11.08.25 I went fishing this week so I can talk....

 

     Well, well, well. I guess you could say we're off and running to the "other" Fall Run, the one where the bait and bass hit the beach. But the question is, beach? When and where and what each beach looks like is the big question. And that question, well the answer, usually leaves me asking the question, "Are they even fly rod fish?".

     It's always a big decision on which way I turn off of Route 195. It's basically north or south. This time of year the bass can show in front of any beach at a moments turn, and it's basically being in the right place at the right time. When I went Wednesday, to the north, I didn't find them, but they had them south. 

     At my last stop before heading west I gave it one last look. Besides looking for the bait, birds, and bass, I looked at the beach structure to see how it looked. Interestingly I found, while the beaches and beach scarp, and pockets, where looking good following the recent storms, the area's off the beaches, looked more like the flats around Martha's Vineyard then the Jersey Shore. Between each set of groins there was a trough, a good place for bait and bass, but then there is now a huge flat, aka sand bar, that extends way off the beach. Depending on the tide, moon, and wind, water can either be in there, or not. 

     When you stand their fishing, well looking with binoculars in had, you can see that darkish line running down along the beach, at times with bass blowing up around and in the bait pods. If you're lucky they push in, if not, then you're pretty much wasting your time. If you're outfitted with a long fishing rod, and a 6 ounce plug, metal, or rubber, then you can cast 1,800 feet to get to where the fish are. Oh, let me nor forget the snag and drop crowd, that's both illegal, with a treble snagging hook, or legal, with some homemade Circle hook contraption wired up for the same effect. 

     But if you fish with the long rod then it's even more of a waiting game. Imagine your 30 foot cast basically reaching the start of the bar or flat. Pretty much useless. Yes, you're fishing, but your chances of catching are slim to none. Can you catch the errant and lost bass making its way south? Yes, but that's a unicorn there. 

     So while I was north they had fish south. Of course the boats could and did find them, but that's not what I'm talking about. And to be honest, it wasn't a plethora of fish, bait yes, but bass no. But there was some big fish patrolling the bunker, mackerel, spike weakfish, and white bait clouds. 

    What made me think, and feel better, was a post I saw on the Asbury Park Press social media page. Dan Radel was reporting on the Ocean County bite this past week. Interestingly the lead 

image was of an angler in a wetsuit who ventured way out to land a 26 pound-bass on a Glide Bait. From the looks of it the angler had to wade, maybe chest high, through the trough to get the bar, or flat. And these aren't your narrow and nature made sand bars, where's there's only room for a few anglers standing in a line. These are big, like acres, and a mile long, and wide, extending way off the beach. 

     What causes this? Well, it's simple. You know how I feel about beach replenishment, or funnier, nourishment. The storms pull the sand off the beach and it sits either between the groins are just runs parallel to the beach. On a low tide you can walk out to get to the deeper water, but on a higher tide, or during a weather event, you could just be casting in skinny water that is barren of bait and bass. Could they come in, yes. Could they come in and trap the baitfish in the troughs? Of course. But timing, and being there, is everything. 

     Social media, and the cell phone network, keeps us all abreast, albeit hours or a day late, on where the fish have been, recently. The beach cams have become another "source" of intel both before, during, and after giving it a go. Chasing them will drive you nuts. One honest post on the APP report came from Richard Samons, below. 

     While I love live swimming baits this time of year, like peanuts and adult bunker, those offerings can make for an extremely frustrating outing, even if the spin guys to your left and right are catching. Sand eels are a better option, because, well, they like to bury in the sand, when not on the move. They are a great first, last, and in-between light bight. They get dislodged along the beach with wave action or the rooting around or tail fanning by bass because know they are there. 

     Years ago, you would get bass that paused on their migration south to feed. They'd stick to beaches, or counties, or structure, and root around and feed or push the bait into the shallows when it passed heading south. Not any more. It's blitz all-or-none fishing. The bass are glued to the bait, and it moves, more often, north to south, and not east to west. 

     In good timing with this post local and federal authorities announced this week that a 54 -million dollar beach replenishment project scheduled for Cape May county will not move forward. 

     What was the key? It was all about the sand. And if you have followed beach replenishment then you know the sand, or more so the rocks and pebbles and detris that gets pumped onto the beaches isn't sand at all. You see, what happens is there are donor sites, like organ donation, where they pump the "bottom" up, transport it, and then "pump" it onto the beaches. That's not 

beach sand, trust me, if you've walked it, or almost walked off it, then you know. It's not natural, and it doesn't act natural. Hence, that's why we have sand up to 1,000 feet off the beaches these days. 

     So while funding, not local, but state and federal, was ready to be spent the issue was the source, or donor site, of the sand. The plan was to dredge up the sand along the Wildwood and Wildwood Crest beaches and then pump it onto the North Wildwood beaches, just south of the Hereford Inlet. It would be like robbing Peter to pay Paul. Those long and wide beaches are relatively natural, and are a huge tourist magnet in the summer months. Unfortunately the location of North Wildwood makes it a target for natural beach erosion, something people with beach front homes, and a town with beach revenue, can live with. 

     And then there was the other option, which will probably either be sand from an offshore donor site or from dredging the Hereford Inlet up onto the North Wildwood beaches. It was basically part of of Hereford to Cape May Inlets project, thankfully, now put on hold for now. 

     This weekend and early next week things are setting up nicely. We still have water in the morning and late afternoon, the winds are coming from the west, then the east and south, before going west on Monday and Tuesday. The bait is on the move and there's fish, some fish, in and around them. We lose the tides during as we head into the next few weeks. 

     And if you a fly rodder, do yourself a favor and stop basing your outings on what you see and hear from your electronic sources. Metal lips, shads, Ava's, bunker chunks, snag and drop (legally), and glide bait reports shouldn't get you all jazzed up. Learning there's fish around Monmouth or Ocean County, yes. But remember, before you decide to go left or right, are these even fly rod fish? 

You can go and get yourself a used wetsuit and get out there. But before you do just imagine you in your fat skin on a grape wetsuit with your stripping basket up around your neck trying to wade through the trough to get next to those young spin rod sharpies. Then think again and just wait, or just go fish like you do. 

11.05.25 "I got guys, I'm just waiting for the call"...

     "I'm just waiting for the call...". Those were the words coming from a guy as I made my way across the boardwalk after fishing my first stop for the day. He prefaced it with, "I got guys", meaning he was one of the northern scouts and there were guys down south. It was the cell phone fishing club in full effect. Before he left he let me know, "We had them good from Belmar and south yesterday. My buddy got two 45's (inches)".

     So I was hopeful, although I didn't know if I went in the right direction off 195. I had to pull the trigger, continue east to Route 18 and beaches north, continue east to towards Belmar, or hit Route 34 and head down into Ocean County. Like a magnet I was just drawn north. 

     I got to Deal at 445 and shook off the cobwebs and set up my rod. Luckily I had just about everything I needed right where I had left it. I went through the flies and went with a, larger then it looks, Slider thinking there was adult bunker around.  It would fun to see a fish blow up on topwater as the first light arrived, although the full moon had wings pretty lit up.

     While there were sand eels off the beaches last week I haven't heard that as much but many boats and shore based anglers are jigging or throwing Ava's. There's been a mix of peanuts, mediums, and adult bunker on and off the beaches. To everyone's surprise some type of mackerel showed up and was chasing small bait in the shallows which brought the bass in on the hunt. 

     I had a banner day at work Tuesday in the hospital. The students and I were on a new unit and they knocked it out of the park, so I was all jazzed up. I have burnt enough lead paint off the outside of the house that my brain is probably swollen so I needed a day off from that. I had low expectations, but was hopeful, that at some point I'd find a fish or two. 

     I used Deal as a place to get ready, then fished in the dark, and chilly, Long Branch until first light, and then, after a good bagel in Long Branch (FiNagle the Bagel, cash only, near Caputo's) I did the circuit. I didn't see any bait or much for birds in my first three stops. At each one I got excited making my way to the view of the water with binoculars in hand. Only to let down by no signs of life. 

     At each stop it was kind of ho-hum water to look at. There wasn't even any boats out front on the Sandy Hook to Sea Bright beat. I parked below the entrance to The Hook and held court with two regulars I've seen over the years. "I could happen at any minute". There was some bunker out a ways but nothing was on them. It was an hour of watching and waiting I'd never get back. 

     By 8 o'clock my feelings of hope to skunk was starting to build. Leif was out in Deal giving it a shot and we talked by phone as I sat in my truck. He had some bunker out a bit and there was no action there for the few guys that were out. As I sat there I took a look at Facebook to see if those early morning posts were telling the story of any early bites down south. Not that I was going, I just wanted to see if I made the wrong north vs south choice. They had them, but I'm not sure if they were even fly rod fish.  

     As I scrolled through as my "Friends" posts were sprinkled in between the annoying feeds and ads. One popped up from Eric Kerber's "On a Mission Fishing". It was a solid morning from them close to the beach and I couldn't help but notice the background. I swear I wasn't looking for it, 

but that church, the red one, jumped out at me. I was only a short drive away, and was heading south and home anyway, so I made my way there. When I pulled up to one of those dead end streets I was met by a guy who said, "They have fish", pointing to some guys on the beach. Not wanting to chase other guys I drove a bit south and walked in. 

     There were a few boats in close and guys on the groin tips casting 1/4 mile out. It wasn't blitz fishing but it was the best sign of life I had seen with bass, probably three of them, running through the peanut bunker pods that were off the beach. It was a beautiful day to just be out there but it was frustrating as well. If you don't have the bait in front of you then you don't have the bass. It's that simple during the fall. You can forget about fishing the structure, well there isn't much of that these days, well actually, the beaches look good following the recent blows, and the tides and moons. It's bass on bait, that's pretty much it. 

     I just settled in and walked the beach and made casts knowing they could push in "...at any minute", or not. As I made my way up on the rocks I said to myself, and something I've put into writing many times, "Just because you hear the studs doesn't mean you won't slip". And on the next step I did. I caught that stick of butter laying on top of a relatively flat rock and went down hard. First it was on my right knee, then my stripping basket, which nearly displaced my diaphragm, and then face down into between the rocks. My 9 ft 10 wt Helios D was bent along my face and I was stuck. Kind of like a turtle on it's back. You know when you get old and you fall you just wait to realize what you injured as you lay there, that's how I felt. But I was good, a little throbbing in the knee, thank God for the knee pads in the Orvis PRO waders, and a little tweak in the back, but good. 

     I told Leif where I was and he came up for a visit. He caught the below pic of me as I gingerly made my way off the rocks. I calculated each step like it was my last and at one point my mind said step but my foot wouldn't budge. What a goofball. Getting old sucks.

    Leif and I talked for a bit as we walked out. The day was done. What started out beautiful with a nice west wind went to shit with a building SW wind. I told him I was going to head south down to the Shark River Inlet before making the right turn and hitting 195. 

     I stopped in Bradley Beach and got geared up and walked in. There were some birds, and bunker, in and around the groin tips. The boats were heading south and in as the wind started to pick up. I was joined on the groin by another angler who had fished the morning there without a tap. All of a sudden we started to see the bunker pods split and move when the sun poked through and lit up the flat. I say flat, but really all it was was all the sand that pulled off the beach during the recent storms. There's a window now, balancing between water and no water in the places between each groin. 

     We had two pods in front of us, small ones, one that was making its way to the beach and the other peeling off into the deeper water. The one got nervous looking and that's when, at least visually, the best part of the day happened. The one pod split into two, and there were bass on them, one heading to the beach the other out aways. 

     We were trying to calculate which way they were pushing them. Would they hit the beach? Or would they push them up into the pocket on the north side where we were standing? My fellow angler threw a Spook at them as I took a couple of steps towards the beach end of the groin. But after a few steps, and 1-2 minutes, it was all over. They were gone. She split after that while I stayed about a half and hour watching and waiting. I called it a day and was home just before noon. 

      I'm glad I forced myself to go even though I chose the wrong turn off 195 in the early morning. The winds are going to crank from the SW, S, and then NW for the next few days. 

     Surely one of them will shit up the water along the beach creating that off-color line which keeps the bait and bass out of casting range, for fly rodders for sure. After this, and this Beaver Moon, the tides go low at first and last light, and then a short time after it's Thanksgiving week, which is always a hot time along the Jersey Shore. 

    I'm thinking I got 3-4 trips in me before wrapping it up for the year. And it's been a good year so far. 

11.04.24 Get out and vote!

     It's an important day here in New Jersey as voters are set to cast their votes for New Jersey's next Governor. I hope you don't treat the gubernatorial election like you do with public comments to the ASMFC for striped bass. While your public comments may haven't done anything to steer the management boards vote, pulling the lever for one of the two above candidates surely will matter. 

     Your choices are Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill. You'll also be voting for the Lieutenant Governor spots on the under ticket James Gannon and Dale Caldwell respectfully. And depending on what county you reside in there's county, schools, and fire commissioners questions on the ballot as well. I dislike politics, and politicians, well at least what things have turned into. Years ago you voted for your guy or girl, and then supported the winner, albeit reluctantly at times. 

     Not these days. Not in the take my ball and go home spoiled children we have become. My favorite was my old neighbor's bumper sticker he proudly displayed when we lived in Red Bank. "Not My President" it read. Really? If you are a citizen of the United States then the person who holds the top spot IS your President. That's for Bush, Obama, Biden, or Trump. While I didn't vote for all of the above, I supported them and hoped God guided them in doing the best for the USA. At least respect the office. That's what we used to say in the fire department, respect the rank, if not the guy or girl. 

     The vitriol in today's politics, and just about everything, turns off many voters. And that distain for the process leads people to take a ho-hum approach to voting. That leaves many with a, "He f'in won?!, gut punch as the results roll in. That is followed up by pouty and disparaging comments made to the winner, even though no vote was cast by the person themselves. 

     New Jersey has historically been a blue (Democrat) state. As far as Presidential elections the Garden State voters haven't voted red since the 1980's. New Jersey's democratic voters are fortified by the many urban area's which generally vote democratic. Most of those larger cities are led my Democratic Mayors and leaders. Race and sex also play a big part in the elections as well. Blacks and Hispanic's tend to lean liberal, along with women, and Whites and males lean towards the conservative side. That's not steadfast, it's just historically how's things have gone. 

     It's funny to look at at how New Jerseyans have voted since 1993. In the late 1990's it was Republican Christie Todd- Whitman, then a field of field of red players in DiFransisco, Farmer, and Bennet, McGreevey and Codey, before Codey took the reigns before passing the baton to Jon Corzine through 2010, then Chris Christie for 8 years, and then Phil Murphy for the last eight. Basically it's a two and done and then switch to the other side. 

     So we'll see what happens today at the polls. Will New Jersey flip, as it has done, from a "blue state" to a "red state"? And what will that all really mean. Is anything going to really change? It doesn't matter what side of the aisle you are on we can probably agree on a few things. The cost of living in New Jersey, especially for seniors, is dam near unaffordable. Young adults can't get going, on their own, and get their own trains out of the station. The big pushes now are these new "Town Centers", or jazzed up apartment complexes where they charge $3,000 a month for rent. That'll get you a parking spot, a 20 x 30 pool, a small workout room, 

and a community center. But they'll never be able to save to get out of the rental market. Couple that with a car payment, or even just train and or bus tickets, and a dinner out or just Door Dash a couple times a week and they're done. 

     The traffic in the Garden State, it doesn't matter where you live or at what season you're driving in, it's nuts. We're overdeveloped and living on top of each other. Take Red Bank where I used to live. Forget it. Along the Jersey Shore, even mid-week outside of the summer tourist season, bumper to bumper. All of those people not only cause vehicular traffic but traffic with long waits at the necessities, like healthcare, food stores, DMV, and even for emergency services like police, fire, and EMS. 

     And then the costs of just about everything. That's not a Jersey thing but across the country. Blame the supply chain, blame the tariffs, blame the way consumers shop, it's just a fortune for everything these days. Two going to a diner for breakfast for dinner, easy $50, gas $3 a gallon, which is still a lot, the tolls, like $15.35 during the day with EZ-Pass, plus the Turnpike tolls, electric and oil, forget it, hundreds per month, and then the fun stuff, like cable, internet, 

and phones. Still have your 30 year-old on your plan, "Because it's cheaper", what would your grandparents say, want to switch to Roku, like we did, well you'll have to spend $100 a month for You Tube TV to see anything current or a sports game. We've been binge watching Law & Order from the 80's and 90's as we refuse to pay "cable" prices again. I haven't been able to watch an NFL game from start to finish in over a year. Well Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football I can watch, but I can never stay awake that late. 

     And then you have to look at the big picture stuff. How your vote could affect things like national security, immigration, government spending, social security, and human rights. I'm not up on all of those things but they are important and I can't bitch about the state of things if I don't do my civil duty and vote. 

     So I hope you go. I hope your guy or girl wins. And remember we're all in this together. At the end of the day we have to co-exist and look out for each other. We've become too polarized in everything these days and the misery and the attitudes we encounter everyday in public, at work, and even during things fun like fishing and events is nauseating. All you have to do is, or not, just follow your social media feeds to see how we're not acting like adults, good New Jerseyeans, and good Americans. 

So go vote, or shut up.

 

11.02.25 Show season opens with the IFTS in two weeks...

 

     The fall run hasn't even hit full swing yet and I'm talking the winter doldrum fly fishing related shows. Before I skewer the International Fly Tying Symposium (IFTS) let me talk about The Fly Fishing Show (TFFS). The year it kicks off in Marlborough. Massachusetts January 16, 17, & 18 and then hits the ti-state area and Edison January 23, 24, & 25. So put it on your calendar. I'd say book your rooms early to get the discounted rate, but remember, like we saw last year, breakfast is NOT 

included! You get $2 off the 20 something dollar bill for some okay get out the door eats. It was a shit show each morning during last year's The Fly Fishing Show watching as people handed over their "vouchers" only to be told breakfast wasn't part of the room rate. 

     Now the International Fly Tying Symposium. I'm going to try and be nice. Timing. Not good. It's the heat of the fall run and most working, like Monday through Friday, fly anglers will be looking to get into the bass blitz searching that weekend. On Sunday the Giants will be at home vs the Packers so you'll lose that crowd. Last year's attendance was, to me, weak. 

      Last year was the 33rd year that Chuck Furminsky has run the show. Hats off to him for getting it and TFFS started and doing it for decades now. Through thick and thin it comes and goes every year. Through venue changes, industry changes, and things like Covid it has survived. Hey nothing is like it used to be and that includes industry shows as well. But the truth is somethings need to change, or they need to fade out before it's just kicking a dead horse. And, in my opinion, the IFTS is on life support. 

     I hate to say remember when it was good, like really good. It may not have had the TFFS numbers, but it was solid and was a no-miss for many of the vendors and for seasoned and amateur fly tyers alike. It was the place where you could score good materials, meet the legends and professionals, and buy stuff you'd never take out of the package. I know because I have things sitting around my fly tying desk that I've never opened, but just needed to have. 

     There's nothing like running your fingers through materials in person and visiting BuzFly's and Flatwing's booths can really get your fly tying juices going. Couple that with the good picking through the bin booths and there was always a score to be had.

The Collins booth, 2009 IFTS

     And then there was the Collins and Keogh booths which always drew between 50 -125 dollars out of my pocket each November. If I wasn't on the inside of the show I'd be one of the first in line to get a shot at the bulk bins, knowing the show attendees already had the first pickings. 

     There's nothing like good advertising, social media , and an email blitz to get things hyped up. Months ago I started getting those on my various feeds. While they are good, they have to be honest. In one of this years emails the recipients are informed that, " This year's symposium promises to be the largest and most comprehensive in its 34-year history......". Wow, that's a big promise, one that I don't think can be delivered. 

     On the IFTS web page potential attendees were notified that Hareline won't be making the show this year, but Stockard Fly Fishing will be. I've heard the two- Joe's, Calcevechia, Saltwater Custom Flies, and Cordiero, Flatwing, will be sitting this one out. Brad at BuzFly better be up to his knees in bucktails because he'll be about the biggest materials-draw at the show. Will Keogh and AHREX show? I don't know. And will all the vice companies who've been in a male member measuring stick competition at all the shows for the last five years still try and see who's boss? We'll see. Last year they were there, I'm kinda thinking not so much moving forward. 

     For you to attend it's $20 bucks for the Saturday, and $30 for the weekend. If you don't stop to chat, last year I spent an hour with Bob Clouser, or pick though Brad's tails, you could do the room in an hour. But for the vendors it's a risk vs gain, return on investment, kind of business deal. It costs a lot in time and money to attend these shows. Commuting, lodging, eating, and then cutting Chuck in on the profits. If the interest, and more importantly the $$$$, isn't there then they won't be. A talented tier who's selling flies along fly tyer row, like legitimately not on the down-low, can turn a wheeled-in bin full of flies into a decent haul for the two-day event. 

     I always buy a fly or two, usually from a young kid showing off his wares. The above trio was at the Long Island Fly Fishing Expo a few years back. I stuffed a couple of their Flexo Crabs into my pocket and did well with them sight fishing on the Vineyard. 

    And remember when the IFTS was stacked with the best tiers from across the globe? Just think of the names that made the trek to the no-miss show over the years. I won't mention names as to not discredit those tiers that do the show each year, but there were some big names, and they draw attendees. Rightfully the IFTS advertises, at least this year, who will be there. 

    They published a list of "About 100 professional and amateur fly tiers- amongst the best the world has to offer...." as bait to drum up interest. Yes, a lot of good people on that list, but good amateurs don't increase bodies in the narrow aisles like the big guns do. 

     So what does this keyboard critic/ Danny downer think? Well, to be honest I thought last year was it. With Bobby's passing and the show struggling to meet the attendees needs, I thought it was time to gracefully whip finish the show. That's at least what we've known it to be, not saying, it couldn't be changed to meet expectations and with the times. So, Mr. Know It All, what would you do?

     I'd get rid of the "International" in the International Fly Tying Symposium. Having a few guys fly over each fall, mostly to fish blitzing bass from a boat, with the Shore Catch guys, isn't cutting it. I'd make it a local event. Kind of like the Long Island Fly Fishing Expo is doing. While the bigger The Fly Fishing Show may not be the place to be hyper try-state area focused, this show could be. Let's just take the encatchment area the IFTS serves. Let's say New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Any fly tiers or fly fishermen and women, and youngsters, from those states? Any good water? Any good species? From trout on the Upper Delaware to every stocky stream, to stripers, albies and bluefish in the salt, to smallmouths and snakeheads and panfish, we have it all. Target that crowd. 

     The show show be a beginners show. Cater to what this industry and this sport needs- new blood. Fly tying and fishing, like Bobby said, is all about teaching and sharing the experience and knowledge. Target those cross-overs looking to go from fresh to salt. Run beginner classes- affordable ones- to get people behind the vices. Yes, you could even run kids types seminars- yuk, but it's what we need. Have solid and local presentations to get the local interest brewing. If we want to learn about fly fishing in Ireland and Patagonia then we'll come back in January for TFFS. 

     It could also be a place that showcase the local clubs. There's Trout Unlimited with all kinds of chapters in the three states, other freshwater clubs, and saltwater clubs like Bayshore, Atlantic, Coastal, and Salty. Rather then just have them lining the walls and filling up space to look like the shows, especially TFFS, are bigger then they are, have them do presentations. How about a fly tying competition between them? I have to be honest I'm done with the club fly raffles. I know they make money for a good cause but they have much more to offer. Give them a chance, and the venue to show it, not just sitting there inviting people over for a raffle, or a mint or a 1/4 inch piece of a Snickers in a wrapper. Maybe running a hyper-local show like this may get the Moy's to unload their store, Tightlines, into Somerset, because it would be worth it for them. With Orvis Princeton closing there's not many Garden State shops left. 

     So, remember, the dinosaurs and daily newspapers went extinct. Sadly, the IFTS could face the same fate if they don't change. There's like 10 billion people within 100 miles of Somerset. Having 18 people in line to get in 5 minutes before the show opens isn't a good indicator of the 

show's relevance and interest. I will be there again in two weeks, mostly to keep abreast of things New Jersey and fly fishing, but also for chance encounters with friends, or even one of the legends, like I did with Clouser last year. I said it last year after the show. Years ago there would be a crowd around his booth all day long. The people that were there, I'm not talking bad, they

just didn't know who Bob Clouser was. I had him to myself for an hour at his booth during the late morning on Saturday. I left with something special that he gave me and that made my $20 admission fee well worth it. We'll see what this year's show brings. 

11.01.25 A tribute to Bob Popovics…

     It's been one year since Robert "Bob" Popovic's passed away. He was 75 years young. A month after he passed I asked Joe Carey if he could reach out to the family to see if I could go and photograph Bob's attic. It was in that space were so much of saltwater fly tying history was created. 

     My goal was to capture the space before things got moved around. I attempted to document just about every part of the rooms and hallway that made up the attic. The only room I missed was the bathroom. Just one picture would have completed it. 

     The attic is really like a museum exhibit. You could spend hours up there just looking and reading at everything Bob felt important enough to him to display. I didn't open any drawers, just took pictures of what was there to the naked eye. 

     I wasn't sure how to present them and I figured a blog post wouldn't do it justice. In my old life as a news photographer we used to use a program called Sound Slides. That would allow us to run a slide show with audio behind it. Since it's been a bit I wouldn't vent know how to do that these days. So I went with my best option which was iMovie, something I'm not all hat proficient in. 

After I created it I uploaded it to You Tube and you can see it there. I don't think the highest quality video uploads but I hope you enjoy it. You can also view it directly HERE. 

     I'm sure each of us will remember Bob today on the first anniversary of his death. I'm think of him as well as his family, especially his wife and daughter. We're all better people for having known Bobby, and most of us know each other because of him. He, a good man, made sure to connect like minded and good people together. That was just another one of his many gifts, and talents. 

Enjoy and live each day like it's yours, or another person's last. You just never know.  

10.31.25 No Blitz-O-Ween this Halloween....

 

      Well the storms of this week have passed. The first two, the menhaden and then striped bass ASMFC meetings come and went leaving their paths of destruction. Although the menhaden outcomes bode better for the forage fish than the results for the striped bass. Then on Mischief Night, well day, the rains came coupled with some steady winds. And today we can expect stronger winds, which will surely topple trees rooted in the now soggy soil holds. There will be power outages. There will be homes and cars damaged, and people injured, or sadly killed. 

     As far as the striped bass after the blow? Who knows. Most say that before or after a blow the fish turn on as their inner instincts react to the drop in barometric pressure. They eat as that feeling of impending chaos, or doom, sets in. But it will be a wait and see, or go and see, game to see if all that bait, and I'm hearing the peanuts are stacked in the back, begin their journey out into the ocean. As always, if you don't go then you won't know. 

     The questions is did the blow kind of signal all those big fish to head south. I think it can truthful to say they really never hit the beaches, like they did in 2024. There will be the next round of fish, I'd like to say there's three big pushes. Will the next find the bait and camp out along the Long Island South Fork and southern beaches? Will they camp in the Bermuda like triangle, or Striped Bass Triangle, of the New York Bight for a while? That triangle I'll call the Rockaways down to Asbury Park back to Perth Amboy. 

     I hate to bring it up again but each yer I reflect on one of my best days of stripped bass fishing on foot. I had found the fish, was then joined by an army of anglers, and left when I couldn't get my shit together when the fish were in front of me. I left pouting, and the fish biting. I went and made a stop more south of where I had been and the Mother Lode of bass showed up chasing peanuts, weakfish, and butterfish on the beach. It was game on, and it lasted for a long while before it ended. 

     I caught and released 16 bass to 25 pounds that day with fish to 41 inches. It was a day I'll always remember and may never duplicate again. You can read about that outing, if you already haven't, HERE. 

     With all the rain we had I'd think the back of the Raritan is a hot mess and it'll take a few days for the beaches to settle down and clean up. Then we'll see if the temps have dropped and the bait has started moving. Then the big question is, will the bass show up to intercept? 

     The goal for any Jersey Shore angler should be to find them before the report and beach cam watchers get wind that the bass are on the beach. There's nothing like finding your own fish alone. That's hard if you don't go and put the time in. As I get older it becomes easier to find excuses on why not to go. That's lame. Yes, it's an hour to an hour an a half to the waters edge, and that sucks, but I'll never encounter the above if I always wait and negotiate if to go or not. 

     I spoke with my friend Mike Ferraro yesterday. He's a fellow Jones Brother's owner and takes the hour and forty five, and $200 trip, from eastern Pennsylvania to either the Raritan or Chesapeake several times each spring and fall. He's due for a day, after finding the skunk or a fish or two when he goes. At 81 he's a stud. For me at 57, I'm not. He's heading out Sunday to the Raritan. where I hope he has a day like Blitz-O-Ween 2014. 

10.29.25 Adam Nowalsky for President!!!!....

      I knew it was over in the first 15 minutes. The Maryland Charter Boat Association and the Delmarva Fisheries Association came out swinging. I wasn't there but the room was stacked. I could hear it in their voices. The came out strong about the economic impact any cuts would bring to their businesses, their families, their children, and future generations. And they were convincing. There were other speakers as well, Tom Fote brought up catfish, Ross Squire tried to turn the mood, but it was too late. The Chesapeake guys set the table for the finisher, none other than Adam Nowasky. New Jersey's Adam Nowalksy. He entered the game like Mariano Rivera and shut the game down. 

     By then the meeting was about two hours old. It was almost time for lunch. And then it wasn't. Nowalksy dropped a Status Quo bomb that was more of a magnet than an incendiary device. It attracted people to it. Kind of like a bug light. Now let me say this of Nowalsky. I only met him once. Have heard him more times than I care to. I oppose just about everything he says. I think he's shady. But, to give credit where credit is due, boy is he good. I don't know what magical powers he has but he puts the malook on people in those fisheries management meetings. 

     If Nowalksy is your ride or die, then you're in good hands. Rob a bank with him, he wouldn't budge. Need to bury a body, "I'll grab the shovel". Any of you guys or girls thinking of cheating on your spouse, call Nowalsky when you get caught. He'll convince the wounded it never happened, even if they walked in on it. He's that good. But I want to vomit when I hear that slow almost condescending voice of his. He may the best guy, when I speak of him in it's his role as ongoing proxy for Senator Vin Gopal. 

     So he blew it up. Status Quo, WITH, the formulation of a kumbiya panel "of good people", who will put out a white paper, in like three years, looking in depth as to what is all wrong and what we can do, together, as one big striped bass killing family. I again, wanted to puke. The "Work group" will do this AFTER the 2027 benchmark assessment. Remember, the last one was done in 2024. And since then the ASMFC has kicked the can down the road, and guess what, they did it again. 

     I knew it was all over when I heard the speakers with that Southern drawl thanking Nowalksy. The fix was in. This wasn't a surprise, it was probably decided, and already known, way before this meeting. If this was an old school union meeting or convention Nowalksy would have opened up his hotel room door and found a nice bottle of whiskey and two of Delaware's most sought after call girls. I at least hope they treated him to a rockfish dinner before he headed back to Jersey. 

     Kudos to Massachusetts own Nicola Meserve. She came back with and amendment (above) to Nowalksy's ammendemt saying keep the Work Group B.S., but let's go with that 12% reduction. Is was a chance to do SOMETHING to stop the bleeding. Well that went to vote and didn't pass. 5-11. Nowalsky's then went to vote and passed, 13-3. Status Quo, or no changes to the regulations, for 2026. 

     Well the victory went to the other side, and there were sides. This was purely commercial vs recreational. And the commercial, and the for-hires, won. What is a positive is that, like I have been saying, and am on record at the PA Public Hearing, is that commercials should include the for-hire industry, and wait till their numbers cross the aisle with them. That's every head and charter boat out there. Watch what you wish for. 

     So who lost? Well the striped bass did in a big way. Just because every fish the boat guys are getting are over 40 inches doesn't mean the entire picture is bright. The YOY indexes are set and have been for years. There may be big fish out there but what about the small ones? The ASMFC, which I loathe, is in the business, they should get out of, fisheries management. They can't chase the guy down in Maryland pouring Scotts fertilizer on his bayfront lawn. Their idea of reductions, is a good one. Less dead fish hopefully will mean more fish. 

     That argument of owning a charter operation and it's your right, well easy. My first boss in photography was my friend Carl at the Red Bank Register. When that closed he moved to The News Tribune. When that went belly up....he went to school and changed careers. At 40! Things don't last forever. Adapt and overcome. Maybe charter captaining isn't sustainable. How's those daily print newspapers doing these days? 

     Well the winners. Nowalksy, for one. I feel like a kid who's on the losing Little League team and your mom is telling you to go congratulate the winners. I hate to do it, but give credit where it's due. The commercial and for-hire sectors, soon to be glommed together, win. They have another year to hammer down on the 2018 year class of fish now.....enjoy that one for the table. And New Jersey as well, they keep their Bonus Tag Program. 

     And then there's Emilie Franke. She runs the ship. Went to every public meeting. She even tried early on to discuss what the overall vibe was from the public. Let's me honest, and now I'll agree, nobody give a f%$k about you or your dumb speech, email, or from letter. If she came in thinking that 12% would be on the table and the discussions would be on how to meet it, well, she must have been very disappointed. Her job was easy today. It was a landslide victory before lunch. 

     On October 6th I penned a post about 'Just Say No to Status Quo". I told my buds not to worry about No-Target, and yes there may be some days that are close, but the real threat to conservation is Status Quo. I had to say I saw it coming, but I did. The Dark Side has been working this for months. And who's to blame? Well the ASMFC is. Most of their data came from NOAA's MRIP volunteer FES survey's, which are about as scientific as asking people in church if they farted today. Once you make that the backbone of your argument, and sniff out the possibility that mortality is way les then expected, and raise doubt in people's minds, then you find yourself taking roll call for a Status Quo, which passed. 

     People are celebrating. I really don't know why. We can't measure predation, or natural causes, or environmental factors, but we know they all exist. What we should be celebrating were the adults in the room who made the hard decisions, and sacrifices, for the striped bass, and the people who enjoy to fish for, and even eat them. We were looking for a pause in the action to allow the bass to catch up. What we're doing now isn't sustainable, especially for the fish. 

   

10.29.25 Here we go....

 

10.28.25 Boy, yesterday's post set the (one for the) table....

     This guy should be smiling. He may be disappointed, but he is happy with his catch. Like I said yesterday, shit happens. What I also said in yesterday's post was how fragile a fishes gills are. It's like slicing through an artery in your arm or neck. 

     This whole post here came from the Betty and Nicks Bait and Tackle Fishing Club page. While you know I hate using other's people's content to make content, this was so timely I just had to. It tells a story. Two buds out in the dark on a relatively chilly night hardcoring it during the beginning of the fall run. 

     He had a single hook on his plug. He was doing everything he could to give a striped bass a fighting chance after being caught. His intentions were to practice responsible catch and release fishing. And if he was planning on taking a slot fish home for dinner, then good for him. But he wasn't. 

     This is what many people think makes up the 9% catch and release mortality figure that we've, or they'd, used for decades. That 9% of the striped bass caught and released died. That 9%, well 8%, number came from a study done, and then published, in 1996 by Diodati & Richards. It was groundbreaking for its time and was the standard bearer of all things bad with catch and release fishing. Although there were truths behind the study, like J- hooks and circle hooks, and where 

the fish was hooked and the conditions it was released into, it was a bit hard to generalize every kind of C & R angler as a 9% killer. When guys stand up in the meetings or say to the ASMFC, "Hey, where did you get that number?", well here it is. And you can read that paper, above, HERE. 

     Other studies have been done to see how striped bass fare after being caught, mostly on bait and with earlier J- hooks which are not legal anymore, at least for bait fishing for striped bass. In Maryland they would catch a bunch of fish, collect the data and then transport the fish to a net pen and wait. 

     Of the fish that died, in the Maryland study, 75% died within the first six hours, and the remaining within 24 hours. It came down to hooking mortality, like the guy's fish on the top, and then there's angling stress, which we are all guilty of, especially anglers that like to cast 1,500 feet into current, and then drag the fish, well flog them, up river, or up to the boat, only to swim away strong for the 10 minutes they're out of the water, before they die within 24 hours. You can read the Maryland stuff,  HERE. 

     In 2012 John Tiedemman from Monmouth University released his paper on catch and release practices for striped bass. He too referenced the Diodati and Richard's study

(1996) and the Bettoli and Osborne study (2011). That later study was conducted in the Tims Ford Reservoir in Tennessee and tracked, by transmitter, striped bass that were caught and released. This study looked at fishing method, temperatures in release conditions, and the fishes ability to maintain equilibrium, and or their ability to regulate their air bladder. So they swam away strong, only to wind belly up within 24 hours.  You can see a video of Tiedemann and his panel discussing best C & R practices, HERE. You might know a few names like Tabory, Popovics, and Lynch who join the panel. 

     So that brings us to some more news. I got notice of a new American Saltwater Guides Association post, HERE. In it is discusses the release of the study done by the Massachusetts DMF, who has been in the forefront of this dating back to Diodati in 1996. They have caught striped bass, tagged them, some with acoustic tags, and tracked them. They've also included citizen reporting which brought the number of fish in the study to 8,300, quite a large pool to study. 

     In the end there's a good chance the 9% C & R mortality rate is half of that, somewhere around 4.6%. And those using artificials and flies, WITH SINGLE HOOKS, even lower around 2%. I had to italicize that or else my neanderthal plug throwing pals wouldn't let me hear the end of it. 

     So what does that all mean? It means, well nothing. Is it good that the number MAY be lower, absolutely. Can we all do better, yes. Is it a little fishy that this comes out a day before the ASMFC meeting tomorrow. Where No-Target and No-Harvest on are the proverbial table? Kinda. What is interesting is how things, like studies and data, get released kind of leaning to Status Quo (Do nothing) or No-Harvest (See it's only 4.6%). I'm telling you, it's all about money and politics, with a little bit about the actual fish. 

     And it's a shame that the guy who posted it had to write a disclaimer along with it. Not only was it written, it was written in CAPS. It does just go to show there's times when, "Nothing I could do...", is what it comes down to. Fishing is a sport, and there's winners and losers, and sometimes the striped bass lose. 

We'll see what happens tomorrow starting at 945. Gonna be a long day.