So what do you talk about when you're with a guy who's been fishing for striped bass for say sixty years? Well, fishing for striped bass for sixty years. Joe grew up in Trenton and fishing the Delaware River. He remembers the lean years, remembers the herring..."Oh the herring", and remembers the good fish stories and the guys he's met along the way.
Joe has a tremendous amount of fishing knowledge. He has done it all, fly, spin, conventional. I asked him if he had to choose a go to he said it would be the bucktail. He spoke about bucktailing the Delaware and how effective it can be when the water is up and the fish are down. That intel doesn't help the fly rooder much, but actually it does. What it tells you is is how you have to get down, way down in the moving water.
It was fun to hear his stories about "Jetty Country", and mixing it up with the Asbury Park Club guys when thye were very territorial and didn't welcome outsiders on their home country, well at least not at first.
I have been fortunate to have met veterans of the game and enjoy learning the history of striped bass fishing in both the salt and fresh waters. One interesting thing Joe did say when I asked about the health of the Delaware, "It's in the best shape that I can remember", adding, "And there's alot of fish".