On my way home from work the other day I stopped to check out the river. Basically it can come down to two words, low and warm. What caught my eye was the dimpling occurring on the water's surface that moved down the river with the outgoing tide. While hard to photograph with just an iPhone
if you look closely by clicking on the photo you can see small herring fry. The NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife studied the river herring through 2016 taking sampling on the Maurice River Great egg Harbor River. The results showed that blueback herring outnumber alewife's almost 2:1. River herring collectively are made of up of both types that we see in the Delaware River. River herring are anadromous, living in the saltwater and returning to the freshwater rivers to spawn. The herring come up the river in March and April and leave in later May and June. Striped bass, also anadromous, follow the herring both ways before and after they spawn.
While the fry are tiny, 1-1/2 - 2 inches now, there are a lot of them. Smallmouth bass, snakeheads, catfish and striped bass all take part in chowing down on these tiny morsels as they make their way back to the ocean. Later in the summer the shad fry, which are larger, will make their way to the ocean as well.
Since the equator-like temperatures have subsided so has the river's temperature. From a high just below 87 to a now first light 79 things must be better for the fish that tolerate the warmer temperatures. Since I was in the mood to fish I got out around 430 am and thought why not give a mouse a try. "Mousing" has been a thing for large trout and when the Upper Delaware gets too hot to fish during the day some anglers go nocturnal and throw their favorite mouse imitations. The only time I went big trout
mousing was way back in 2007 when Chris Roslin and I did a story for Eastern Fly Fishing Magazine. we were sent to Labrador , Canada where we took a series of planes to get to Cooper's Minipi Lodge.
we spent a week throwing big flies both day and night for large, like 7, 8, 9, and 10 pound brook trout. That trip was 17 years ago, wow, how time flies. I was 39 years old. I had hair on my head and face and
a little extra weight on me. While I did the photography and Chris did most of the fishing I was able to get in on the action from time to time but Chris caught the biggest fish of the trip. Funny to see an old
The Fly Hatch hat on my head from back in the day. This picture was from the tail end of the trip and you can see how exhausted I was from the long week of work. That spread came out sometime in 2009.
I threw the mouse fly without any attention from anything swimming below the surface. I had low expectations but did enjoy watching the retrieve and just waiting for maybe something to blow up on it.
With the water temps still warm I really hoped a striped bass wouldn't be the one to strike. I made the with to a small minnow fly but caught more grass on the dropping tide then attention from any fish. It's
amazing how the feel and smell and sights of the river change from say early spring till now. It just seems dead. I can't wait until the spring of 2025, one of maybe two or three springs I have left until the big move to South Carolina.
I spent some time walking and went to check out how construction on the new waterfront is going. Nothing has moved in months and I talked to the lead engineer who told me the final plans haven't even been drawn up yet as there's no money that has been allocated for completion of the project. The only thing new is more sturdier fencing keeping bathers and fishermen out.
I did share the river with a lone kayaker who trolled around and made some acts from time to time. I'm sure he wasn't expecting much either it's just a nice way to start the day, all alone on the river.
