07.11.25 Dodged a bullet, for now....

     It's been 24 years since 9/11. On September 11, 2001 I was a firefighter assigned to Rescue Co.1 in Newark. I spent four days at Ground Zero. For the last 21 years I've been a part of 

the 9/11 Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program at Mt. Sinai in Manhattan. I am lucky that I learned of the program and have be consistent with my appointments over the years. It has been a Godsend. Over the course of my monitoring and treatment I've seen the best providers one could ask for. I've been screened, diagnosed, prescribed medication, had major surgery, and had test after test done to make sure nothing new has creeped up. Well, things are a creeping...

     On June 24th I had an appointment for a low-dose CT scan of the chest. It would be used as a comparison for similar imaging tests done in 2017 & 2020. Both had showed some "things", basically bilateral lung nodules and enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes. Over the course of the years I have been diagnosed with pulmonary sarcoidosis so having "things" in and around your lungs isn't all that uncommon, either are swollen lymph nodes. 

     So we went for the CT scan and a day later I got a message that the results were in my patient portal. Well, things have been going on on the inside without me knowing. That's why routine screening and follow-ups are so important. In short, things are new, things are getting bigger, and, here's what caught my eye, "...suspicious for indolent primary lung cancer". Now they had my attention. 

     Afterwards my primary Doc and I had a virtual meeting and she put in a consult for me to follow-up. I was surprised in whom she picked. My appointment would be with Dr. Roja Flores, Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Mt. Sinai. While it's good to be in good hands I didn't think I 

needed the hands of a surgeon, well at least not off the bat. Theresa and I went yesterday for the consult and have some good news, well, it's news. The first thing he said to us was, "If I put your CT in front of just about every cardiac thoracic surgeon in NYC they would put you in the next opening on the OR schedule", adding, for me, "I don't think we need to go there, yet". 

     So I asked him, "What about a biopsy?". "How about a PET scan?". "Do I have cancer?". His answer, "Yes you might, but it doesn't matter, yet." He explained how there are cancers like the 

turtle, and the hare. One slow like molasses, basically not going anywhere (in-situ), and the other fast, like in growing and multiplying. While the "things" growing in my lungs have doubled in size, it's taken since 2017 to do so. That's a turtle's speed. 

     He's a surgeon. He likes to go in. One day he might. But he said without symptoms, like major ones, just live your life to the fullest, if they are cancer or not, and we'll deal with it when we have to. 'That's what I would tell myself if I were sitting in your seat". He also said my sarcoidosis just complicates the whole mess. We loved the guy. We trust him. Let's just wait and see. 

     So, I'll have a repeat CT scan in October, another consult later in the day, and we'll go from there. It strengthen's my belief on how important screening tests are for a variety of things 

and not just cancer. But, blood work, chest x rays, mammographies, breast exams. testicular exams, prostate screening and DRE's (Digital Rectal Exam), Pap smear, colonoscopy, carotid artery checks (Think stroke), and skin cancer screenings, and that's just a partial list, well don't forget blood sugars, blood pressures, and the big one, Lipid Profiles, cholesterol and triglycerides. 

     Lucky for me the 9/11 Program exists and I have a good team behind me, along with a prayer warrior of a wife and faith that God thinks I'm kinda alright. We'll see where this goes for me and if you're due for a test, or some digits up your bum, make the appointment and stay on top of things. 

And remember, 

07.09.25 New Jersey does have some great sunsets...

 

     After another day of the new-normal weather patterns of stupid heat and humidity followed by torrential monsoon like downpours we headed to the Delaware bay to catch the sunset. We might have been a few minutes late but were lucky we caught what we did. We're back home in Titusville for a week or so having to head back to reality for a bit. So far, this has been the best year yet for us down in Cape May. Lot's of work, but lot's of relaxing and nice times. 

07.07.25 Nice gift arrives in the mail...

      "Colin you have a package labeled "Fragile"", said Theresa before we left for Cape May. Mmm. I couldn't remember ordering something off Amazon or Temu that might be fragile so I went to investigate. The package came from Massachusetts from my buddy Joe Cordeiro. As I opened it I knew what it was and it brought a smile to my face. 

      Joe had asked me to send him a copy of my favorite image from our Martha's Vineyard 2025 trip. It was one of Abe up on the ladder and me with the Orvis sling pack over the wrong shoulder in Menemsha Pond. In retirement, Joe has started pursuing something he's wanted to do for a long time....painting. I'll be sure to hang this in my fly tying room with some other special things that bring me good striped bass and fly fishing vibes. 

07.05.25 Happy 4th of July weekend...

     We're really lucky to have this place down in Cape May. We purchased it in July 2020. In order to do so we had to sell our 39 foot travel trailer and my 2014 F- 150. 

     Funny thing about trucks, and selling one thing off for another. That truck, by now, would be beat up, have 250,000 miles on it, and wouldn't have any good memories or stories to tell. By getting rid of it we have a "Shore House" that has already allowed us to create fond memories, good times, and access to Cape May. While the fees are about $9,000 a year try renting a place for ONE week during the summer, that'll set you back about half of what we pay for our six month May to November season. 

     Theresa and I spent a few days finishing up some projects and welcomed a visit from my parents for the day. I tried to fish early in the morning but North Bank had the town shut down near the bay for the fireworks. We hit Two Mile Landing for a great lunch before heading to Washington Street to do the tourist/ shopping thing. At night, after they went back north, we rallied to catch the fireworks on the beach in Cape May in front of Congress Hall. 

     Our place has everything we need plus the resort, Cape Island Resort, handles all the stuff including the pools and activities and the like. It's a good hang at home was well. We did a good job DIY-ing the patio and outdoor area. As long as there's wind the bugs stay at bay. 

     While coming up with 9 G's each year isn't easy it's a great way to get a summer home only a mile or two from Cape May. If you're looking for a Cape May place. check out Cape Island Resort, HERE. 

07.03.25 Went north before heading south...

    Went north this morning looking for better, and cooler, water to search for some striped bass. Found moving and broken water but the surface temps were still in the high 70's. Some will tell you that these fish are fine with those temps but I'm not a believer.  

     It was a good walk in the humidity and heat even early in the morning. I'm starting to feel like it's time to hang the rods up for a bit, or at least make an effort to hit the beach before first light, maybe sometime next week. Then it was off south to Cape May for the July 4th weekend.

07.02.25 How's that slot working out?.....

     We're a few years into the 28 - 31" inch slot limit for striped bass. I wonder how we're doing with that? It seems it's really more of a fall thing than a spring thing. In the spring anglers are looking "to play" catch and release with overs while in the fall it's fishing and harvesting the slots for the table. 

     Some would say, by the nature of the slot, that we're killing less fish. Now we may see an uptick in release mortality overall the pure numbers have been reduced. But are we killing "the right" fish? While we have always said that the big girls are what keep the species moving ahead, a striper world without younger and smaller fish can't be good either. 

     The folks above are just out enjoying a days fishing, keeping their legal limits. Can't blame them and can't fault them. However, if you put a bounty on those sized fish for every boat, because that's really all we have left in New Jersey now, that sails then that biomass of 28 - 31" fish get decimated, picked off one at a time. 

     I'be been tempted to make the trip across the state to hit the beach, but why? There's really nothing going on there. I remember the days when in the summer you could always count on popping up a resident bass before first light and then maybe squeaking a bass or fluke out casting crab or mole crab flies into the troughs. Things have changed and not for the better. If I had to point my finger at the biggest culprit it would be the beach replenishment along the Jersey Shore which has destroyed the structure and habitat for all things that call the beach and the groins home. 

But in a few months the fall will be here and the chance to drive up and down the Jersey Shore looking for blitzes will happen once again. I have a love hate relationship with fishing during a blitz, I love to see it, but are quickly done after a few fish, especially if there's other anglers around. 

 

07.01.25 Hey whatta ya' know....

     And just like that New Jersey has become the new Florida. My Mom lives down in Bradenton and from June through November it's the silly storm season. If it's not a hurricane then it's daily weather like we're having here now. Stupid heat and humidity followed by an afternoon deluge. 

     Well the last two days we've had just that. The humidity is like the tropics and the heat could kill a horse. Then in the afternoon it monsoons. When that happens the winds pick up, the trees topple, the power goes out, and repeat the next day.

     Everything these days are extremes. Politics. The haves and have nots. The stock market. Striped bass (lots of big fish rather than a mix of big and small). Bunker (here or gone and also adults and peanuts like we're seeing now). Again the weather. Prices of everything. Prices of going out to eat..even to just a bar for a beer and a bite. If the younger generation think this is living then we have done them wrong. This isn't living, it's surviving. Living used to be good, like real good. 

 

06.30.25 Last one for June 2025...

 

     Little guys with big tails this morning. Not much to say other than it's nice to be home. I'm ready for an early AM salt trip to the beach soon. Doesn't matter if I catch or not. 

     This morning I threw an eel fly. Dumbell eyes, silicone, deer hair, marabou, and some feathers. 

06.30.25 Nice weekend down in Cape May...

     Nice weekend down in Cape May. Left Friday morning after completing our TSA PreCheck appointments. What a money grab at $76 to be able to get through the lines faster. Definitely a have vs the have-nots kind of deal there. We figure since we're going to Ireland it might be quicker at the various gates since we don't have that Global Entry golden ticket. 

     Since we haven't been down in a few weeks we were met with the blanket of weeds from all of the rain and then sun we had. These aren't deep rooted weeds, just the little ones that stick out between the required white rocks we have around our property. In the end it was yet another work weekend. One more visit and then it will be smooth sailing the rest of the summer and fall. 

     Between the work details we did have good coffee and breakfast each morning at our friends coffee shop, Avalon Coffee, on Gurney Street near Convention Hall. Good lunches at the C-View and Vincenzo's and of course a McDonald's $5 meal deal on the way home for me. One night it 

was Fleck's Ice Cream in the Villa's. If you have a crowd and don't want to spend $1,200 at King's Ice Cream Parlor in Cape May then take a ride for the best ice cream any which way you want it at an affordable price. The above wonderfulness set us back $8.95. The rest of the weekend it was water and Gatorade Zero to stay hydrated. 

     Yesterday morning I did run down at 515 am to catch the just about dead low tide. The bucket brigade was out in full force and everything that was hooked got hauled over the rocks and into the bucket. Looked like small croakers were what they were catching. I had my Orvis PRO sling pack on the CORRECT way and I have to say I've been wearing it wrong for like 15 years. It felt a little different, but better, and easier to access the front and big pockets. Maybe it ain't so bad after all. 

     I did make some casts which actually was more of getting the feel of my new Orvis Helios D 9 ft 10 wt. I had it coupled with a Cortland Striper line and my goal was to cast the entire line, well mission accomplished. I usually don't need that but it's nice to know I can if I did. 

     One night I woke up at 330 am and hit the local WaWa and then the marina to see if there was any bait and or bass under the dock lights. Not yet, or at least here. Usually late summer when the nursery is busting at the seams you can find all kinds of swimmy things around. 

We're a day away from July which means two months of summer are ahead, well at least according to the school and Benny calendar. It's time to start getting real shit done, we're supposed to be moving to South Carolina in about a year. We'll see how that goes. 

06.27.25 One for the road...

     Hit it before heading south to Cape May for the weekend. A few to hand, one for the tank, time for a much needed break and change of venue. Fly rods coming with me. 

06.26.25 The river changes everyday...

     It's funny how waters change day to day. Today was different than yesterday. Besides it not being 90 degrees out the water itself was a different color. In fact it was way off color.

     I'm not sure what's going on up river and with the various dams and reservoirs but for the river to keep having these bumps. and changes in turbidity, without rain events, leaves me a bit puzzled. Yesterday the turbidity was about 6, today it went to 28. Those were numbers I saw when the river was at 40,000 cfs. Today it's at 15,000 cfs. 

     I talked about temps and DO yesterday and today, with the off colorness going on the oxygen saturation percentage dropped significantly, from 115% to 90, and the DO dropped from 7.7 to 7.4 mg/ml. 

     Delaware Joe and I gave it a quick go at 5 am before we went to breakfast. Joe had three, I landed one, a nice just 28 inch fish that saw through the dirt to find my fly. While it really doesn't mater my goal now is to squeak out a July Delaware river bass, of course, it decent conditions as to not harm the fish anymore then catching and releasing does. 

     And in more sad Delaware River news it seems the river has claimed another life. Crews up in Lambertville are continuing their search for a 23 year old male who went missing while 

swimming. This river is just unforgiving and each year we see multiple fatalities. Waters deserves all the respect and caution we can give them. 

06.25.25 Purely in the name of "science"...

     Well, as you know we are in an extreme heat wave. It looks like it will break in the next day or two. Yesterday while driving home from Mt. Sinai in Manhattan the car displayed

an outside temp of 109 degrees, and I wouldn't doubt it it if were true. It is brutal. No wind. High heat. High humidity. But luckily powers on in the house and those shitty we-have-an-old-house-so-we-have-window-units sticking out of the windows work. I don't care, at least I can breathe.

    Now what about fishing, and striped bass, and the heat? Well, I see my buddy Bruce, who is a sick fishermen, in time spent on the water in all weather, and it body counts, was

out there getting it done, yet again. And he found bigger fish in the low 30's, mostly fishing the faster water where the bass like to stage for food and comfort. But then I thought, what's really going on down inside the water, and why aren't these fish miserable and not eating like I am in the heat? 

     

    So when I got home around 6 pm I took the heat gun out (Thanks Dad) and went to check the river and a tributary that runs in. I scoped temps from 77 - 83 degrees. Of course it's high it's 

like Sahara-like temps going on. But Bruce is finding fish that are eating, and eating good. Yes, this river has its share of I'm-not-leaving-yet-bass, but some of these are drop backs and are definitely heading out front to the ocean. 

     While collecting some data I see who is out there fishing and what they're using for set-ups to ethically fish. It's a Yo-Yo hand reel, which is exactly just that, a whip it around and lasso style of fishing. This comes rigged with 40 lb. mono and a 2/0 hook. That's great but guys you should be using circle hooks. 

     I did some research using internet searches, John Field's book, Fly Fishing for Trophy Striped Bass, the ASGA website, and The Coastal Angler website. What I was looking for was information on how temperature, and at what degrees, do striped bass really get stressed with increased mortality. I'm not going to regurgitate it all here but here's what I found out, or re-found out. The big things are salinity, temperature (water and air), and dissolved oxygen, or DO. I learned that saltwater heats up faster then freshwater and freshwater holds more DO. 

     The big place we hear about this is the Chesapeake Bay, home of the largest natal system for striped bass. As many as fish migrate, many stay put, even the big ones. Maryland is considering making some adjustments to their seasons, shutting it down in the summer, and opening it more in the spring, to help reduce catch and release mortality.

     Now my fish in the Delaware are let's say 50 miles from the ebb and flowing salt line. So it's all freshwater. They spawn in it, spend their nursery time in it, and let's say through kindergarten before moving up to first grade, aka, making the migration move. In the meantime they move with the water, when the river drops, when the tides ebb and flow, where the bait is, and when it's too hot or too cold. 

     So when I reflected on my 66 degree threshold to fish or not, I thought, am I too low there? And, is it okay to fish in the summer months for these fish? Now obviously it's a scorcher out there now, but what about when things are "normal". So I went looked at the flows, 17,500 and dropping. Thank God for that bump, wherever it came from, that occurred a few days ago. Water temps, 77, 

and the dissolved oxygen at 7.7. They, the research says bass, need it to be at least 5, prefer 8-10. Remember when there was almost NO striped bass, shad, or herring above Philadelphia during the 1970's the DO was ZERO. It was dead water back then. Then Philly and the rest of the urban areas smartened up and the river got cleaned up, and the fish returned. 

     Above we see that this year is running about the same in oxygen saturation percentage as last year, even with this heat wave. There's more DO is faster broken water then in slow moving long stretches, and fresh holds more DO then salt, so we're good there. 

     Now my question is, "Can I, or should I fish?". If I went during the darkest parts of the day, would the temps be lower, and will the fish be active? And more importantly, will they be able to survive being caught, put into the tank (with frequent water changes), and then released? 

     So I went at 445 am not knowing what to expect. The water temp was 77.2 degrees, 10 more than my threshold. I'm going to repost that illustration I made up below to explain.

     Thermocline- a steep temperature gradient in waters where it's one temp above "a line" and the other below the line. Fields goes into great detail about different lines and what they mean, but for simplicity let's just say there's one line. It can happen in a few feet of water to hundreds of feet deep. Electronics can help anglers find temperature gradient differences which help them locate fish. For me, I'd be fishing in three feet of water or less, but there's still a difference. Currents, seams, and flow direction all have a slightly different temp, DO, and comfort zone for the striped bass. It's a Catch-22 with the water temps and the DO though, up in the water column the water is warmer, but that's where the best DO is, and lower in the column it's cooler, but has less DO. Pick your poison I guess striped bass. 

     So I started fishing and quickly found fish. They were in 2 feet of water and ready to eat before the sun beat down on them. These weren't Bruce sized fish but 20-26 inchers, fine by me. 

     I concentrated on water with bubbles, thinking maybe there was a few more liters of oxygen blowing past them. They were in the same spots that I usually find them, on the seams, 

low and behind the small rocks and in the depressions, and at times up on top cruising the faster water. Some softly ate, others hit it without abandon, and others cartwheeled out of the water. They all got the tank treatment, again, with frequent water changes. 

     As much as I hate to say it but all of them "Swam away strong". What does it prove? Nothing. Only that striped bass are active, albeit different times of the day, well Bruce proves that wrong, and that you can, if you have or want to, fish responsibly if you do things right.