02.15.10 Winter fishing the West Branch of the Delaware

Even though all my kids had off from school today I was still able to take a quick run up to the Catskills and get some fishing in. My first priority was to check out our house in Roscoe. We haven't been up in a while and I wanted to make sure it was still standing. Luckily that area didn't get the snow we got down the shore so there wasn't any additional snow load on the roof. The area didn't have the amount of snow on the ground that we have here in New Jersey. The town of Roscoe looked kind of bland, the skies were gray, the dirty snow was piled up throughout town, most shops including the two fly shops were closed, and it was cold. 28 degrees. The only difference I could see was someone painted the Reynolds House yellow and purple which is a totally different look. It is now an eye opener.

I pulled out of Roscoe and headed west on Route 17, soon to be Route 86, and thought about where to fish. The only water that is open this time of year is the border water between NY and PA. So from the Upper Gamelands stretch of the West Branch through the entire Mainstem. I decided to hit the Gamelands but I was going to access it on the Route 17 side at Monument Pool. The snow plows had filled in the access at the railroad tracks so I parked near the log home headquarters and walked the mile to get into the water. I fished the braids for a while

running a black wolly bugger along the deeper water along the banks with no luck. I walked down past the parking area opposite the trailers that are perched above the large pool. As I fished I could here the banging of nails as two a large home is being built to the right of the footbridge that crosses the access from the trailers. As I fished here the sun came out and the clouds started to disappear. It was just before noon and I was hoping the water would be or get a little warmer then the 36 degrees it was. I decided to take the long trek back to my car and head downstream. I drove down to Hancock and parked at the Route 191 bridge. The sun out, the clouds were gone and I was sure I would get into at least one fish. I stuck the water and was at 36 degrees, same as up above. I fished the fast water above the bridge and then into the large pool below. I switched off the wooly bugger to a stonefly and finished with a hares ear. I

decided to flip some rocks and found a great yellow stonefly nymph. I took some pictures and let it go. What a great meal they must make for a hungry trout! I had the entire river to myself for the day, which either means I was a genius or a fool! I can't wait to come up when things heat up a bit!

02.11.10 Tons of snow but I gotta go!

I am sitting in my man cave after a long day of running around and shoveling snow at four different houses. I am a little tired and need to figure out when I am going to get out again. Believe it or not I was figuring on hitting the Toms River tomorrow until I just got the call that the kids school is closed. So they will have off three days, then the two weekend days, and then two next week. Not much fishing going on there. But I am looking at the USGS gauge station in Hale Eddy on the West Branch of the Delaware. 425 cfs and temp of 38 degrees. I don't know how much snow they got the last two days but I am thinking maybe next week for a winter West Branch trip.

02.08.10 New look at The Average Angler

So after looking at the website in black and white for the last few months I decided to make a change. Where before there was no color images on the site, and the background was black, I've decided to brighten things up. I have come to realize that some of these images, although I love black and white, are just better in color. Case in point in the brown trout image I have on the Main Page. This beautiful wild brown was caught on the Lackawanna River. The colors just pop. Below is the comparison between the two.

Stay tuned as some more cool changes are being made to the website. For now the BLOG will remain the same. And weather update, southern New Jersey got blasted with over a foot of snow, while the northern part of the state only got a few inches. Looks like I might hit a river of north this week if the temps up there are approaching the high 30's.

02.05.10 Great day on the Manasquan!

After some early morning office work I was able to pack up for a quick trip to the Manasquan River. Yesterday I stopped by a local outdoors shop and picked up a few wooly buggers since I wouldn't have the time to tie any before today. Got to talking with the fly guy their about the sea-run brown trout and how far up the Manasquan they go. He said guys come in the shop catching big browns up into Howell above Route 9. So that is where I started, Route 9 and Casino Road. I pulled onto Luxury lane off of Casino and it dead ended into the river. The water was muddy brown and full of trees and garbage. I did thrown a chartreuse wooly bugger into a couple of deep holes without a hit. I headed back to my car and found a little better section at the West Farms Road bridge. I parked and crossed the road and headed upstream. After maneuvering through heavy brush I found a place to throw in. This spot looked familiar to something I watched on ESPN last month. Larry Dahlberg was fishing for wolf fish in Surinam. I stayed for about 30 minutes and packed it in. I traveled downstream near Allaire State Park and had the river to myself. I still had on the chartreuse wooly bugger and then switched over

to a chartreuse flash caddis. For some reason I thought green was the ticket. After about and hour I switched over to good sized black wooly bugger and went to work. The air temps were 34 and the water temp 38 degress, a little colder then the last time I was here. The guides kept freezing up and the ice had to be knocked off to let the line pass through. I fished the same

water with no result and then upstream to water I hadn't touched in years. I was in pursuit of sea-run browns and had emailed the Mark Boriek, the chief Fisheries Biologist from the State, the day before with some questions. So I standing in cold water when my Blackberry chimed that I had and email, it was Marc with some answers to my questions. The questions I really wanted answer was do the sea-runs actually spawn or just come back because they think they're going to spawn, he answered the later. The water temps and substrate wouldn't support spawning, although he did say some anglers have reported seeing fish spawn. So after that I was a little re-energeized and within 10 minutes I had nice healthy brown trout that took the dead drifted wooly bugger hard off the bottom. He was nice steady fight and after a quick photo

he was back in the water. The section I fished was a nice hard cut bank that I knew must hold another bigger fish. I left this section and went upstream and fished beneath the railroad bridge, great water that I worked really hard in but no fish. So that brought me back down to where I caught the brown. I still had the wooly bugger on, with a small BB split shot, non-lead, and casted upstream and left it drift along the bottom down. After a dozen casts a felt a hard strike as I lifted the rod. It was a heavy fish. I could feel it trying to shrug off the wooly bugger. When I got it to the net I couldn't believe how big it was, just over 18 inches, with a nice pink hue starting to come it, and good fins all the way around. I could picture this fish on someone's dinner table on opening day. As I held the fish in the net I struggled to get my camera out of my top pocket. I was trying to get the zipper undone with one hand, hold the net in the water, and hold my rod with two fingers. I got my camera, wet my hand and slid it under the fish, and then the fish slid into the water. No picture. But what a nice fish.

I felt that I couldn't beat those two fish there so I decided to head down river to fish the Hospital Road bridge access. After a quick drive I pulled into the parking area and surveyed the water. It was even murkier then upstream, hard high cut banks, with even bends and trees then I would have liked. But I gave it a shot. I fell at least 4 times on the mud that lined the stream and I was covered in that orange mud-clay thick nasty stuff they call soil down there. I did more walking then fishing and eventually made my way to the Garden State Parkway bridges. Again

I waited for Larry to show up with a Teramar rod looking to hoist some devil from the deep. Or two old guys sitting on chairs with their rods leaning against a sapling while they catfished. I surveyed the water there and made a few casts, busted my ass on the mud and started walking out. They say that this spot is one of the best for the sea-run browns, usually after a heavy rain.

I can't wait to come back and give a shot when the browns are here, funny thing is, they are super skittsy and easily spooked. Sea-run browns are supposedly super nocturnal, and night fishing is the best time to catch one. It still isn't the prettiest spot here to fish, but maybe in the fall I will come back here to try and get one. The water is deep, slow moving, full of trees and

branches, just what a fly fisherman loves! On my way out I met some guys fishing, one with a fly rod, who said he picked up a few small browns above the bridge so I hit before I left. I went a few sizes on my black wooly bugger and did have one small brown come up and lip it and release. I fell twice more and then drove home. It was so muddy down there I had to wash the car and my waders even thought we were due to get over a foot of snow Friday night.

02.03.10 Hunting for sea-run brown trout in the Manasquan River

Since the other day when I met Andrew on the Manasquan River my interest in the sea run brown trout program has been growing. After I posted the 01.27.10 blog I started doing some research on this interesting and relatively "quiet" fishery. So even though I would rather be writing about a more well known fishery and river, ie: steelhead and the Salmon River, I decided to take a long "10 mile drive" to the river where nearly 25 years ago I started fishing for trout. This morning I gathered my notes on where the most sea run brown trout have been caught and headed to Brice Park in Wall. When I got there another guy had just set up a Home Depot bucket and planted his rod in it after casting some Power Bait into a large pool on a bend in the river. At first he was tight lipped about the sea run browns that are caught throughout the river. He said sometimes the fish are huge...and recently he had been catching smaller browns on Panther Martin spinners there at the park. But his eyes lit up when he talked of fish in the five to ten pound range that are caught every year. "Okay- thank you, have good day"..is what I thought to myself as the man turned and got into his car to stay warm. After a few casts a large town dump truck came into the park and stopped near where I was parked. Two tough looking guys starting walking over to me and I at first thought maybe I was fishing when or where I wasn't supposed to. But as they got closer I could see one of the guys had a fly fishing hat on, so my back hair stood down. We talked for a while and the one guy seemed to know a lot about this location and more importantly, about the sea-run browns. He started in about the big browns, and how just a few weeks ago he ran into a guy at a local coffee shop who showed him pictures of three fish he had caught upstream in the days before, up to 10 pounds!!! He also told me that the sea-runs come back into the river in October-November and make their way upstream to spawn? (The state is still evaluating if in fact these fish do spawn). According to the stocking chart on the NJ Division of Fish and Game website in 2009 the state stocked 18,090 brown trout that averaged 7.6 " with a total weight of 3,015 pounds, or .16 of a pound, which means very tiny fish. I would think most of these would be a tasty treat for larger prey in both fresh and salt water.

So I packed up and headed to a place I haven't been to in 25 years. I started my trout fishing "career" here on the Manasquan. A river where you learn where not cast rather than where to. It's also a river that could be used to show the history of hooks, sinkers, and lures that have been used in the last 100 years. Basically, there is wood everywhere. Forget the backcasts, it's behind you, in front of you, above you and below you. It's where I started with mealworms and salmon eggs. Salmon eggs that would be stored on your wading belt after removing the cap and screwing the jar into a metal lid and holder combination. I can remember the slick that would be formed everytime I would bend over to reach to remove my gear from a log or branch.

The access I went to was Preventorium Road behind the high school. As soon as I got to the bridge it felt very familiar. I saw the signs stapled to the trees and went over to look.

The bottom sign was the Trout Stocked Water warning sign and above it was about the Sea Run Brown Trout. Maybe these things do exist! I spent the next hour and a half remembering how to fish the Manasquan. It's takes practice and patience. It was a little new since I had never used a fly rod on this river. I can remember how deadly and accurate I was with an ultralight Diawa spin outfit. I didn't catch anything but boy did I have fun. I found some nice holes above the bridge and also remember what it was like to try and cast through a thicket of branches to get

to that perfect spot. I did get there, managed to get a wooly bugger in there, and waited for the strike that never came. I moved below the bridge to some water that I would think held fish but not today. It was just fun to be out there. The water temp was 40 degress and the air temp went from 32 when I got there to 38 when I left. The area below the bridge was a series of s-turns

that made pools and bends in the river. As the morning turned into afternoon I decided to try a new spot downriver. I took the short drive and was on a neat section, with long slow pools and a few riffles. I changed my wooly bugger from olive to black and a few casts later felt a fish on. I saw it turn near the surface after a sluggish strike and it was off. Game on now. It was a little over an hour later when I lost the next fish downriver. But I felt good because I knew fish were there. I went back at both of them with no result. As I tried the second time for the first fish, braced on an overhanging tree, with my leg up as a counterweight, and slightly off balance, I could feel the resistance as I made my cast in the air. My eyes focused on a large branch overhead. First I saw the series of spilt shot, then above that a bobber, and then finally near was my wooly bugger. A typical Manasquan River decorated tree, and with that, my day was done.

02.02.10 Finally at the vise

Well here's a simple creation that I may field test tomorrow on the Musconetcong River. It has no name and is super simple to tie. Tiemco #2487 size 12, 1/8 brass beadhead, 6/0 black uni-thread, Antron dubbing. 

02.01.10 Organizing, listening, and learning

Spent most of the weekend and early part of the week organizing my gear and fly tying bench. Never did get around to pumping out any rhyacophilia imitations like I planned to. But as I puttered around in my man cave located in the basement of my house that holds me, a future wife, four kids, and three cats- I enjoyed listening to several podcasts. I try to not mention manufacturers or business that aren't paying to advertise, but I have to mention The Itinerant Angler and Ask About Fly Fishing . I listened to some great interviews on the shows that included magazine The Drake owner Tom Bie, author Paul Weamer, guide Rachel Finn and fly caster wiz Tim Rajeff. As much as I hate the new technology era, from time to time I do take advantage and enjoy it. Amazing how I can listen, see and enjoy so many things these days for free! How are people supporting themselves an getting paid? I guess that's the million dollar question. When I figure it out, I won't share it with you!

01.27.10 Finding a new stream and visiting an old haunt

Today I criss-crossed the State while on assignment for New Jersey Monthly magazine. My first stop was up in Union County and I stopped at a little stream called Green Brook in Watchung along New Providence Road. Surprisingly the water levels were low and clear. The stream followed the road below a pond and through the remnants of what appeared to be an old mill. There are signs from the NJ Fish and Game noting trout stocked waters. I am sure itgets pounded in the spring and warm in the summer. I will have to try it sometime if I'm in the area.

On the southern part of my trip I was on 195 heading east from Trenton when I decided to check on an old haunt, the Manasquan River. It is the river that I started trout fishing as a kid about 25 years ago. I pulled off the highway onto Lakewood-Farmingdale Road and turned around to get into the access below the bridges there. As I pulled down the ramp I saw a car parked there with license plates that surely belonged to a fly fisherman. Below the small falls a

guy was nymphing in stained-to muddied water. As I watched him I saw he had an attachment to his reel seat that seated the reel below the rod. I haven't seen that before, and I was surprised I didn't notice it at the Somerset show. We started talking and he explained to me that it was called a Balance Reel Arm, used to perfectly balance a rod and reel. He is a regional rep for several companies, including Ross Reels.

We talked about some winter fishing we had both done while it was warm and before the monsoons that came in the last few days. He said he had fished here and was catching small sea-run brown trout. In 1997 the Division Fish, Game, and Wildlife released 16,000 eight inch brown trout in the lower freshwater and brackish water of the Manasquan River. I am going to research this a little further and maybe even drop a line in an old haunt that is just a short drive from my house.

01.26.10 "Rain, rain, rain,rain..rain...I don't mind"

Well actually I do. ( 5 points if you know what song that line is from...and another five if you know the band) So yesterday I got a call from my sister up in Saranac Lake telling me the North Country was flooding over. The temperatures up there had rose and the rains came at the same time. I dropped Rick Nolan, the Superintendent of Black Brook, the town where the lodge is, an email to see how the town was doing. He said yesterday there was a ice dam downriver but the amount of water rushing against it flushed it clear. A few years back a major. ice dam formed at the junction pool where the East and West Branches of the Ausable meet. It flooded part of the town of Jay across the river, and the water crested at the top of the retaining wall the lodge sits on. Below are some ideas on the amount of water we received between rain and runoff in the past few days, in rivers I follow-

East Branch of the Ausable- Jan. 20 (2ft) Jan. 26 (8ft)

West Branch of the Delaware- Jan 20 (650) Jan 25 ( 9000) Jan 26 (2900)

Salmon River @ Pineville - cfs Jan 20 (300) Jan 26 (2390)

South Branch Raritan above High Bridge- Jan 20 (125) Jan 25 (2600) Jan 26 (421)

Lackawanna River @ Archbald - Jan 20 (180) Jan 25 (1800) Jan 26 (625)

So basically there's no fishing, for me, in NJ, NY or PA for the next few days- and then we are supposed to get cold again with snow on the horizon. I regularly watch the stream flows and temps on my favorite rivers, especially the ones that I have any kind of drive to. Looks like I will spending my time brushing up on my entomology lessons and tying flies. I am currently working on some homegrown rychophilia (green rock worm) patterns that I should have up on the BLOG in the next few days.

01.24.10 Final day at The Fly Fishing Show

Well today was it. Sold some raffles for TU, went to some lectures and bought some dubbing and hooks. I attended Matt Grobert's NJ and PA Hatches class and went again to hear Joe DeMarkis speak about the Lehigh River where he runs most of his North East Drift Boat Guide School. But for me the best was Capt. Rat Stachelek from Rhode Island speak about catching large stripers- over 25 pounds on a fly rod- in the spring, summer and fall- on bright sunny days, on flat water, with no blitzes or birds overhead. It was packed with information and proof that a fly fisherman can catch huge stripers. It was all boat fishing close enough to see the shore using sinking lines, and big flies. I did pop in to a presentation on the Cascapedia River in Quebec, always looking for interesting places to go and photograph for the magazines.

So all in all, a good weekend where I felt I learned a lot, met some great people, and made some connections. My highlights were Aaron Jasper's lecture, speaking with the guys from Restigouche, meeting Eric Stroup and passing on my kudos on his new book, and learning about the drift boat school. John Dembeck always gives a great lecture on the Delaware ( NYDEC # 0189 WOW! ). I did forget but today Ian Bechtel from the Delaware River Club gave a great presentation on the Upper Delaware from spring through the fall. Lefty- what can I say. I can't believe how light the new Sage reels are. I was able to get information from Project Healing Waters from fellow TU member Bob Cowen who gave me the schedule for fly casting, tying, and fishing outings they run in our area. Now I can go through the 500 pamphlets and brochures that I have and try and decifer the notes and codes and contact information I got over these three days. Hopefully this show will help me get through the next few weeks until I travel to the Salmon River for some steelhead.

01.23.10 Day 2 of the Fly Fishing Show

Day 2 was busier than Friday. The crowds were there from the minute the show opened at 830. I worked the JSTU booth for a while before heading to Ozzie's "Underwater World of Trout" presentation. Great underwater video of what a trout "may" see. Anyone trying to catch a fish should see this. While I was watching it I was to figure out which of my fishing shirts and hats I wouldn't wear steam side anymore. The angles, and refraction, and distance that trout see is amazing. No wonder why I put so many fish down. I also went to a little bit of Tom Gilmore's Albie talk- great show with a ton of useful information. I can't to get into them more this fall. During most of these lectures I was writing a mile a minute. I watched Lefty's casting demo again- I can't believe he is 84 years old- I am glad that I was able to see watch this legend in the sport once again. I met up with some of the partners from the Restigoughe River and watched Kevin's presentatation about the Atlantic Salmon fishery there. I ended the day with Joe DeMarkis who presented his North East Drift Boat Fly Fishing Guide School- something I am seriously considering attending this spring or summer. Lastly I sat in on Jim Valle's class on becoming a FFF CAsting Instructor. I had downloaded the requirements for the test but it was good to hear Jim go through it and explain what they are looking for from the candidate who is testing.

01.22.10 Day 1 of the Fly Fishing Show

Day 1 of the show is over. Slow day. I worked the Jersey Shore Trout Unlimited booth for two hours and we sold a few raffles for a 500 dollar gift certificate to Cabelas. After that I spent the day in demonstrations and lectures. I watched Lefty Kreh's casting demonstration which was amazing. I sat in on a few great lectures like Aaron Jaspers Czech Nymphing and John Dembeck's Delaware River talks. Both were done and presented well. I will have to try fishing with a 10-12 foot rod and up to a 24 foot leader someday! The method seems to make sense and more productive then the use of split shot and indicators. John Dembeck is a experienced and well known guide. When I received my NYDEC Guide License, #6225, I looked up Jonh's number which was guide # 0189. There's a little difference. The only item I purchased today was a nifty vest mounted rod holder. It's called "Fish hands free", I had a blast with the developer and his wife, and after a great presentation I dropped the 15 bucks for one. I 'll be back tomorrow.

01.21.10 Fly Fishing Show opens tomorrow

Just a heads up for those who have lost their head. This weekend is the Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, NJ. It will be the place to be, unless your a Jets fan and are heading to Indianapolis!

01.20.10 Back to the KLG, and first fish of the year

It just seemed like the right thing to do. I had a part of the day free, last night was my TU meeting, the Fly Fishing Show is this weekend, and I had to fish. I headed back out to the South Branch of the Raritan River at the Ken Lockwood Gorge. We have had a little warmer temps then when I was here last week. The snow has melted, and the ice that covered the road along the river has melted. But the contractors are still using heavy machinery on the lower part so the road is closed. I got into the river around 1030, right below where I parked. I tried a black stone fly and soon moved a nice 15 inch brown from under large boulder and tree. I keep on him and he'd showed interest but never a take. On my last drift I put in the area and when I lifted the fly I felt the fish. Immediately he headed down into deeper water. He seemed to be "heavier" then the fish I saw. After a bit I realized he was foul hooked and shortly I had him below the surface removing the stonefly from his upper back. Nice way to start. I headed back up to the bridge figuring on hitting the lower, "bigger" water. This time I went above the bridge and fished down through the run in front of the new handicapped access. There was a guy fishing in the pool below that so I headed below and fished through to the faster water. Not a nothing. I switched the stonefly with an olive wooly bugger and went for the shallower, faster water. I know the fish are sluggish as their metabolism is slow. But I figured with the water at 40 degrees, and the air temps the same, and the sun hitting hard on the river every now and then- it just might be enough to get them to move. I fished down stream to where I spooked that big rainbow last week. I again was towards the other side of the river, so I worked all three rocks from the middle, and walked back upstream to work them from the road side bank. I was getting complacent since I couldn't find a fish or induce a strike. I was in a nice spot on the bank, and stood on some rocks to get a good shot at the water around the three large boulders. I worked the two with no results. Then I stripped

off some more line and made a cast to the front right side of the boulder above. The current took the fly and carried into and under the boulder. I felt a nudge, or so I thought. So went back again, same cast, this time I watched and waited as the fly line got to the same spot where I felt the nudge and lifted the rod tip. The fish was on. And it was a good one. It headed for the deeper water in front of the boulder and after a short while easily came over to the side. The fish was 17 inches and brightly colored. After the easy lip hook release it gently headed back to the deeper water under cover of the

of the boulder. That was a nice way to start fishing in 2010. I continued to fish the faster water, in an area where there seems a harder gradient change in the river. I caught two small, but pretty rainbows in the fast water. These fish were

quick to jump on the woolly bugger, striking it soon as it the water. On the way out I met a few guys who had fished the faster water below where I was. They saw a few flashes but that was it. We talked about the latest thing that seems to have gathered some steam, Czech Nymphing. I have recently been reading about it and listened to a podcast that local fly fisherman Aaron Jasper had done on it. It seems to be very productive, especially in water like at the KLG. Years ago I learned of a technique called high sticking that worked well on many of the New Jersey streams. It sounds like the two may be related. I can now breathe a sigh of relief and will able to enjof the fly fishing show just a little bit more after this outing!

01.19.10 JSTU meeting, Casting For Recovery

Tonights was our regular monthly meeting and our speakers came from Casting For Recovery, a non-profit organization that provides weekend fly fishing retreats to women who are in remission or are currently in treatment for breast cancer. It was a great lecture and a something I would like to volunteer to help out with. The retreats run Friday to Sunday, with Sunday being the fishing day. The group looks for river helpers to assist the women while they fish. I signed up, so we'll see. There are two retreats planned for New Jersey in 2010.

01.14.08 Ken Lockwood Gorge winter fishing

Finally we have a had a break in the weather. Not only here in New Jersey, but all across the US. Yesterday the temps were up over 30 degress for the first time in a while. With todays forecast calling for temps to crest 40, I decided to jump in the car and head out to the South Branch of the Raritan River at the Ken Lockwood Gorge. I entered through the lower access and after a short drive I had to pull over and park. The new and improved road had iced over and there was gate just above the lower parking area.

After getting my fishing gear, my camera gear, and my audio gear I started the trek up to the bridge. I spoke with a few guys who had a fish or two during the warmest part of the day, which was about 42 degrees around 2pm. When I got up to the bridge I took the water temperature and it was 38 degrees. I fished below the bridge with a size 14 black stonefly nymph

and continued down to the first deep pool on the bend, and the run that follows that. No bumps or hits. I continued downstream and fished the faster water, again with no luck. I did stop and watch a great blue heron that was perched on a rock staring dead into the water. After a while he took flight and I fished the area he was keying in on, again to no avail. I had made my way out into the middle and encountered deeper water as I tried to get back over to the bank. About 3/4 quarters of the way across I hit one of those vaseline covered rocks and lost my footing. Luckily there was one of those big boulders in front of me and I grabbed on. As I did this my foot went under the rock and as I looked down a very large brightly colored rainbow darted across and set up under shelf ice that had formed near the bank. I got my bearings and footing back and for the next 45 minutes tried to entice a strike using the stonefly nymph and later a black woolly bugger. I got a few looks and maybe a refusal but after my on again off again casts the trout took off downstream. I was glad to at least see a fish. On my way out I met up with a couple of guys who had caught a fish or two. We talked for a while about the river, and about some of the latest chatter on the fly fishing forums on the web, mostly about Garden State Trout. I had one last almost-break-my -ass on the ice that had formed across the road shortly before I made it to the parking area where Bertha was. All in all, a good first day, although a trout would have made the first 2010 outing just a tad better.

01.08.10 Early birthday gift as my Simms guide boots arrive

I just got home from running around and on my front door step was nondescript box from Bozeman, Montana! Inside were a new pair of Simms new Guide boots. I had sent my old boots in for a repair estimate and after their review they said they would replace them. Simms has one of the best product warranty policies as I have ever seen. They truly do back their products.

01.01.10 Happy New Year from The Average Angler Lodge

Happy New Year. We loaded up Bertha and took an extended nine, yep, nine hour trek up to the North Country.

12.25.09 Merry Christmas to all- and spikes for me!

From all of us at the The Average Angler Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Santa Claus, aka my brother, hooked me up with a pair of spikes for my waders. So next season I can fish and not break my ass on the vaseline covered rocks of the jetties along the Jersey shore. Remember we have fly fishing packages available for the 2010 season for any last minute gift needs you might have.

12.18.09 Casting lessons in the cold

So yes I cleaned my gear out of Bertha. I went to the last meeting of the year at the Jersey Shore Trout Unlimited on Tuesday. Guys went around the room talking about the wrap of striper season this year...and basically everyone said it stunk. That made me feel a bit better. Today, with the temperature around freezing, I met up with my casting coach Jim Valle for another lesson. Todays lesson was really good. I had practicing everyday and was at the point where I needed some intervention. I have been putting cones out in the street where I live and casting for accuracy and distance. Right now with my 9' 5wt I can pick up and put down 50' of fly line, plus the leader. Jim watched me cast and we went into the double haul, a cast I have been working on. This part of the lesson was great. He left me with some great tips that I will practice on my own. With the bad weather coming in and the holidays I won't see him till the show in Somerset, where hopefully next year I'll be testing for FFF Casting Instructor!

12.13.09 I think it's time to empty Bertha

I think it might be time to call it a season. This morning I went down to 8th Avenue to see if there was anything going on. Today the top of the seas were calm. The only thing I founds were the gannets doing their divebomb into the ocean to catch fish. Watching those birds is amazing- they get up about 100 feet above sea level, dive down up to 100 miles per hour and plunge into the sea to catch fish, or parts of fish. The other day the bunker was as far a the eye could see, but outside the jetties and just past the sand line caused by the recent hard weather. So as a fly fisherman I think it's over. Even during a huge blitz the other day, and a bunch of boats parked in it, there was only one fish caught and it was on a half a bunker that had just been snapped and chopped. So I reluctantly will put away my gear, and maybe set my sights on a quick trip up to the Salmon River later this month or in January. Yesterday I took my NJ Boat Safety class, this week I have a casting lesson with Jim Valle, and then in January it's the fly fishing show in Somerset. 

12.08.09 An ocean full of bunker !!

I decided to hit the beaches since I have been away for a few days. This morning around 9 I headed into Asbury Park to the 8th Avenue jetty. As I was pulling in, three trucks were tearing out of the parking lot and guys were scrambling for their bikes. They were all headed down 4th Avenue, near Convention Hall. There was a HUGE school of bunker that easily went for 6 blocks and fish ripping through them. They were too far out for the guys on the jetty but a few boats were on them. Anglers out there were snagging bunker and live lining or throwing out chunks. The small army of us on the beaches would drive and stop, drive and stop as the fish moved south. I spent the most time in Ocean Grove waiting for the fish to come in closer, but no luck. In the end we stood on the Fletcher Lake flume, between Ocean Grove and Bradley Beach and waved to the fish as they continued down the coast. One of the guys said he got two keepers at 8th Ave around midnight on a black bomber. Maybe I'll give my brother a shout and hit it tonight, hopefully before the rain moves in.

12.05.09 Great find in Lambertville

Came out west for the weekend with Cindy. We stayed at the York Street Inn, a wonderful B&B located in the center of Lambertville. While we were there we booked the place for a September 2010 wedding. There a tons of shops and I found a few old bookstores. I collect fly fishing and trout related books so I was hoping to find something. I found this great book, Trout Biology, An Anglers Guide by W.B. Willers. I also picked up one of Lefty Kreh's books and a book on fly fishing for bonefish. I am starting with the trout book and will get through the others after that.

12.02.09 Went North, should've went South

     Started the day in Asbury Park. Nothing going on. Stopped in Deal-zilch. Elberon-nothing. West End-zero. Monmouth Beach-birds off the beach diving. Stopped for a great bacon, egg and cheese on a hard roll in Sea Bright- beaches were dead. So I figured I would drive up into the Hook and go to North Beach. When I first got in there were a bunch of cars in Lot A so I pulled in, geared up and hit the beach. There were about 10 guys spread out- but nothing going on-they said there was some earlier action but no one landed any fish. I decided to drive up to the Coast Guard station and hit the tip of the Hook. I was the only guy there. I walked from the bay side over to North Beach. There was a nice wind coming from the west but no fish, no birds, nothing. But I have to say for about an hour and a half I just enjoyed fishing, well, casting to nothing. It was good practice and a good workout. After a few hours I started that long trek out. A ranger stopped to check on me and any short fish I may have had-ha! He said there was some action down in South Beach as the fish were gorging themselves on sand eels. On my way out I stopped and talked to some guys who packing up in the South Beach parking lot. Yep-there was a blitz-probably just out of my casting range- and a bunch of short stripers were hooked, landed and released. As I left that wind turned and was coming from the southeast, with some rain and nasty weather behind it. 

12.01.09 It's getting cold, and a bit old!

     I have sat on a river for hours, many hours waiting for a hatch they may or may not have come. This striper fishing, is well, just crazy. I see the same guys almost everyday doing the same thing. Pulling up, getting out, looking through their binoculars, and then either parking and getting geared up or pulling away. There are so many variables in this sport, and I am still learning them. Let me name a few, fish, bait, location, wind, water, temperature, moon, tide, boats and birds. A seasoned striper fisherman will surely be able to complete the list. This fall I have been at it since September when trout fishing slowed down, that was the tail end of the albies. Then I walked and stalked the beaches from Asbury Park to North Beach on Sandy Hook. I have seen one good blitz on Sea Bright, right up on the beach, that I was 500 feet away from when the fish and bait turned right out to see, and Saturday at 8th Avenue in Asbury Park. 

     I have seen a few keeper stripers and some big blues- mostly caught on bunker chunks. Right now it's a waiting game to see if the bait and fish are out of the rivers, off the beaches, or just plain south of us. Some reports from weeks ago said the fishing from Point Pleasant and south, mostly around Island Beach State Park and LBI was good then, and now its getting better south near Cape May.  Other guys saying it might be a late bite this year, into late December or early January. So with all of that I continue to sneak down to the beach looking for the birds, the bait, and the fish. All the while dreaming of Hendricksons in May on the West Branch of the Delaware.