Busy,Busy,Busy

I know I have not bloged in a while and I just wanted to let you know I'm still here.
My life has been very busy as of late between helping my buddy getting a apartment ready for his son coming in from the west coast to getting my boat ready for the fishing season to having surgery to working at my friends package store 2 nights a week to playing with my band to looking for a Harley to working a full time job and trying to be a best friend and husband to my wife Janet.....the saint.

Just a FYI.......I'll be back soon.

Sounds of Summer....Motorcycles

In all my years of riding I have never seen so many bikes on the road this early. I know the weather has alot to do with it and that fact that the gas prices are up and the bikes came out early. Just a quick note to please watch out for bikers and not cut them off when passing and changing lanes and opening car doors.

We as bikers drive defensible as we only have two wheels and no armor around us and that is our choice for the freedom and wind on our faces. Please be careful this summer.   

What's up with Councilor Rodney Elliott?

I've tried to stay in the background and not comment but folks have been asking me "Captain whats up with Elliott?" Let me first say I like Rodney on a personal level and we have had alot of laughs ,but I have seen a pattern since before the last election that his agenda is to beat on the city administration.

His obsession with the LHA has diminished his ability in my opinion to focus on more pressing issue's that effect  the resident's and the city of Lowell. He said that he is asking the questions that the residents want answers to. To be honest Rodney, I'm around and all over the city....I don't hear it. All I hear is you have an agenda to beat on the administration and you are losing support, because this is getting old.

Rumor has it your getting pumped up by the Sun or the Good Old Boy Crowd to keep hammering at the administration. Take it for what it's worth Rodney is a good City Councilor and should have more support from his fellow councilors or maybe he likes to be the Lonewolf.

New Blog by John Nappi

I'd like to announce a new blog called Merrimack River Flood Group. As you know John has been very involved in helping not only the residents of Lowell but the entire Merrimack Valley in addressing the flooding issues that effect the homeowners and businesses along the Merrimack River. His blog will not only address the issues of the day but will have information that our group has compiled over these last 6 years. Please support my friend and educate yourself on this issue and support our neighbors.

Ma. Div. of Marine Fisheries Paying you not to Fish?

If your a angler or not, please read and comment.....Thanks

2012 Massachusetts Saltwater Angler Permit Survey

COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How do I participate in the study

Surveys are being mailed to a small, randomly selected group of 2012 Massachusetts Saltwater
Recreational Fishing Permit holders. If you don’t receive a survey in the mail by June, you have
not been selected to participate.

If I am selected for the study, do I have to participate?

No, your participation in this study is voluntary.

How long will it take to complete the questionnaire?

The questionnaire can be filled out in a few minutes.

If I haven’t fished in Massachusetts marine waters yet this year, should I still participate?


Yes. If you haven’t fished yet, or even if you’re not sure you’ll have a chance to fish at all in
2012, your responses are still important.

Why is this study being conducted?

There is a growing need for better information about the economic value of recreational saltwater
fishing in Massachusetts. The contribution of recreational fishing to the State’s economy is often
measured by the number of jobs and the amount of sales and incomes that are supported by the
expenditures of saltwater recreational fishermen. While this approach provides important
information, it does not consider the value that anglers place on being able to go saltwater
fishing. How valuable is saltwater fishing in Massachusetts to you? We believe that studies that
attempt to estimate the value of saltwater recreational fishing should also include an estimate of
what saltwater fishing is worth to the people that actually go fishing. The information collected
from this study will allow us to estimate the value anglers like you place on being able to go
recreational saltwater fishing.

I understand that some of the surveys include a cash offer to not go fishing in
Massachusetts. Is the study trying to reduce effort or participation in Massachusetts’
recreational fishery?

No. This study was not initiated to reduce the number of permits issued, take away fishing rights,
or discourage recreational fishing in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Division of Marine
Fisheries has no limit on the number of recreational saltwater fishing permits it issues. Only 500
of the 1,900 surveys being mailed will include a cash offer (ranging from $15 to $500) in
exchange for the recipient’s returning his or her permit and thus giving up access to fishing in
Massachusetts’ marine waters for the remainder of 2012. These offers will only be used to
inform the researchers what value you place on access to recreational fishing in Massachusetts.
Accepting the offer will not affect your ability to obtain a Massachusetts’ saltwater fishing
permit in 2013. In place of the cash offer, the remaining surveys pose a hypothetical question
about how much the recipient would be willing to sell his or her permit for or would have been
willing to buy it for

. How will the results of the study be used by Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries?

The information on economic value gathered from the study will be used to better characterize
Massachusetts’ recreational fishery, such as for use in ocean planning and prioritizing competing
uses, when evaluating future claims of lost access due to a natural or man-made disaster, and
when determining the proper investment to support the recreational industry. The information
will not be used to modify permit fees or to make management decisions that reduce recreational
access to public resources. The Division of Marine Fisheries is committed to supporting and
promoting the Commonwealth’s recreational (and commercial) fishery.

Why am I being asked to provide information about my employment status, education
level, and household income?

Your responses to these questions will help us better understand the relationship between
demographic characteristics and the value that anglers place on being able to go recreational
saltwater fishing. Although your answers to these questions provide important information, if
you do not wish to answer a particular question you may leave it blank.

Will my answers remain anonymous?

Yes. All individual information will be treated as strictly confidential. Individual data will be
combined with information from other respondents to present an overall view of anglers fishing
in Massachusetts
.
Who is conducting the study?

The study is being conducted by NOAA Fisheries Service, Massachusetts Division of Marine
Fisheries, and Quantech, Inc., a statistical analysis and survey research firm. The Massachusetts
Division of Marine Fisheries is supporting the principal investigator, NOAA Fisheries Service,
by supplying contact information (name and address) of 2012 Massachusetts Saltwater
Recreational Fishing Permit holders for distribution of the surveys. NOAA Fisheries Service
contracted Quantech, Inc. to distribute and compile responses to the surveys.

How is this study funded?

The study is federally funded. NOAA Fisheries Service allocated about $145,000 to conduct the
survey, with about $75,000 allotted for cash offers. Fees collected from the sale of Massachusetts
Saltwater Recreational Fishing permits are not funding the survey. As required by state law, all
fees collected from the sale of Massachusetts recreational saltwater fishing permits go into a
dedicated Marine Recreational Fisheries Development Fund and can only be used to improve
recreational fishing or recreational fishery research, ensuring a “user-pays, user-benefits”
program. A citizen board called the Marine Recreational Fisheries Development Panel assists the
Division of Marine Fisheries in crafting annual spending plans for appropriations from the Fund,
1/3 of which must be used on recreational saltwater fishing infrastructure projects in
Massachusetts, ensuring better access to coastal fishing.

Who should I contact if I have more questions about the survey?

General questions about MarineFisheries’ involvement can be directed to Nichola Meserve
(nichola.meserve@state.ma.us). Technical questions regarding the study should be directed to
Quantech, Inc., specifically Daemian Schreiber at 800-229

Now what do you think?
I think this study is to determine what to set the  fee on saltwater licences at.
I'm interested on your feedback.

Beau Jaynes Boxing Legend and Good Man

Congratulations to my friend Beau on his announcement that he is retiring from the Lowell DPW. I always heard about Beau and his boxing career and saw him running all over Lowell almost everyday on my way to work and met him at occasions and political events. Then back in 2009 when I decided to run for City Council Beau asked me if he could help, and at the time I had a fundraiser coming up in a couple of weeks at the East End Club, I gave him 20 tickets and 2days later he had them sold.

That's the kind of man Beau is, his co-workers love him and respect him and he served the city of Lowell well...accept when he took a ride to Rockingham to place a bet on a horse,but he wasn't driving  the city truck.
I also want to thank Beau on behalf of all my neighbors down here in Rosemont Terr. for all his help and long hours even after he was off the city clock during the floods in 2006 and 2007.

I would like to relate a story I heard about Beau many years ago and those that know and love him will relate and I tell it with the most respect....but it's funny.

Beau's sparring partner was waiting at the gym for Beau to show up to go a few rounds and Beau showed up late. His sparring partner asked him why he was late and Beau told him he had to buy a new suit because his friend died and he was asked to be a ballbearing.....Love you Beau and thank you for your friendship and service to the city of Lowell.

Spring Fever

I don't know about you, but I was going crazy today with spring fever. I wore a short sleeve shirt today to work and saw motorcycles on my way to work and bumming out that mine was in in cellar and didn't have the manpower to get it out of the basement.

I drove my truck most of the day with my windows down and took my boat after work to get the lower-end worked on for the fishing season coming up. I thought about raking the front yard when I got back but cleaned out the shed instead .

Looked on line for used lobster traps and cracked a beer and looked at my old Triumph in the basement for over an hour thinking about our trip to Myrtle Beach for Bike Week in May.

Is it me or the Full Moon..........  

Gen. Ames of Ames Castle in Tewksbury

In today's  Lowell Sun yet another story about what to do about the historic home of Gen Ames of Ames Castle in Tewksbury. Growing up in Tewksbury we would ride up to the Castle and walk the woods around the Castle. I believe at the time it was a nursing home. I never had a chance to go into the Castle but know people that have and they tell me the interior was amazing . 

Ames Hill where the Castle sits has alot of history, the native americans had an encampment  there and considered the hill sacred ground and there is also a very old cemetery up there ....very creepy at night . Whatever the town of Tewksbury decides, I hope they don't tear it down to build more homes. I found a little information about the builder of Ames Castle in the' Tewksbury Town Crier', Gen Ames  was no slouch .  

Ames, the son of a sea captain, was born in Rockland, Maine on Oct. 31, 1835. He went to sea as a young man, and then

entered West Point in 1856.  He graduated fifth in his class on May 6, 1861, less than a month after the onset of the Civil War. On graduation, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to the Second Artillery.  A week later, he was promoted to first lieutenant with the Fifth Artillery, near Washington. He drilled volunteers for two months, until ordered into the First Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861. The battle was a catastrophe for the Union Army, which had hoped to end the war in one major battle. While the Union troops were giving way, Ames’ men were holding on.  He was shot in the thigh early in the fighting, but insisted on staying with his men. He was able to sit astride his horse at first, commanding the troops. Later, he sat on a caisson until the regiment was forced to withdraw, whereupon he was carried away on an ammunition wagon. His bravery earned him a temporary promotion to major, and later a Congressional Medal of Honor. 

I hope that  the Town of Tewksbury decides to  preserve it. 

We must try to preserve what we can instead of trying to line our pockets all the time.   

Feds. to repair South Jetty in the Mouth of the Merrimack

The Army Corp of Engineers will be repairing the south jetty  at the mouth of the Merrimack River this summer. The Feds. handed over a 3.2 million dollar grant today to repair it. I'm happy to hear that, and I'm sure the folks on Plum Island are too. Plum Island has lost a number of homes to the sea over the years due to the disrepair of the south jetty. I have breached the mouth of the river hundreds of times and the jetty is broken and missing stones that protect the beaches from eroding.

Six years ago two young men were fishing off the jetty and as the tide came up they were cut off because of the missing stones and they were swept out to sea and never found. The mouth of the Merrimack is the 2nd most dangerous tributary on the east coast, but has some of the best striper fishing in the N.E.

The most dangerous times are the end of a low tide with a NE wind. You have the entire Merrimack River emptying out and a NE wind pushing a incoming tide creating 10 to 12 ft swells...not for the faint of heart.
One time I came past the last green can ( buoy) on the Salisbury  State Park side of the river and the door as we call it is on the north jetty was rocking and rolling with 6 footers. I thought to myself that's not to bad, but as I came to the end of the jetty a rogue 15 footer came up and I had no time to turn around and had to climb it.

Picture the scene in the perfect storm..".Come on you son of a bitch" and blasted over the top and slid down the back side and buried the bow and threw water over the roof of the boat and it landed behind me in the stern. My knees were knocking  but I loved it!!!. Anyway the improvement to the jetty will improve the environmental impact to Plum Island and the Merrimack River Tributary.

Mother Earth is not making anymore shorelines....we have to protect them..... or is she?