So things change. Jobs, friends, where you live, and where you fish. I have, for years, been stuck in the Monmouth County beach mindset. It was kinda easy because I loved there. Jetty Country is home and there's no where else I'd rather be. Well, that could be good, but I have realized a few things. Stripers also change. They change where they vacation, live, and hunt for food. That has been evident for a couple of years now. Call it a change in migration pattern, change in water quality in the bays and rivers, change in where the bait is migrating or staging before the migration, and then there's good old beach replenishment.
The Raritan Bay this year was, well, ridiculous. Almost too good. Now I never really got into it good. Lack of opportunities, went out front instead of out back, and then the boat crapping out during a solo session November 24th, just as the gettin' got good. We had a few days just before things broke open, or more accurately, word got out. "The back" was on fire. Peanuts and then adult bunker seemed to be stuck in their tracks and didn't move, and the striped bass didn't have to either.
After a few cold-snap days the beaches kinda lit up from Sandy Hook down to the IBSP, and then down near Brigantine starting around Thanksgiving. However, the bulk of the fish stayed in the bay almost until the third week in December, by then most boat guys, and its mostly is a boat fishery, had had enough and pulled their boats.
So what to do? I'm not saying I'm giving up on the beaches and rocks. I love it there, especially when its snotty, but, its not my neighborhood anymore, and there is no doubt that another round of beach replenishment has re-killed the ecosystem. The stretches that have not been touched by man are more productive then those that we have destroyed, better underwater life, better structure, better water on different tides, and just a nice place for forage and predators to hang. Now that's not saying that Sandy Hook has been and would be on fire while Deal is dead, its just that Sandy Hook may be better, if the fish are around. And lately, they just don't seem too want to hang along the Jersey beaches. And I am not talking about blitz fishing. That doesn't count, it's fun, but it doesn't count.
So my new gig in Newark has shifted where I may be on any given day. The days vary, hours vary, and location varies depending if it is on campus or in the hospital. And on other days I am in my office in Pennington, close to the Delaware. That said, Monmouth and Ocean Counties are in the other direction. I live in Mercer, pass through Middlesex, Union, Essex and am near Hudson and Bergen Counties, and you know what, it may not make the fly fishing magazines, but there
are a ton of places to fish, not all fly fishing, for striped bass. So I have made it a point before and after work to scout out new places to fish, which, may be more productive than pounding the usual haunts like Monmouth County beaches over and over. And you know what, the bass are there, the bait is there. It doesn't matter if you're fishing in the states largest city, or next to a dump, or near the Turnpike or in an industrial area or a shithole, bass seek thermal refuge or comfort and food. And if you're talking spawning, or natal waters, then they are there to do that also . There is controversy about that too. Some say it only happens in the Delaware River, others say it happens in the Maurice, Navesink, and Raritan Rivers.
So when scouting, say above Exit 9 on the Turnpike, you have to ask yourself as few questions. Number 1, access. Is there a place to legally fish? Can I fish it realistically from foot? A lot of these rivers are sink-to-your-thighs mud dumps, and if you can't wade past the concrete walls, bushes and obstructions you won't even be able to cast. Number two, safety. Am I going to get jacked up fishing a tide at 2am in a shady part of town? It happens, or your truck gets busted in because bad guys are always on the prowl. Three, time of year and tides and schedule. This isn't go down and fish any tide because you have some time before or after work. You need the right tide at the right time, when you can actually go, or else it will be for nothing. Fish move with the tides, coming up onto the flats or staying within the channels. Four, the moons! Mark them down, even more so if you are fishing somewhere other than the beach.
Those November and December fish are still here in good numbers, in my opinion, they all don't leave. Yes the Raritan Bay at Keansburg is 32 degrees as is the Delaware River, but there are channels and holes where they winter over, or maybe they go up from the Rairtan and New York Bays to the 150 foot depths of the Hudson. Not every striped bass has to travel. If I am a Hudson fish, sexually mature, and gorged myself from T-day to X-Mass, do I ned to take my fat-ass self to Virginia for two months only to come back to Poughkeepsie to get laid in April? I don't think so. And most rivers have a holdover population, smaller fish, so that is what you see, and catch, in the early spring days when the waters warm up and they need to eat following a winter of slow metabolism and "hibernation".
So I am excited about this year. What will it mean? Who knows? But my goals for this year include a few things,
- Mid winter walleye on the fly
- A lot of striped bass from different locations on the Delaware River
- A fish from each of the following rivers, Delaware, Raritan, Rahway, Passaic, Hackensack, Navesink, Shrewsbury, Shark River, Manasquan River, Toms River, and something down in the Cape May back bays or harbor
- Yep, hate to say it, but get up on my kayak, not fish fish from always, but just a way to sneak out and over to a better spot. The Navesink is a good example where a kayak can make the difference.
Counting down the days till walleye. Don't forget The Fly Fishing Show opens tomorrow and this weekends weather is looking spotty.