11.12.18 Nice day with Mike on the schoolies....and another camera malfunction

     So after last weeks mishap and forgetting to a card into the camera and just about missing proof of the day Joe and I had I made sure there was a card in my camera. After we were back in and the boat was all gussied up I sat in my truck to take a look at todays pics.......and then I saw the above.

     I had nice pics of Mike holding bass to 26 inches. I ad pics of the swarms of birds. I had pics of the armada of boats big and small, drifting and trolling, across the ocean. Luckily I took a picture of one bass with the iPhone.

     So Mike and I got underway just before 7am. Marina was bustling and I was hoping too find good fortune when we rounded the Hook. We tool the long drive down to the Rocks and out to the line and found nothing. By the time I got there we were cold. 30 degree temps with only the wind from being in a moving boat did it. 

     With it dead I figured I'd run to the other state and I am glad we did. We were east of the action but eventually found the birds and boats. The fish weren't up and it was a tough fly-rod day. They ate, only after multiple fly changes. They liked the extra heavy and large Clouser on the 450 sinking line. Miserable to throw ut it got it down to them. Jigging with metal and shads was the spinning rod trick.

     We played for two hours before going to look for bigger fish. I guess guys caught them, made the trollers did. Coolest thing we saw today after the move was a bass on top attempting to right a bunker so it wold go down head first. It took about 20 seconds and we casted to him trying to offer him something easier, to no avail. 

     We had the outgoing and then the dead-slack and went to Keansburg to check the dead calm, and dead fish, bay. Water temps just below and just above 50 depending on where you were and what the tide was doing. 

     Wish I had better and more pics. Great guy, nice day, wish we had a better steady bite with some bigger fish. 

11.11.18 Thank You Veterans....

Thanks to all who served and sacrificed and thanks to all those that care for our Veterans today.

11.08.18 Imagine if this was the way to call blitzes in to your friends......

     Had to be at the office at 930 am so I took the ride early and got to Seaside by 6 am. I knew the conditions wouldn't be perfect, or near perfect, and I was right. They were basically unfishable. Cranking wind N-NE and off color to chocolate milk water depending what stretch you were on. I didn't even dress. 

      I know there were fish somewhere in the mess and either an Ava, a Bucktail, or a clam or chunk would get it done. I drove north and found the birds picking at a doggie on the beach. That was about it for things to see. No wait. The coolest thing was seeing the picture at the top of the page. What is that? Remember those? Imagine picking up that phone during a blitz to call....another landline to let them know its going off right now. Guys using cell phones today still can't get there in time. Oh, how I hate technology.

     So many of you know I love to predict things. After being wrong more times than right you'd think I'd try something else.Yes, I've had a few banner days this fall on albies and then big bass. The intersection between bait and fish crossed and I happened to be there. But consistently this fall has sucked more often than not, even if you worked hard and put your time in. Hey that's just fishing.

     So, my prediction went, and goes, something like this. It's over.....ok not that bad. No big peanut push this year.....I keep hearing "they're still in the back". Bullshit. Too many moons and rains have come and gone and that crazy peanut blitz of recent years past isn't going to happen.

Seaside 2011 before Sandy

     Big fish blitzes on the beach......maybe. But probably not. It will be a schoolies after schoolie late year, after most guys have stopped fishing, on the sand eel bite. I am predicting another 2011 in the Seaside area and IBSP, but this year its mostly small fish and not the keepers like that year, and waaaay less numbers. Why? Because 2011 was a year before Sandy and many things along the beach have changed, and since then we've got beach replenishment to thank for ruining the beaches.

     The boat guys will win this year, and the trollers and jiggers will catch most of the fish ( usually do) leaving the fly guys and girls driving around looking for birds over sand eels with bass on them. And no bluefish....forget them. Boat guys will find the herring and will be freezing watching he gannets dive as they troll around and then out head for cod or ling or whatever they fish for late.

     So, like me, we will all keep fishing.....and hope that I'm dead wrong. I'm back at it on Monday in the boat. Fingers crossed.

11.08.18 Here's a way to get started....

     Found this at my local Walmart. Imagine you can get started in our passion for only $49.87. It even lists it for use in the saltwater. Perfect starter set-up to get going. Just make you rinse it out good or the salt will destroy it after one outing, unless of course the reel is sealed, but I doubt it.

11.07.18 Quick trip couldn't find squat.....

     Glad I didn't sell todays trip. Got down from  Lambertville in the dark and was just about the first boat out. Headed out stiff W wind against tide and made the Hook and headed south. Long run first and only boat there and.......nothing. No birds or signs of life. Headed out a few miles and....more of the same.

    Made my way back which sucked and back into the front of the bay and didn't see much there but had the outgoing running. Bumpy ride in and stopped at a usually productive spot that was a little protected from the wind and.....nothing. Was out of the water by 930. Maybe could have stayed for the tide but had things to do.

     On y way home I stopped on the outgoing tide and found some nice moving off color water. No signs of life and fished for about 45 mins throwing a sand eel fly and....nothing. Oh well.

For a majority of the surf guys good old Albert might be saying it best.....

11.05.18 Nice out there in the rain....

     Beautiful conditions out there this morning. Things look a little different light wise now that we’re a day past fall-behind on the clocks. Today I came in with a few hours into the ebb tide with 20 mph winds from the east and a steady rain.

      Lots of clean green and white water. My session was before seeing patients at 9 and would have liked to been there with a bit less water. Had hard time casting into the trough and most casts had me dragging my fly across the sand. Used a sand eel and then peanut bunker fly without a tap. No birds picking and no signs of fish. Very fishy conditions out there today.

11.04.18 This dampens the season....

    So when you treat a fish with such respect and then see this you wonder if you are even playing the same game. Barbless hooks, fly rod only, catch and release, try and keep them wet when caught most times.....and then this legal harvest of over 250 big fish. One boat, one day, one location. 

How does this species survive. 

    And to add bad news to this mass of fish moving down from New England I am learning that they are on sand eels. The bigger fall sand eels. 4-6 inches. The above pic was set to me from a friend from yesterday. Great for the fly rodder. Bad for the bass.  Boats jigging all day and guys with spinning roads able to cast an Ava 17 a country mile over the bar. Starting to feel like 2011 in my blood.....when the bait and bass camped off IBSP for the month of November. Ut oh. 

11.03.18 Was tired but had to go....

     Yuk. Chocolate milk water. WSW winds. Didn't wet a line.

11.02.18 That was a day to remember.....

     I don't know where to begin. So I'll begin with the end. Imagine Joe and I sitting down at a high top at On The Deck for a bite and a beer and my camera so we can look at all, I mean all, like tons, of cool pics from today. And imagine how my heart sunk when I looked at the back and saw - NO CARD. Are you kidding me? Yes, my camera allows you to shoot even if there's no card, and at no time during the day did I check to look at pictures. 

     So, here's my report. Today I had Joe out on the boat. It was going to be a call-it-at-the dock kind of day. When I arrived all, I mean all, of the head boats were docked. The marina was empty. No one was putting in. It was just me and Joe. I figured it would be a quick trip out until the wind against tide kicked in. The forecast called for steady S winds, rain with even some lightning mixed in. There was even a small craft advisory. 

                                   

     So we got out, a little choppy, a lot windy, but we had marks on the screen and schoolies willing to bite. The birds were here and there and there wasn't much for swirls or blow-ups. At one point, as I anticipated the incoming tide and things getting sporty I said to Joe, "Looks like about a 20-minute trip today". 

     Joe didn't have his right glasses on so his far vision wasn't to sharp. I decided to take the just-about-slack ride and make sure we weren't missing anything. Word on the street and social media posts tell of bunker schools getting crushed with big bass down near the Manasquan Inlet and guys trolling up here off a bit getting the big ones as well.

     So after a short ride I was shocked to find about 2000 birds of all species over this "secret" spot. As we pulled up on some birds I looked, nearly shit myself, and said, "Joe, these are BIG fish". So with that I threw my large bunker fly at what looked like a bowling ball that just got dropped from the heavens. First cast, a violent take, and what I think was a amateur trout set on my part, and then an 10 wt Orvis Clearwater 4 piece that was now a 5 piece. I tried to hand line the fish in but when I got to the broken rod in the water the fish unbuttoned.

     Jim Matson came through because in my box of big bunker flies was a "JM Special" (I named that).....and I tied that on and caught my personal best biggest bass ever. Just as Joe reached down to lip grab the fish the fly pulled, and quickly put another hand on its jaw saving the day. I will frame Jim's fly along with a picture of my fish. Thanks buddy.

    Over the next two hours we saw 20's, 30's, 40's and probably 50's blowing up on large 12 inch plus baits. They didn't look like bunker but more like the mackerel I found the other night in the rivers, but did not find last night when I fished the same beat. So today I snapped one rod and broke off two other big fish. Joe did some of the same but we did put big fish in the boat. It was an amazing day. What was more amazing was- there wasn't another boat, party, six-pack, private out fishing the entire day. We may have seen two or three boats in transit and not actively fishing.

    We ended the day, or so we thought, catching up with the schoolies were we had started. We were all done there and then just before we turned into the marina the birds in the distance were calling. They we over fish, a ton of them, and we left them biting to end a perfect memorable day. 

11.01.18 Late night with Stryker.......

     Had good company last night with Scott Stryker of Stryker Custom Flies. You can check out his website HERE. He's one of the best local tiers around and caught my attention years ago with his realistic flies and his huge pike flies, and then everything in between.

     He gave me a call yesterday because his mom was getting a procedure done and he wanted to wet a line after she was all settled in. I decided to give the rivers, ocean, and then bay a shot. First river on moving outgoing just one tap for me. Then we piggy=backed cars and headed out front. South wind was jamming with the incoming tide made it just well, shitty. Styrong sweep right to left if you couldn't find cover from a rock pile. We walked a ways found a sweet spot, saw something jumping now and again, looked like shad, but didn't get a tap.

     We ended back at river #2 and waited for slack which seemed to never come with the S wind blowing out the tide. Our outing lasted from 8 until just after midnight, Another long night.....

     After seeing him off and just knowing there was something going on somewhere I drove to a spot in the bay that was protected y the S wind. Glass. Flat, Perfect for finding them if they were showing.....nothing. 

11.01.18 A quick half-hour in Seaside and tonights for Jim Matson.....

     One of my clinical rotations is down in Toms River on Main Street near Route 37. Today I was early and took a drive to Seaside Park and check on things. Wish I had enough time to go and play a prank on my buddy Popovics. When I pulled up I was glad to see the parking-meter-ticket season is over and today is November 1st....ha!

     I had about a half and hour and decided to throw into a bowl that was getting filled in with the flood tide. No birds or bait but good, real good, structure. The water down there was beautiful and the non-replenished structure with bars (natural ones) and bowls is just textbook. I gave it a go with a peanut bunker pattern but didn't get a tap. That was fine, getting a tap or a fish would have only made, or forced, me to stay.

     For those that know, or didn't know, my friend Jim Matson of Pulse Disc fame passed away this June after a short battle with cancer. I loved Jim and his wife Laura. I met them at the Fly Fishing Show and hit it off immediately. He was, as I refer to him, "the mad fly-fishing scientist". He thought, tinkered, developed, patented more things than I could imagine. An ironworker and welder by trade his mind was always on and thinking of better, or more and easier ways, to tackle just about anything. The Pulse Discs were just one of his great creations.

     I had the pleasure of driving out to the middle of Pennsylvania to visit Jim and Laura and go down into his laboratory. He was just amazing, and generous, with information, processes, materials, flies, whatever he had, was mine. Laura is a saint and loved that guy and her steadfast commitment to him, and his creations, was evident every time he set that booth up at shows across the country.

     Jim would send me boxes from time to time. Flies, scents, herring semen, little canisters to attach to the flies and fill with goop......he thought of it all. Tonight I am going for another night shift. I have my plan in my head, my gear ready, but today I found a secret weapon. Jim had sent me some nice sand eel flies with rubber off the back. Attached with a Pulse Disc.....a sure killer. I will this fly tonight in memory of Jim. If it catches, great, that mens the fish were there, if not that's fine also, because Jim will be out there with me. RIP Jim. 

10.31.18 Mackeral.......its whats for dinner........

........or a midnight snack. Did the 830 pm to 2 am shift. Had talked with a guy from the Asbury Park Fishing Club yesterday as I came off the beach after another who skunk who told me he had been doing good in the back. 

     I was hoping to get in on that action. I had the three tides figured out and caught them all at the end of the incoming/slack/outgoing. There were some guys getting ready and when talking they all felt....."tonights going to be good". And with that I left the first spot and went to another. 

     It looked good. Almost zero wind, flat water, dead low tide. If there was something eating you should have seen it. I thought I was watching mullet or peanuts swimming around and in between my legs but I was surprised to find out it was mackerel. In the back that's a new one for me. I was tied up a weighted black Snake Fly and realized it would be a smaller offering if I was looking to match the hatch. I went with a larger Andrew Warchauser hollow fly and in the water it was a near perfect match. 

  Problem is the bass never went off, didn't see swirls, but did see schools of the bigger bait hurridly making there way around. So it was back to spot 1 and that never went off for those guys. They did get a few fish at slack. It was then go home or go big. I drove down to the beach and it was flat and windless. I worked a popper up and down the beach and scored one little guy before calling it quits just before slack. 

     I wasn't done with the punishment so I went into looking in the bay hopeful to find a bltz all to myself......an early Blitz-O-Ween, but that didn't happen. 

10.29.18 A few days after the blow....

     Stopped by the beach before clinical this morning. Could have fished for 45 minutes but it just wasn't looking good. Swells, surfers, chocolate milk. No sign of bait or birds. It needs a tide or two to clear things up out front.

Capt. John McMurray from Facebook

      Capt John McMurray from One More Cast charters found the schoolies this morning so at least we know there's some fish, somewhere. Guys are telling me to relax with the skepticism, "there's a lot of fish on the way.....". I sure hope so.

     On Facebook I saw this picture from Jeff Nicole showing an older picture of the seine netting that occurred, and still does somewhat, on the eastern of Long Island. Looks at the size of those bass in the nets....hundreds of them. Looks like a present day head boat from the Captree fleet when they get on them.

Jeff Nichols from Facebook

     I hear not too worry. Boats are reporting "huge schools of bass" as they come in from bluefin fishing, and the same thing still from Newport and Montauk. Hopefully we'll see something soon. 

10.28.18 Nice score at the estate sale.....

     Spending the weekend after the blow in Lambertville. Fall colors are in effect although it was mostly overcast and drizzling. On the way home from Church found an estate sale in Lambertville. It was day 2 of the sale which means its been picked through pretty good. This sale had a sale- 50% off the marked price. 

     I walked in to the nice row house and made my way to the basement. I found a familiar item- an epoxy fly dryer. Guy didn't know what it was....$2. Then Theresa found an original copy of Bob's book- PopFleye's.......$1. And tenth mother load. Columbia long sleeve fishing shirts.......my size.......$1 each.

     I did some research on the dryer and found it is made by NuWave Tackle and it goes for $90. That was a steal. If your in for the market HERE is the link.

10.27.18 Was going to give an honest go.......

    Woke up at 5 and hit the snooze button. When I woke up the wind was bending the sliding glass doors inward on our forth floor facing east on the Navesink apartment. But I decided why not, you never know. I had a fly in mind, it was a large Clouser that was heavy, closest thing to a Bucktail I could find. 

     On my way I ran into a young woman who's hood had blown-up and shattered her windshield. There was no trying to out it back so, after creeping her out by offering her a ride to her job at Ocean Place, she called an Uber, scared from both the windshield incident and a ride offer from stranger-danger.

 The wind was as predicted blowing NE around 40. The beach looked good but as more light came you could see how off color it was already. It was unfishable. I met Leif down there and we sat in the truck talking about WTF is going on with this fall run. We can't understand it. So after I explained to him my day on the Raritan yesterday I see this.....

And while I know there are fish in the deepest parts around the Raritan/Sandy Hook/New York Bay(s), they're not my kind of fly-rod fish. Guys drifting eels in 35-60 feet of water or picking them up with plastic paddle tails or trolling spoons doesn't count for me. That's not an excuse, just a different type of fishing. And while on yesterday, below is a post on FB from Capt. Gene Quigley, it shows the size, again big to me, of the albies that were crushing rain bait yesterday. To me they kook like small yellow fin. 

                                 

     I went and checked the river to see if I could fish there with the wind at my back. Water was rushing in and too late for the fly rod. I felt like I was driving on the beach at times with the amount of sand on the roadway. Hopefully is was wind-driven sand and then wet with rain, rather than the water coming over the top- high tide is around 9am, and if it was from the waves then Sea Bright will be underwater.....again.