08.14.26 A good, but long, day in NYC...

     We're quickly approaching the 25th anniversary of 9/11/2001. For many who responded during the rescue and recovery operations the exposure to dust, smoke, and toxins, have left us dealing with 9/11 related health issues. Luckily, there has been what is now called the Mount Sinai World Trade Center Health Program. It's a program made up of two parts, the monitoring program and the treatment program. For 25 years I have been a part of both and I'm grateful that these programs exist.

     Yesterday I had a two-part visit. First was a stop for another low-dose CT scan of the chest to check on the status of the lung nodules and stuff that have been detected in both lungs. The second was an appointment with my thoracic surgeon, Dr. Raja Flores, to see if and or when he may have to get in there and do what surgeons do, which is to cut bad stuff out. 

     Theresa and I were sitting in a patient room when he opened the door with his always supportive smile. That brought both of us some relief. The plan was to go from having repeat CT scans every six months to annually. He preliminarily liked what he saw but need to wait until a radiologist reads the scan and files his report. He basically said, as he always does, "There's stuff going on there, you basically are symptom free, it could be cancer, but let's wait and see". And then he adds, "If you went to any other surgeon they'd want to cut you open (and do a wedge resection), which is what surgeons do, but if I were you, or you were my Mother, I'd just wait and continue to see". I guess that's good news, although the pending report will tell us more. And in the end I'm coming back in six months, so I'll be back in NYC in February. 

     And since I was in NYC it was a great opportunity to catch up with my daughter Juliet. It's been a bit since I checked up with this almost now 30 year-old woman. She works down in the Meatpacking District so Theresa and I had planned on driving down and picking her up to grab a bite and drive her back home to Brooklyn. We got there early, and scored a legal parking spot on the street, so we hit a Happy Hour at The Standard Grill which is part of The Standard Hotel.

     After the kind of nerve -wracking day between the 3-1/2 hour trek from Cape May to 102nd Street and Madison Avenue and the test and consultation is was time for a drink. Now you know I'm cheap, well let's say frugal, so I was expecting to empty out my wallet for a quick bite and a beer. 

     It was Happy Hour. It's bougie NYC. And we were surrounded with high end stores and office buildings many of which are headquarters for trendy businesses. So I was shocked to learn that this place, from 4-6 pm, offers $5 Budweiser's and $1 oysters. Imagine that. Two Buds and half a dozen oysters set me back $16, now that's a bargain anywhere, especially in Manhattan. 

     We had about an hour to kill before Jules got out of work and we resisted ordering more to eat so as to not ruin dinner in Brooklyn. It was the prefect stop and I would go back if I'm ever down that way again. Surprisingly the rooms at The Standard High Line Hotel run about $350 a night, which even to me sounds fair. 

     After we picked up Juliet we headed towards the Williamsburg Bridge. The end of the day traffic was starting to build as we made our way through The Bowery towards the Lower East Side. As we drove east on Delaney Street towards Essex I saw something that caught my eye. A frantic woman on her cell phone, a few people standing over something, and a man down who was less then responsive. We were in Theresa's car and I didn't have my Jr. First Aid kits that I always carry in my own truck. But I knew she carried something that might come into good use...Narcan. 

     As I pulled to the curb Theresa fished the cardboard box out of the glove compartment and gave me one of the two nasal injectors. Narcan, or naloxone, is the go-to opioid antagonist medication if someone has overdosed on an opioid. It's generally a miracle medication but these days with people using poly-substances, including fentanyl, it doesn't always work even after multiple treatments. In the ER when I was at Capital health this past spring it wasn't uncommon to have patients on Narcan drips. 

     Luckily for the guy all it took were some intermittent sternal rubs to get him breathing again. His dilated pupils told me this wasn't an opioid event, and the Narcan I had next to me would just be wasted if I gave it to him, so I just stayed and kept stimulating him to breathe. 

     It took about 5 minutes before the FDNY's Engine 9 and EMS arrived on the corner. It wasn't a big deal, and most people just kept walking, and not even looking down, without even missing a beat. And as far as getting a picture? You know me, always. The good, the bad, and the ugly. So if you're with me and you get run over by a train, make sure you have a smile on your face before you land. I find stories without images don't have the same umph, and if there was an ever a doubt as to the truth that it ever happened, well there you go. 

     It's also a bit of a public service announcement. If you can't bring yourself to stop and help directly, at least see if there's anything you can do, which at least, is to ensure someone has called 911. Many times people stand around thinking the person next to them called, while the firetruck and ambulance sits in the apparatus bay unaware. And if ever get a chance to get a dose of Narcan from a pharmacy or a health fair, grab one. It's a simple nasal spray you administer which can restore a person's breathing, which in the end could save their life, or prevent brain death from hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen. 

     After that pit stop we made our way into Williamsburg and went to a Thai return called Sage. It was a great meal with better company. If you know then you know, there's nothing better then 

sitting across from you adult children and listening to them tell you about their lives. It would be an understatement to not say how proud I am of her, and miss her as well.Brooklyn was a distance from Titusville, with Cape May even further, and Bluffton another world away, so I have to make sure I do a decent job in staying connected and in-person as much as I can. It looks like my next specialist appointment at Mt Sinai is on October 5th, with Dr. Morgenthau, a world reknown sarcoidosis expert, so maybe I'll make it a medical and personal trip with a sleep over in Brooklyn. 

We pulled into Cape May just before midnight and needless to say we were beat. 

08.13.26 Is this the anti-The Fly Fishing Show fly fishing show?....

     Let's be real. The Fly Fishing Show (s) as we know them are nothing what they once were. Hell, nothing is as it once was. Either it's the way trade shows are run, attended or not by industry manufactures and leaders, and the general change in the way consumers attend, shop, and spend money, the end to shows like these have came and went. Throw in the whole Covid thing which gave people and businesses a chance to reevaluate and pause and the writing was on the wall. 

     Fly fishings shows, especially the one in Somerset, were a must attend, and not just for a few hours. It didn't matter if it snowed or the NFL playoffs were going on, you just didn't miss the show, or the hangs that went with them. You attended to see new stuff, see the legends of the game, catch up with old friends, and more importantly, just be apart of something every year. Now, it's a chore, and at times, a bore. 

     I recently came across the above website for a new show called FLOW Fest Expo. It stands for Fly fishing, Outdoors, Lifestyle, and Wellness. It'll be run by Emily Mauri, who just left The Fly Fishing Show since being a part of that family since 2007, and her husband, Michael, who was a regular on that circuit and I saw him at the casting pond more then once over the years. 

    So now they come together and present FLOW Fest which will be held in Asheville, North Carolina March 13 and 14, 2027. It's not like other shows haven't popped up from time to time and have been well attended. For a few years the Long Island Fly Fishing Expo satiated fly anglers after The Fly Fishing Show had left the New England/New York area for the season. People now go to Lefty's Tie Fest, ICAST, and other fresh or saltwater mixed fishing and outdoor shows. But none have taken down the leader, which for years has been The Fly Fishing Show. But is it time and could a show like this be a suitable replacement?

     If you've been to The Fly Fishing Show, say for the last 5 years, well then you know. Chuck sold it to Ben and things pretty much have stayed the same. Now no matter who ran it or who runs it it's no easy task for sure. The logistics and business and work that goes with it has to be daunting. But no doubt there has to be some good financial gains when all cylinders are running as they should. But even these days the shows can be a big hit or miss depending on what you're looking to get from them.

     One thing I know, from industry leaders and manufacturers, from friends who are big guns, to average anglers and experts, no one wants to travel and have those associated costs for a show that may not be a good return on investment, and that goes for money and time alike. There's gas and tolls, lodging and food, salaries for some, the price of the booth or booths, and then the admission fees. It adds up, and if the returns aren't there well then they're out. And TFFS never paid for the talent who ran the seminars and presentations. I know because I did a few seminars back in the day. Maybe the big guns got paid, but for the rest the sales pitch from Chuck was it was a chance "to increase your exposure and meet new clients". Thanks, but that doesn't pay the bills. 

     So how will a show like the FLOW Fest do? Who's peeling off from TTFS to attend? Remember there's a billion people within a few hours drive from now Edison, and attendance is still weak, outside of the initial Friday push or when Cabin Fever is an all out pandemic. TFFS Lancaster is set for the same weekend, 530 miles away, or an 8 hour drive. I don't know if people will choose one over the other, especially in year one. Maybe the FLOW Fest will attract people from different interests, a larger local show if you will, or pick up fly anglers who don't make the trek to the other shows.

     The Fly Fishing Show Atlanta, which ran since 2017, was cancelled in 2026. In 2027 it will be held in Athens, Georgia, some 75 miles away. That show will be the opener for 2027 running January 9 & 10, which is weird, as it always opened in Marlborough. There's other shows in North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, but none as big as TTFS. No matter how many shows there are, or where they're located, attendees only have so much time and money to spend, and I've always said local fly fishing shows are what people need and want.

     It'll be interesting to see how this show does. Will the salty fly rodders get their fill here? Will the big manufacturers throw their time and money there? Will the big names be on hand for meet and greets and for educational seminars and presentations? 

     And of course will the insurance folks, the gutter guard people, the picklers, and the chiropractors, be on hand to fill in those once coveted near-the-entrance booths? Only time will tell with how these fly fishing shows survive in the future. The truth is now a days people don't have to attend to see and learn as all they have to do is turn on the computer to be in the know. And spending time and money to see someone? Well these days you can get a hold of everyone, including the big guns, just by running a social media post by them or dropping them an email or a text. 

     Our legends of the game are aging out and passing along and the mid-aged talent is busy with careers and family and can't commit. What's left are the rest who may have some skills but are unknown and relatively new to the game, and no one is driving or spending money to see them. 

     It's a 4-1/2 drive from Bluffton, South Carolina to Asheville, North Carolina so maybe I'll make it an overnighter and bring Theresa along for the ride. We've never been out that way and then maybe I'll be able to say I was there for the first year the FLOW Fest Expo opened it's doors. 

08.12.26 Good to get out and do some real work...

     While it was nice to say good-bye to all the work that went along with the ex-house in Titusville there's a part of it that I miss. I miss the sweat and playing with tools and sounds of my lawn mower, trimmer, and leaf blower, well at least I think I do. I think what I miss is the physical activity and tiredness that went along with it all. Not having to do it is nice, but when I want to go out and play in the dirt and it's not there I'm kinda left with an empty feeling.

     So as we continue setting up the new place in Cape May, and going though stuff from the old place down here, and stuff we dragged down from Titusville, I took the opportunity to do some much needed preventive maintenance. That meant I could use my new telescoping ladder, some hand tools, and my pressure washer. Hey, I wasn't building an addition but it was fun to break a real sweat again.

     These Park Model homes, like tiny homes, line the streets at Cape Island Resort. In a way they remind me of the old bungalow lined streets of Shore towns like Keansburg back in it's heyday. Ours was built in 2007 and the previous owners, times two, did the bare minimum as far as upkeep. Connected to these tiny homes are what they call Florida rooms which are basically additions with a hard top with either screens or windows around the outside. While most people focus on decorating and enjoying the space there's lots of work to be done to keep them in good shape.

     Rain and water are killers for these type of structures and most people just caulk and re-caulk the seams over the years. A new friend of ours just hired a roofing guy to slap on roofing gunk which ran her $400. I wasn't having any part of that so I went and purchased roofing tape and covered all the seams. This type of tape is a one-shot product, once it hits something forget it, so applying it is challenging to say the least.

     Then there are the two roof sections. They're covered with asphalt shingles and lucky for me there's two layers. Usually that's a pain but in our case it's a good thing. On the back raised section the last layer has seen its day, well years ago. They say a way to tell if you need a new roof is when the shingles start to curl...well...

...how's that for curling? Luckily the original roof layer is fine but that top one is shot. Between the roof pitch, almost none, and the bake that is has endured they need to go, in fact both layers need to be ripped off and replaced. That same roofing guy who is the roof God at Cape Island get's $3,300 for a new roof on these Park Models, again, not for me. 

     This is an easy job and I think the hardest part would be getting rid of the old shingles. My plan is to lay down a new metal roof which will help with drainage and hold up from the weather. That might be a late fall project or one for next spring.

     The front section is in better condition. It's two layers spend most of the time in the shade and the lichen and moss have called it home for years. While most people would say never power wash a shingle roof I felt okay with it because of the double layers.

     I can't help but wonder if the black socks and shoes are a sign that I'm getting old. I remember seeing old men from back in the day sporting the same get-up, only they had on a white -t-shirt and not a past it's life Columbia fishing shirt. 

    Besides looking horrible all that green stuck between the shingles can't be good for drainage so anything I removed as far as asphalt still was better then it was. After a few hours I was tired but 

did have some sense of accomplishment going on. Then it was off to re-cleaning the windows and replacing the screens, like 30 of them, since they seem to ever have been removed and cleaned. 

     Theresa was busy all day inside and by 330 we were both done and decided to do what locals do down in Cape May away from the tourists and crowds. We hit the Happy Hour at Lucky Bones, had ice cream at Fleck's, and then grabbed Luke and headed to Town Bank to sit in our old Tommy Bahama (yard sale scores) beach chairs and watch the sun set on the Delaware Bay. 

     The big push of crowds seems to lessen down here in August and last night almost felt like it was fall. They say the locals summer begins here after Labor Day but by then we'll be in South Carolina and won't return to Cape May until late September. Luckily we held onto some electric heaters as I'm sure we'll be needing them and some sweatshirts when we return. And when we do I'll be sure to have some kind of fly rod set up in the back of the Suburban.

08.11.16 Got a few new things to play with....

      About a year ago we got fed up with the monthly bleeding that Verizon had been inflicting of us for years. Between the cell phones and internet and cable, along with the bundled house phone we never used, it seemed we were paying about $500 a month, and we had enough. So we went to AT&T to show Verizon, but in the end we still needed Verizon for home internet service. 

     With that we went with Roku and with that and 1,000 options of shows to watch, mostly from the 80's, 90's and 2000's. Local news was there, but it was old news, or so we found. even with Roku we would still need streaming subscriptions to watch anything current, and forget the NFL during the season, which I enjoy watching. Each week, and game to game, each streaming 

service covered a different game, and the only thing that was free, or so it seemed, was the NFL reply, which wasn't in real time. Frustrating it was to say the least. Many suggested You Tube TV, which runs $89 a month, but I wasn't paying that, even if I missed my favorite stuff. 

     Down in Cape May Infinity has a hold, or a monopoly, on internet and cable service here, and that was running about $70 a month. Forget that, so we went without it for the last few years. But now that we're going to be here we need, and would like, to have some serviced watch some TV. So I looked into Starling, a satellite based service run by Space X, one of Elon Musks companies. If he can send people up in space I think he'll be able to get us more reruns of Law and Order. 

     So I ordered Starling and set it up yesterday. I'm horrible with technology but found it user friendly, after it took me an hour to figure out how to download the App. It cost me $55 with no hardware costs that has speed of 100 Mbps which mean nothing to me but from what I've read is fast enough. They also offer a Starling ROAM, which you can take on the road. So my thought is the fixed one will be stay and play at our new home in Sun City and the mobile unit for The Boat House and Cape May. 

      With the Roam option I'll need to buy the mini-kit starter set for $199 and then pay $55 a month. There's an option to put it on hold but I'm not all up on what that service offers or requires. But to sit in The Boat House and watch a game or be able to surf the internet, watch TV, and write this blog while in Cape May seems like a good option. We'll see. For some reason I just like the idea of not having to pay the big internet and cable providers another dollar of my money, but in the end we're just giving to Elon, who has plenty of his own.

     And then just for fun I went and ordered a starter drone set up from Amazon. These can get pricey so I saw one, did a little research, and pulled the trigger. This one seems to provide what I

need which is the ability to control it from my iPhone, take some pictures, have it follow me, and then return to my location. I'm sure it's not all that durable, and definitely doesn't swim, so I'll try and take it easy. No doubt it'll find it's way it to some drink somewhere but it's a good drone to wet (no pun intended) my feet with. 

     The imagery and videos from the drones over schooling redfish in the Lowcountry is impressive. By the time I get back south and into any kind of fishing mode the waters will start to cool and it will go from a flood to low tide fishery. They say in the cooler months the reds school up in the estuaries seeking warmer water temps and can be found at the creek mouths. Even if I'm not on the water any time soon it'll be a great tool to learn the water and scout locations. 

     Hunting for fish and especially sight fishing for them is my favorite way to fly fish. I'm not a fan of blind casting, as you know, and a days fishing, well hunting, for many hours with few casts is still a good day to me. 

08.10.26 The numbers are there but we slipped in the rankings...

     For a while there I was keeping track of how this blog did against other fly fishing blogs around the world. We hit a high coming in at #23 back in 2024 but a recent check shows we've slipped 

down to #53. What's funny is is took 15 years to get to 1,000,000 viewers and in the last two it's grown to over 2,100,000.

     In the end it all doesn't matter because this blog generates zero monetarily. This blog always was in the shadows of Jeff Currier's blog and he's now at #46, where he used to come in around #20. I wonder if the algorithms have changed which has altered the rankings or people just don't want to read about teaching nursing school or downsizing and moving to South Carolina. 

     What's cool with Blogspot is I can check out several stats in real time each day. I can see how many views per day, what hours are the busiest, and even what parts of the world the people who

view it come from. who would have thought that people from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and South Africa come here to check out how the striped bass bite has been in the Delaware River or what Piece of Cake moving did with our stuff. 

     For some viewers this blog is almost like a daily, or bi-weekly, newspaper. They click on it to see what's up or to read about whatever I might be ranting about on any given day. Hopefully soon it'll be more about fly fishing the Lowcountry with some spring Jersey striped bass fishing mixed in. As we find our new-life normal, which will include annual stop and plops in South Carolina and New Jersey, we're looking now at where we might be next year. I can definitely see 

us coming back up in May which will mean I'll be able to fish the Delaware Bay and River during the spring run. And of course there's no way I'm missing that annual trip up to the Vineyard. How cool would it be to have the skiff up there, but I don't think it would be worth trailering it up that far for a week, but you never know. 

     I wish someone would buy this blog, or hire me to write theirs. people say I could load this blog up with ads and be able to get paid for all the work it takes to pen this several times, if not everyday, a week. People have also suggested a subscription, say $10 a year, which would be great if you times that by the number of actual readers versus page views. 5,000 people x $10 would come out to $50,000, which would be great. Throw in some guiding money when I get dialed in down there and I could see this actually kinda being like a job I'd like to do. I just have to figure out if my readers in Saudi Arabia and Russia (look at the breakdown above) have Venmo or PayPal to pay for the ability to click on this subscription only blog.  

08.09.26 I'll be ready for next year...

     Well that's a wrap for the 2026 Lowcountry Tarpon Open. Next year I'll have to plan to be down in South Carolina the first week of August to throw my hat in the tournament and give it a shot. Above are the winners following the two-day tournament but I haven't seen how those in the fly division made out. Southern Drawl Outfitters, who hosted the event, posted that they had tough weather on day two. 

     We're about two weeks away from heading south and beginning the move in process after the contractors have been busy doing some work while the house is empty. Things are going, but slow, here in Cape May, as we set up home here split between decorating, donating, and continuing the purging process. There's always a yard sale, a Happy Hour, or a nap to hit in between the work. 

     Finding our new normal will take some time to get used to but so far so good. 

08.08.26 Just checking out the leader board....

     So it looks like after day one of the Lowcountry Tarpon Open six tarpon were caught. One thing I've come to learn about fly fishing in some tournaments for some kinds of fish is that leader releases count as a caught fish. As long as the guide or the angler has their hand on the leader and can control the fish that counts. I believe that's done for billfish as well.

     Years ago it was all kill tournaments, for species like tarpon, bonefish, permit and striped bass. I was never a fan of tournaments especially for species that were not doing well, like where that overfishing and overfished designation from the ASMFC comes in. I got skewered online when I questioned if a tournament on the Delaware River made sense when the numbers of bass were in the tank and regulations were changed to protect the spawning bass, which is what those tournaments would be targeting. 

     I checked out the rules for the Lowcountry Tarpon Open online. There is a separate category for fly only with specific rules. So the way I get it there's an overall division, which both bait and fly anglers can win, and then a fly only division. 

     There are some big name tarpon tournaments that are held down Florida through the Keys and then up to Sarasota and into Louisiana. While the push, through organizations like the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, is to have all tournaments go catch and release there are still kill tournaments out there, like Louisiana's International Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo.   

     Above is angler Guy Cenac with a 208 pound tarpon taken during the 2018 Rodeo. A 200 pound tarpon is about 30 years old and is basically inedible. I mean you could eat it if you were stranded on a desert island with the other choice sawing off your own foot and grilling it, but for most they don't eat them. It's sad these kill tournaments remove fish from the biomass for prizes and chest thumping. It's not illegal, but it's just not good. 

   

     One of the most prestigious fly fishing only tournaments is the Gold Cup held each year down in Islamorada, Florida. I'm not much in the know of tarpon and tournaments but have listened about both on the Mill House Podcast I spoke about yesterday. The field in this tournament is limited to 25 anglers. This years winner was Captain Rob Fordyce and angler Julian Robertson who crushed the competition with an all-time weight fish of 176.5 pounds. If you've never listened you can check out Fordyce with Andy HERE. 

 

08.07.26 I'm gonna give the locals a chance this year...

     I'm totally kidding on the title. I don't know the water, yet. I don't know how to feed tarpon flies, yet. And I don't even know what they look like in the water, yet. In fact the only tarpon I ever caught was down in Puerto Rico with the late and great Captain Omar Orraca. So even if I was down in South Carolina and entered the tournament I would be a zero threat to the other Captain's and fish. But there's always next year. 

     The South Carolina state record tarpon is 154 pounds 10 ounces and was caught in 1987. That fish was caught in Hilton Head. Another tarpon, which was reportedly larger but released, 

above, was caught in the Port Royal Sound. The record was caught on an August 1st, the other August 27th. So I do know that you can catch large tarpon down in South Carolina in August. I'll start my knowledge base there and build on it over the next year. If I had any doubt if there's good tarpon down here check out the below post I found on Facebook.

     Both of these fish were caught on bait and I looked to see what the state record for a fly caught tarpon is but they don't separate the two. It's not the IGFA. Southern Drawl, a mixed gear and fly shop located in Hilton head, runs the Low Country Tarpon Open and last year they recorded 23 releases but I couldn't find out how they did on the fly. It's $500 per boat and an extra $250 to enter the fly division. 

     I've never been a tarpon guy and most of the talk I've heard about it is listening to Andy Mill (above) over at the Mill House podcast. I know things used to be different as far as handling fish, with lots of kill tournaments, and you'd never see Andy with a fish out of the water these days.) The Mill House is a show done by Andy and his son Nicky. You can check it out HERE. What brought me there were his interviews with guys and girls I'm familiar with, like Popovics, Clouser, Finn, Gardner, Ciccone, and Dixon. But most of the show is about tarpon, bonefish, and permit and the guys that pole skiffs for them. Each show is about 1-/12 hours long and they used to keep me company on my commute home from Newark, now they'll help pass the time heading down to South Carolina.

     So last night was the Captain's meeting heading into this weekends Open. As I pen this post they already have lines in the water and are hopefully on fish. As I said most tarpon are caught on bait, and outside of the fall mullet run, Atlantic menhaden, or bunker, or pogies as they call them here, are a forage fish down here just like they are for so many species back home. So, as I have said before, my new fishery down here just won't be around crab and buggy flies, but larger baitfish imitations which I'm used to tying and fishing. Bull reds, cobia, jacks, and sharks, along with the tarpon, all look to those larger snacks to make up their diet. 

We've been busy trying to set up home down in Cape May these past few days. yesterday we hit Habitat for Humanity's Restore just to look, and came home with a sideboard, a kitchen table and chairs, and a desk for the office. But that's okay, we got rid of stuff to add stuff, so we haven't added anything, yet, heading into a big yard sale weekend down here around the Cape.

08.06.26 Here's some "...great news!"...

     I saw this letter sent out from Mayor Tim Somers to the residents of Monmouth Beach, New Jersey. (I have to specify that now as the readership is extending down to South Carolina). He was happy to announce that the latest round of beach replenishment is slated to begin in the late fall 2026, right when the striped bass fall run gets into full swing. Just when you thought things were looking good beachside, they're about to get destroyed yet again. And forget about the fishing, what about the ecosystem and the place that so many living things call home? 

     Frank Pallone surely has maintained his life-long tenure, well since 1988, as a U.S. Congressman representing the 6th District which is Monmouth County and the top of the Jersey Shore, from the votes of people who have beach front properties. While Sandy did a number on the benches, groins, and jetties, in my opinion, Pallone has allowed far more damage to occur in his district. And this latest round of replenishment will kill parts of Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach, and Long Branch, which have been solid fishy spots the last couple of years, as the "sand", and damage, from previous "nourishments" return to the sea.

     I first covered the beach replenishment along Monmouth Beach in 2013. Below you can see how it held up just a few months after it was completed. "Donor" sand from the oceans bottom isn't like beach sand. It has a different composition, needs to be filtered through, and lacks compactability. So it only takes a storm or two or solid moon tides to pull the sand back into the water, create sand bars just off the beach, and then eventually return it all to the sea. Well, really it doesn't go straight out, the littoral current coupled with prevailing winds carries it to the north in the summer, and to the south in the winter. That's why your once favorite groin gets shoaled up on either side depending on the time of year. In addition, that's why the False Hook and Sandy Hook Channel needs to be dredged every couple of years. 

     Above is "Little Monmouth" after the 2013 failed replenishment. And below are a few pics of what it looked like before. The north side of Little Monmouth used to be a great place to fish when the bait used to get trapped in the pocket. And years before that you used to be able to fish off the rocks in front of the condos leading up to Big Monmouth. 

     And then there was Big Monmouth and the groin that kind of went to the southeast from the rock wall that protected Ocean Avenue from the ocean. There used to be a small beach that went from there up to the old Coast Guard Station. When the tide was low you could walk the old stairs down onto the sand and on big tides and whether you could fish off the rock wall. One of the first times I met Charlie Shapiro was when he was fishing the pocket at Big Monmouth, below.

     Pallone secured 37-million dollars in federal funding which will be matched by local state monies for the project. Also this week the Army Corp of Engineers announced a $19.5 million dollar project will be underway for the beaches of Ocean City, New Jersey. More sand down the proverbial toilet. "Insanity- doing the same thing and expecting different results.

     What is missing, as always, is some kind of plan to curb the erosion. Now we know Mother Nature always wins, but why don't they have a solid dune construction and planting plan in place? Why don't they bury trees or telephone poles, or like they used to do old cars, to beef up 

Misquamicut Beach, Westerly, Rhode Island

the underlying sandy structure further off the beach? I'm all for letting it go back to nature but some work other than pumping it over again and again might help. But it all comes down to money, and politics, and votes. 

     They say Pallone is a friend to the environment, and fish, and fishermen, and surfers, but that, to me, is a joke. How much money and sand has Pallone toyed with over his almost 40 years in office? We know crabs, forage fishes, and predator fish don't like it but the ocean front residents of Sea Bright, MB, Long Branch, Deal, Allenhurst, and Asbury Park, just to name a few, surely do. 

I'm lucky to have caught some great years along "Jetty Country" when the rocks and the sand were great places to fish from, and there were fish to catch, and not just during the spring and fall runs. Resident fish spent the summers inshore and early mornings would always give up a bass or two before the beach invaders came. But those days are gone, as are a lot of the sharpies who called these town beaches home. It'll never be the same, never again.