Meet The Captains
Capt. Rich Antonino
I'm Captain Rich Antonino and I've been fishing for my whole life. I grew up spending my summers in Buzzards Bay, on Buttermilk Bay, fishing for stripers, blues, fluke, sea bass, flounder, and scup. After getting my economics degree from Harvard in 1992 and working as a financial advisor for more than 10 years and ‘boring my wife, Stacey, to tears from stories from work’, she encouraged me to quit my job and become a charter captain. She convinced me, along with my closest friends, that I was made to be a captain. That may be true, but I had never thought of the possibility of making it a career. I’ve been taking people fishing since I was 9. At that time, my family boat was a 12' open Whaler-copy. It was a great boat that we had for more than 20 years. No oarlocks and it always seemed to have an undependable engine, but it brought me fishing and introduced me to a world that I love so much.
I even remember an 8-th grade ‘how-to’ essay at Thayer Academy that I titled “How to fish for Flounder”. It was in college when I started fishing on party boats for cod that I really got crazy about fishing in the open water. The smell of the ocean offshore even seems better now. Now throw in the whales that we see on most trips and the other great open water creatures and you’ll be hooked for life as well.
Every time friends visited me from out of town, I’d inevitably take them fishing. I started out exploring Boston Harbor, then the B-Buoy area, then the humps around Salem, then Stellwagen Basin, then Stellwagen Bank, then Wildcat Knoll. Realize for a moment that I made these trips in a 17' bowrider. Yes, I am serious when it comes to the weather and safety. As I am oft to say, "I have a wife and two kids I am going home to at the end of the day."
There is an endless number of spots to fish and I’m not afraid to try them all. For those who don’t know the story of how I met my wife, I met her at the Black Rose in Boston. We always intended on naming my other boats the Black Rose, but never got around to it. When we made the decision to start chartering, the Black Rose seemed like destiny.
Both of our children love being on the boat. Alexandra caught her first fish at age 3. Richie is "all boy" and caught his first fish in '06 before he was even three. I hope to get them offshore and show them whales in 2007. They're at the perfect age to see whales up close. Having all winter to be "Mr. Mom" is a great way to get involved with kids. I can't believe how quickly they grow. 508-269-1882
Drop me an email.. captain@blackrosefishing.com
Capt. Matt Merrick
Matt has been working as mate on the Black Rose since we started fishing in 2004. He still works on the Black Rose about one day/week now, as he has a job at EMC. (which he got via a cusotmer on my boat). He works harder than any other young man that I have met. During the off-season, Matt was instrumental in helping me renovate my house and build the best office/movie hall ever.
He has gotten his full Captain's license for 2007, which means that there are times when Matt is running the boat. Of course, that means I'll probably be mating for the day, since I love being on the boat that much! We laugh about that, but the reality is that in 2006 we got extremely busy for all of August and September. Now that the website is fully searchable, perhaps more people will see us and choose to fish with us. Plus, we both work hard so that our current customers choose to fish with us over and over. This should make 2007 and beyond some great years. It's amazing when you find something that you truly love doing. Matt has done an amazing job of putting himself in the customers' shoes and creating an experience that is best for them.
There isn't anything on the boat that Matt isn't comfortable with and if it swims, Matt wants to catch it!!
If you want to contact him, please send him an email at matt@blackrosefishing.com or call him at 508-789-6763.
