The Boat and the Tackle
The cockpit of the boat is not the way the company built it! I have built a bench across the transom for a few reasons. It makes a great fishing platform from which to jig or cast. Standing up a little higher makes casting even easier. The platform in front of the engine is perfect storage for a fish cooler. That cooler makes a great fishing seat for groundfishing! As you can see in some of the photos, while we're moving, that transom seat makes an amazing bench on which to sit or SLEEP! I love it back there.
(The "fillet cooler" is just that. I fill it with ice before each trip and my mate fillets the fish as they come over the rail. This way, the fish are filleted and rinsed off before being bagged and packed on ice. It is the very best way to preserve your catch and send you home with the highest quality fillets possible. I hate seeing cod and haddock lying around getting warm and soft.
The large swingback chairs are the most practical seats for this boat. They easily sit two adults and provide plenty of storage. These seats are not bolted to the floor - I move them around to accommodate all fishing and cruising situations. This provides us with a fantastic fishing area when it's time to fish and a very comfortable seating arrangement in the lee of the cabin when we're moving. For shark fishing trips and "run-and-gun" casting trips, I leave one of the seats at home to give more fishing space to fight a big shark or run around the boat casting. Having inside cabin seating and other seating on board gives us so much fishing space when it is time to fight the big sharks.
The bow of the boat has a wide walk-around on both sides to give access to fish up there. In 2008, I added a 2' pulpit and a second rail around the whole bow. It's very comfortable and safe to fish two people up on the bow. It's the best place in the fleet to cast or jig. When casting for stripers or blues and especially TUNA, two people can easily and comfortably fish the bow area. This makes it possible for 4 people to be actively casting at fish at one time. I like that. In addition, fishing the bow for cod/haddock is great because it allows the fisherman the ability to cast into the drift, which is the best way to work a jig.
I painted the entire interior of the boat with a truck-liner material. This grip is amazing. Everyone loves the RED deck!
I have also rebuilt the interior seating benches and added a bench seat between the passenger bench and the
captain's bench. I've had 4 customers and myself sitting down comfortably with the door shut! No cold rides
to the fishing grounds in April, October, or November!! And no wet rides ever! I've had 5 customers and myself in the cabin
during rainstorms before. These benches make great storage. Then, when fishing, they serve as convenient benches for food, etc.
And the beanbag makes the corner seat amazing.
We are dedicated to providing you the best experience possible on the water. Our boat is a 25' C-Hawk Sport Cabin that we bought new in April, 2004. This is powered by a Suzuki 250 HP 4-stroke engine that we installed new in 2007! This engine is awesome. It brings you quietly and quickly to the fishing grounds. At idle speed, she's remarkably quiet, almost silent when trolling for tuna or stripers. In most instances, you will be fishing for cod within one hour of the dock. We like to cruise at roughly 30+ miles per hour. On calm days, I can get her to almost 45 mph. This means much less travel time, which means more fishing time for you all. Just because the boat goes fast doesn't mean that I have to go fast. (If you were concerned about bouncing around--I'm considerate of everyone's bones!) The boat is equipped with a fully enclosed cabin to provide shelter from the weather, should you need it.
Speaking of fully enclosed, YES, THE BOAT DOES HAVE AN ENCLOSED PORTA-POTTIE AND MY WIFE APPROVES.
While drift fishing, this boat fishes 6 people without problem. The bow fishing area is an ideal fishing platform and is a favored spot of serious fishermen. When sight fishing for blues and stripers and BREAKING BLUEFIN TUNA, this bow area is valuable as it allows us to fish 4 people easily casting at breaking fish!
All bait and tackle is provided for all of our trips. On offshore cod trips, we bring
along a variety of bait, including clams, squid, and shrimp which are particularly
attractive to haddock. We may even bring along some unconventional baits to really
intrigue the fish! During our inshore fluke/sea bass trips, we will primarily use squid,
mackerel, sand eels, as well as a variety of artificial baits.
If you have any questions about the boat or tackle, please drop me a line captain@blackrosefishing.com
I love looking at the videos afterwards and seeing all that Massachusetts has to offer. It also allows us to show visiting fishermen that Massachusetts offers so much more than just cod fishing using heavy, uncomfortable rods. We prefer to use gear that makes fishing fun.
Partnering with Okuma, I have been part of their Captain's Program for a few seasons now and will have more input in the development of new, better tackle coming out in 2009 and beyond. I am excited about this opporutnity to help change a mindset of fishing. Helping design better tackle has always been a dream of mine. We proudly use Okuma fishing gear on the Black Rose and our customer feedback has been tremendous. Yes. 150 pound tuna on Okuma spinning gear. Cod in 300' of water on Okuma Red Isis baitcasting reels. So light and so much fun to use.