Well that's a Cape May wrap for 2024. It's been good year although I wish the family used it more. I still just don't get it. September along the Jersey Shore is magical, especially after all the tourists he'd back to their respective homesteads. In a way I guess we're visitors as well since we're only part-timers down here with our place open from April 1 - November 1st.
It was another year of buying $20 worth of raffle tickets for the "Win This Car" put on by the Our Lady Star of the Sea Church down on Washington Street. I met a winner of the raffle from back in 1990's and was still driving that car. She told me, unbeknownst to most people, is winning the car is great, but then you have to pay the taxes and tags on it, which can be about $6,000, and then it goes towards your income tax. Tax. Tax. Tax.
Closing up shop only takes a couple of hours and there's more concern about leaving things around that hibernating mammals might like to snuggle up with over the long winter. I might make one more trip down to do some curb work along the road side of our property as
roads made up of shells mixed with water can wreak havoc on yards made up of those expensive white rocks. I have a plan to divert that runoff but need permission from the property managers before I begin.
I first laid some bricks in a straight line along the road but they have been pushed back by the shifting shells, sand, and dirt coming from the road. People ask me if I like having a set season for a second "home". And I do. It's out of sight out of mind for six months out of the year and then open for business the other six. The cost, well yeah, that sucks, but I know people who pay tons of real estate taxes in Monmouth County and then a fortune for a beach club. In New Jersey, you just shut up and pay.
We took a slow ride through Cape May as a last good-bye for 20-24 and hit a few yard sales just to enjoy the nice day. On the way home we hit Crabby's in Belcoville, "Where's Belleville, New Jersey?", for one last meal of fresh crabs.
Interestingly, we spoke with the bartender who told us that most of the crabs sold in New Jersey this year come from points south like Florida or the Gulf of Mexico. The Maryland crab catchers and restaurants "..are holding" onto their Chesapeake Bay crabs. The blue crabs of the Chesapeake are surveyed each winter during the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey. That's why your local favorite seafood hut charges you so much money for
blue claw crabs, either whole, caked, or mixed with stuffing into a fish or lobster tail. Even those "She Crab" and crab bisque soups can run you a $10 bill. Not only do the crabs have to be shipped they have to be kept alive. And this year it was hard to get soft-shelled crabs, especially ones that are alive. Crabby's closes October 27th and they received their last shipment on Friday. with today being a football day and with "All You Can Eat" crabs on the menu you'll have to catch them next year.
It'll be interesting to see how much fishing I get in this fall. I prefer spring over the fall, mostly because the blitz chasers are out in force from around Thanksgiving until Christmas. I'm not judging, and I like a good blitz or two a season, hopefully while alone, but is there really anything to catching a fish when there's 200 of them within 30 feet of you? All pretty much on the feed?
School's back in full swing with my time split between being at the college and at a long term care facility for clinical. Waking up at 4 am and getting on the road by 445 takes a little while getting used to but it's the only way to beat the traffic.
The big bass are starting to show as they lurk in the deeper channels around the borders of New York and New Jersey. Chuck 'Tyman" Manny continues to wow people with his consistent catches of large
stripers. In 2023 during October he released, and tagged, over 400 stripers weighing greater than 40 pounds. While that may leave you feeling like a loser remember Chuck isn't fly fishing for these stripers. He does wave the long rod but for these big girls he prefers live eels which have always been a big fish killer.
In the current On the Water magazine article Manny's live eel trolling spread was laid out. It's a mix of, a boat, 12 rods, planer boards, and 12 eels, which alone go for $2-3 apiece. I haven't been on his boat, which he regularly invites people to come and witness, but from what I've heard his operation is a well oiled machine. I hope this article doesn't motivate 1,000 anglers to get out there and attempt what Manny has mastered. I can't imagine what tangles might occur when doubled, tripled, or twelved up. Manny is one of the largest contributors to Gray's Fishtag Research Striped Bass Program and his release and recatch data is paramount to understanding the striped bass' changing migrations each year.
This morning I could have had the opportunity to join my friend making the trip from Pennsylvania down to the Jersey Shore. It was his Shakedown trip, one I did a few weeks ago. while I would have enjoyed the company the thought of driving around looking at dead water just didn't do it for me. But, what it could have done was given me an opportunity to scout the changed landscape from the last few storms. I took advantage of a late sleep on a Sunday morning, which did me well.
And while things aren't in full swing yet there are the occasional big fish catches that occur for those putting their time in. The below catch was made I think on Friday along the South Shore of Long Island. The fish are starting to move and eating whatever they find along their way. While the bait is still stuck in the back soon, with dropping temps, everything will be out front and along the beach.
