04.28.17 Being "Average" is alright by me......

      The Average Angler. The average student. I'm okay with both. I needed a 78 to pass my brutal Pathophysiology class with an 83%, which is passing for the master's level courses. Well, I got a C+, which maybe just puts slightly above average. 

     With that major life stressor over me and T are off to the Upper Delaware for the One Bug. I can't wait. Great cause and a great time. Problem is I had a hard time remembering and locating everything I need to guide up there. I think It all came to me and I'm good to go. 

     I'm sure I'm setting any weight loss records on fire but I started this Dukan Diet last Monday and am down 8 pounds, let see if it sticks through this weekend. 

04.27.17 Orvis Encounter waders....trip 7.....not good

     You know I'm an Orvis guy pretty much through and through. On April 10th (check out my post) I christened a new pair of the Orvis Encounter waders. Since then they may have been wet seven times, and none of them hardcore. This morning I went out and as I waded the back waters I could feel the wetness start at my crotch and work its way down. When I got home my worst fears were confirmed........leaks!!!!! You know I always tell it like it is, the good, the bad, and the ugly. This is just disappointing, even if I just happened to get the fluke bum pair.
     I know, warranty, sent them back, in six to eight weeks I'll get a new pair. But then what? Wait for it to happen again? I want to have confidence in their boot foot waders, but lasting less than 2-1/2 weeks isn't cool. I am going to forward this to the guy in charge of waders and see what kind of response, and confidence, he can give me.

     I started out front just as the light broke through the fog. Incoming. Off color. Looked good. Didn't get a tap. Like as has been, Richie got the lone fish of the day, a keeper, swimming plastics near the bottom. With the test looming tomorrow I decided to keep my day short, but then on my way home I checked out back. 

     The water was on the low side and glass flat. The bunker were flipping. I waded out, started to leak, but then worked the deeper channel. I fish for about an hour before going tight on the trailer fly. Just as I reached to lip it it flipped off. Looked like it could have just been keeper sized. Of course convinced there was another I stayed another hour without a bite. Had a blast though. I snagged so many bunker I lost count. Maybe I should have just let one swim. 

04.26.17 Digging this Skinner video.......

              

Author and outright sick angler John Skinner made this video last fall. I digged it and wanted to share. If you ever seen any of John's instructional videos or have attended his lectures you know how good of a fisherman he really is. Now he's a fly fisherman so I can't always relate.

04.25.17 Gettin' ready to start it up.....

     Picked up the boat from Gateway Marina yesterday and she's all ready to go. I brought her down to Atlantic Highlands Marina an unfortunately the big sailboats are in out winter storage spots so a temporary home would have to do. I am ready to go live with walk and wade and boat trips starting Monday May 1st. Please check out my website www.theaverageangler.com for trip info and rates.

     My last final exam is this Friday. Its a nail biter because 83 % is passing and I am right on the cusp of going either way. It comes down to this last exam, which if you look at the outline, shouldn't be too bad......yeah right! This isn't your Mother's nursing school stuff.....Nurse Practitioner's are practicing medicine and the knowledge that goes with the title is on point. I am sure many of you have seen a NP in the emergency room or at your doctors office. Its the wave of the future.

     I have my grades calculated out and I need a 78 on the final to just squeak by with an 83 to pass. The exam is 75 questions and we are allotted 120 minutes to complete it. It opens at 6am on Friday and as soon as I'm done Theresa and I will be heading to the Upper Delaware for the One Bug! Since I was in school I missed 2015 and 2016 but I am glad to be back. Always a good time and its for a great cause.

     On a side note. Dukan diet one week in....down 6 pounds.

04.24.17 Two-fly set up gets it done........

     Last week while at Orvis I got a question about using tandem flies. Its something that it used a lot in freshwater and I have used that set-up with good success. It is usually a heavier anchor fly with a smaller nymph hanging off the bend. While nymphing isn't my favorite fishing it is productive and can get clients into fish while waiting for a hatch or the fish to look up. Most of the fishy food is subsurface in both fresh and salt.

     For the saltwater I usually use a popper/dropper setup. The other day Joe had a teaser tied on above his larger fly and landed a nice fish that took the smaller offering. Today I had a chartreuse fly on and off the bend tied on a lame smaller blue/white Deceiver that I had laying in the bottom of my sling pack. I landed about 8 fish two on the bigger fly and the rest on the smaller one. Conditions were perfect on the start of the ebb with an easy E wind and lots of cloud cover. There were mostly small fish, one being about 8 inches, but Rich got a keeper. There always seems to be one good fish for someone each outing.

     While I bypassed a beautiful river on my way to the beach, the beach is where I wanted to be. Its my favorite place to fish and although the bigger fish are in the bays and in some places the river catching fish where you want and how to is better than just catching because you know where they are.

04.22.17 Erin wanted to fish.....

     What a day. Up at 330 am to bring my mom to the airport. On the beach by 615 with Joe. Nap from 1030-1130. And the best my daughter says "I want to go fishing!". So off we went. Determined not to make the same mistake I did with the boys and fly fishing, I told her I'd grab a spinning rod and we'd go look for bluefish. I'd heard they made their presence known this past week so we were off on an adventure. She was able to wear Theresa's waders and we did the cast-and-reel-switch. We started

using topwater but didn't manage a look. We jumped around pretty good and didn't see anything caught. After a quick bite we tried one more spot and got some good advice to stick to metal since the fish were low and slow. I had a bunch of metal things and a spinning rod, with braid, which I hate, but we were off and running.

     Over the next three hours Erin fought about six blues ranging probably from 12-16 pounds. Some came unbuttoned, some the guide-braid-knot failed, maybe got bit off once or twice, and the hardest one was losing one at the net. I bumped into Jersey plug maker Nick Luna and he was just about to wrap up her fish when the line, we think it might have been concrete rub, parted. He felt bad but for no reason, good lesson for Erin, it happens. We tried and failed a few more times and each time the guys around her with nothing but supportive and rooting for her. It was a great day and with no fish landed it only has her wanting more saying as we drove home, "Can we go tomorrow?". Good stuff.

     As I said I started the morning with Joe out front not far from the house. A little big at first but as the tide ebbed it got really nice looking. Skunk for me but Joe caught this 31" beauty not to far from her stood on the beach. He had a two-fly setup going and the fish, in the big water, took the smaller teaser. Good start to a great day.

04.20.17 Always a good time at Orvis Spring Days on 5th Avenue.....

     I had some stuff to do uptown early this morning so the timing for a 1230 talk at Orvis NYC was great. Had a good turnout of some guys that are really into or really getting into fly fishing the saltwater, especially for striped bass. This time I chose, well sort of, to forego the slide show presentation and just went off of products in the shop relating to saltwater. Always feel at home there and Rob is always welcoming, and a little intrusive. Tonight Ben came down from West Branch Anglers Resort and I am sure the fun, and the drink, was good and lasted into the night. 

     Luckily I had my best sidekick with me. We took the subway from 99th street down to Grand Central. We're both giving the Dukan Diet a go, although today it was tough staying on point. I did choose to stop at the Halal truck and grab a chicken shish-kabob (gross) while Theresa couldn't take it any longer and had a Burger Heaven cheeseburger. She did good, just half a bun and no fries!

04.19.17 Join me tomorrow at Orvis NYC....

     Tomorrow I'll be giving a talk at 1230 at Orvis NYC on fly fishing the Jersey Shore. Always a great time.

04.17.17 Monday into Tuesday recap.....

     A friend on Facebook wrote that the only people that post beautiful pictures are the ones that got the skunk. Maybe he's right. That's why I put that picture below. I started out in the dark and the only thing I could find was this WonderBread SP Minnow stuck in the mud bank. I drove a lot and hit a

bunch of spots before walking way out on the dead low tide. Had one fish come up to me and blow out, not sure if it was a bluefish or bass. Hearing reports that the bluefish are coming up quickly from down south and may be at Sandy Hook in small numbers. I was hoping to catch the shore striper bite in the bay before the choppers came. I was frustrated with my lack of fish the last few outings so last 

night I gave it a go from back in the bay to my backyard. I used my secret potion......and I didn't get a tap. Saw a few blow-ups on bunker and one 25" caught on a chunk but that was it. 

     On a side note I have noticed my stripping basket sitting a little-non-horizontal as of late and I figured I better get on the scale. 217!!!!! That's bad. I was 267 and went down to 187 which was my lowest since surgery. I was 187 just before I met Theresa.........I quest I was just settling into fat and happy now. No more! Yesterday we started the Dukan Diet.....we'll see.

0415.17 Tried a few spots before settling in.....

     Started at dark in the way back covering the two rivers. Outgoing tide. Bunker numbers are growing. Filleted dead bass on the bottom. Didn't get a touch. I did do a great hook set on an old tin can. Drove around stopping in an several spots along the bay and talked to a few guys. "It's been outgoing" "It's been incoming" "Early" "Late" "Night is best" "It went off Wednesday" "I got no reports last night" "Here" "There" "That spot" "And would you believe there" "Little fish" "Big fish" "Bait" "Plugs" "Cops" "No parking" "Shut down"......Wow! It was a lot of intel from three guys. 

  I wound up at the Dixie Lee for a buttered roll and a coffee and picked up a cake for dinner tonight. I went to the beach and walked. Didn't find any bait in the bay. Lots of guys out but I see a bent rod. It was incoming and should have been good somewhere. I had fun. Going to do the night thing next.

04.14.17 Nice intro to Newport for the girls....

     Nice three days in Newport and the first time for the girls. I thought it was a violation brining kids to my favorite place but it was nice. Did a lot in two days. Cliff Walk (part of it), three mansion (without the annoying headset tours), dinner at Brick Alley, lunch at Rosemary and Thyme on Spring Street, a "normal" meal at the 99's, and my favorite B&B (well now called an inn) The Marshall Slocum Inn with the great breakfasts each morning.

     No fishing in any way, but while the girls did the Cliff Walk I imagined me squishing my way out to the rocks at Ledge Road and catching nice stripers in bigger water. Then I imagined myself drowning either knocked off the rocks or caught while swimming back. I did make a fishing purchase

while stopping at the West Marine flagship store. I opted for the Tournament Master menhaden fishing oil, I can't wait to wipe that on my flies real soon. Just wait till you see the results later on.

                                        
   
     We ended the trip with a stop at the famous Frank Pepe pizzeria in New Haven Connecticut.

04.11.17 Quick outing before heading north.....

     Beautiful morning on the river. Lake-like glass on the end of the outgoing and a stiff enough mud bottom to easily wade WAY out on the moon tide. Heard the bunker flipping before I could see them and then when light came they were in motion around me. Made a bunch of casts while walking slowly. Don't think the fish have came deep into the rivers just yet but they are in the bay and the boast have found them .  It's spring break so we're off to my happy place in Newport Rhode Island for a few days. We're taking the girls for their first time. I'm starting my countdown.....6-7 years and hopefully we'll be residents.