Another year. Getting older. Soon I'll be turning 56. I feel like I'm 80. I'm sure if and when I turn 80 I'll feel like I'm 160. Early New Year's resolution....get healthier. Health is wealth. But money helps.
I do these year end reviews from time to time. 2023 was a good year. I made it through and had some happy and fishy times along the way. The blog has been good this year. A look below and I can see in the past 15 years this has been my 4 th busiest in the amount of posts at 294. It's funny how I can look at the years and align them to things going on in my life. Like let's say, 2015, when Theresa and I got together, posts down to 26....I do that in a month now. Or 2018, when I finished up becoming a Nurse Practitioner, only 79. Yes, life does get in the way of fly fishing, and vice versa. And in the world wide ranking, HERE,
of fly fishing blogs this one comes in at #24. I think the best it's ever come was 23. I would like to come in under 20, it just sounds better. Soon the number of people who have checked us out here will crest 1,000,000. That's individual or new viewers, not daily.
So a quick recap. I did my best fly tying in early 2023. I can thank Squimpish for that. I dabbled in some other materials and patterns but these did me very well through the year. I learned a lot by beating these up and have several take aways. I realize now how important hook choice is. More on that to come. March came in and I caught my first bass on March 9th. I fished a lot this
year and have my wife and my work schedule to thank for that. Did I mention I have to thank my wife again? Well I do. On March 20th I revisited the S.S. Archer. My great idea of a vessel to get
me in and around the various rivers I like to fish. It was a year earlier I capsized it in the Navesink. I had planned on coming up with ways to stabilize it. In the end I gave it away. More to come on that. On May 1st we opened up the house in Cape May and I had a chance to fish there a few times
between the day trips and day drinking and nights at the Washington Street Mall. They get good fish down there but that shitty off color water just turns me off. But this year I will fight through it. It was in late May that I had my best day of the year. It was a 20+ fish day. It was that good. It
was also in late May Theresa and I joined the Walker family spreading Al and Evelyn's ashes out at sea. To say I miss Al would be an understatement. He was a huge part of my fishing life.
This year I took more photos of bass in the tanks to date. I love doing it. This winter I am going to buy another acrylic sheet and build two new ones as the scratches drive me nuts and the sizing
good be better. The tank even got some play in Fly Fishermen magazine this fall. That was cool. I didn't travel much for fishing this year. I spent a few days with Leif up on the East Branch of the Delaware. Fishing was tough due to the super low water but some fish were caught, but fun was had.
In July I made my way down to the beach and during the few summer trips I had it was almost all fluke and no striped bass. I love fishing those crab flies and trying to pop up a bass before the beach
crowds show up. It was during that month I had the pleasure of bringing the two Joe's down to the Shady Rest to meet up with Bob and have some lunch. I was like the third person on a date. Then
it was off to Hilton Head where Neil and I hired guide Mark Nutting for a half a day in brutally hot conditions. I managed to land a few redfish which I feel rival my love for striped bass. In Sept. I
caught a few days of the few days of a mullet run and caught a few fish. While that was good, it makes me sad remembering how good our mullet runs were. But things change. It was an
opportunity to tie up and fish some Snake Fly's, probably my most favorite to tie up and fish. It was also in September we went out to visit Laura and have a dumpster party. I went through of Jim's "stuff" and did the best helping her decide what should stay or go. Now we just have fond
memories of the Pulse Disc and of Jim Matson. Man I miss that guy. I wish I had more times with him down in the laboratory. I would have learned so much. My jet boat had a visit to Mercer
Marine and she is all tuned up and ready for 2024. That I am really looking forward to. Not fishing out of it as much as having greater access to spots in the rivers I fish. October started off slow but started to pick up as big bass on big bunker started to hit the beaches. While I hate fishing with spin
guys, for the above reason, I was glad to be there with Marc as he caught a few beauties which made for some great pics. Oh yeah, I caught nothing. Before the months end I hit New Jersey's only nude beach and as the sun arrived I made this image of a guy displaying his morning wood.
That's a memory I could do without. In early November things started to heat up on the beach. It was a "You had to be here" type of season. It was all about blitzing bass on peanut and
and adult bunker. I had a great time the day of the Fly Tying Symposium. It started in Edison and finished up at The Shady Rest. It was the interaction between Levi and Bob that made my day.
Before the end of the month I found two days of great fishing in the afternoon after slow mornings of driving, stopping fishing, and then moving along. One of those days I was able to fish from the
in bigger water which is my favorite way to fish. By the end of the month I started making the rounds down into Ocean County. I seemed to always be a few hours or a day late. My best luck were the days I caught it right in Long Branch and Avon. It
It was in Long Branch where I almost throw my first sandy punches. I had returned into the water a over slot sized bass that was laying on the beach. It was sitting there all alone. Well that didn't go well when the demented angler came back and tried to explain why he left the fish there.
I started off December on a north Jersey river where I found one to eat. Two weeks later I found a bunch that were on the sand eels. It was good to catch more than one for once in awhile. It was off
to Florida for Christmas and then as soon as I returned on the 26th it was off to much needed trip to the beach to get my last touch of a striped bass for the year. looking back I would say I had a great
year fishing, maybe not catching. when I did get into those few blitzes I spent an equal amount of time taking pictures as I did fishing, so my catches could have been up. As far as good bass? That happened more for me in the spring than in the fall. Predictions for 2024? Well, let's just say it's going to be a year of big bass for me. I intend to catch at least one 50 inch bass, several above 40 inches, bunches in the thirties, and a ton in the 20's. Delusional? Maybe. But that's my plan. As far as the blog? There's some thoughts in my head of doing a podcast, the thought makes me ill. There are 10,000 podcasts out there. You Tube Channel? 20,000 of those. Maybe I should just stay put and do what I think I do best. We'll see. A monthly one hour podcast? How bad can that be?
I WILL be heading back to Martha's Vineyard this year. It has been far too long. My last trip was in 2021. I missed not going the last two years. Hopefully my buds will make the trip so I don't
don't have to....well you know, like see above. There will also be a return trip to Hilton Head where hopefully it's not hot like at the equator and there's a good new or full moon tide. I also hope to spend some time out at out friends house on the North Shore of Long Island. I had spent a night on the beach there this year and dug what I saw of the Long Island Sound and Smithtown Bay.
So that's a wrap. Good year. Blessed. Thankful and Grateful. Looking forward to the shows and tying up in the colder months before the opener March 1st, which is 61 days away. Oh yes, another prediction, I am going to really aggravate my wife off this year in regards to fishing. Early mornings, mornings, afternoons, evening, nights, late nights and all nighters. All around a busy schedule of work and family things. So, Theresa, I apologize now for the whole entire year, well, there's no striped bass fishing in January or February, at least in New Jersey. More to come on that.