40 mph pretty quickly, and were impressed at how stable she was in the water – very unlike our old rig (we love you Goose!) who rocked and rolled all over the place.
Either way, the Steve Curley at Russo Marine has been great – if you’re looking for a boat and want an honest perspective – Steve is the man. We’ll keep you updated on how this shakes out, but looking more and more like the Burkes will be back on their own rig for this years tourney.
On the fishing front, Ethan and I finally got the monkey off of our back in Plymouth and slayed them on Saturday am. Inside Plymouth harbor we anchored up outside of Kingston/Duxbury and had fish all morning, with 5 keepers up to 34 inches. We live lined the mackerel we got off of the Gurnet (thank you Plymouth Fishermans Outfitters for telling me the mackerel were gone already), and used some Yo-Zuri minnows.
Trying to prolong Memorial Day, I hit the canal with the family on Monday night. Our friend Rich had 6 fish over 40 inches that morning from the canal and witnessed a 56 lber being weighed in. I only had a small window with my 4 month year old in his car seat lodged in the rocks and my wife reading in the tall grass getting eaten by bugs, so I came up short. On a few occasions, the bait were literally getting pushed onto the rocks as I could see the bass with their backs out of the water chasing them in water less than a foot deep. Crazy stuff, and hope to be back out there soon.
T-Shirts are almost ready so get the orders in and sponsors need to let us know asap so we can get you on the first run of the shirts.
Thanks for everyone who have supported or helped us on the boat search, you’re all invited to fish with us on the new rig this summer once we make it happen!
Alrighty now! As this tournament’s co-creator I want to start by saying that I am fully aware that my online involvement has been slacking. Even though I continue work the local scene with our pops Billy it is tough for me to get out and about with the little ones let alone get some alone time at the computer…………
Screeeeeeeeeeech@#$%^&.... That was the sound of a record pin screeching across my old dark side of the moon album while the speakers are cranked!!!!!!!!!!!!
Better yet! That is the sound of the headhunt wake up call for me and for all of you out there who need this challenge/adventure/competition and overall truly legit fishing event as much as I do. The Headhunt was created to give my brother, my father, our family and our friends and fellow fishermen something that we all wished was out there in our area but was not.
I am proud to now say that we now seem to be at the perfect level where we are providing an opportunity that we have ourselves wanted to have wanted the opportunity to be a part of in this are for over twenty years now.
I am eager for spring this crazy year. It tough times for all of us but we/I need this tournament to get us fired up more so this year more than any of our past tournament events. The Bezurkes also need a a new boat and remain on the hunt for one in a time where rigs keep missing our bill on all sorts of levels.
Bottom line is I am personally hearing direct reports of quality fish being caught in strong numbers from our boy Dave Tria’s recent report of landing a few keepers in Westerly Rhode Island just after he thought the keepers skipped over Rhody to hit a somewhat late Westport MA arrival area where comrade Ben Allen has taken numerous keepers from the shore the past few days. Ben reported last week that he was concerned with the late arrival of keepers in his secret spot(s) but that seems to have all changed “big time” as long as he is able to hit the tides right.
Keep the reports coming boyz!
Ben wants me to get out with him asap while the bite is on and I hope to very soon as I am at a point where watching large mouth bass attack the minnows in the lake across the street from me in the sand flats alone it itself has me on the hunt for adventure these days.
I will hit John Joseph and Buck’s pond before I hit the salt out here in Harwich and I hope to do so more often this year in the rowboat with the almost 2 and 4 year olds and maybe even the wife but screeechhhhhh Snap out of it! Or is it snap into it?
“Things” on the striper front just seem to hit us a bit later out here on the lower Cape. My brother is sending reports of fish in Boston Harbor in his neck of the big city shore even though our local boyz in Plymouth are not reporting much at this time.
Capt. Seamus Muldoon is back in town and was fishing with Mike O. off t he beach out here in Harwich to keep the shore fish honest but they never make it easy for most of us out here in the Harwich area in the spring time.
All I know is that my brother probably misses the early season schoolie “light light Tackle” bite off one like the one we have for years off of one of the only two boats that we have ever owned with our father.
Fishing and drifiting off the calm flats of red river beach in Harwich casting and often tagging schoolie sized fish with the opportunity to land the first keeper is something I miss more than I give these spring times credit for.
I also greatly miss the days of fishing for schoolies and the occasional keeper in early May with my buddy Ben in and just outside the mouth of the Westport, MA river. In other words, it just seems to easy for many of us with myself as a prime example to miss the spring striper experience. It is for obviously very valid reasons but today’s post goes out to all of those who keep the spring “vibe” alive and always dangling in front of us overly busy spring folk.
Thanks Ben and Tria for the solid reports, thanks to my bro Ryan for his continued effort to drive this tourney, Thanks to our dad Billy for keeping the local spirit and logistical framework moving forward, thanks to uncle TJ for helping us keeping the business and website plan in check with my brother, Thanks to all of the local business’s and competitors for driving the Hunt and thank all of you for getting your head in the game like me! Like I have to more!
Screeech!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is time!
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