04.01.22 Wow! Finally connected....

        ....yep, what a fish, what a story. With winter gone and the river getting warmer I thought I'd give it a shot. And what do you know, I finally got one of those fish I've been looking for. Fooled ya! April Fools Day.....

     This has been more like it. Just about everyday in March I made fished somewhere and have just one fish to show for it. That's okay, next week it will begin. Hopefully before the next full moon. Last night we got hammered with rain and the river bumped up along with the new moon tide. Water temps still 

cold, on March 27, 2021 we were at 53 degrees and it had started getting good. Today we are at 44, almost 10 degrees colder, and almost chocolate milk due to the rain we got last night.  Yesterday I talked with some guys soaking bait, 4 hours, not a tap. This week I hit it on the way to work. Nothing to adventurous just a fly in the water, just hoping. Luckily I didn't 

find anything because as I was leaving I saw my favorite flies, tied on a Partridge Predator hook, had broke. I was really looking forward to catch another fish on that fly, a really good one. Luckily, I tied

up a bunch of decent looking flies in the off season so I think I am good to go. During the cold spell I went and explored a bunch if tributaries on both sides of the river scouting out to see if there was enough water for the herring to go up into and maybe striped bass follow them in. I can't be doing 

anymore during the slow days than I am doing. I just need some fly ready fish to wake or show up. I am not going to be that guy that complains all the time about dead striped bass, but, I will do it now. These guys aren't doing anything illegal. My problem is with the regulations. How many 28-38" striped bass can we kill in order to save the striped bass. I think this is a flawed approach. In a few years this class fish won't be around. Every dead bass fish picture you will see this spring, and you will see less 

especially from charter guys who don't want "to be that guy", on the boats and on the docks will be cookie-cutter sized, and one by one those year class fish will be decimated. The Raritan Bay is stacked with fish now, and its not hard to find them, follow the boats and you will find the fish, or you can use you fish riders, with aerial, bottom, top and side views if you need even more help. They don't always chew, but they will eat if something rubber or shiny is jigged in front of them. I caught this report on Facebook. Three guys in a tin boat caught 213 stripers yesterday. That's hard to maintain a count that high, but they did. Nothing illegal, but how many fish do you need to manhandle in a day, and doesn't it 

get a little boring, fish after fish after fish? Maybe I'm missing it. "They" say fishing mortality from recreational fisherman is 9%, and these fished get caught more than one time I am sure. Billion fish, a billion boats, just about everyday for a few months. When boats get on numbers they stay on them, catch, release, catch, release, and these fish don't swim away. They swim back down to their buds and either drop dead on the bottom or wait until there jaw pain subsides and then they eat again. 

     Fly fisherman are a bit different. You fish for hours, and hours, with little chance of catching the mother of all fish or the Mother Lode. You cast until your arm falls off and maybe you catch a few fish that day. The only time I remember putting up any numbers in on Martha's Vineyard, usually at night, when the majority of the bass were 20-24", but I stayed at it hoping for that one that was 30 inches. Fly anglers and even shore anglers (not poachers), aren't putting the pressure and beating on these fish. Maybe the ASMFC should put a halt on boat fishing for striped bass in April and May and November and December, just to give them a break for a bit.