10.18.16 Found these changes on the beach....

 
      Waves crashing on the sand and then running up and down the beach scarp. I was standing there watching the water when I heard the sound of fish slurping, but couldn't locate where it was coming from. I turned around and these geysers were located in a pool on the beach side of the scarp. If you followed the water down it eventually made a left turn to the water. That is how a pocket and trough is formed. Neat stuff.

10.17.16 Bittersweet kinda morning today....

     I'll start with the good stuff. Slept in today, well at lest for me, and was on the rocks at 530. Nice conditions, maybe too nice, with an incoming tide and a SW wind. Lakelike with occasional big swells rolling. It was perfect popper water and that's what I went with. I landed one and had two others with angry interest. I was joined by Richie who went 0-0 until we moved down the beach. He was spin fishing, which doesn't count, and he landed the below beautiful 31" fish after a real good fight. Didn't see any bait and the birds were just looking as we were. His casts had his popper out before the breakers, which came in two a time.

     So now the sad part. Yesterday after looking at the forecast and the tides I figured it would be a great day on the boat with my most elder fishing partner. We haven't fished together in over a year and I thought today would be the day. We were going to give it a go in June but got blown out by the weather.

     I sent him a text and got all of my boat stuff ready for the outing. I figured I would hit the beach, pick him up, and then catch the outgoing in the Bight. I received a text from him saying that he was going to take a pass on today. I sent him a return text and a phone call which went unanswered. At 920 he called, and I listened and heard the concern in his voice, coupled with disappointment. He wasn't sure he could physically do it, and more bothersome was, that he hasn't fished in some time.

     What got me was that I could tell he misses it, and the guys, immensely. He has been distant, and I realized, that the glue in our friendship was the fishing. When I knew that there was no convincing him, I let the conversation end. He asked me if there have been any fish around, and I hesitated, not wanting to tell him how things have been. With his question I knew, too, that he hadn't been reading the blog. He said the best way to deal with it all, "was abstinence". Which meant, to me, a clean break from seeing the water, trying to fit, and contact with me.

     I told him to give me a call before 8 if he changed his mind.....but the phone never rang. After I was done on the beach I headed to the marina, but made a stop on the way up.  I found nothing doing, but did notice the changes the week and a half of swells had done. As I walked I realized, I didn't want to go on the boat fishing, I just wanted to fish with my buddy one more time. I spent countless hours with him over the last half a dozen years and every morning I would pull in and hope to see his car there and him fishing in the pocket. Those mornings are some of the best memories I have of fly fishing the salt water.

So today, maybe we left them out there and biting, we'll never know, cause today was our day.

10.16.16 "Maybe they don't bite on the full moon....."

     I am reaching my mental breaking point with these dam bass. During the day yesterday I tried to come up with a good plan for today, and here it was. I'll get up at 3 am, have a fly in the water by 330,  I'll beat the big incoming water and swells, the bait will be there and the bass will be on them......

     .......so I went with it, and everything fell into place, except, there was no big water and swells, the bait wasn't there and the bass weren't on them.

     I started at 330 and it was brighter at that time then when the sun came up. The new full moon was high and bright. Some say don't fish on the moon, well you can fish on the moon, some say you don't catch on the moon. So with the moon, it's high-high and low-low. Well two hours in and it was low. I fished for two hours scraping the sand, in the middle of the water, and on top. At 530 I knew I wasn't gonna catch a fish today. I walked over to a man made sand mound, sat back, and went to sleep. I woke up 30 minutes later. It was brighter, the was a touch more water, but no signs of the three B's.

     Just when I was ready to split, around 630ish, this poor five year old must have felt pity for me waving that rod around for four hours, so he blew up in the wash on a Banger.

     What was interesting to see was the acres of adult bunker off the beach with a whale patrolling in the area. That means the snag and drop anglers will be out, mostly on the boats, hopefully remembering how bad the striped bass numbers are if and when they decide to harvest a fish for the table.

10.15.16 "Turn off the dam faucet....."

     The water just kept coming. Got down in the dark and saw the water was up. I knew it was the incoming tide on a full moon but I didn't think the water would just keep coming and getting bigger. I'm glad I got down when I did, and didn't do anything stupid and risk my life, because the best fish was shortly after I arrived. I had on a black Kinky Muddler and the keeper sized fish took it close and then ran out. 

     I kept playing jump-rope with the waves trying to time the swells to get out on the rocks. Just when I would psychologically get sucked in to try, big water would come and push me around and remind me it's not worth it. High tide was at 755 am and the biggest push of water came the last two hours. 

     The fish were active breaking the water on small baitfish so I tied on chartreuse and white Deceiver and on the first cast had a fish on. The problem with big water, besides getting kneeled and knocked down, was the fly line would get pulled up and over the beach, even if you got in a cast over the breakers. Now, you could cast over them, but you surely would be catching a wave in your stripping basket and get it pulled down around your ankles. And then, you would get pulled into the water, because you can't get up and then you would drown. 

     Today was tough, because it was a bad timing thing. First light, which I find best, was timed just as the water was the biggest. You couldn't get on the rocks, and were too far away from getting a good shot, unless the fish were on the sand, which for a quick few minutes they were chasing small bait. I'm thinking three days from today will be good when the incoming high tide will be later. Tonight is a perfect night to fish. Start around 9 and finish at 3 am. Not for me though, with no work this weekend I have to put in some family and wife time. Good luck!

10.14.16 More friends getting' it done.....

     Love getting that sound on my phone in the middle of my shift. "Is it a doctor's text?" Nope it's my friend Jerry just letting me know he's somewhere on the Jersey Shore enjoying a perfect weather day and he's on the bass. I can't wait to get out there and give it a go.

10.13.16 Hospital by day......beach by night.....

     After finishing up some last minute homework, I went to the well once again. I knew the tide was low around 1130 pm and it was 830.......just had to ask permission, which was kind of granted. As I pulled in I saw another car there and shortly two guys came off the beach, one with a keeper sized bass. He said they landed one and lost a few more. The beach was lit up from the approaching bright moon and I was excited until I got to the water. Where's the water.....?

     I quickly confirmed my thought from a few weeks ago.....the Jersey Shore isn't a low water spot like it used to be. Forget the last two hours or the first two hours of the outgoing and incoming tide. There's just too many bars and not enough pockets yet. Low water is tough. I fished as hard as as quickly as I could hitting three grounds and lots of beach in 90 minutes. It was a few casts at each spot and gone. The water just wasn't there, and either were the fish for me. 

     I think I'm gonna take a pass for a few days so I can catch up on homework outside of my next two days at work. Hoping the weekend will fish better and the tides right. Just need to make sure the wife is cool with it. The 430 up and out, and now the late evening into night is getting old. I thought the roses would have given me a pass. 

     I made a few flash images with the Fuji XP 90.....not bad.....but not digging what I'm seeing so far. Might just have to rationalize it as a bad weather need an image camera, not one for the magazines or books. 

10.12.16 None for me but "I get by (living through) with a little help with my friends...."

     Well, I decided to hit it for a minute before work. Not my first choice of a spot but I figured since I can almost see the hospital from the beach it would make for quick getaway to work. Well, it wasn't good. It's not a flyrodders beach, at least not today. A straight beach with a few notched groins and Hawaii-5-O waves breaking right on the beach. I snuck behind a notched groin and was able to get on top and make a few casts before hitting work.

     I got a better report from my friend Leif who was able to travel a bit and get into a few real nice fish (top and below) at first light. He said he saw small being sprayed around in the big swells and caught his blind casting. Those are great fish from the beach in big water. 

     There's a lot of life out there and after a quick 8 hour shift today I stopped by the beach and found birds under hickory shad and small blues on tiny baits. I managed one shad ending a few-cast outing, thinking I might hit it later when the water calms down a bit. And, so far I'm not impressed with the Fuji XP90......the picture below is with the cameras zoom........soft!

10.11.16 Gonna give the Fuji XP90 a try....

     So, after drowning so many cameras that I have lost count, while at Costco today a display caught my eye. Actually what count my eye was the price.....$159.00. I was on the phone yesterday with Canon repairs and they told me the Canon Powershot G12, which was my favorite camera of all time, had too much water damage to repair, and that they din't carry any refurbished models. They offered me a G9 or  G7 at a price tag around $600. Well that just isn't in the monthly budget.

     I read the info on the package and did a quick Google search for some reviews and it didn't review badly. My biggest problem is it doesn't shoot RAW, but I can't afford to keep ruining cameras. I need a camera that is waterproof and can take a beating and this just might do the trick. I opened the package real nice and kept the receipt just in case it's a dud. I did a few tests and it seems sharp in lower light and the image quality isn't too bad. I'll let you know what I think. But, I know it's no G12.

And yes, I'm going before work in the morning.....

10.11.16 They are here.....first push has arrived

     First have to give a shout out to my sis' and my new brother-in-law who celebrated their wedding Adirondack style out at a campsite on Lower Saranac Lake this past weekend. I guess I brought the cold north air down with me because this morning was about 50 degrees when I hit the beach at 530 am. 

     Let me start at 807, that was the time where I contemplated running home to get my boat stuff and heading out front. The only problem was I knew I had to be at my daughters school at 130 to take her for braces. I started walking off the beach, then turned around. "You never leave fish to find fish". I had to tell myself that. Early this morning I was trying to decide where to catch first light. I chose spot one. Home. The wind was honking and the surf was big when I got out onto the rocks. As I fished I kept thinking of the other location I really wanted to go to. Then the hickory shad started gumming my fly and I thought a big bass might be in the area. I got down off the rocks and on my last cast. or so I thought, a bass blew up on it right near the beach. That kept me there for another hour without a tap.

    I moved to my original spot and as soon as I could see water I saw all the birds, and the bait, and the bass, at times on the beach. I started to walk and met a guy with a 32" fish on a stringer around his waist, "You should have been here 15 minutes ago". Great. So I walked up and down the beach over a half a mile. The fish would come in, and by the time I got there they were gone. On one blitz I could see the lines on the fish, but couldn't connect. They were just over the breaking waves and the wind made it difficult to get to them. 

    That's about when 807 happened, and I stayed. I'm glad I did. Although I didn't catch anything I love the anticipation as the birds gathered over breaking fish and started to move in closer to the beach. I would was north, then turn around and start south, only to see fish break closer to the beach north of that north. I wish I had a GPS tracker on my waders, it would ave been fun to see how many times I walked up and down in circles. 

     I would say this is the first push of traveling bass to hit our beaches. There have been locals out front and lately in the rivers and bays but these are the ones we wait for, hungry moving fish colliding with the bait leaving the bays and rivers. So, this was the best visual day for me since the mullet were around before the blow killed that run. It's bigger bass blitz time. Even though first light and dark are still the best times, now is when you can find a beach to yourself and hope you're there when the bass push the bait in.

     I'll be at work the next three mornings so I'll surely miss the fun, maybe I'll get out one evening. It's time. There a chill in the air, and the water, and there's plenty of signs of life out front.

10.08-10.16 Heading up to the North Country......

     I'll be off the water for the next few days, heading up to Saranac Lake for my sister's wedding. My shoulder needs a break from all the casting, and lack of catching, I've been doing. Looks like we might see some weather from Hurricane Matthew this weekend so hopefully next week the bass can get things started.

10.07.16 Just when you think you know.....you don't

     Well, I planned on just getting up and getting on the water about 530. Then I started to think about the tide. Low tide was somewhere just before my planned arrival. Okay, so I went to bed. Then I must have started dreaming about the outgoing, in the dark, and how the flip of the incoming wouldn't be until after first light.....then I fell asleep.

                             Then I woke up at 242 a.m. - time to go fishing.......

     I was trying to think like a fish. I was starting at 330, just shy of two hours left on the outgoing. So I picked my first spot. A dozen casts later I was on the move. This spot seemed more fishy but I didn't get a touch. I walked up the beach to a spot I had done well at a few weeks back. I inched my way into the water, and then swamped by a wave. As I fell back onto the beach scarp I could feel the water between my waders and my jacket, then I felt myself moving. I went up a few feet and then down with the water. All I could think about besides being soaked was my real camera in my backpack and my iPhone in the StormR pocket. Luckily both were dry. So with sloshy waders I walked back to my truck to spot number 3.

     Still in the dark I realized this wasn't a low water spot. It was fishy, if the fish liked to stand still on the bar in a foot or two of water. So, of course, I made my through the trough up onto the bar. Every now and then a good wave would come in but I could see it. What I was doing was just casting further out onto the bar, not able to clear the breakers and the deeper water on the other side. So as I'm fishing a good wave breaks and rolls in, the type that pushes your stripping basket up and just takes the weight off your feet. The problem was, that wave continued up to the beach, and then came back. It met the wave coming in right on the plane where I was standing. I was drenched again. So I made my way back to my truck.

     I headed north and made a few casts in the river with the tide still ebbing, not a bump. So, finally, with moist sock and crotch rub in effect, and first light just arriving, I made my way out front to really fishy water. Aaahhhh.....what a relief. This is where I'll get it done. Fished hard as the tide flipped. I really couldn't complain as the sights were beautiful. I saw no bait, and the only fish I saw was a school bass that blew up on my fly as I lifted it out of the water. Really? So I fished that trough for another 30 minutes.

     Just when you think you're dialed in, and know, or think, that you're thinking like a bass, you have days, well nights, like this. I knew it would slow after the blow and the mullet run died. There's still a ton of bait in the back and soon they will flush out and hopefully meet the fish moving south. I'm hearing there's big blues out a ways so hopefully they move in and give us something to fish for before the bass show up.

10.04-05.16 I know it's fishing not catching........

     Fished yesterday 9pm till 1230 am. Water was flat no wind. Popped and swam Snake Flies up and down the beach. On my way to work yesterday the wind was up and so was the surf. This morning the wind was stiff ENE on the incoming tide. Fished from 530-645 without a tap. Had some friends that were out with me and came up blank, but Lief did send me the above pic, and of a baitfish, rain fish, that was up on the beach. I had to relieve the wife and get the kids off to school, but had to go back because it just felt fishy. 

     So by the time I got out it was hour 5 on the incoming, and it was juicy, especially with the wind. Water looked good but the sets were quick and there wasn't much time or ease getting a fly down to a fish. I moved onto the rocks, which only had water facing north, but it was a blast. Perched on a higher rock, right where the waves broke, fun, and wet. Love snotty conditions, even with no fish. Back to the hospital tomorrow, back at it Friday, and from what I hear it might be nice before any part of Matthew we get on the weekend. 

10.03.16 Some fish looking to eat....but not much for bait around

      Had a right tight window this morning to fish. Was surprised to find a west wind and gentle conditions on the incoming tide. I knew I was in a rush so I just had my 300 gr line on and a black Snake Fly, but wish I had the intermediate on. Water is looking good post blow and it should be good at least until next weekend when whats left of Hurricane Matthew passes off the coast. 

     Lief got a nice fish on the same fly and I wish I was able to stay for a at least another hour as I had the feeling things good have got good. Kiddies are off from school today for Rosh Hashanah so I had to go relieve my wife so she could get off to work. Just as well as I have a paper due tonight for school. I hate APA style masters level papers.

10.02.16 Some super positive changes after the blow.....

     Well this extended blow has changed some things for the better. If you know the above location than you know that even looking at it from last week you can see what an angry Mother Nature does, she took her sand back. I also took a long walk and found major changes on the wide open beaches. Finally there has been enough force for the water to push through the long, I mean long, sand bar that extends from Sandy Hook don to the Shark River Inlet. There is now good structure and after this weather we will have great places to fish where the bass and blues can line up for a meal of a variety of white bait. 

     I fished for a few hours started mid outgoing tide and didn't see anything or get a touch. In Deal there was a push by the sand troopers to open up the outflows that weren't extended. Once they dug them out there would be a flush of dirty brown water that would run down the beach scarp and turn the entire beach to Yoo-Hoo. Up north the water color was great and the temperature cooler. First light fishing may be good somewhere tomorrow but I fear the end of the incoming might ave things unfishable at least with the fly rod, unless there's a way to fly cast with a bucktail.

10.01.16 Not as bad as I thought.....

     So, few things about this blow. Yes, it probably shut down the allies and the mullet but it probably will make some nice changes to our new "engineered" beaches. There's always a blow that shuts things down, just wish this one didn't last so long. So work working yesterday and tomorrow has me occupied but today I went to give it a go. I busted out my big wind and surf set-up with the 11wt H@ and the 350 gr line. I tied on one of Leif's yellow Snake Flies and went to work.

                          

     Things weren't bad at around 1130, which was a little more than half of the ebb tide. Luckily the waves broke on the bar or the before the beach so fishing fishy water was possible, although at times I found my fly behind me up the beach. I hit the rocks which seemed the most promising but didn't get a touch. While yes the water was a light YooHoo color, it was clean without the NE debris that I thought would be bobbling up and down in the pockets.

     While I did make a few moves it was good, because north and south of my first spots were cleaner and more promising. I think we just need a few tide cycles to clean the water up a bit. Sadly not far off the beach the water was clean, the off color conditions were surely created by all the extra sand that doesn't belong on the beach in the first place. I am looking forward to hitting the beach Monday morning, although the winds don't look like they go west until 8am.....next SUNDAY!!!!!!

     I found a truck I want to acquire. Not buy it because its out of my budget. It's a 2016 Dodge Ram 1500....took it for a ride........there's nothing like a new, or newer, truck. This one has 13,000 miles on it. Wish there was a way.