Yep, I'm fully cooked and done. Today was the final Quit, Quit #3. I know who cares. But I was psyched the night before to go and psyched as the morning winded down. There was a few moments of feeling like I potentially and possibly had a shot at a fish, but that lasted about 3 minutes.
Started in the dark in Mantoloking looking for that first light sand eel bite. I felt positive walking down and making my first cast but it didn't take long for the blood to leave my fingers. I brought my
old Orvis fingertip-less gloves with me and they worked and really kept my hands warm. I walked a mile or so only encountering three spin fishermen along the way. I didn't see anyone hook up while I walked there, to nowhere in particular, and back. It was a pretty enough morning but that beat I was on
just seemed dead. No birds. No anglers. Cold. So I made the move north and stopped in Bay Head. I think the reason I stopped there psychologically was my thinking there was a better chance in Ocean County rather than Monmouth. Really? But I went with it anyway. After blind casting up and down a
straight run beach like Mantoloking I was ecstatic to find something sticking out from the beach to cast around. While it was only a pipe it was something. I worked my way down into Pt. Pleasant but
stopped short of walking down to the inlet. while walking I got pissed when I saw all the birds sitting on the beach so I walked their way to stir them up so they could go find some bait or fish. Even though
most say the best bite this time of year is the first light bite, most of the day was cloudy and on the dark side so I had a feeling maybe I would find something. I left Bay Head and headed north. The Fat Lady was just about to begin her final performance.
As I made my way north just checking different towns, Sea Girt, Belmar, Bradley Beach, it was Asbury Park that piqued my interest. While driving north on Kinsley Street I looked over abd down down 3rd Avenue and saw some birds
looking hard, not dipping, and not flying around, but going back and forth. I stayed and watched them on the dropping tide and eventually they lost interest and flew away. I continued north as the curtains
opened up and the Lady approached the stage. I drove and checked and settled into a beach I used to call home. I split the time between the beach and the groin. There just wasn't a lot of water around
the groin and I am surprised I didn't donate my flies or fly line on my final day. There were some ducks and some gulls and a cormorant or two but they were looking as bored as I was feeling. I was going to
meet my son Sean for lunch in Red Bank so I lasted one more town before I broke it all down for the year. I saw one boat anchored up along my travels and then I saw the fleet, or what was left of it, way out past the Shrewsbury Rocks. My feeling is they had those New York fish rolling around on sand eels.
When I looked through the binoculars I was surprised to see a plethora of birds 1-1/2 miles off the beach. They were pretty much in a straight and moving south, relatively quickly. I was on standby
and I continued to watch hoping to maybe get one more shot. When the angler below made a move off the rocks I called it quits also. I was glad I went this morning. For no other reason then to try and get
get that last fish of the year. It really means nothing but for some unknown reason it does. In a way though I'm glad I didn't get like three, because it would leave me tempted to go again. Outside of a all out sea herring blitz or gannets diving so close they could get stuck in the sand I am done.
In the evening Theresa and I visited the Orvis Princeton store for the annual Holiday V.I.P. Event. It was a night for shoppers to take advantage of a 25% savings and grab a Helios 3 for $598, which is
$400 off the regular price of $998. That is a great deal. The store was busy as was the register and Andrew treated the shoppers to some snacks and beverages to enjoy while they shopped. In the fly
fishing section Bruce was busy moving those H3 rods as well as other items for peoples fly fishing and tying needs. I grabbed a few packs of the FlyMen Faux Bucktail that were in the bargain bin. I got some
black because good bucktail in black is hard to find. There's nothing like the real deal but this "faux" stuff cane be used for other applications, like sand eel flies, or for small baitfish patterns. There was a fly tyer there tying up some streamers and that kept some of the shoppers entertained.
I didn't leave the fish biting today but we did leave them shopping at the Orvis store. By 630 I was getting tired and just wanted to get home and ready for work. I am looking forward to getting all my gear out of the Jeep for a long winters nap. It's time to transition from fly fishing to fly tying, and soon the shows will be here. First up is The Saltwater Edge's "Stock the Box Fly Tying Expo" on Jan. 20th, 2024 up in Newport, R.I. Theresa and I are thinking of heading up there for the weekend. Then it's The Fly Fishing Show (s).
