09.02.26 Just a bike ride to check out a spot...

     While the spot I have been on for the last two days has been a great learning experience I'm thinking there could be better. There's life where I've been just not the participation from the redfish I was hoping for. There's other predator fish out there so every wake, chase, and explosion doesn't mean it's a redfish. I met a guy walking out yesterday who was on an adjoining flat and he had not tailing redfish, but tailing sheepshead. So I came up with the idea to take my show on the road. 

     Since it was September 1st, my new healthy life, I thought a bike ride would be a good way to start. I had brought our Cape May bikes down, ones we hardly ever used, thinking a bikes a bike. Now I haven't found my tools just yet so it was going to be how it was. Now I can tell you there's a difference between riding an undersized beach cruiser on the boardwalk and through the jurassic park setting I found myself in yesterday. 

     I set off on my trip which was at least 13 miles one way. Okay, I checked it on Google Earth when I got home, it was 2-1/2 miles. But with my hands full, my handlebars too low, and the earth muddy and wet in some places it felt way longer than that. What I was looking for was that flat, nice and easy mud, but not pluff mud muddy, gently sloping, with grass not too tall, near deeper water, and without a gator nest nearby. Truth is I don't even know when the gators do their thing anyway.

     So as I pedaled I looked left and right and I felt like I could be in a scene from Land of the Lost, for the youngins', it was a TV show from the 70's, or as you're more familiar with, the movie Jurassic Park. If a T-Rex busted out of the woods and gave chase I wouldn't have been surprised. That's where the lead image came from.

     That's my image above with Chat GpT adding the Sleestaks. If you know then you know. 

     So when I got to this new spot I didn't necessarily like what I saw. I saw more fiddlers but the grasses were higher and I didn't feel like sticking around waiting for the tide to fill in. I went back to where I had fished and had fly guys on both sides of me but off in the distance. Maybe this spot isn't so bad after all. As the tide dropped I made my way into a new area. It was there I encountered my first alligator while wading. I was in knee deep water and he was 100 feet away but swimming around. I kept note on where he was and just waited and watched and made some casts to the, at times, furious activity in front of me. I need to learn what is swimming beneath the surface here and what that alligator is trying to eat. 

     In the afternoon we headed to Savannah for a Facebook Marketplace pick up. While there we stopped downtown at Riverwalk. And while there we had to grab something to eat but it was the first day of my new life? And just as we sat down this guy had to run by and remind me today was go day. 

     We had seen him earlier when we were driving but couldn't get a shot off. He did in the city streets, down the stairs, and I finally I got him as he ran along the waterfront. That's a telephone pole he's got on his shoulder. But did he bike 5 miles today in a jungle on a small bike through wet grass?

     Siri took us a different way, albeit shorter, back home from Savannah. I have to say I love where our home is located. I'm gonna go long on the actual times, but 30 minutes from Hilton Head, Beaufort, Ridgeland, where The ??? House is, and Savannah. We're dead in the middle. So running down to Savannah to get a taste of a big city is two right turns and a circle to get there.

     So then it was the question of what to eat. I'd been good all day. How bad could one Michelob Ultra draft be? So we each had grabbed one and shared a healthy shrimp and grits, well I don't know how healthy the cheese was. At least that guy running with that pole didn't do a run by to make me feel guilty as I sat with a beer and a bite.

     When we got back home I took Luke out for a walk. As I got him onto the grass across the street from the house I looked over and realized we were being watched. 

     It was the neighborhoods pet alligator sunning himself in the late day sun. That was two in one day that were in my zone. I hope that's not telling me something. As then as we walked a noisy pick up truck entered the neighborhood. It took me a bit to figure out what he was doing. 

     On the back was a fogger and our neighbors said they fog for mosquitoes from time to time. At least they turn it off when they approach people out in the street. It reminded me of those old photos of kids chasing the fogging trucks back in the 1940's and 50's. 

     The fog back then was DDT, or dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, which doesn't sound like something kids should have been breathing in. Looking it up it's labeled as a hormone disruptor which can increase cancer risks, reproductive problems, and multigenerational health effects. It was all about banned in 1972.

     So other than the pollen, the bugs, the gators, and the heat and the humidity, this place is great. I went outside between writing this and I can tell today is going to be murderous heat wise. It's 0830 and it feels like it's already in the 90's, and hot. Last night I asked if and when fall arrives down here in the south. The bartender just laughed. He said it happens in September and lasts about two weeks. I guess I won't be seeing pumpkin spice everythings and pumpkins any time soon. But at least I won't have to worry about the raking the leaves, cutting and splitting firewood,

and thatching, aerating, and reseeding the lawn this fall. I used to enjoy the sound and smell of gasoline engines. Those sounds came from my log splitter, chainsaw, trimmer, and blower, but now I'll just enjoy watching others handling all things landscaping, and stay away from whatever's blowing out of the back of that pick-up. 

09.01.26 No errors, but no hits or runs either. And a new healthy start....

     One thing about learning something new is you learn something new every time you do it. That may sound stupid, and it kinda is, but it's kinda true. And starting from square one is frustrating, but exciting at the same time. Today I learned a lot during a pretty strong flood tide. I was able to walk on the ground were there was no water one minute, and then 10 minutes later my boots were covered. It happens pretty quickly, and it's cool. 

     It would be neat to do a time lapse from a drone to see the flat fill in. The water makes it's way from the main rivers and creeks and then follows deeper channels which open onto the flat. Below is a short video just when there was enough water to bring the life with it.

     I spent about four hours there, 2 on the incoming, 2 on the outgoing. I saw lots of life, mullet and shrimp, but didn't see much for fiddler crabs even when the water was down. Sandy and hard packed bottoms aren't their homes of choice I guess. I did see some wakes, and some good ones, but only one tailing fish that was a distance away. If these were reds they were cruising and not rooting and tailing.

     The incoming was cool to watch as whatever was swimming in front of me came right with the first waves of water. It was almost like I could picture a starting gate back in the main river and then someone said, "Go", and they then race to the back. During high slack it was quiet, and then on the drop I could see the activity start to move out with the water. I made a ton of casts but never to any one fish. I might have had one take as there was swirl on a retrieve that got caught up on the thicker part of the base of the grass. I have a plan for tomorrow. Generally the same place but I'm gonna hit it from a different angle.

     And it's September 1st. Time for a new life plan. I gotta change my evil ways. My diets horrible. My physical condition ain't the best. It's time to get healthy before things go sideways. The other day while we were at Sam's Club I thought to stop and check my blood pressure and weight. 

     My vitals were fine and then came the instructions to place your feet on the bar. Now a few weeks back while at Mt. Sinai I had to stand on the scale there and it came back at 210 pounds, and that's what I'm going with. At Sam's it came in at 215. But I had my phone, keys, and one of 

those heavy The Average Angler hats still on. Does it make a difference, well yes it does. According to the AHA, or American Heart Association, a BMI, or Body Mass Index > 30 puts you in the Obese class. If you're below the line then you're just Overweight. I'll take that as a starting point. 

     They say my goal weight should be 179 pounds, let's just call that 180. That's 30 pounds from where I am now. My best weight was 185 sometime in 2013 following my bariatric surgery. I had a procedure called a sleeve gastrectomy. So in the history of weight loss people used to just diet and exercise. Then the shake thing came. Than the Atkins and fad diets. Then surgeries. Now it's all about the GLP-1s. 

     Before my surgery in February 2013 I was tipping the scales at just under 270. That put my BMI just under 40. I took a selfie down on the beach just to have as a point of reference. It's funny because when I found that photo before I even looked at myself I was checking out the groins on Roosevelt and Whitehall in the background. 

     In the end I shed all that weight. My lowest was 185 pounds, which, to me, was a tad light. I like being under 200 pounds, like 195 is great. 34 waist pants and a large shirt fit right and I feel young and nimble. These days I almost fall over trying to get my toes pointed down into my shorts. 

     While the gym will come soon enough we're walking each day and today I will start making better food choices. This is the week to fish with the moon and the tides so I'll get my ass on some machine net week. In October we have three weddings so I'm sure my waist line is going to take a hit. Like all of the stuff we had to go though before our move, which took us nearly 60 years to accumulate, this temple of a body took the same amount of time to develop. Hopefully by the time the last bin has been gone through I'm down somewhere around 190, or at least 200. The chart above says I can hit 179 by December 20, 2026 which is 3 months and 19 days. Time to get busy.

08.31.26 RIP Charlie Shapiro and first cast, first fish, kinda...

     It was only a few weeks ago that I used an old picture of Charlie Shapiro fishing the pocket at Big Monmouth in a post about beach replenishment. Sadly, I have learned Charlie passed away a few days ago. I wasn't a part of Charlie's inner circle but I can tell you he was a true gentlemen, and always happy, at least when I saw him. 

     Charlie was a fixture on the fishing, especially fly fishing, scene around New Jersey. I remember first meeting him in the late 1990's at The Fly Hatch and then on the beach, always when the fish were around. He was great fly fishermen. He was also a part of the Jones Brothers gang from way back when. He was a great resource for me when I got my first, and then second 19'10 Cape Fishermen. 

     He split his time between Florida and I would see his fishing posts from time to time. He will surely be missed especially by the circle of friends he had here in New Jersey. If I found Charlie on the beach surely Jack and Hugh were within casting distance. On his Facebook page there's a bunch of photos of Charlie with fish he caught from the Catskills to the oceans from New Jersey to Florida and beyond. 

     But the one I liked, and remember him the most, is him with that big smile and a striped bass in hand while on the sand in New Jersey. RIP Captain Charlie. 

     So after two days of flood tide drama day three was going to happen without a bump. I started the morning running around with Theresa and that kind of put me behind the eight ball a bit. I came up with a late plan to find another flood tide spot, one that had more of a flat to walk and search for redfish. I arrived there with about 30 minutes before the top of the tide, which was a little late. 

    As I got dressed the rain started which wasn't all that bad. A few raindrops here and there wouldn't bother me and wouldn't get in the way of me seeing fish on the flats. Theresa asked me why I don't ask around for some intel but I told her there's nothing like finding your own fish. This is more about hunting than it is fishing.

     The spot I picked had already flooded in so I missed the water, and fish, covering the sand, mud, and grass. As each minute passed the rain picked up but that wasn't before I saw some fish waking, not tailing, around. I pulled out some fly line and had my fly draped over the fingers on my left hand. Within 5 minutes I saw a nice redfish coming at me. I started my cast and let the fly drop about 10 feet in front of it, waited, and then started a slow strip. He, or she, ate it, and I was tight.

     Once it realized it was hooked it was gone. It's all new to me so I enjoyed watching the fish go from left to right in a hurry with the leader and fly line being pulled across the grasses. I wasn't quite sure where it was heading an after applying a little pressure the fly popped. It was good. I was good. Then the thunder, and lightning started up. I didn't want to leave, but after seeing what happened to Rick Stanzyck last week, coupled with the way I've started out down here, I thought it would be best to chalk the quick session up to Mother Nature and the fish gods and head for safety.

     I was tempted to stay and wait it out but I knew the tide had turned and it was now on the ebb. I don't know if redfish stay and play on the dropping tide just yet? Do they turn tail and head out off the flats as soon as they feel the pull of the reversed water flow? These aren't the sandy flats of the Vineyard, these fish are back into the woods if you will and I would think could get caught if they wait too long. 

     Like the last few days this rain came quick, and hard. The other day it rained three inches in a little over an hour and that seems to be how it goes down here. It get super hot, then the storms come, then they pass and it gets cooler, before the blue skies and heat come back. 

    Not wanting the day to end I took a ride onto Hilton Head were the tide was still at slack. I spent some time watching, and learning, but didn't find any fish on patrol along the edges. One thing of note is I haven't seen anyone fishing. Not on foot or from a skiff or boat. Maybe I'm in the wrong spots. 

     As the moon phase is waning gibbous, at 86%, three days now past the full moon, the flood tides are a little less floody. Today I plan on getting to the flat early were I'll be able to meet the water, and the fish, on their way in. I just hope Mother Nature doesn't ruin my plan. I'm pretty much going out there with a rod and stripping basket as I haven't been able to find that bin, one of 100, that holds my stuff like my sling pack, which leaves me feeling naked. 

     I saw that after I left the river two days ago the search for the missing person continued. Well yesterday they not only found one deceased person but two. 

     I don't know the circumstances of these deaths but I can't remember learning about so many water related deaths in a single year as in 2026. From the Delaware River, to Barnegat Bay, the Jersey Shore, and now the Lowcountry, it just reaffirms the respect I have for the waters I fish. Things can always go sideways in a split second.

     As we continue to set up shop and get acquainted with our new life we're starting to realize all things that this move is providing for us. It's hard to imagine that after the storms pass we can just drive over to one of the pools, take a swim, pull up to the bar for a bite and a beer, and then sit by the fire as the sun sets.

      Everyone we have met has been welcoming and helpful. Yesterday while having at the poolside bar  we met a couple from New York who have a place hear but will move down permanently in December, and a couple from New Jersey who were waiting the arrival of their stuff from the same movers we used. For those that have done this already they all say they brought too much stuff with them and that it takes a long while to get set up and into the routine of a new life. That's not a bad thing to have to worry about. So far so good. 

08.30.26 Getting the most out of AAA...

     Maybe the Lowcountry fish gods are trying to send me a message. After yesterday's puddle debacle I made sure I was prepared, and cautious, when I got down to the water. I got all my stuff together, made sure I had a water with me, threw the keys in my dry bag, locked the truck, and shut the door. 

     I started to walk to the point where I would have to cross through a creek before the incoming tide filled it in. As I waked I felt like I forgot something, "Oh, the dry bag".

     So as I walked back I did a pat down of my body looking for my keys. Keys I always use to lock my truck and keys I always leave on the roof so I don't lose them, or lock them inside. Well yesterday morning I went old school and used the lock on the door, big mistake. I was locked out.

     But before that happened, when I first pulled in, I noticed I wasn't alone at this spot. I had come to learn the Beaufort County Sheriff's Marine Units were searching for a body reportedly missing from across the river at the boat ramp. That was bad mojo number 1.  

     I then had to figure out how to get into the truck. I hadn't put one of those hide-a-key things under my truck and there was no spare at home. So like yesterday, I walked around for about 30 minutes looking for a wedge shaped piece of wood and a hanger or some kind of wire. I was going to get in myself. Then I remembered that this isn't my first fishing-locked-out-rodeo. I had done this over the past few years on the road near the Delaware and Hackensack Rivers. I had tried to get in myself but eventually had to call AAA to save the day. 

     The guys above helped me out in New Jersey and got it in about five minutes after using a small air bag and wire rod to open the handle. I was hesitant, due to embarrassment, to call AAA again since I had used them the day before, and in the same location. But hey, that's what I'm paying for. But first I called the guy who came to pull me out yesterday. He had called me on his personal phone so I gave him a shot. Well, he explained after he helped me yesterday he went to his next job which was a side of the road tow. He got hit by a car, broke his arm, and will need surgery. Bad mojo number 2. 

      My new friends at United States Transport arrived within 10 minutes of my call to AAA. They were just as timely yesterday and had me back inside my truck within 10 minutes. After they pulled off I grabbed my gear and headed for the crossing. It was just about high tide and that 

probably meant the water would be nipple high if I tried to cross. The bottom is solid. I had a dry bag. What could happen? It was then I looked up and the Sheriff's boat was making another pass. I thought of the 1980's song by The Clash, "Should I stay or should I go", and with the way things were going the last few days I decided to just stay on the dry side. 

     There was still things to see and learn. I watched as the water filled the flat, and then paused at slack, before retreating back into the river. I didn't see any signs of life but that was okay. I took the chance to walk and get the feeling of the bottom in short grasses vs taller ones. 

     I was able to get home without any more drama but I had missed my shot at the moon flood tide at this spot. When I went through the pictures I had to shake my head. Look at that big goof above. Big belly, a stripping basket, which no one uses down here, red bathing suit, black Ocean State Job Lot socks, and cheap wading boots. If I thought I would blend in down here I guess I was wrong. 

08.29.26 Great first day of fishing and, well of course...

     I know you were just waiting for it. Most were wondering when I was going to show a bloody limb from an alligator attack. Well, sorry to disappoint. But we'll get to the ending near the ending of the post. 

     So I thought I had a good plan, and even as I write I was good with it after it was all said and done. Had high flood tide at 930 am and I got down there with two hours left on the incoming. My goal was to walk across the creek that was surely going to be a bouncing walk to get across if I waited until the top of the tide. 

     The wooden board marker that I had placed on the high side was gone and the only left was small mound of oyster shells that I had used as an anchor. Once across I started my search for wakes, tails, and moving grass. There was still hours until the high tide and I knew I had to wait until the water, and hopefully fish, moved in. 

     There were some birds flying around, some perched near the water waiting for baitfish, shrimp getting chased across the top, and mullet in v-patterns on the move. There were no blitzes or kurplunks although eery now and then there was a circular splash of something chasing something. 

     It took about 10 minutes until my eyes found a target where the water met the grass. While I was there to catch a fish it's wasn't the most important thing. I wanted to see. I wanted to watch. I wanted to learn. I didn't make a cast on this fish, because hell, this is going to get great. It was the only tailing redfish I saw all morning.

     I was there for two hours left on the incoming and two on the outgoing. One thing about a moon tide especially where you have creeks that empty into rivers which empty into sounds is that happens quickly. It was just about to the second for the high tide where the water came in, went slack, and then left. 

     At the flip the waters edge took on a new life. The water receded rather quickly and the creeks and points started to show strong current. There were some bigger fish chasing smaller fish and I let my fly go to see what was in the mix. 

     I caught a couple of chicken finger sized sea trout before moving along. I reached for my phone to take a picture and it was dead. The day before I went deeper into the water and it was in my pocket and since it's been acting a little wonky. So as far as pictures the day was over, and I was to, as the chance for tailing reds, at least here, wasn't going to happen. 

     I went back to my truck and put my gear away and started home. I had the place to myself except for three guys in the distance shrimping near a creek mouth. Their car was parked way up the dirt road that ran against a bridge. I thought that was weird because I had been back here a few times and besides a few large puddles.... and then BAM. 

     The first thing that almost happened was I almost disconnected my spine from my skull. Then I almost lost my front teeth to the steering wheel. "WTF just happened?". I spend the door and the water ran in but just into the corner. The truck was on and I wasn't shutting it down. I was all alone. I had no tools. The phone was dead. I have no friends around here. Since the truck was running I was able, in between getting in and trying to forward and reverse it out, to charge up my phone for a bit to send my life partner a text. Surely she would come and help me. 

     I texted her at 1220 and then went to work. I first tried to drain the swamp, well puddle that my truck was sitting in, to no avail. I found the jack and tried to jack the rear tires to get some rocks and stuff underneath it...forget that. A nice guy who comes down here on his lunch stopped and helped but couldn't. There was nothing left to do but to call AAA. An hour and a half later Theresa responded back. 

      I had worked out there in the rain for about two hours. At one point I heard all kinds of sirens coming towards my position. I thought, "Please don't let this be a false truck in the water 911 call", but it wound up being a motor vehicle stop that turned into a medical call. But the road was now blocked for the tow truck.

      After I called for service it literally took 20 minutes between the time I called and when my truck was back on the road. I called, the guy was sitting in a lot a mile or so away, he knew exactly where I was, he came, pulled me out and that was it. 

     Of course when I got back on the road my truck was below empty. I thought how embarrassing it would be to have to call AAA again for some gas. After filling up the heavens opened up which I

thought would be good for there truck but I knew underneath was covered in that think gray mud. I thought she deserved some better love and I headed to a do it yourself car wash and I'm glad I did. The tow truck driver said I was very lucky to have not swamped the truck which wouldn't have been good. 

     By the time the bath was done I was done. I hadn't eaten breakfast, didn't have much except a cold coffee to drink, and I was dirty and soaked. As I headed home a familiar sign caught my eye and I immediately made the traffic move to get into the lot.

     Believe it or not it was just what I needed. For a while there I felt alone. Truck stuck. Don't know where I am. Don't know nobody. Jersey Mike's brought me back to familiar territory. I knew what they tasted like no matter what state you get them from and the large picture of Point Pleasant on the wall made me feel like home. 

     I used to finish old blog posts with a picture of a white milk and an egg and cheese on bagel, scooped out and toasted of course. Today I post the most perfect lunch. If I want to repeat it I'll have to do it by Monday because Tuesday September 1st my new life begins, again.

     I learned lots of things today. The fish aren't tailing in every water even on the flood tide. Don't drive through puddles. Call AAA earlier. Theresa won't help me. Jersey Mikes is dam good. And lastly I need a four wheel drive pick up down here. Not only for situations like this but for work at The Guide House, that names back up in the air, and for towing the two boats around. The last thing I need is an Atlantic Highlands ramp repeat from December 4, 2020. If you don't know then you can see that HERE

     I've been looking on Facebook Marketplace for something better than a beater. I'd like a Chevy Silverado 4x4 in white, preferably years 2002-2004. Low miles and original owner would be a plus. 

     The above is a picture from Titusville back in April before I sold the pick up. I wish I still had her. If I did maybe I would have been exploring in her yesterday and could have popped her into four wheel drive and avoided the drama. Maybe I need to change the name from The Guide House to The Drama House.