12.17.25 And whatdaya know...

 

    Could the timing of yesterday's post been more spot on? So less then 12 hours after I wrote that prediction piece I came home from work to the news that Shawn Combs, one of the fly fishing industry's best fly rod and reel engineers, was leaving Orvis and taking the position of Vice President of Scott Rods. For those that follow industry news...this is more than huge. This would be like Derek Jeter leaving the Yankees for the Red Sox or Michael Jordan heading from the Chicago Bulls to the New York Knicks. 

     Combs came on board with Orvis and basically developed the entire line of Mirage reels and Helios rods, up to the current Helios line which is touted as "the most accurate fly rod in the world". 

     When the current Helios rod came out it was compared to other top of the line fly rods, like those cresting $1,000, like Scott's own Sector and GT Series. Don't be fooled into thinking that all these top of the fly line rod manufacturers play nice in the sandbox. It's big business, and having Combs at the helm and directing fly rod and reel design, well Scott only makes rods at the moment, is a game changer. 

     So Combs will be picking up his family in Vermont and heading out to Colorado. It's a life changer for him and his crew. I can tell by the industry buzz that's been created by this move that Scott is looking to not only continue it's 50 year run as a leader in fly rod manufacturing, but to other products as well. My bet is Scott will soon be offering high end fly reels to match their top of the line rods as well.

     And then there's Orvis. While this is a big move for Scott moving forward, at the same time it's a step backwards for Orvis. No it's not a move sideways or in another direction, it's another nail in the coffin that sits in Manchester Vermont, waiting to be buried. What this move does is really damper any consumer confidence in Orvis that may remain. Once this gets down to the consumer level the folks with money in their hands will second guess if the Helios or Mirage is for them. Uncertainty in a company leads to wary consumer spending. 

     And how does that wariness get around? Well one way is through social media. Each and every post I saw regarding Scotts news was followed by speculation of what is and will happen to Orvis. 

     

My prediction yesterday was that Orvis would be bought out by Fulling Mill, or maybe some kind of collaborative agreement between the two becoming one. I admitted yesterday I wasn't up on both companies financials, not even sure if Fulling Mill had the scratch in the bank to pull it off. But the above post presents a bigger and maybe a more financially accurate possibility of a takeover, Bass Pro Shops. 

     Well Bass Pro Shops isn't just Bass Pro Shops. In 2017 they joined forces with Cabela's under the parent company named The Great American Outdoors Group. In addition to BPS and Cabela's, TGAOG also owns the White River Marine Group which produces the Bass Tracker line of boats. You can see those at every BPS store, like the one below in Atlantic City. 

    

     BPS and Cabela's generated 8 billion dollars in sales in 2023 and have a net worth of $2.95 billion, surely enough to send a little up to the Perkin's family in Vermont. But why would TGAOG want to own Orvis? Their catalogues offer products from every fly rod and reel and gear manufacturer out there. They probably just drop ship orders without having to stock pile everything in strategically located warehouses. And what would the advantage be? Would the name on the rods go from Orvis to Bass Pro Shops? 

     But why this makes sense is because, as we've seen, smaller, let's just call Orvis small, companies being absorbed into larger conglomerates like the formed TGAOG. We've seen what the mess Simm's has become as they have changed owners like three times in the last five years, now part of the privately owned (Ha!) company called Strategic Value Partners. Yeah, put that name on the side of your waders. And with each of these acquisitions comes a knock on brand loyalty and confidence, no matter what the old but now new company tells you. 

     So in New Jersey we have the one BPS down in Atlantic City. There's going to be a second location which is nearing completion up in Sayreville. It's part of a 2.5 billion dollar project called Riverton, which is a new city comprised of residential and commercial buildings. 

     If you've traveled over the Driscoll Bridge on the Garden State Parkway it's over to the right if you're traveling south. While it's cool and all, it will put a big damper on the local fly, well there's none around, and tackle shops. Remember, we're not loyal anymore, and anglers could easily be drawn in by the Disneyland atmosphere a big BPS offers. But you know who's going to hate this the most.....the early spring run striped bass. Once considered a secret spot, the Raritan River will be piled up with boats sitting over piled up pre-spawn bass each spring. It will be a shit-show, but that's how we roll in New Jersey.

     BPS has over 200 retail stores that carries everything from fishing and hunting gear to boats. It is a one-stop shopping location for everything outdoors. While the fly fishing offerings are small compared to other types of angling, I could see an Orvis section that could be appealing to the fly fishing community. But, BPS makes its money offering everything, from their own line (White River) to just about everything else. Becoming brand specific and loyal, especially if consumer confidence is poor, could mean a risk at the register. If you don't know what I mean just look at their catalogs and on-line stores. 

     BPS currently offers Orvis products, as well as Sage and Simms, but not Scott, so it's not a stretch since that relationship with Orvis is already established. If BPS were to buy Orvis we could see a few things. Orvis would be "allowed" to continue with their brand but scaled down. It could return them to their fly fishing and wing shooting roots without all the extra "stuff" we have have seen them branch out into. Gone will be the dog beds, and clothes, and, sadly, the keeping up with the Joneses product development like we saw with Combs at the helm. They'll let the big guys, and the small guys, compete for the new rod and reel market share. But circling back, how many fly rods and reels does a fly angler need? And in these times there's no money left in the coffee jar for purchases like this. 

     Orvis could return to the Mother Ship in Manchester, well they already did that. The building could house a bare-bones staff of family and friends continuing what Charles Orvis started 150 years ago. The roots of the company were planted in catalogue sales offering great customer service. They could continue to do good things for the environment and people alike. Maybe focusing on the sport and community rather than product development and sales, that could be left to the others. But then what would really be left as far as the money making side of Orvis? Money making comes from customer confidence and satisfaction and sales at the register. Will the Orvis "experience" with schools, the affiliations with guides and outfitters, and the higher end destination trips be enough to carry Orvis through? 

     And then what about the whole Fulling Mill thing I predicted? Well, that could still be on the table. It could be a joint venture moving toward more of the entire fly fishing experience, scaled back from higher end products and more to the experience, which would include more in the DIY categories of fly tying and fishing. Do we, at least the larger percentage of anglers, need "the most accurate fly rod in the world", probably not. It could be a risky move for Fulling Mill, or the perfect marriage. 

     What would I like to see? Orvis stick around but dumb it down and keep it simple stupid. Offer regular guy and girl, like The Average Anglers, good products with good customer service, that doesn't include 100% satisfaction and return everything you've worn out or broke. Keep the teaching and learning and community going. That helps the industry keep people, especially the young and the new, connected which in turn builds product loyalty and sales. They should get away from trying to keep up and stay loyal to who they may have become, just a smaller 

company up in Vermont made of people who love the outdoors and fly fishing and hunting looking to continue what they started many years ago. It might even be time to let the other companies, like Frontiers or other travel companies, handle the bougie destination trips to far away lands. Hell, these days every Dick and Harry are doing hosted trips. And they should keep the idea of community going, or try and reestablish it. Get the blog going again, but not what it was, which was just borrowed content from other sites and creators. Tom Rosenbauer and Tim Flagler, or people like that, could be the face of the new Orvis. It would cater to just regular people who have some fly fishing money to spend from time to time. And remember if sold, for like like $500 million, the family wouldn't have to worry about making the monthly nut, while still staying in the game. 

     We've seen the drastic changes being made at Orvis which started a few years back. Now, with stores closing, layoffs and personnel changes continuing, and product lines being discontinued, it's either time to change altogether, or just go away. Some may say how do you make money without new products offered  every year and solely on the experience or community? Well, it can be easy, well doable. Go back in time, stop worrying about the other guys (companies), and give the people what they want, which is not always the latest and greatest and the cheapest prices. 

12.16.25 Just my prediction....

 

     With a disappointing fall run of the striped bass in the books in 2025 it's time to switch gears for most anglers and head into the holiday season and New Years before hitting the fly fishing show circuit. In addition it's also the time when most fly fishermen and women get reacquainted with their fly tying rooms and desks full of materials and stuff acquired over the year. And as far as those hard core anglers sticking it out in the now frigid cold weather to catch the last of the fall run? Well, "It's over Johnny". I see that just about all of the head boats have called it quits for the year this past week due to the weather and the lack of bass activity they've seen in the northern part of the state, although below points south of Atlantic City they still have the tail end of the run happening. 

     And with nothing to report fishing wise from me I'll start the process of finding suitable content and topics for the blog. Most are probably done hearing about nursing and my own episodes of "This Old House" from out here in Mercer County. I can say, like the fall run, that burning off lead paint and sanding and painting are done for the year. But, I still have work to do, and will share that from time to time. 

     I'm now moving operations inside where it's rebuilding due to a mix of water and insect damage that has occurred over the last 100 years. That will include more bad plaster repairs and painting, which will include going from latex to oil based paints. And then there's the hardwood floors, which need a few sections of boards replaced due to water and pet piss stains dating back to the 1940's.

     But I'm going to lead off with a prediction for my beloved Orvis. I'm an Orvis guy through and through. Yes over the years I've bitched and even distanced myself from time to time, but truth be told, I'm just down with them, and they've been good to me. 

     I reported the news earlier that Orvis was closing 31 retail stores and outlets across the country. Orvis' Princeton location is one of them. They have been in the process of selling off the store and packing up products to return to the Mother Ship or distribution centers. 

     CEO Simon Perkins has made several statements on why Orvis is restructuring their 150 + year old family owned business. I've said that all things we used to know have changed, which has included fly fishing. Yes, the beaches and fish migrations have changed, and there's new technological advances in fly rod and reel design, but fly fishing, in its simplicity, has remained the same. Tie on a fly, wave a stick around, and hope to catch a fish. 

     While you can cast blame on things like the economy, the way and when consumers buy, and the now, or more so, global involvement in everything we buy and use, it's the customer, the consumer, who has changed the game the most. Call them cheap if you will, but it's brand loyalty and commitment that has influenced the business end of the game the most. Fly fishing is a community, and that goes from fly shops like Tightlines in Parsippany, to mixed stores like The Saltwater Edge in Rhode Island, to the larger manufacturers like Orvis. We were loyal to the brick and mortar locations and to even the catalogue offerings from our favorite brands. They were an identity, a community.

     So what happened to Orvis. Well, besides the business end of things, they lost their loyalty to their customer base. It went from stuffy old white guys, like your Grandfather's Orvis, to trying to keep up with Joneses. They went from bamboo rods and fleece tipped vests to trucker hats and the PBR drinking kids to the what's politically correct in the moment crowd. I saw that firsthand going from the 1990's through the mess of our society a few years back. I even saw politics, in a way, 

cross into casting flies for trout and striped bass. And once you pick a movement, or a side, you risk losing your base. Now truth be told old guys die off and you have to attract new blood, but that new blood doesn't need, nor can afford, the latest new waders, rods, and reels. And they don't buy dog beds either. 

     I'm not in the know of all things retail when it comes to fly fishing and fly tying. We've seen companies that have been the staple of things morph into something else or fade into the distance. We used to have one-stop shopping but now things have become more streamlined and niche. Hareline had become a place to satiate the casual material needer as well as for the commercial tiers. But we all know good bucktail is hard to find and a place like BuzFly, or Brad Buzzi, is about the best source for that. 

     And then there's the flies. You can fill your boxes or fly wallets with homemade replicas of patterns from the greats, or stop by the local fly shop when you're on that trip of a lifetime, buy them at the shows, or order them online. While I know tiers, like those that fill orders for 1,000 dozen per year, we know most of the flies we buy are tied by people from overseas, and sold under such and such brand, like Orvis. One such powerhouse of tied flies, hooks, and materials, is a company called Fulling Mill. I saw Orvis make the change at the retail level when the packing went from Hareline to Fulling Mill. 

     I don't know the entire FM story but it started in the 1930's with some guy who was a rugby player who got hurt. It was an overseas company who came to America, like brick and mortar, in 2005, mostly to feed Orvis which was one of their biggest accounts. They set up shop in New Hampshire, just a state over from Orvis which is in Vermont. Orvis headquarters was in Sunderland, which went up for sale, and is now in Manchester, where it all started.

    You know all those flies you bungle up when you try and tie them? Well for companies like Fulling Mill they have an army of will-never-see-the-Upper Delaware tiers who crank out flies for a living. While we have heard of the fly tying mills operating in third world countries, companies like Fulling Mill are proud that their employees, not contractors, are paid living wages, with benefits and even a pension. 

     Basically flies are tied for them are tied in Kenya or Sri Lanka and shipped around the world, including to Vermont, for Orvis. It's probably all done due to the cost of doing business. Cheaper labor doesn't mean sweat shop conditions. While I would love to see those fly ting factories here in the United States, I just can't imagine them paying someone $65,000 a year with medical benefits, PTO, and a 401K. So I guess everyone wins. It's just part of doing fly tying business.

     While Fulling Mill may be a behind the scenes powerhouse what they don't have, in my opinion, is a relatable brand, at least at this point. There's no face of, say Orvis, like with Tom Rosenbauer, who I can't believe is still doing it, and hasn't retired yet. Or a face like Blane Chocklett from the Chocklett Factory. He's was on a tear with his flies starting with the Gummy Minnow now through the articulated line of Game Changer flies. Without a face it's hard to build a brand, and a community. 

     But then last week I saw the above post from FM featuring Tom Rosenbauer, and it piqued my interest. Yes those two companies have had a twenty plus year relationship, but why Tom now? Rosenbauer and Orvis are geniuses. His face is synonymous with Orvis. If you trust Tom, then you trust Orvis. I hope he's made millions with them because no one employee has probably sold more books, rods, reels, flies, and gear than Tom. I also hope he has a great pension and is enrolled in the fly of the month club for life, kind of like the old Jelly Of the Month Clubs. 

     I also saw Tim Flagler, who is famous for his tying videos and talks, pop up on the Fulling Mill posts as of late. Yet another face we trust, one that Orvis has embraced. George Daniel is another face showing up, a face that Orvis tried to pimp out, but I don't think had the relatability that the others did. So add Tim and George to the "new" faces of Fulling Mill. 

     Powerhouse shops, like TCO below, are showing Fulling Mill products on their internet sites as well. While they're had a relationship for years, I now see their name going side by side with they products. 

     And why would that be? I think the idea is to try and build name recognition, even though they've been around for nearly 100 years. "Hey, that's all of our stuff you're buying", they are finally saying. They not only want the cash, but the name recognition as well. It's business, and to increase your business and stake in the fly fishing industry, you have to grow, and be seen.

     So now back to Orvis. Are they done? Well as we knew them? Yes they are. Will they still cater to the who's left rich old white guy crew? Absolutely. Trips to exotic lands, endorsed lodges, outfitters, guides and fly shops, of course. Still have an online presence and "shop", sure. But what they need is an influx of money, and that maybe where Fulling Mill comes in, and why we're seeing the hemorrhage and restructuring of what we used to know Orvis to be. Their Orvis News blog, and the community that followed, is gone, gone with the coveted catalogues we used to receive each year. Gone, well soon, are a lot of the retail stores and outlets. It's almost like Orvis is trying to paint the house and make it ready for the big sale, or at least, a newly formed company.

     Companies that are preparing for sale do certain things. Streamline their companies and tie up all the loose ends getting rid of things that are causing revenue hemmorhage, like dog beds and clothing. Getting rid of cash starved and expensive things like retail stores and outlets. Reducing the costs, like stopping the catalogues and not going all in at the retail shows, and putting their efforts in things that keep them in the black. Changing return policies from the "100%" satisfaction return, like with waders that are 20 years old, to a more customer responsible return policy. And lastly, lowering the costs of running the ship, which sadly means reducing the Orvis workforce though layoffs and buyouts. That'll make the company, at least appear, more financially stable for a new buyer. 

     I believe Orvis wants to remain in the game. They could allow themselves to be bought by one of those hedge fund assets manger conglomerates like Blackstone. They could also just allow themselves to be merged into one of the giant outdoor retail companies, which we've seen like with Simms, but risk losing their identity, and their base. Or, they could align themselves with a like-minded company, with several familiar faces as their brand spokesmen and women, and let the new games begin. 

     I don't know Fulling Mills financials. I'm sure Orvis is worth a billion dollars on paper. But what I'm seeing as of late just made me think and arrive at this prediction. Orvis and Fulling Mill will become one, somehow. I think I'll get a better handle on my thinking at this years The Fly Fishing Show. After a few years off, with Covid being an easy reason to pull back 

from the shows, Orvis made an appearance in Edison. It wasn't their usual big display, but just enough, with Tom Rosenbauer manning the booth, to have a foot in the show.  

     This year Orvis will be at three of TFFS's, Edison, Denver, and Pleasanton. If you see Fulling Mill showcased inside the booths walls then you know something is in the works. Let's be honest, there's nothing new product wise being announced this year. The Mirage reels are running as are the Helios line of rods. But an industry shocking announcement that Orvis and Fulling Mill are teaming up might be an industry shocker. 

     In the end they want your money, any way they can get it. That's business and that's businesses competing for market share. While the profit margins of selling flies may not be equal to a $1,000 fly rod they add up, and they don't take up the same amount of room as waders do in the distribution warehouse. In the meantime, if this goes down, Orvis will continue to clean up the house and the Kenyans and Sri Lankans will continue to crank out flies. 

We'll see where this goes. But remember you read it first here. 

12.12.25 I can’t with this shit anymore…

  

    My plan for the week was in effect. First finish up the semester with the last day of hospital clinicals on Tuesday, followed by fishing the downstairs bathroom

and splitting wood on Wednesday, before jumping on a 5 am flight down to see Mom for the holidays. 

   I had purchased my tickets some time ago but had to resort to printing my boarding pass as I still don’t have a working phone, which I really love. I haven’t felt this free in some time. If you remember my phone drama all started in Ireland, then when I got back to the States I activated an old iPhone 2, and in the end Asurion has been rejecting the claim for an iPhone 16 Pro Max replacement phone. So I have no way to do apps and have the boarding pass other then in print.

  I got to Philly airport around 340 am and made my way to the TSA security line. There’s about 2,000 people there but I have Pre-Check, which we had for the Ireland trip. So I walked through and then past those people saying, “ HaHa, they’re cheap, you’re fat, your wife’s ugly…..”. I didn’t say that actually but like in a mind swagger kind of way because I had the Pre Check, and paid for it, and went for the appointment.

     There was about 30 people in the Pre Check line. I waited my turn and got to the guy at the scanner, and…..”You don’t have Pre Check on your ticket”. What? What does that mean? I gave you my passport, am I not registered internationally with TSA by the passport? “Nope.”

     You see you have your intergalactic number and every time you travel YOU have to make sure you enter it into your reservation, or you’ll be standing there like an idiot, like me. So I had to go back past the 2,000 people waiting in the general population line with them now saying, or thinking, “HaHa, that’s that idiot who doesn’t have Pre Check, he’s fat, he’s ugly, he’s gonna miss his flight”.

      So by then the line at TSA was longer, so was the one at Frontier. I went right to the front and explained my story, the gate lady said it happens like every 10 minutes, and for $25 she could add it and print me a new boarding pass. I was pissed. $25 bucks? I just got a used chop saw for $20!

     So I’m now standing there looking at the lady and she’s looking at me. C’mon lady let’s go already. “Well what’s your TSA number?”. What? Like I know that. So luckily I had with me an old iPhone that wasn’t connected to any service, but it did have pictures on it. Not full resolution but low res images with the question mark in the corner, but just sharp enough to read the letters and numbers if I found it.

     I was able to scroll through like 15,000 pics until I got to just before we went to Ireland, and there it was, I had taken a pic of my Pre Check number, TT23xxx….. A quick swipe with the debit card and I was on my way, 

but feeling very pissed off and left feeling like I was scammed. Three other people had the same no Pre Check situation going on while I waited in Pre Check the second time. I now know why those people have psychotic meltdowns in the airports.

     We took off from Philly on time and was in Tampa by 8 am. By 4 o’clock we were having Happy Hour cocktails at O’Bricks in downtown Bradenton. 

      Now I just have to make sure I have Pre Check on my boarding pass for the ride home, or else I’ll be out another $25.

12.08.25 Just had to go one last time...

     A year without a Fall Run. Well that's not fair. There was one, you just had to be there when it, or at least a few times, it happened. I had a strange feeling about this year when I heard early on the sand eels were showing, and then the peanut and cupcake bunker. Mixed foods on the menu don't always lead to better fishing. And the fish? They were here, especially the big ones, for the boat guys but it was feast and lot's of famine for the surfcasters, which include us fly guys and gals.

     I figured I better give it one last shot, or at least drive, down to the salt to see if anything was happening. I've heard plenty of old school stories about post-Christmas blitzes when the bass were chewing through the skim ice and slush. C'mon now, I was born at night but not last night, as my brother would say. 

     I took this pic at 508 am just as Route 29 turns into the start of 195. My plan was to go early, and pretty much be done early. I got all my gear and cold weather clothes ready, including my size large StormR jacket which I got about 13 years ago, when I was a tad smaller. Now zipped up it fits me like a sausage skin. My idea was to do Bradley to Bay Head, and that's what I did. 

But before I got to the beach I stopped by the Belmar Marina to see if there was any life there, and nada. Truth be told I'm not even sure if the Belmar boats are striped bass fishing anymore. 

     When I got to Roosevelt Avenue in Avon I just stayed put. I could stay by the warmth of my truck vents and watch as first light arrived. As light came up I could see birds flying around looking, looking over a on-the-incoming relatively calm sea. "Maybe I should just go blind cast"....yeah, no thanks. I just didn't feel it, the same way I felt the few times I've been down this fall.

     I stayed for a bit and decided to head south. Basically is was a Shark River to Manasquan Inlet day. when I got past the SRI I picked up a few birds heading south and road in-step, or in-flight, with them down to dam near Spring Lake. I pulled into Mercer Street and at least got out of my truck.

     Down on the beach there was a few birds standing round and a few something or others swimming in the shallow water. None of it moved me enough to want to put my rod together. I looked over the human created winter dunes to see if there was anything going on north, east, or south....nada.

     Now I know these types of days aren't all out blitz fishing days, they're more the blind casting looking for a bass that is sniffing around or passing by. Even if you told me that your drone was capturing fish swimming around I still wasn't feeling it. So south I went.

     I had my stoma set on a bagel from Beach bagel in Point Pleasant so I stopped there. Thing thing I like about this place is they have white milk in the fridge, my favorite companion to a bagel. So I ordered an everything with cream cheese, scooped and toasted of course. But on 

my first swig I could tell something was off. It was the expiration date, off by five days. Not totally sour, but that I'm kinda gettin' close sour. Yuk anyway. So I traded that in for a coffee. But if there was a dagger on my dagger-full morning that was it. 

     It was off to Bay Head and my only motivation was maybe there was something going on I couldn't see from Spring Lake. Nope, more of the same. No boats. No anglers. A few birds. Shit. So that was it for me. I'm glad I went and I'm more than glad to call it a year. I'll do a recap around the New Year if I make it that long. 

    Before I left I snapped a quick pic just to get you in the holiday spirit. It was about 745 and I was done and started my way back home. But not everybody that was out there went home skunked. I saw the below post on Grumpy's FB page. Kudos to the angler for giving it a go and I 

am glad he was rewarded for his efforts. I don't know why I didn't catch like the guy above...oh yeah, I didn't leave my truck or put my rod together.

12.07.25 Santa comes early...thanks to Facebook Marketplace...

     With a lack of original fishing content as of late maybe I should rename this blog from The Average Angler to The Cheap Curmudgeon. I hate to think I'm cheap, but I'm realizing I might be. By the way I run you would think I'm your old Grandpa who lived through the depression. I hate buying new. I hate paying for food, which we basically rent for about 24 hours, and hate to see things old just tossed away in this new everything's-disposable society. Yeah, I guess that's cheap. 

     So this weekend was a great "Boy I'm cheap" 72 hours. It started with a Facebook Marketplace sale. Nine weeks ago we listed a table we had picked up at a yard sale while down in Cape May. We have a breakfast nook that's sits off the kitchen and dining room. It's a pretty room that I have done some initial work to. Some might say it's another project started and not finished, but there's a method to my old-house madness. Get in there, clean it up, make it livable, and then circle back and complete it during my "restoration". That works for me, but it appears like I'm a 65% job completion rate kind of guy. You see, with that approach, one day, everything will be 100%, well more like 90% done, right before we sell or I croak. 

      Theresa and I are two peas in a pod. She's my best friend. She's like a best friend, like ride or die, who you could kill one day, or kill someone else for on another. We argue, we hold our grounds, but at the end of the day, and month to month, and year to year, we're left standing together. If you saw us in action, like at a yard sale, you'd think we're on the verge of divorce. We have two distinct approaches when we enter someone's yard, garage, or house. Theresa's the talker, and I'm the hunter. I move stealthily through the wares while Theresa formulates relationships with the sellers, which at times leads to post-sale contacts and relationships. It's just the way we roll.

     So we had a table and chairs that we liked in the room. But, we saw the above, and probably spent 2 hours hemming and hawing if this one would fit better. So after we beat the sellers down emotionally, not for the $100 price tag, but with every story we had had about our upbringings, our kids, our house, our careers, and our current table, we loaded it up. Then when we got home; crash, bang, boom. So needless to say we've had the above staged in our living room for the last nine weeks while our original one sits in the breakfast nook.

     "Maybe we should just donate it", she said. "What?", and lose the $100 and the possibility of keeping our strong buy-old and buy-proud yard sale and FBM streak going strong? "Neva!". Well, I'll have to admit navigating around it had become annoying and now with the Christmas tree up it looked like we have a hoarding disorder, which we both do. But then this guy Dominic sent a message the other day, "Is this still available?". Bingo...game, set, match. 

     The only caveat to the get-our-money back sale would be that we would have to deliver it to Bordentown, just a few miles south of Trenton. Not a big deal as we always have a place to go on the weekend like either the Trenton or Columbus Farmer's Market's. I told him we'd deliver it for an extra $20 bucks. So as we were going back and forth and I was trying to determine is this was real, or if the guy was a 35 year-old living in his Mom's basement, or a 70 year old chainsmoker with COPD living in some second floor hovel of an apartment, "new" stuff showed up recently listed on FBM.

     "I have a pair of Thorogood Mac toe boots with steel toes for sale". What? Does FBM read my mind or recent internet searches? Is God or Santa answering my prayers? You see, it's been four months of hemming and hawing about buying new boots. I know, you could care less. But that's taken me from FBM searches, to stops at thrift stores, to "Hey I'm just gonna buy a new pair" mindset. Then I look at the websites and the cost and I'm back to buying used like a guy with a birthdate of 1918.

     So what's the chance? The boots I wanted. The size I needed, and we were headed to the same town for a FBM delivery? The seller said he wore them twice and went with the steel toe but didn't find them as comfortable as he wanted, and didn't need the steel toe. They were sitting on FBM for a week and he dropped the price from an original $150 down to $100, and then for me, $90. Now Theresa likes new, but she has the used and save-a-buck gene in her DNA as well. But she has a line, no to certain things, and never anything that smells, has a chip, or is rusted. Geez, what an amateur. 

     So with $120 in our hands after the table delivery, to a wonderful young couple I might add, we headed down Route 130 to the next apartment complex for round two. As Theresa sat in the car I went in for the could-have-looked-like a drug deal. I sat down in the vestibule and tried them on, and they were lovely. With a new asking price of $259.95, for $169.95 plus tax and shipping less, I had hit the Mother Lode or Santa just came early. 

     Now here's a few things about why I'm cheap on the workbooks. Let's say in the end I went new, so around $275, out the door. They're just going to get dirty, scuffed up, maybe even stained. They won't look like new shortly after I put them on and start my Paul Bunyon or Bob Vila stints around the house. And during that I won't enjoy them, at least for $275. But for $90 bucks I'll enjoy every wear I put into them, even if the previous users scent from his dirty socks still wafts every time I put them on and take them off. I'll wear them proudly knowing I'm cheap.

     And as we were leaving town I caught a sign posted up on a telephone pole, "Estate Sale". Oh Jesus this day is just getting better every minute. But this time of year reading telephone poles can be disappointing. Is it live or is it just an old sign from a sale a few weekends back? Nope this was live action and a guys estate sale heaven. The 85 year-old resident was a tinkerer, a craftsman, a real man, and had rooms and a basement full of just about everything I like, tools, trains, Pyrex, and the big item. That big item kept Theresa and I putting on a display of marital dysfunction, almost to the point of pure hatred for each other. It got so bad the woman helping with the sale said, "I'll just live you two alone". But I'll save that story for another day. But if you think I got excited for the boots, just wait for this. 

As far as fishing, I might give it a go tomorrow for one last time for 2025, we'll see what the day, and Facebook Marketplace brings. 

12.06.25 Ah, Bah-humbug...

      I must either be the Grinch or just becoming an ornery old man. Last week we crossed over the Delaware River to hit the over-priced-but-I-like-it new Wegman's in Yardley, Pa. Not only is it pricey but it also costs us $1.50 to cross into Pennsylvania at the Scudder's Falls Bridge (295). With Christmas coming it's time for Shady Brook Farms to open up their annual Holiday Light Show which draws tens of thousands, some say near 100,000, of people through the drive around light show. It's estimated that there's between 3-4 million lights on display.

     While it's a privately owned business including a farm, nursery, cafe, and general store, it's a place you don't have to go to unless you want to. They can charge whatever they want, and they do. And that's when I get my annual Grinch on. 

     We've done the drive when we first came out to Mercer from Monmouth County eight years ago. It's fun after a bite with the piped in music that you can hear from your cars radio. Depending on the day there's usually pretty long lines especially as the calendar inches closer to Christmas. 

     So now what's my beef? Well, what gets me, as usual, is the cost. Let's say we go light and say 50,000 cars pass through the exhibit. At $50 a carload that's $2,500,000. As you inch closer to the 100,000 mark then you're looking towards $5,000,000. Add on that hot coco and alcohol at the fire pits outside of the store and the revenue increases. But good for them. 

     It's generally $50 a carload but that can go higher if you don't pre-order your tickets online. If you do pre-purchase then you'll be hit with that service fee like we see yearly at The Fly Fishing Show. If you look above you'll see the warning - "Pro Tip - Buy your tickets online for the best price. Admission is $10 more at the gate". I didn't know you had to be a "Pro" when it comes to taking the family to a festive family outing. 

     When we lived in Monmouth County the old Garden state Arts Center in Holmdel, now the PNC Arts Center, held the "Magic of Lights" every Christmas season. This one boasts 1,000,000 lights in various displays along the route. One funny thing, now as a parent or an old foggie, is remembering as you drive around the roads and parking lots is how many tailgates did you get blasted out when you attended concerts there when you were young. 

     This show is owned and operated by Family Entertainment Holdings, LLC. which is part of the larger Family Entertainment Group. They hail from Ohio with another office in Illinois. In addition to the light displays they run they're known for their Monster Truck and Hot Wheels related shows. They're in the business to make magic and memories, and money as well. 

     If you think the "Magic of Lights" is a Jersey thing, think again. FEH runs these things around the country and across our northern border in Canada. One thing is if you think they gouge the 

Jersey folks with the admission price then think again, I checked, they're all pretty much priced the same, although there's different price for different types of venues. 

     There's other Christmas and Holiday light shows out there as well. In East Brunswick there's Winter Wonderlights which boasts a 2 million light drive through display. To hit that one you'll also need to fork over at least a couple of twentys if you want to load up the car and drive through. 

     They claim on their website it's "New Jersey's largest animated light show drive through". But caution, don't be totally fooled by the above pic, those lights in the distance are coming from Route 1. They'll get you for about the same amount as the other light displays, depending on the day or week that you go. 

     If you don't want to get sucked into the quagmire of tourist trap light shows you can save yourself a couple of dollars and do as we did when I was growing up. My Mom would load up my little sister and brother and me and go hunting for Christmas decorations on private homes either around Millstone, where I grew up early, or Red Bank, where I grew up late. That would come after a meal at either Mr, Steak, Ground Round, or Friendly's, which were staples when I was growing up. Remember those "Pay What you Weigh" specials when we were growing up? Forget about those these days. 

     If you live near Pittman, New Jersey, down in Burlington ton County, you can swing by the private home of Michael McCarty and Lyle Williams and check out this years "Frostland Village". They were the winners of the 2024 "The Great Christmas Light Fight" which was run by ABC. 

     There are other light shows and private houses you can visit this season to enlighten your ice cold Grinchy heart. Yes, the kiddies love the lights, but to honest I have more fond memories driving around from town to town singing Christmas carols with my family eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate that came from an old Thermos my Mom brought along. And if you want to try something different, as far as memories are concerned, try doing it on the cheap. No need for Pazzo in Red Bank, or The Avenue in Long Branch, or Erini's in Ewing, or the Logan Inn in New Hope to get you into the spirit. You'll drop $400 there and then another $50 for the drive through lights, plus a stop at the shops. 

     Or you could just load up that old family station wagon and hit your local Denny's or Friendly's for a bite before heading out and searching for your own Christmas fun. If you don't own a Thermos you can make a pit stop at WaWa where you can use your Rewards Card to save a few bucks on coffee or hot chocolate for the gang. For desert grab a bin of cookies from Costco beforehand or splurge for some Flying Saucers from Carvel. Just good old fashion free fun. Good like with that because that plan I'm sure will go over like a fart in church with the wife, or the husband. 

12.04.25 Is this the last shot for 2025? ...

 

     Tonight we'll see our last full moon of 2025. It's the December full moon aka the Cold Moon or Long Night Moon. We all know about full moons and fishing, or at least we think we do. "Never fish on the moon, but before or after". That's what we've heard, but that also goes with catching a blitz or a personal best when the wind is blowing hard south. Shit just happens. 

     I've always said, in my opinion, that each year is different in regards to the spring and fall migrations of the striped bass. That's not a genius statement on my part. But what I have found is that when it comes to baits each year is different, and I think that affects the bass differently year to year. Luckily I have been around some incredible year bites in the last 15 years. The sand eel bite in 2011, the white legger bite in 2012, when we were fishing in shorts in February, and the incredible peanut bunker bite in 2016.

     What I have found is that we either have a solid sand eel or peanut bunker (well cupcakes and adults as well) bite each year. It's one or the other. Sometimes, like this year, it's mixed. We had early sand eels and then lots of bunker off the beaches, except for that intermittent week-long push of peanuts in and around IBSP. The boats saw the better part of the action then those on foot. 

     Here's the skinny for 2025. It's over. It's over for most anglers who have hung up their gear and moved their efforts into other things before Christmas hits just three weeks from today. There's still some die hards fishing and or least watching the reports. The umph of fishing the fall run has dwindled, and the rewards will come to those out there doing it, or the lucky guy or girl who happens to be in it when it goes down, if it does at all.

     So the question is, will this moon be it? Moons bring high highs and low lows when it comes to tides. Bait likes to move on the moons. And we have a rising barometer and winds switching from the south to the west.

     Those are pretty good conditions although we're supposed to get a temp drop and snow on Friday which will affect the anglers more then the fish. But what, if there's any left, will the bait do? Remember, IMHO, you either get sand eels or peanuts, plus some other baits, in alternating years. So will any peanut bunker, or white bait, leave "out back" on this moon. Will the sand eels come in? And then the big question is, "Are there any bass around to intercept them?".

     I will say, outside of the boat reports and some banner days where anglers got into them on the beach, that most are reporting the, "My worst fall ever". And that may be true. I can say for the three times I went down, which is a joke as far as effort is concerned, I was underwhelmed with what I saw as compared to recent falls. It never felt like things were building, or were about to "go off".

     A year with a mixed bait smorgasbord is like looking at a menu at a 24-hour diner. Do I want breakfast for dinner or a grilled cheese and tomato soup? Or maybe a Rueben? Or, "How's the Salisbury steak special?". In the end, many times, you just can't make your mind up and wind up ordering something, but you're disappointed when the server drops it off at your table. 

     Yes striped bass are opportunistic feeders. We all know the spectrum of what they eat especially when one for the table stomach's contents are examined. But I believe, at times, they want what they want when they want it. Like the 30-year son stuck in his Mom's basement, "Ma, I want my Cheerios!". Many times this fall I've seen reports from the boats stating, "We had good marks but they had lockjaw today". And, "We set up for a jig bite (drop and reel) but couldn't get hem to eat". 

    Sometimes they want what they want, like a spoiled kid. They are either on one bait or the other. When you have a so-so year of sand eels, white bait, and bunker, they become picky and don't eat as voraciously as they could. You don't see the pushes, and don't see the blitzes. And when there's too much bait around, even though I've heard all I can about Omega Protein wiping out the bunker, they just meander around the pods and eat what and when they want. 

     The last time I was out in Bradley Beach a young kid came up to me looking to fish. He said he had just flown his drone "right off that jetty" and he showed me the clip. That enticed him to drop what he was doing and head down. Nothing showing on top but tons of striped bass, good ones, patrolling around the bunker slick, not pods, that ran parallel to the beach, but off a ways. If they don't make it nervous and get them onto the beaches then there's really no shot, especially for someone waving a fly rod with 20 foot casts off the rocks or sand. 

     So maybe this year is just that. A year of a stacked menu at the diner with customers, the bass, not knowing what they want to eat. Were there good fish around this fall? Just ask the boat anglers. Did we see the push of schoolie and slot sized bass, not yet, and maybe not at all. That's concerning. Either they are in a bad way numbers wise, or have chosen to ride the winter out holding in rivers and bays until the spring. It might show that what's left of the Chesapeake fish are the SSB, or big breeders. Down there right now they are having a solid fall run, but the smaller fish haven't showed up yet. And the Hudson and Delaware fish, maybe they're just around, and not migrating in beach-hugging numbers like we look forward to each fall. 

     Each year is different. If you put the effort in I hope you were rewarded. If you one and doned it and hit it right, good for you. And if you're out there during or after this moon have a selection of offerings in your plug bag or sling pack. If you think they're on something, because you see bunker flipping, but you're not catching, maybe go big because they're looking for something different. That's how someone catches with a BEAST Fleye or a metal lip when there's lots of tiny baits around with no bites. But, in the end, the bass have to be there, and we all don't have drones to send up to let us know what's swimming out of range.