
It was the perfect storm if you will. Theresa was tied up with work Friday through Sunday from 9 am to 6 pm. My school work was all done. I had mowed the ever growing rain fed acre. The river was up and a tad off color. The herring were around in big numbers. And, the bass were out to play, like really play.
I spent most of my weekend across the river around New Hope poking around the rocks. It's not tidal so the water level pretty much remains the same but it has dropped now down to 32,000 and has jumped up 5 degrees in 24 hours. Soon it will be a boat fishery once again.
But I started Friday off good with clear skies in the morning with some building clouds. The turbidity was about 20 which didn't give the fish time to stare at my flies before they ate. I started catching as soon as I started fishing and most of the fish were slot sized fish, or just under or over. And I'm telling you, a 28 inch river fish pulls like a 35 inch ocean fish. These fish are hard chargers.
As the morning went on the skies started to get darker and the wind started to pick up. I knew some weather was coming. By mid-day I already had a seasons worth of striped bass to hand and my phone blew up with notification of an incoming lightning storm with torrential rains. They weren't lying.
Luckily there's a McDonald's in New Hope so I ran to get some nutritious lunch and sit out the storm which lasted about an hour and half. When the weather stopped I ran back down hoping to get back into them not knowing if the deluge would dirty up the water even more.
There were still raindrops hitting the water but it didn't affect the fish. They were right were they had been and were still chewing, and some bigger ones had taken up residence.
The sun soon came out poking through the clouds and I just continued to do my thing. I had the tank ditched in the brush and I set it back up so I could get a different look of the fish.
One fish to note was the one-eyed fish that hit my fly just as hard as his two-eyed companions. The fish were just on, and I was just in my striped bass fly fishing glory.
On Saturday morning Theresa was planted at the computer when I headed out the door. I didn't know what to expect because I can tell you this, this wasn't going to last. Rising temps, dropping water, and moving fish will change in a days time so I had to get it while the gettin' might be good.
I had went through my untouched fly collection and found a couple which were ready to go. I have to say those 5/0 AHREX Clouser hooks are my go to for the herring patterns and fishing in big current. I had a fly tied with a 8/0 Popovic's BEAST and it was heavy, but it was just what I needed depending on the water I was fishing at the moment.
The day started off with a bang and never let up. Just about everywhere I fished, New Hope on one side and Lambertville on the other, didn't disappoint. The Jersey side got dicey from time to time trying to wade out and around some of the bigger boulders that held fish behind them.
It was all about the striped bass this weekend but I did manage one hybrid striped bass in the mix. I usually manage a couple of these per year and they pull real hard as well.
The day finished up around 4 pm as I left the rocks and the fish staged behind them. There was good herring around Saturday mostly pushed to the edges and or staging behind the rocks where a striped bass could lay in wait until it was ready to pounce. On my last retrieve before I left the below fish catapulted out of the water going for my fly like it was the last bait in the river.
By the end of the day I was beat. My arm socket was needing some lubricating oil and my back and hips were tired of slipping and sliding amongst the rocks. And, my bass thumb, well it just hurt. Towards the end of the day it hurt to lip the fish before a quick barbless hook release.
Now Sunday. Could it be a tri-fecta? I woke up and drove down to Little Silver to wish my boy Sean a Happy 27th Birthday. He is a barista at ROOK coffee and I'd say the Guatemalan is one of my tops followed by a nose over Avalon Coffee in Cape May.
Back on the river I was thinking things just looked different. I had jumped up to Stockton because some of it is fishable if you catch the right edges. I hoped to catch the tail end of what has been the best fishing I've ever had for striped bass. While I was still looking for a true and solid 35 inch fish, on the tape, I couldn't complain with the fantastic takes and fights I've had over the last four days. In fact, I started this post stating this fantasy started Friday morning, well it really started Thursday afternoon on the 15th where I put up some good numbers during a short window.

But today was all about the GoPro. I spent some time figuring it out and caught some Nat Geo kind of stuff with it. From underwater herring and bass photos, to topwater takes, to good releases, I caught them all. The only problem was my camera, mounted on my head, was pointing up towards the sky. Not one thing caught in its entirety, some quick passes in front of the lens, but nothing worth having to edit through it all to share. I spent Sunday night downloading the app so I can see the real time view on my iPhone. But just because I have an app doesn't mean I can figure it all out. I am old.
So the still images are few but that's okay. How many times can you look at the same sized fish in the same position, at times, with the same fly in it's mouth. One thing I learned today
was the importance of taping up those bass thumbs before another day of a beating. I was surprised the tape job I did held up and it did so all day after 25 or so bass. But today was markedly different. The score in the numbers was only due to the amount of work and casts I put in.
As the day went on I swear I could see the color change in the river. Downstream at the USGS station near Trenton the turbidity was showing just below 15. I'm not a fan. Too clear and the reaction time is slowed and it's hard to get a bite unless you're ripping it past them.
I went back in the evening and only had one to show for my efforts. Two days ago it was mayhem. So, I think it could be over. Over like no more fish? No. What I mean those bank feeders, which are a fly rodders dream, will now move into the middle of the river, and become boat fish. There's always a chance but I feel like I caught the absolute best four days to fish. And numbers? Easily plus or minus one hundred striped bass to hand, well to the thumb. That's 100. Not dinks but mad river fish. And to show for it today I added a little grove in my middle finger where a screaming fly line burned its way into my digit. But, hey, it's all good. And it was that good.