03.29.10 Toms River floods as east coast gets pounded with rain

Well the eastern seaboard continues to get hammered with rain. I had a tiny window today so I decided to take a quick drive over to the Jersey Shore TU's home water of the Toms River. Needless to say it was swollen and roaring. The state stocked it last week some time and I bought along my rod to fish the Trout Conservation Area. As I walked along the flooded road that follows the river I thought that float stocking couldn't spread these fish out any better. I made a few casts with a wooly bugger to no avail. What I did notice was the states sign for the special regulation area was down

and laying waterlogged in the leaves. There was also part of an old sign hanging on a tree. The signage there is poor. If I was using fatheads I wouldn't be able to tell where the TCA starts and the open area ends. I am going to mention it to our club to see if we can get some better, and maybe even some educational, signs down there. People wouldn't know it's special regulation area unless they knew on there own. During my trip I did "take" two pieces of trash out, a couple of

plastic bottles. It was fun being out but I can't wait till May !!

03.25.10 Water, water, and more water

Just looking around to see how the water levels are at some of my favorite rivers. West Branch at Hale Eddy 3,970 cfs. Salmon River at Pinesville 1,930. Lackawanna 566. Might hit the Toms River tomorrow for a bit.

03.24.10 Releasing the "Trout in the Classroom" trout

Today Jersey Shore Trout Unlimited chapter President Duane Lloyd and myself met the third grade class and their teachers from Howell NJ Greenwood School to release their trout in a small tributary of the Manasquan River in Allaire State Park. Along with the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife and the Pequest Trout Hatchery, TU chapters distribute the eggs in October and then release them with the kids in late March through May. After a quick walk with the eggs, including dropping the bucket and putting them back in it, the kids lined the bank to watch the release. Duane gave a speech and I had the pleasure of letting them go. The kids oohed and aaahed as the fish swam in a real current for the first time. It was fun, and a lot of credit must be given to the teachers who oversee the program along with Jessica Griglak from the NJDFW.

03.19.10 All alone on the Manasquan, till the law came

Had few hours to kill so I ran over to the Manasquan River in Howell. The river was down about 10 feet from where it was during last weeks super rain. It was off color but you could make out the bottom. I tied on a black wooly bugger on and worked the sides and cut banks of the river. After about an hour I just felt like I wasn't alone, because I wasn't. I turned and there was a NJ State Park Police officer squatted down on the bank watching me fish. I continued to cast and we went back and forth about the last rain we had and about the river. Funny thing is, no matter how well you hit it off with someone- you just wonder when they are going to ask you for your license. They have a job to do. Well he stuck it in there at the right time and I exited the water to show it to him. Like I told him, I am glad to see him out here and have no problem showing my license here, or in PA or NY. The only thing I hate is wearing it. I keep my licenses, both three state fishing and guide licenses in a waterproof lanyard with my phone and camera. They prefer it to be displayed.

After he left I moved down and things started to heat up. Soon little black stoneflies swarmed over the river and divebombed to the surface. I saw no fish activity and continued with the wooly bugger with not a hit. As I was walking on the bank something bright on the ground caught my eye. It was a string of lead split shot and a rusted hook. A river like this must have 40 tons of lead in it, it's one of those rivers that if you don't get snagged then your catching fish. I am glad I went to the environmentally safe shots. Here is what they looked like on the ground.

After a couple of hours my surgically repaired right pinky hammertoe was starting to throb from being in the waders. In keeping with the national campaign of 'Take your limit, please!" I harvested a nice collection of trash. A string of split shot, a few water bottles, an oil quart container, a glass bottle, a plastic chewing tobacco container, and I almost forgot because I jammed it in my waders, a nice purple hair brush.

03.16.10 "Bug of the month" at Jersey Shore TU

As you all know I have been working hard trying to step my game up. I have been studying as much as I can about the bugs we have to come to love and hate. Last month at my Trout Unlimited meeting I asked chapter President Duane Lloyd if I could do a presentation every month called, "Bug of the Month". He said sure and it took off. For my first month I picked the Quill Gordon, or Epeorus Pleuralis. I made up a quick poster board with a nymph and dun and a little side view of the river during an emergence. It lasted about 10 minutes, I think gave a good overall of one of the first mayflies that guys will encounter. Big thing about quill gordons, the hatch on the bottom of the streams and the duns float to the surface before standing high on their legs to dry their wings and take flight. Next month will be the hendricksons!

03.14.10 Water everywhere in the tri-state area

Well I am sure this is a familiar scene in your basement if you live in the tri-state area. Reports of 4-7 inches of rain fell yesterday and needless to say all the streams, rivers, lakes, and ocean have hit flood stage. Some of the local waters- the South Branch of the Raritan River was a little under 20 cfs on March 7 is now at 2,700, the West Branch of the Delaware was at 1,800 on March 7 is now at 3,300, and the Lackawanna River was around 2 feet on March 7 and is now at 5 feet. So there is a ton a water out there. This week temps should be up in the 50's so it should dry things up quickly.

03.10.10 " Can't touch this...." Hammertime!

Got back home at 230 am, just in time for my 630 am surgery. So we were stranded from Sunday morning through Tuesday night in the Adirondacks after the trans blew on the pickup. All in all it wasn't bad. On Monday I borrowed some wheels so I loaded up my mother and headed to Malone to scout the Salmon River for the upcoming season. Found some beautiful water after a long journey through the city and the countryside along the river. I have seen some videos of the wild browns that live here and can't wait to get into some. I followed the river to Chasm Falls and then into Titusville State Forest. Lots of water up to the park but looks like

little access. On the way back to Saranac Lake I stopped by a place that was selling a used drift boat last summer. I knocked on the door and the owner said he still had thee boat it was around back if I wanted to see it. It's a 16 foot aluminum two angler plus rower boat. It's in pretty good shape just needs a little TLC and some use out on the water. I placed a call to the

manufacturer and he told me it was built it 1995 in Oregon, and was sent to Colorado. As far as the picture above this morning I had surgery to repair a hammertoe on my right foot. I don't know if you know how painful a hammertoe with the associated corn is, but if you hit it just right you will pass out from the pain. Forget about jamming it into waders. So my podiatrist opened up my pinky toe and shaved down the bones along thee outer edge of my toes and foot. Needless to say I won't be fishing anytime soon- as MC Hammer would say- "Can't touch this"

03.07.10 Blown transmission on the way home

So after a quick breakfast with my sister in Lake Placid my mother and I headed home, or so we thought. As we traveled through Keene Valley the transmission started to slip, then smell, then smoke. We pulled into one of the trail pull offs outside of town and then got the truck pointed down hill and coasted into town. That was around 10 am. At 330 the mechanic was loading up the truck to take it to Plattsburgh to repair or replace the transmission. They gave us a ride back to Ausable Forks and then from there my sister and her man came and brought us back to Saranac Lake. We should be home by late Monday night, or Tuesday at the latest, if all goes well.

03.06.10 Saranac River landlocked salmon fishing, not catching

Took a quick trip up to the Adirondacks for a winter check on the lodge, and while here I decided to give the Saranac River in Plattsburgh a try for landlocked salmon. Todays weather was mild for this time of year, around mid 40's, so I figured it would be good. I made the drive along Route 9 out of Ausable Forks and then onto the Northway before getting off at the Plattsburgh exit. I first stopped at the mouth of the Saranac at Lake Champlain to see what it looked like. It was around 930 when I got into the river below the Broad Street bridge. The water temps were 34 degrees and my line and chartruese wooly bugger kept getting caught on the loose ice that floated down. I stayed there for awhile and then moved upstream above the police station near the old Saranac Street bridge. I thought for sure this would be a great spot. The river is wide and has long runs, deep pools, eddys, and riffles. What more could you ask for. For the next five hours I threw everything I had into that water- nothing. Dead drift, high stick, Euro nymph, slow strip, fast strip- nothin'. I fished hard and from both sides, from the bank, and up to my waist. I couldn't find a fish. I started to think that maybe the fish weren't here. They come into the river in the fall and make their way up to spawn, staying in the river for the winter, and returning to the big lake in the spring. I thought maybe I wasn't up far enough. I decided to go up to Schyler Falls to the dam to see if there was good water and access, but there was none. I decided to try the section of the river behind Plattsburgh SUNY. I got there around 330 and found more good variety of water, and it was 38 degrees. The river splits around a island that must be inhabited by 300 beavers- because every tree was either down or had some degree of bite into it. I'll refer to this as Beaver Island. Around 530 I knew it was done. I had a great time even though I couldn't find a fish. I "caught" four interesting peices of trash today- a losing NY lottery ticket, a beer can, a container for Canadian worms, and a pair of busted polarized glasses. I also saw some real nasty shelf ice that was set up over some deep water- very bad. The environmentally sound split shot I now use was put to good use today since I lost a few setups on the rocks and trees in the water. I would really like to know where the fish were today. I have to give props to Richard Garfield, a guide from Fly Fish the Adirondacks- he seems to know where the fish always are- as I have looking at his website and following his winter landlocked outings. 

03.02.10 Great day on the Lackawanna River

Last night I decided that I would take a day trip out to one of my favorite rivers, the Lackawanna River. The tri-state area has recently seen a lot os snow, and the Scranton area wasn't spared. I got on the Garden State Parkway around 730 at exit 100 and fours hours later I was pulling into A&G Outfitters in Dickson City. This is the local fly fishing shop for the Lackawanna. They used to be in a different location and I can remember visiting them with the boys when they opened there years ago. I spent some time talking with Gerry the owner about the river and how things have been both with fishing and business. It is nice to see a fly shop still open these days. In the shop are a few boards with pictures of anglers and their fish, I remembered then how healthy Lackawanna wild brown trout really are. After a half hour he kicked me out of the shop to get fishing and I took the 15 minute ride up to Archbald to a place where I have had many good memories. I parked along River Road and trudged through the snow that covered the Lackawanna Heritage Trail and found my way down the snow covered bank to the water. I forgot my thermometer so I don't know what the water temps were when I got in but the air temp was above 40. I worked my way

upstream and fished some great water, and fished it hard. I tried, my own fly that has no name, a size 14 black stonefly nymph, a tungsten beadhead prince nymph, and a black wooly bugger. Nothing. Around 1pm I started to notice more midges in the air, and when I turned and looked they were walking on top of the melting snow on the banks, along with early black stoneflies. It was neat to see some bugs and I spent some time catching and photographing them. I then

saw something that caught my eye, caddisflies- both in the air and on the downstream sides of the snow and ice covered rocks. Now I was having fun. Even though there were no fish for me, I always enjoy studying bugs. Just when I

thought it couldn't get any better, I looked down into a small eddy and saw a couple of size 16 mayflies on top of the water. A hatch? Yep, there were a dozen or so baetis on drying their wings out. I was able to get a hold of one before it

flew away. So I had a, well not a trifecta, but four different bugs up at the same time, midges, stoneflies, caddisflies, and mayflies- not bad for a cold early March afternoon. After a few hours I made my way back to the car and stopped on the bridge on River Road and took a quick look down. Of course I found two healthy browns below the bridge both taking midge nymphs or pupa. I tried to get on them but I surely chased them off after a few casts. I worked my way downstream past the park into bigger water with no takers. During the day I was able to take my "limit" in garbage for the day, which was three, a styrofoam cup, a take out rice container, and a plastic bag. Thanks to the bugs it was well worth the long round trip 7 hour drive. Catching no fish will only make me want to come back even more when things warm up a bit.

02.27.10 More snow in the Northest

Well we got hit with a ton of snow in the last few days. I have figure out where I am going to fish next, maybe the Lackawanna River on Tuesday. Right now the flows there are good, around 100 cfs and a gage height of 2.15. Monday and Tuesdays temps should be around 40 degrees so hopefully all that runoff won't be in the river. I am also looking into possibly heading up to the Saranac River next weekend to try for some landlocked salmon.

02.21.10 Nice visit to the Musconetcong in Asbury

Lucky for me today I was in Asbury for a family party, only a thousand feet from the Musconetcong River. I was able to get to the river around 330 and joined a few guys on the bridge dropping worms into the deep pools below the bridge. They said they got and released a few. I decided for the other bridge where I could be alone. I navigated my way down the snow and ice covered steps and set myself into the only spot there is at river grade. I still had on the fly I "invented" last week so I just went with it. As I turned to check my backcast I saw a nice small pile of yellow corn sitting on a rock.

Just past that a early black stonefly sat on the still white snow. I high sticked the eddy in front of me and slowly worked my way out to the middle with my casts. After about 2 dozen casts I saw a silver flash near where my fly was and soon had on a real nice and healthy 18 inch

rainbow. The fish jumped at least four times before muscling into the deeper water below the falls. I got the fish to the shore and tried to reach for the camera but had to just concentrate on releasing the fish. I was sure there would be another. I made a few more casts, then went downstream a bit, and then finished under the other bridge. I saw some midges in the air, but no rises, and no baetis. As far as my "limit" today, which I had set at three, I got a sneaker, a

glass bottle and a plastic bottle. A little more then an hour later I was sitting down to a turkey dinner. Not a bad day!

02.20.10 "Take your limit, please!"

So I came up with idea the other day. Finally I have a good idea about something. It's free, easy to do, and will help a lot. I was walking down to river the other day and saw some garbage sticking out of the snow. I started picking it up and wondered why I don't pick up garbage every time I go out. I think it's because there is so much that I just don't want to keep picking up garbage while I fish. SO, my idea will help me enjoy my time fishing while doing my part to help clean up where we fish.

It's called "Take your limit, please!" . Every time you go fishing you either use the set creel limit or come up with a number and you remove that amount of garbage while you fish. The picture above is of my "catch" while fishing the West Branch of the Delaware in Hancock. Not bad for a few minutes!

If you fish 100 times a year, and remove say 5 pieces of garbage each time, that's 500 pieces at the end of the year. If we multiply that by 100,000 anglers, that's 500,000 cigarette butts, bottles, cans, bikes, tires, plastic bags, mono line, bobbers, tampon applicators, and who knows what else we can keep out of the rivers and oceans, and off the banks and beaches where we fish!

02.17.10 A cold day on the Pequest

My week got switched around a bit so I took advantage and headed out west, well northwest. I first stopped at the outdoor store in Bound Brook for a few things including some more of those environmentally friendly split shot. I took 78 west to 31 north and about an hour later I was pulling into the parking area of the Pequest River Trout Conservation Area. I was surprised to see half a dozen cars in the parking lot. I dressed quickly and grabbed my camera, tripod, and camera bag and headed upstream from the bridge towards the spillway. It was a pain getting up there as my hat kept getting caught on the branches, my rod on the sticker bushes, and my tripod on the low shoots pushing up from the 8 inches of snow on the ground. I set up across from the spillway where there was a guy with a fish on, and who had several more

while I was there. I went above him to fish the bottom of the long pool on the bend below the bridge. As I approached the water I paused to survey if there was anything going on. As I lookd across to the other side I noticed the shelf ice that had formed off the other bank. And then I heard the sound of icing cracking below me, and in a second my feet were planted in bottom of the river. Luckily it wasn't that deep. When I got in I took out my thermometer and the water was 36 degrees. I fished through using a black wolly bugger with no luck. I asked the guy fishing below the spillway if he stuck the water but he did not, but he say it was markedly warmer. I haven't fished the Pequest in 15 years and now remember that it's always cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter out of the spillway and along the hatchery side of the river. There were four guys spread out along that side and I wanted to take some readings and see why. So it was through the woods, almost, when I looked down and found this early black stonefly resting

on the snow. Of course I stopped and had a quick portrait session with him before crossing the bridge and walking up to the spillway.

Once at the spillway I stuck the water and it was 46 degrees, 10 degrees warmer then the water above. It was cool to see the trout lined up along the bank all taking midge pupas. I will have to say they were big fish, but the ugliest collection of trout I have ever seen. They were a collection of white snouted, finless, black headed, no tailed rainbows- who are probably caught at least once a day. There were some guys in the middle of the river casting to the bank, but I didn't see a need to. It was kind of a dink and dunk kind of fishing from the cover of the trees

along the bank. I switched over to a size 14 black stonefly and went to work, I got a few looks and refusals but no takers. Then I switched over to the fly I tied the other day and that was it. I blindly had one on for a minute and then dropped it in the mouth of a 17 inch rainbow, that was

not horribly looking, but whose fins were almost gone. I released this fish and then saw a much bigger fish set up next to a large rock about 6 feet off the bank. Fishing from above him I was able to put it in his mouth and he easily took it. This fish was bigger, well over 20 inches- but ugly as all hell. With a small crowd watching I couldn't bring myself to take the time to take a picture of it. So it was a quick release and I was done. I spent some time speaking with a guy

who fished from the middle of the river, 80 years old who fishes here all the time. As we spoke I saw a nice big, and healthy looking rainbow set up below me. I told him of the fish and guided him into where it was. I saw the fishes mouth open and the size 20 scud float in, the man set the hook, the rainbow took off and headed upstream where he spit the hook when he jumped out of the water.

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!