Lawrence Bray Jr, colloquially known as ‘Junior’ has lived in Stonington all his life and fishing has been a part of it since the beginning. “I used to sail a small boat here in the cove, and make believe I was lobstering” reflected Junior. As a youngster, he would go fishing with his father, Lawrence Sr. and his brother Robert. Here’s Lawrence Sr in his trap yard and eight-year-old Junior with a 50lb halibut (Senior and Larson Bridges in background):

A lot has changed here in Stonington over the years. “More fishermen are in the harbor… it’s a different kind of traffic” Junior reasoned. It was not uncommon to see large sail boats docked right along the shore here in Greenhead when Junior was a child.

By age 13, Junior had his own lobstering license and would use an old skiff with an outboard to hand-haul his wooden traps. Over the years, he gradually moved into bigger boats and expanded into various fisheries. After fishing many seasons on the wooden, 34′, leaky F/V: Gale, Junior moved into F/V: LBJ a 24′ wooden hull built by Harold Gower of Beals.

Named after Junior’s two sons, his next boat was the 37′ F/V: Brian Lawrence.

The Bray’s connection with the shore is evident through all generations. Beyond fishing, Lawrence Sr enjoyed building and operating remote controlled boats, something his grandsons enjoyed as well!

Over the years, Junior has fished for ground fish, shrimp, scallops and urchins. These days he keeps it simple and goes solely for Maine lobster. “I’ve enjoyed all the different things I’ve done for work over the years. I have no complaints… when I was shrimping, it was COLD. All of Blue Hill Bay was froze up, but I still enjoyed it.” Because he lives on the shore, with VHF handy, he’s been called out to sea for emergencies a dozen or so times in “a gale of wind of something, and we’ve lucked out and found them all.”

Since 1986, Junior can be found aboard F/V: Joyce Eileen, a 36’ Duffy, named after his wife. Junior and Joyce just celebrated 53 years of marriage this month! They met at a dance at the Deer Isle Legion Hall.

With so many days spent on the water, fishermen get familiar with the sea, the islands, and especially the ocean floor! One day while returning home from fishing, Junior noticed something very strange on his bottom-reader while passing by the Southeast side of Rock Island. It looked BIG. Right when he thought he might hit something, he passed right through it. Dumbfounded, he turned around to have another look. There ‘it’ was on the bottom finder again—what appeared to be a very large object, but alas, he passed right through it again. The memory of that unidentified underwater object still sits with Junior to this day!

Junior has enjoyed competing in a number of boat races over the years! Back in 1991, he took 2^nd place at the Booth Bay Lobster Boat Race with all his dragging gear on board!

Junior was one of the very first fishermen to sell to Greenhead Lobster back in the mid-90s, and we are fortunate to also buy from his son, Lawrence, as well as Junior’s two grandsons, Stuart and Devin. Thank you, Junior, for all the years of hard work!

For our first Fisherman Friday blog of the new year, we are featuring a captain who was the first to become a commercial fisherman in his family, Matt Perez. Matt got his student license at age 12 and started hand-hauling his 150 traps out of Sylvester’s Cove via a 12’ skiff. “I had too many outboards to remember which was my first” recalled Matt.

This taste of independence suited Matt, “I love what I do for work” he admitted! Over the years he’s moved through at least six different boats, upgrading gradually, working double shifts under various captains while hauling his own gear in the afternoons. After at least 15 years of working as a sternman, and four years of working double shifts, Matt decided he would fish his own gear full time.

These days, Matt can be found at the helm of F/V: De Ja Vu, named so because “it’s same, same, every day, every year” reflected Matt. This 45’ MDI keeps Matt and crew in the water lobstering all year long. In the winter, when the Maine lobsters move further off-shore, Matt and crew will go out for overnight trips to maximize their time while that far away from home. Joel Billings was one of the many captains that Matt fished for previously. Matt attributes some of his drive for fishing in rough weather to his time spent working for Joel Billings. “I can remember on days with questionable weather, when I was fishing for someone else, we’d go to ‘have a look at it’ and decide the weather was too bad, and there would be Joel, headed out with his crew to fish through the weather.” This feeling of seeing others get out to fish, while Matt remained on shore might have something to do with the drive that keeps Matt fishing throughout the winter, and throughout the feelings of ‘de ja vu.’

While certainly many days bleed together, the freedom and ability to be self-motivated keeps Matt going day after day. Having a bottomless supply of lobster to eat doesn’t hurt either! In fact, Matt and his wife, Tara, really enjoy Greenhead Lobster tails! All caught by local fishermen and women who sell to Greenhead Lobster, these tails hold the authentic taste and texture that is expected from fresh live Maine lobster, but with more convenience. Easy to thaw and throw on the grill, Matt likes having the tails on hand! Matt’s favorite way to eat lobster—battered and fried lobster tails, “it’s like shrimp, but better!” Matt said.

There isn’t much ‘de ja vu’ with regard to the crew this year however. After four years on the stern, Chris Klemenz is finishing his time on F/V: De Ja Vu to fish his own gear full time, and Eric Smith is joining the crew in his place. Going thirdman through the winter is Nick Saunders, and before we know it, Spring will be here and the shifting will continue.

Ingredients

1 cup Maine Lobster meat, chopped

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon powdered mustard

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 Tablespoon onion, minced

To taste, salt

As garnish, dusting of paprika

Directions

Mix all ingredients (minus the paprika). Stir and chill. Serve with crackers, carrots, cucumbers, radishes, potato chips or your preference of vegetable!