06.24.25 Mother of God it's hot...

     It was a one and done outing yesterday morning. I have to say it was pleasant when I got down there around 6 am. There wasn't much for water around between the dropping river, now 10,400 cfs, and the dropping tide which was low around 815 am. But I was glad to find one, get a good pic, have it hang in the tank, and let it go. 

    Then Mother Nature fired up the oven, and half of the people in the United States got cooked. It was miserable, and the humidity could choke a horse. And it doesn't look like it's

going to break until Thursday when the rains come and the temps will be in the 70's. But you know the rains we'll get, a tsunami, like 10 inches in two hours with 100 mph winds. Great. That'll mean the power will be off again and more tree limbs down in the yard. 

      By the evening a quick check of the river shows temps up to 78 degrees from 73 when I was out in the morning. I have to say I would have liked to measure it where I was because it definitely felt cooler. I'd like to say 66 degrees is my upper limit for fishing for striped bass in the river, so the next few days will be off limits, might be time to travel east and hit the salt for the first time in 2025.

     But as far as flows go something interesting happened between last night, when I penned a draft, and this morning just before this post went to print. I went and checked the USGS website

and overnight the flows have nearly doubled from just over 10,000 cfs to just under 20,000 cfs. I know they're releasing more water out of Cannonsville Reservoir in Deposit and from the Francis E. Walter Dam on the Lehigh Walter More water is great, but it didn't budge the temps all that much. It's still very warm. 

     Not wanting to be done I took a long walk near home to check and see if there were any bass in the faster and shaded water. It was a good idea, well not really, as no one was home.

     I did set the hook on a log but was able to roll cast the fly free which made my day because I haven't had to change it since coming back from the Vineyard. I has good mojo. 

     And in bunker news the Menhaden Defenders blasted out that the bunker boats coupled with their spotter plans are back again this year. Bunker = Bass, and whales, and birds, and just about everything. Bunker, menhaden, ponies, whatever you call them, have more value swimming in the ocean than ground up for pet food or for your supplements. You want them, catch them yourself, put them on the barbie, and you and Fido can all the nutritional value you want from them. Enjoy. 

       In the top image you can see the the five Omega Protein ships making their way north and below the flight path of the spotter plane which took off from Wall Executive Airport and went looking for large schools of bunker. He then lets the boats know and the netting begins. 

06.23.25 Daddy did good...

     Since it's a fly fishing blog I'll start off with that but the title doesn't have anything to do with fly fishing. It's been seven days of hell. The minute Theresa and Lauren left I got to work doing a project around the house that is way past due. Yesterday was my last day to get it done but I took a little time in the morning to go fishing. It's deep into June and we still have good, at least for me, striped bass around. I know people say they're always here but I'm not into fishing for them when the temps are up and the river water smells like summer. 

     I know I'm a "Keep em' wet" guy but I just needed the above one to hold his breath for a second so I could get a different look. The tanks cool, and this one still got a shot in it for a little rehab before going back on his merry way. The cool thing the above fish was in a foot and half of moving water and blew up on the fly as I retrieved it in skittering along the top. 

     I had some fun with a bunch before the water drained and they were gone to better holding water. Again, while I'm tempted to drive east for some ocean fish, why leave home?

     And then there's an update from my buddy Abe who took over possession of the SS Archer. He and his buds purchased it from me while I was up on the Vineyard. On his maiden voyage 

he saw 50 fish and had one follow. That's pretty dam cool. He decided to remove the wheels as he doesn't need them. He will make more adjustments to it I'm sure. But the cool thing, and this is why I bought it, just look above, and figure out where one would be with the ladder set up? This gives a fly angler so many more sight fishing options just outside of the point of ladder view. And Abe, please shoot some pics horizontally, it's better for the blog!

     And one more update. While I was away Joe Cordiero had given a talk at Kismet Outfitters in Edgartown which included a display and demonstartion of Old Mariner Fly reels, HERE. 

When we were at the house a day later he wanted to give me a private tour of the line. And the best part, he and the designer and owner Paul Conover wanted to put one in my hand. Well it arrived. I was hoping to have it before Thursday so I could have the boys 

over at Orvis Princeton spin on some backing for me. I'll just have to take a trip over and have them do just that. And Theresa won't mind as she just adores Andrew Hamilton. Creeper....

     I'll go into more about the reel after I put it to use. What I can tell you they come from the mind of a guy with great experience, from Fin-Nor, to Old Florida Fly Reels, to now Old Mariner. And mine is a work of art and very easy on the eyes. It will looked great paired with my Orvis Helios 9 ft. 10 wt. 

     And now why the title of this blog is "Daddy did good....". We bought a 100 year old house. If you know then you know. Ever see the movie The Money Pit? Well this is it, but boy is she beautiful. 5,000 square feet of just craftsmanship. The problem is that was 100 years ago and just about everything has to be redone. We, well I, have tried my best, but there's a ton more to do. 

      Recently Theresa made the comment that she was embarrassed to have people over, and she was right. I have to do better. We have been living in old, and cruddy, and in half completed projects in or about for eight years. It's time for Daddy to stop fishing and get my This Old House belt on and get to work. 

     So the minute they left for the week I went to work. Outside of Father's Day, and then a day after Father's Day dinner with Sean and Erin I worked 10 hours plus per day. And I have to give

a shot out to them both for a great treat. I told them I must be getting old as they drove and picked up the bill. Well Sean's 27 and Erin will turn 20 in a few weeks. Where does the time go? 

     So what did I have to do? Well first was tear up the old asbestos squares on the floor. These were put on with some military or NASA grade designed adhesive. Then it was trying to patch up the hole we've had in the ceiling for about three years. The problem was its plaster over metal lathe. Try matching that up. Then it was skim coating all the walls. The floor molding had those plastic curbs over the wood, again with the same adhesive. Then the best part. Having to thin set the Durock 1/4 concrete flooring down in which the new tile floor will sit on. Do you know how hard all that shit is? 

 

     So I did this... all alone. Up and down more times than I could count. I hit my head. I pinched my fingers. I breathed in more asbestos and spackle dust than my already damaged lungs needed. I did it without power or water for two and half days. You know what, "Daddy did good...." 

     I picked up a carpet at a yard sale for three bucks and made it look as homey as possible. I topped it off with a heart ballon to surprise her when she walks through the door. All that hard work, she deserves it. Now, if I don't get the reaction I'm expecting, I'm leaving her. Just kidding. Now the thing is to finish it. While I have a lot of mojo going on right now, and feel kinda DIY invincible, tiling this floor by my lonesome may be above my pay grade. I'm thinking of getting someone in to do when we head to Ireland in a little over a month from now. After three years, well we moved in in 2018, what's another month. But I can tell you this, Daddy went fishing this morning 'cause he did good. 

 

06.22.25 That was a long 44 hours....

     With Theresa and Lauren away for the week and it just being me, Luke, and a Honey-Do wish list I took action on the email I received from Orvis Princeton about a presentation on Thursday night. The presenter was Zach Flake of Flyway Charters, HERE. I've seen Zach's presentation before but those were about his secret spring and fall North Jersey spots. I can tell you I've seen Zach out there up north as I make my way on foot to fish some of the same waters he does. And let me tell you, if you want to try something new, in a place that will blow your mind, hit him up for an easy peasy half day trip. It's that good. 

    Fishing Manger Bruce Turner kicked it off and before he did I found out about some of the trips he's been running through Orvis Princeton. The Bahamas just came and went and in a few weeks he'll be off to Iceland. Did you know Iceland is a 4 + hour flight? 

     So Zach was taking about his Barnegat Bay summer trips. It's cool if you're down there as he splits his time sight fishing for striped bass and blues and running out to the North Jetty between 

tides. He had his 19 foot Beavertail out in the parking lot because he was coming from a Bay trip and stopped at Princeton before heading home up north. Nice job Zach. 

    As Zach spoke the heavens opened up and boy Mother Nature was fired up. It lasted well over and hour and when I got home the power was out. PSEG is my provider and I just got update after update when power would be restored. What happed was there were two huge 

trees just down the way from me. One came across Route 29, aka River Road, and the other came from the other side of the Delaware and Raritan Canal and both crashed through the lines. This was Thursday. I didn't get power back till 4 pm on Saturday, some 44 hours after it went down. No power. No water. No blog. 

     Before the presentation I talked with Store Manager Andrew and was going to give him a piece of my mind about the Orvis PRO Slingpack. I used it everyday up in the Vineyard and hated it. I couldn't get to my stuff inside, the small pocket up front was difficult to access, and the water bottle holder was dam near impossible to find. While I don't like the leader holder outside, it was good up there because I do carry and use the 20, 16, and even 12 pound flouro from time to time. 

     Just as I got going Andrew stopped me in my tracks, 'You wore it on the wrong shoulder". What?  " I was following your blog and saw that you had it on backwards in every picture". 

He added, "Why would you want a thick strap on your casting shoulder?". Um, duh. So, my bad. I can't wait to see how it really is when I use it correctly next time. 

     The next morning I ran down to the river before I got all busy with chores around the house. With an impending new job about to get going I need to get some stuff done around the house. But, I wanted to fish, and catch, and I did. Nice size slot to under slot sized fish to play with. 

     Trees near me don't have a very good root hold and they grow ginormous. Since I couldn't even make coffee I headed to WaWa for some joe and found my neighbor dealing with this. A large tree came down, smashed the families Audi, before crashing onto their roof. 

     One cool thing to see when the storms bring trees down is that the deer get a shot at all of those tough to reach morsels. They are now at their feet. I dam near crashed when I saw this white deer next to the side of the road eating away at some kind of large leafed tree. Below is a video I shot. It's not an albino deer, I think, I think it's called a Piebald. Glad to have power back finally.

06.19.25 New look for the bass's living room ....

     I stopped by the river the yesterday just to see how it looked. There was a group of men working on the land side but I noticed a ladder going down to the river. It was low tide and there was more activity below then up top. What's funny is Mark and I did that same tactic during a practice session one night to see if it could be done. The worry is with the new watefront project all access to the river on the Jersey side will be over. 

     It's been several years since the Trenton waterfront project started, actually it was August 2022. The work is being conducted primarily around the old wharf just below the train bridge. 

They've knocked the old one out and are in the process of building a new one. It's been a long time since they started but I was told by an engineer they had to wait for the final plans to be approved, and the budget passed.

     It used to be a great place to fish, but no longer. Yes, you can fish the stretch from a boat, but you know how I feel about boat fishing. Long gone are the days where I'd tip toe 

past the sleeping homeless to make my way to the river. Now fencing lines Route 29 and there is no access. It's over Johnny.

     I talked to the project foreman and he told me they were painting the river side of the wall from the top down to the high water mark. They use a special epoxy based paint that is used to extend the life of the concrete walls. Those walls have been holding the land one way and the water the other since the 1950's and 60's when the project was completed. 

     Route 29 plowed through what was once Stacy Park and it basically separated the city from the Delaware River. There have been studies to re-route Route 29 and make the waterfront more accessible and inviting. It is all planned around the Trenton Thunder Ballpark. While that's great for anyone who doesn't hold a fishing

      While that's great for anyone who doesn't hold a fishing rod in hand, it's not so good for the striped bass. If fishing is even allowed on the public promenades anglers will have a chore landing a striped bass from that vantage point. The folks that fish along Trenton's waterfront now, are great, and not so great. Lot's of garbage, lot's of poaching, and lot's of mishandled big fish when it's the season. Like everywhere else, the Delaware River will become a boat fishery. And I hate boats. 

     And just a fun fact. New Jersey is the only state where you can see another state, like in close proximity, to another, from the Capital building.