The day starts at first light…motoring out of Hyannis Harbor aboard the Nancy S, a large aluminum diesel boat owned by Kurt Martin with crewmates Mike and Keith…we are going to his fishing weir located not far off the coast of Osterville…calm seas, mild May weather-clouds and sun…The weir looks like a complicated set-up—long hickory wood poles, lots of ropes tied in different directions and of course “endless” netting…but it’s a design that works and becomes second nature after many trips…a smaller motor skiff is towed with us to help with the fishing weir…The basic idea is to have the smaller skiff go around the outside perimeter and loosen the ropes that holds the large net in the middle of the poles–the main boat is inside the net and slowly pulls the net in and tightens it until you can see your catch and scoop it on-board with a large bucket net…Today’s catch is mostly Scup and the net is full! Scup is a small, silver colored fish, it is eaten locally, but has a more popular foreign market… after a few hours the boat is full and we are standing in Scup…Kurt has a second boat used for weir fishing come out and help with the large catch… it was a good day! Weir Fishing like all the Commercial Fishing I have seen involves hard work repeated over and over–it becomes routine, but one has to appreciate the physical and mental toughness fishermen have to have–one small mistake can lead to injury or worse.
Kurt Martin has been fishing almost his entire life and is a member of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance and I thank them for helping set up this trip. The saying “any day on the water is a great day” this holds true…it was a fantastic experience!
