Been on a tear at the vice since the new year. It's now t-minus 27 days until the back bays and rivers open up for fishing. Who knows what March 1st will bring. So far, no doubt, a mild winter, but there's lot's of time for that to come. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow yesterday and that means 6 more weeks of winter. Winter is a good thing. Lots of snow pack leads to more water in the system. Striped bass, along with other anadromous species, love the freshwater, as that is where they do their love work
in the spring. That'll take us to April when we will see an armageddon or two of deluges from the sky in terms of rainfall. You know those rains. They leve the rivers up and dirty carrying every peice of lumber and debris downriver. It makes you think the river is too blown out to recover or the fish will just take a pass for this spawning season. And remember what ever happens up river, like way up river, effects what we see downriver. A storm that hits on a Tuesday may not hit where you are until a day or two later.
I have over 50 flies tied up. When I laid them out I could tell a January 4th tie from a more recent one. Practice makes better, not perfect. They'll all work, somewhere at sometime. There's a few beauties in there, and there's some not so pretty. That Beast in the middle towards the back sticks out like a sore thumb. I have to get one or two down good if this spring brings a good adult bunker bite.
I have to remember it's not all big flies that I need in my quiver. Silversides, mumichogs, and shrimp make up the striped bass diet as well. You can throw big all day but, as you know, you have to match the hatch when they are keyed into something other than herring and bunker.
It's the seventh inning stretch now. Time to go through your gear and get it ready. Your 15 year old fly line might need to be inspected and replaced. And your backing may be welded together and you don't want to learn that as a big fish is taking you into your backing. It's also a good time to go through your flies. Saltwater will rust out hooks and they may need to be sharpened. If it's a fly that looks like who did and ran, throw it out, and get busy at the vice.
March used to be a time for the worm and chunk soakers, but we have seen the bait and predator fish come alive early. It's closer than you think.