The reply being affirmative, Tower measures, tags and releases the fish in mere seconds, then pens an entry into a notebook. When he looks up, mate Ian Kenniston is standing there with another fine cod ready for a routine physical, a plastic tag and freedom. Moments later Fred Kunz of New Hampshire swings an 18-pounder into the boat. And the fish just keep on coming. Sixteen anglers, most dressed in bright yellow or orange foul-weather gear, jig, joke and crank.
Bent rods are everywhere.
Many of the cod, pollock and undersized haddock go right back over the side, and a number of others find their way into totes beneath the fish-cleaning bench in the center of the cockpit, but nearly all the larger cod are recorded, tagged and released. Through it all Tower circulates among his charges, landing someone's fish here, unhooking one there, and offering words of encouragement and advice while absorbing more than a modicum of good-natured ribbing. Every so often he'll grab his own outfit and send a jig to the bottom 200 feet below, invariably hooking right up. But what he seems to enjoy most is his never-ending ritual of letting the big ones go. Few people who know Tim Tower, or have fished with him, would deny that he's the premier party boat skipper in the state of Maine, and perhaps in all of New England.