06.23.25 Daddy did good...

     Since it's a fly fishing blog I'll start off with that but the title doesn't have anything to do with fly fishing. It's been seven days of hell. The minute Theresa and Lauren left I got to work doing a project around the house that is way past due. Yesterday was my last day to get it done but I took a little time in the morning to go fishing. It's deep into June and we still have good, at least for me, striped bass around. I know people say they're always here but I'm not into fishing for them when the temps are up and the river water smells like summer. 

     I know I'm a "Keep em' wet" guy but I just needed the above one to hold his breath for a second so I could get a different look. The tanks cool, and this one still got a shot in it for a little rehab before going back on his merry way. The cool thing the above fish was in a foot and half of moving water and blew up on the fly as I retrieved it in skittering along the top. 

     I had some fun with a bunch before the water drained and they were gone to better holding water. Again, while I'm tempted to drive east for some ocean fish, why leave home?

     And then there's an update from my buddy Abe who took over possession of the SS Archer. He and his buds purchased it from me while I was up on the Vineyard. On his maiden voyage 

he saw 50 fish and had one follow. That's pretty dam cool. He decided to remove the wheels as he doesn't need them. He will make more adjustments to it I'm sure. But the cool thing, and this is why I bought it, just look above, and figure out where one would be with the ladder set up? This gives a fly angler so many more sight fishing options just outside of the point of ladder view. And Abe, please shoot some pics horizontally, it's better for the blog!

     And one more update. While I was away Joe Cordiero had given a talk at Kismet Outfitters in Edgartown which included a display and demonstartion of Old Mariner Fly reels, HERE. 

When we were at the house a day later he wanted to give me a private tour of the line. And the best part, he and the designer and owner Paul Conover wanted to put one in my hand. Well it arrived. I was hoping to have it before Thursday so I could have the boys 

over at Orvis Princeton spin on some backing for me. I'll just have to take a trip over and have them do just that. And Theresa won't mind as she just adores Andrew Hamilton. Creeper....

     I'll go into more about the reel after I put it to use. What I can tell you they come from the mind of a guy with great experience, from Fin-Nor, to Old Florida Fly Reels, to now Old Mariner. And mine is a work of art and very easy on the eyes. It will looked great paired with my Orvis Helios 9 ft. 10 wt. 

     And now why the title of this blog is "Daddy did good....". We bought a 100 year old house. If you know then you know. Ever see the movie The Money Pit? Well this is it, but boy is she beautiful. 5,000 square feet of just craftsmanship. The problem is that was 100 years ago and just about everything has to be redone. We, well I, have tried my best, but there's a ton more to do. 

      Recently Theresa made the comment that she was embarrassed to have people over, and she was right. I have to do better. We have been living in old, and cruddy, and in half completed projects in or about for eight years. It's time for Daddy to stop fishing and get my This Old House belt on and get to work. 

     So the minute they left for the week I went to work. Outside of Father's Day, and then a day after Father's Day dinner with Sean and Erin I worked 10 hours plus per day. And I have to give

a shot out to them both for a great treat. I told them I must be getting old as they drove and picked up the bill. Well Sean's 27 and Erin will turn 20 in a few weeks. Where does the time go? 

     So what did I have to do? Well first was tear up the old asbestos squares on the floor. These were put on with some military or NASA grade designed adhesive. Then it was trying to patch up the hole we've had in the ceiling for about three years. The problem was its plaster over metal lathe. Try matching that up. Then it was skim coating all the walls. The floor molding had those plastic curbs over the wood, again with the same adhesive. Then the best part. Having to thin set the Durock 1/4 concrete flooring down in which the new tile floor will sit on. Do you know how hard all that shit is? 

 

     So I did this... all alone. Up and down more times than I could count. I hit my head. I pinched my fingers. I breathed in more asbestos and spackle dust than my already damaged lungs needed. I did it without power or water for two and half days. You know what, "Daddy did good...." 

     I picked up a carpet at a yard sale for three bucks and made it look as homey as possible. I topped it off with a heart ballon to surprise her when she walks through the door. All that hard work, she deserves it. Now, if I don't get the reaction I'm expecting, I'm leaving her. Just kidding. Now the thing is to finish it. While I have a lot of mojo going on right now, and feel kinda DIY invincible, tiling this floor by my lonesome may be above my pay grade. I'm thinking of getting someone in to do when we head to Ireland in a little over a month from now. After three years, well we moved in in 2018, what's another month. But I can tell you this, Daddy went fishing this morning 'cause he did good. 

 

06.22.25 That was a long 44 hours....

     With Theresa and Lauren away for the week and it just being me, Luke, and a Honey-Do wish list I took action on the email I received from Orvis Princeton about a presentation on Thursday night. The presenter was Zach Flake of Flyway Charters, HERE. I've seen Zach's presentation before but those were about his secret spring and fall North Jersey spots. I can tell you I've seen Zach out there up north as I make my way on foot to fish some of the same waters he does. And let me tell you, if you want to try something new, in a place that will blow your mind, hit him up for an easy peasy half day trip. It's that good. 

    Fishing Manger Bruce Turner kicked it off and before he did I found out about some of the trips he's been running through Orvis Princeton. The Bahamas just came and went and in a few weeks he'll be off to Iceland. Did you know Iceland is a 4 + hour flight? 

     So Zach was taking about his Barnegat Bay summer trips. It's cool if you're down there as he splits his time sight fishing for striped bass and blues and running out to the North Jetty between 

tides. He had his 19 foot Beavertail out in the parking lot because he was coming from a Bay trip and stopped at Princeton before heading home up north. Nice job Zach. 

    As Zach spoke the heavens opened up and boy Mother Nature was fired up. It lasted well over and hour and when I got home the power was out. PSEG is my provider and I just got update after update when power would be restored. What happed was there were two huge 

trees just down the way from me. One came across Route 29, aka River Road, and the other came from the other side of the Delaware and Raritan Canal and both crashed through the lines. This was Thursday. I didn't get power back till 4 pm on Saturday, some 44 hours after it went down. No power. No water. No blog. 

     Before the presentation I talked with Store Manager Andrew and was going to give him a piece of my mind about the Orvis PRO Slingpack. I used it everyday up in the Vineyard and hated it. I couldn't get to my stuff inside, the small pocket up front was difficult to access, and the water bottle holder was dam near impossible to find. While I don't like the leader holder outside, it was good up there because I do carry and use the 20, 16, and even 12 pound flouro from time to time. 

     Just as I got going Andrew stopped me in my tracks, 'You wore it on the wrong shoulder". What?  " I was following your blog and saw that you had it on backwards in every picture". 

He added, "Why would you want a thick strap on your casting shoulder?". Um, duh. So, my bad. I can't wait to see how it really is when I use it correctly next time. 

     The next morning I ran down to the river before I got all busy with chores around the house. With an impending new job about to get going I need to get some stuff done around the house. But, I wanted to fish, and catch, and I did. Nice size slot to under slot sized fish to play with. 

     Trees near me don't have a very good root hold and they grow ginormous. Since I couldn't even make coffee I headed to WaWa for some joe and found my neighbor dealing with this. A large tree came down, smashed the families Audi, before crashing onto their roof. 

     One cool thing to see when the storms bring trees down is that the deer get a shot at all of those tough to reach morsels. They are now at their feet. I dam near crashed when I saw this white deer next to the side of the road eating away at some kind of large leafed tree. Below is a video I shot. It's not an albino deer, I think, I think it's called a Piebald. Glad to have power back finally.

06.19.25 New look for the bass's living room ....

     I stopped by the river the yesterday just to see how it looked. There was a group of men working on the land side but I noticed a ladder going down to the river. It was low tide and there was more activity below then up top. What's funny is Mark and I did that same tactic during a practice session one night to see if it could be done. The worry is with the new watefront project all access to the river on the Jersey side will be over. 

     It's been several years since the Trenton waterfront project started, actually it was August 2022. The work is being conducted primarily around the old wharf just below the train bridge. 

They've knocked the old one out and are in the process of building a new one. It's been a long time since they started but I was told by an engineer they had to wait for the final plans to be approved, and the budget passed.

     It used to be a great place to fish, but no longer. Yes, you can fish the stretch from a boat, but you know how I feel about boat fishing. Long gone are the days where I'd tip toe 

past the sleeping homeless to make my way to the river. Now fencing lines Route 29 and there is no access. It's over Johnny.

     I talked to the project foreman and he told me they were painting the river side of the wall from the top down to the high water mark. They use a special epoxy based paint that is used to extend the life of the concrete walls. Those walls have been holding the land one way and the water the other since the 1950's and 60's when the project was completed. 

     Route 29 plowed through what was once Stacy Park and it basically separated the city from the Delaware River. There have been studies to re-route Route 29 and make the waterfront more accessible and inviting. It is all planned around the Trenton Thunder Ballpark. While that's great for anyone who doesn't hold a fishing

      While that's great for anyone who doesn't hold a fishing rod in hand, it's not so good for the striped bass. If fishing is even allowed on the public promenades anglers will have a chore landing a striped bass from that vantage point. The folks that fish along Trenton's waterfront now, are great, and not so great. Lot's of garbage, lot's of poaching, and lot's of mishandled big fish when it's the season. Like everywhere else, the Delaware River will become a boat fishery. And I hate boats. 

     And just a fun fact. New Jersey is the only state where you can see another state, like in close proximity, to another, from the Capital building. 

06.17.25 When did I first step foot onto Martha's Vineyard?....

     During a late night talk with the two Joe's last week I recalled, incorrectly, when I first stepped foot on Martha's Vineyard. I had told them it was back in 1993. When I got home I went digging for that old photo album and discovered it was actually in August 1987. I was 19 years old at the time and sporting my then Ralph Lauren Jersey Shore preppy look. 

     It was August 21, 1987 when we took the ferry over with our car, which was a 1985 Ford Bronco II. The passenger rate at the time was $7.50 and the car rate was $26.50. Today the rate is $10.50 per passenger and $160.00 one way for a vehicle during the summer months. My recent trip with my larger pick-up cost me $346.00 round trip. 

     We took the Islander over which was put into service in 1950 and had an original purchase price of $1,010,043. It was sold at auction to an upstate New York fruit farmer in 2009 for $23,500.

     Our home away from home was at The Tisbury Inn. It sat on Main Street in Vineyard Haven and was a 33-room inn established in 1794. It had been renovated two years before we arrived and was a most convenient place to stay Down - Island for those coming over without a car. The rate for a double occupancy room with a private bath was $75 per night. 

In December 2001 the inn suffered a devastating fire that destroyed the building. Eighteen months later the building was demolished and rebuilt to what is now The Mansion House. These days a room there in June  

will cost you $519 a night for a room with a king sized bed. During my more recent trips there I didn't know what had happened to The Tisbury until I wrote this piece. It wasn't the first time that the structure in that footprint had burned, in 1883 a devastating fire destroyed 62 buildings in 

downtown Vineyard Haven. The original Mansion House, later renamed The Tisbury Inn, and then after the 2001 fire, renamed back to the Mansion House, was burned to the ground with only the chimney remaining. Interestingly, VH did not have its own fire department at the time

and the closest, the Cottage City Fire Department, was called to help battle the flames. Cottage City was once part of Edgartown, until it broke free in 1880 and became what we now know it as Oak Bluffs. One of the fire "engines" or really hand water pumps the department purchased in 

1855 is on display at The Edgartown Fire Department Museum and is pulled out for a demonstration every July 4th. 

     I vividly remember renting a little Boston Whaler at the Dockside Marina and taking it out for a cruise. It was great sailing out, but the wind against tide, which I didn't know existed 

at the time, made for a hair raising and f'in scary ride back in. I remember coming back to a calm harbor looking like we had been assaulted and scared to death. I've never been so glad to stand on ground again. 

     My first steps at Menemsha were some 38 years ago. Funny to think that last week I may have stepped over those same rocks I was standing on to get down to the water to fish. That's 1987, the years of the "Black Monday" stock market crash, the year Ronald Reagan told Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall", and the New York Giants won their first Super Bowl (XXI).

     I remember Menemsha as being more build up with a busier marina back then, but that's just my memory. Maybe 38 years ago the fishery was more robust. And, while this year is the 50th anniversary of the release of the movie JAWS, it was still fresh in the minds of the locals there at it was only 12 years young back then. I'm sure more of the ORCA was still visible in the channel that 

connects Menemsha Pond with the Menemsha Bight. Below is an image taken from 1988, a year after I was there, with one of the ORCA boats still on the west shore of the channel. Eventually the weather, and fans looking for souvenirs, would pick away what was left. If you go there there are still fragments of the boats, channels, and rails used during the film shoot. 

Art Vaughn photo via Flickr

The cost of the original JAWS was nine million dollars. Filming took place on Martha's Vineyard in 1974 and lasted 159 days, at a cost of $30,000 per day. 

     I had started the process of becoming a Newark firefighter at that point so I was interested in all things fire service. With the trucks outside I stopped for a picture at the Gay Head Volunteer Fire Department. I'm not sure if they run out of the same house these days, I doubt it. 

    And Gay Head, whose name was officially changed to Aquinnah back in 1997, was the home to Gay Head Cliffs. If I knew I had this picture I would have snapped a similar one on my most recent visit, just to see how much the landscape has changed. 

     While there were signs prohibiting nude bathing and soaking in the clay pools that were formed in the cliffs, people still took advantage of it. It was weird seeing people, naked, and 

covered with all different colors of the clay walking around or baking in the sun. They say it was the best natural spa treatment you could give yourself. I stayed dressed, from head to foot. At one point while we were walking a boat ran aground and myself an a guy in the buff went out and helped them get off the rocks. It was also weird shaking a guys hand for a job well done while he sat there with his junk swinging from left to right as we walked out. Maybe I shouldn't put hand and job in the same sentence. When in Rome do as the Roman's I guess. 

     So there you have it. 1987. 38 years ago. Why in earth did I wait until 2013 to return to a place that I love so much. Now, to be fair, I didn't get the striped bass bug until my first in 2003, after a solid decade plus of chasing trout in New Jersey and in the Catskills. It would have been nice to catch the Vineyard in its heyday, when big bass, as Booby would tell me, 20-30 pound bass, would routinely patrol Dogfish and Lobsterville. 

For now it's time to rid my mind of the Vineyard till next year. Yesterday I made sure my flies were all washed and dried and put away for safe keeping. Maybe there might be a fall visit up there this year, which would be a first for me. It's all albies, and I hate albies, but they say you can sight fish them up there. Mmmm, where did I leave that ladder?