And for those that know or have partied at Tice's Shoal on the bay side of Island Beach State Park the above shot is how we do it out here on the Delaware River. Low tide, river running summer levels, and a holiday beautiful day mens boasts lined up on the shoal.
Monday, July 4, 2022
07.04.22 Happy July 4th
And for those that know or have partied at Tice's Shoal on the bay side of Island Beach State Park the above shot is how we do it out here on the Delaware River. Low tide, river running summer levels, and a holiday beautiful day mens boasts lined up on the shoal.
Sunday, July 3, 2022
07.03.22 Here we go with the Snakeheads...
Had a great few days down at the Cape leaving just as the crowds started to build. By early Saturday morning there were pedestrians, golf carts, bicyclists, cars, motorcycles, and the horses that were getting ready for the holiday weekend. Glad to split and head home yesterday before the madness. Hate to say it, but someone is getting run over in Cape May this weekend. And don't you know it while writing this I did a quick search on Cape May news. A bicyclist was airlifted to a trauma center after being struck by a car in Cape May yesterday. Sad news.
Back home is was time to fish. On the water by 5am and I just couldn't pass up trying for a striped bass. Popped, nothing, big fly, nothing, smaller fly nothing. So at 730 I decided to hit the bayou and look for a snakehead. It was Jurassic Park conditions out there. Zero wind, 1,000 % humidity, biting flies all over the place, and sweat that filled my underwear in a matter of minutes.
I walked and stopped and watched, then did it again, and again. Turtles everywhere swimming in the water that got my heart pumping when I would see a swirl on top, only to be disappointed when I would see their head pop up in the area. I jumped a few more spots before setting in to some fishy looking water on the outgoing tide. I was just panning from left to right and right to left when some
slow movement caught my eye. I focused in and saw a nice sized snakehead in the shallow water. I tried to entice a strike but he just looked at it and eventually moved along. That was the only shot I had this morning. You can see the scene above and a little tighter view of what hunting snakeheadslook like in the water. I'm carrying the tank, although it's a pain. Time to view something else besides the striped bass for a while. One thing is for sure, these are shots, like sight fishing for striped bass. Lots of time hunting, little time blind casting, more days ahead without a fish in the tank.
Saturday, July 2, 2022
07.02.22 Great Wildwood Crest beach read.....
I'm not really a beach person so planting myself under a large umbrella with a beer and book does it for me. Theresa had her childhood friends from Long Island down and it was a nice day to take them to the beach. Stiff SE made for a nice breeze and bug free day. So I picked up this book, "Successful Striped Bass Fishing" written by Frank Moss and published in 1974. It was cool from the start of the book, with the first line reading, "The first time stripers really got under my skin was on an October afternoon back in 1938". 1938? That's almost 100 years ago. Imagine how many people have got bit by the striped bass fishing bug over those 84 years.
It was allow interesting to read selections written by pioneers in fishing at that time including Mark Sosin, who passed away a few days ago. He was a legend in the fishing and fly fishing industrySo after reading about striped bass and catching them with bait, plugs, trolling, netting, harpooning, ect, the final Chapter 25 was a surprise. "Fly Rod Stripers are the Greatest" and as I read the author stated his favorite rod was a Orvis Battenkill impregnated bamboo eight-footer designed with slow action to handle weight-8 line". It was funny how he described in detail how smaller
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
06.29.22 No bass for you!
So there was no surprise when I moved a fish on my first cast. No worries, it'll be game on soon I thought. Well that never happened. Not a swipe, a hit, a nothing. By the end I was just about dragging my fly across the rocks in desperation. I have to say, although I have said it before, I'm
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
06.28.22 A bass a day....
I thought I timed it right getting down to the river at 530, a few hours on the drop. Well, someone opened the drain plug because the water was low and there was only a few spots to get them. I found that spot and had a bunch of chances during a short window. I went to the few remaining plastic envelopes I had left and tied on the below fly only to have it broken off after my first cast.
Always an excuse, but today's was I think due to excitement and wanting to get a fly in the water before the water left. There's some challenges here, and one of the biggest is the backcast and direction you can throw and land a fly. I kept trying to get it into the deeper water but it was tough.
The Orvis Recon rod is slow, which is good, as you can bend and load the rod quickly and kind of direct your cast better than a fast rod. When I did it right I hooked a nice bass which was the only one that made it into the viewing tank. One thing is for sure, you can't fish from an elevated perch
Monday, June 27, 2022
06.27.22 Never gets old....
Sunday, June 26, 2022
06.26.22 One and done....
just tough with the fly rod on the high incoming tide. There were mussels galore and it was tough trying to get the fly down in the trough without coming up with junk on each fly during each retrieve. After light came I met up with Leif and we made a quick spot switch as I was having no
luck. There was a guy fishing a bucktail/squid combo and he must have landed 20 fluke, including a few keepers, which we shared a bowl. Now, bowl meaning structure, not bowl meaning cannabis (pot). I walked down the beach and up onto the rocks and after 10 minutes I had my first hit and fish of the day. It grabbed the Ugly Ass Fly just as I was taking it out of the water and soon he was making his way into the still swell waves. I haven't landed a fish on the groins lately but luckily this one had a nice carved out section I could get down and land the ocean run fish. I had to call it an
early day because Lauren had listed her Subaru and she had a lineup of customers starting at 9. It only took three people looking at it before she had the asking price in 20's in her hand. That's some