01.03.22 Back to the vice....

     Funny thing about that fly tying, you'll never know how good a fly really is until you swim it. So with my strength coming back after this run of the flu I wanted to get out fishing. I wasn't making a drive anywhere so I decided to stay local. I checked the gauge in Lambertville and the river temp was just over 40 degrees. Now I'm learning there's more to the Delware than striped bass. Smallmouth and largemouth bass, walleye, all kinds of catfish, and then there's the muskies. Muskies are usually found a little north near the Delaware Water Gap in better numbers but hey why not give it a shot. Winter is a good to fish the fish, or so I have read.

     Before I left I checked into the NJ Dep website and renewed my fishing license as well as my NJ Saltwater Registry, now I'm all set for 2023. I even got a trout stamp just in case I feel like doing that one day. At the river I found a pink and chartreuse Deciever type fly that I hoped would get some 

attention. I found a nice run with a good seam and an eddy and what I would think a great place for a predator to lay in wait for a frozen Scooby-snack to go passing by. It was just nice to be out with mild air temps and before the rain that is supposed to arrive midday. I fished for about an hour before

breaking out one of the flies I tied last week. Like I said above, you don't know what a fly will do until you swim it. You can caress it, comb it, wet it, but wait until you swim it. In my palm the below fly looks fishy, and in a herring rich run it will get eaten by a striped bass, bu the horror! Now you

you can't evaluate a fly after you pull it out of the water, well completely. It's not undulating, key word, it's all matted down and compressed. But even above you can see how the fly, pretty good until the mono extension, looks good, until it doesn't. Laying in the water below you can see how the tail section is disjointed? and not a natural taper, and it's tending to kick down. Below is a short 

video of the fly in action, looks good, a little on the pale side, love the eyes, but at the end you see the "hanging tail", kind of like that "hanging chad", God, when was that, over 20 years ago? Jeez,

I've gotton old. Below are some pictures, a little exaggerated, of that mono extension, or failure thereof. What I'll probably do is just cut it off and be done with it. The other thing I need to work on is the bulk, fly needs to be a tad fuller, even though those river herring are streamlined for travel 

upriver. Below is a specimen that I found on the riverbank a few years back. I have to remember there are two types of river herring that enter rivers in the spring, alewives and bluebacks. Below is

shot of both for comparison. I think what we see mostly are the bluebacks, but I can't be certain of that. Either way, they are very similar, the alewife a bit chunkier, so I should tie both for the ready.

    If you love watching bait as much as I do then you'll love the below video, taken by a friend up north, where the herring are thicker and have better runs. I can just imagine predators lined up behind looking to snack on the sick, lame and lazy that drop back. 

     What I need to remember, I am no artistic fly tier, you'll never see one of my flies in Fly Tyer Magazine. My best fish came on bulky 10-minute fly I tied befoe heading out for the night. I preach the KISS principle to my students, Keep It Simple Stupid, I should heed my own advice at the vice. 

01.02.23 Will this be the new buzz fly for 2023?....But wait a minute...

 

     For years spin anglers have used a variety of plugs called "spooks" to catch striped bass. I kind of looked around on where they orginated from and it looks like Heddon started to manufacture them shortly after WWII sometime in the 1950's. They were originally translucent, and that is where the 

name "spook" came from. According to an article in The Dallas Morning News, HERE, the "Zara" portion came from the action the lure made in the water, as one customer stated, ...."it moves like the girls down on Zaragosa Street". And that is where the Zara Spook name was born. 

     Over the years they came painted, swaybacked, and were copied by others. What makes this lure so enticing to fish, and anglers, is the "walk the dog" action it gives. There is a learning curve and technique to fishing these type of lures properly, otherwise it's just another cast and retrieve type 

lure.

      I got an email around Christmas about an special offering from FlyMen Fishing Company. It was pre-release 3 pack of Spiral Spooks for $39.95. Remember, it was Blane Chocklet who designed and offered the The Game Changer through FlyMen a few years back and that was really hot that year and continues to be very popular, although to me, very diffciult to tie. So this Spiral Spook was designed by Chase Smith and will too be offered by FMFC. You can see some videos of the Spiral Spook below,

     These quickly sold out during the inital offering, and I can see why. Credit to Chase for seeing something, like the effectiveness of the Zara Spook, and designing a fly that matches it and can be thrown and worked with a fly rod. It has mono stinger hook out the back, weights inside, and the body is wrapped foam. Now, striped bass eat head first, but I guess if it's small enough it can eat the whole thing, but if not will you miss fish becasue of the location of the hook? Just thinking on paper. 

    Okay, now onto some business. Remember just a few short years ago when just about everyone was offended by just about everything? Well that crossed over to fly fishing. I'm not saying it was right or wrong, but it did. After you read some of the opinions it at least had you re-thinking some of the names of the flies that we had out there. You can read the blog post from The Caddis Fly which got things going HERE. In it they mention one of the current fly names up for discussion, the Sex Dungeon. Author Jay Nichol's set off a firestorm, and some much needed, realigning of some of the fly names being offered out there. Some critics thought the motivation was just a woke author getting caught up in the snowflake/ woke times we found ourselves in. 

     Around that time I made a blog post kind of referencing Jay's post and something about The Caddis Fly fly shop where he worked, HERE. A day before his post you could by a fly called PJ's Lynch Mob, a day after the post, the fly was renamed PJ's Mob. Now Lynch Mob isn't a good description for anything then a lynch mob. My post was just a reminder that before we call other people out, we better check ourselves. In the end it was all good, and might have brought some much needed awareness in the future when fly designers and tyers developed new flies. . But let's get back to the Spiral Spook. 

     So we have established that Heddon named the first Zara Spook around 1950. In an article for NPR in 2017, HERE,  author Leah Donella lays out the history and the other meaning of the word spook, "But as many of us know, it's also, sometimes, used as a racial slur for black people". She also goes onto explain when spook was first used as a derogatory term. It was during WWII, when the Tuskegee Airmen were called the "Spookwaffe". The German airforce at that time was called the Luftwaffe, so you can figure that out. There are many other historical publications that confirm that the slur was used and why. 

     Where does that leave us now? A fishing lure, developed nearly 70 years ago, and still made and used today. And a fly fisherman, Chase Smith, who in his love and passion of the game develops a fly based on that famous, and very fish catching, lure. One is called a Zara Spook and the other Spiral Spook. Will there be, or need to be, a renaming of this new fly by Chase Smith? Will anyone bring this up to FlyMen Fishing Co.? Some will say this is all ridiculous, where does this all end? By history, Mr Heddon didn't name his lure for any derogatory reason, and I doubt Mr. Smith did either. But, that said, we know how things happen, and quickly get "cancelled" in this day and age, maybe just a tad less than a year or two ago. 

    What I feel is this. We have to be aware. We have to be respectful. We have to communicate. But we also have to use common sense and not generalize or apply a meaning that was different from the original intent. We'll see how this progresses, if it goes anywhere at all. 

01.02.23 Maybe this teaching thing is good for fishing...

      When I look back at this blog over the last going-on-14-years there are so many cool stories of me running solo or with frineds or during the good old days with clients. Today I took a look at the "golden years", when I was guiding full time, meaning I didn't have a real job, and was giving it an all out push at making a living as a guide. I did that from 2010 to just about the start of 2015. 

     Rather than recap all of the stuff over the last 14 years, the boats, the houses, the clients, the presentations, the fish, and all the personal stuff that intertwined as I gave the guide thing a go, I'll just look at the number of posts. And that tells something in itself. 

     From 2011 to 2014 I was really on a tear. Lots of fishing and guiding, then a mix of the Upper Delaware and the Jersey Shore. Yearly post totals were 310, 337, 310 and 269. Then in 2015 something happened. I think it was then that reality set in in a few different ways. In Septmeber I was reunited with Theresa and started my journey back into nursing. It was a more consistent and stable job with actual income. In 2015 I was working at Monmouth Medical Center in the child and adolescent inpatient psychiatric unit and my blog post total was a mere 26. 

     In 2018 I was back in college at Monmouth University for my masters as a nurse practitioner and that years total post number was 79. It was also in 2019 that we moved from Red bank to Titusville and my fishing changed, now more river fishing then the beaches of the Jersey Shore. Trips to the Upper Delaware, which have gone down to about once per year, started about that time. After graduating and starting a private practice, and of course the covid pandemic, fishing was limited and the blog post totals for 2019, 2020 and 2021 were 199, 149 and 191 respectively. It wasn't until I started teaching in January 2022 did I get back into a good groove. They say teaching is more of a lifestyle than a money maker, and I believe that to be true. You work hard September to December, and then January to May, or maybe into late June if you take the extra semester on to teach longer. 

      Heading into 2023 I kind of like where I am, and where I landed. I am now able to just be an average angler. Long gone are the days of stress, and for me I mean stress, of watching the weather forecasts, trying to figure out where the days fishing will be, what float or where to go after launching the boat in the salt, and trying to give clients all that they expect when paying to go fish. Unless you have ever done it, for me, it is extremely stressful, and only after the day is over, after you counted your cash, and beat yourself up for what you did or could have done, can you exhale. 

     So now it's stress free. And I think the blog posts exude that. Yes, at times it's more like a diary or a book of one's personal journey thorugh life, but that's, to me, what fishing is really about. There are constants in life, ups and downs, new lives and deaths, new jobs, new houses, even new relationships, but the constant for so many of us is fishing. As you can see in the numbers of the blog posts over the years, they wax and wane, up and down, consistent with new responcibilities and challenges. But we always return back to the water. For some of us it's the sweetwater, others salt, for some a healthy mix. 

     I remember a few years back seeing the above image. Telling for sure. One day we will have to hang it up, and they say, as Al told me when he did, that he knew when that time came and he was okay with it. In the meantime, for whatever inert reason, we want and have to fish. I'm am not sure what my reason is, is it avoiding my own reality, is it a break from my own reality, is it to prove something to myself? I don't know, and don't know if I'll ever know. 

     I tip my hat to those who make their living in fly fishing. One thing I always marveled at was guys I know like Bob Popovic's and Steve Farrar never took a dime selling their flies. Yes, they made a few dollars off books and materials and designs, but their motivation, always, was teaching, instructing, and sharing what they had learned and their passion for fly fishing. I respect that greatly. 

     One day I'll have to hang it up, both fishing and writing this blog. If I croak today Leif has said he would continue it in any way he chooses to. I have to make it a point to sit down with him one day and go over how it's all done, otherwise it will be shut down forever. It's like a will, you don't know you need one until it's really too late. 

     So I expect 2023's blog tally at the end of the year to be about the same as 2022, about 275. If you take the lean months of January to March, and then the slow July to August months, you get just about 5 posts a week. I would really love to do more video, but if only knew how much work doing this with just still images is, you would see why I haven't delved in. That's why Troutbitten is done so well as I posted the other day. So expect more of the same. It would be interesting to see if we hit 800,000 in 2023. Get ready for the fly fishing shows, it's a lifeline for a lot of us until the spring. 

01.04.2010 NY State Guide License # 6225

Today I received my guide license badge and certificate in the mail. I can't wait to start guiding!

01.01.2023 Happy New Year.....

     Bah humbug. On Tuesday Theresa went down with something bad and by Thursday I was down for the count. She missed three days of work and I missed, well, fishing today for that New Years Day bass. We've been on our backs for days. To be honest I could give a rats ass about striped bass right now. Anyway, to you and yours, HNY. I hope it's a good one, but know there's always some part or several parts of each year that just absolutely suck. Just keeping it real. 

     So Theresa was Covid negative and I tested negative also, she at a lab and me with one of those government-sent-out kits. If it's not Covid, and thank God it wasn't as I would be dead, what is this? 

I was a good boy and get-it-or-your-fired compliant with this years flu shot. Remember that one, where I was in the hospital for three days after almost stroking out. I wanted to see how I could get

the flu this bad if I am protected against the flu. I had the Fluvaval Quad, one manufactured by GSK. In a recent press release from the CDC Director Rochelle Walinsky stated, "We look in real time as to how well we think the influenza match is to what's circulating. And right now, the good news is that it looks like it is a very good match". The CDC is reporting four strains of the flu virus this year, 79% is the Influenza A (H3N2) and 21% the usual Influenza A (H1N1), plus a few Influneza B cases out there. I went into the GSK website and looked up the efficacy of the vaccine. After looking 

pages of mild adverse reactions that were discovered and reported I couldn't find any mention of Influenza A or B,"only culture confirmed". It states a vaccine efficacy of 46.3% to 49.3%. So, as you can see bleow, I am glad I fell in line and got my vaccine, imagine what I would look like if I didn't. 

     So no big deal I didn't go this morning. Beautiful day with temps in the mid-50's and no wind. I think I have watched every murder mystery on 20/20, OWN, and 48 Hours and almst very type of sex crime on Law and Order. Thank God it's Sunday so at least I can switch to football for a while. 

     I hope you don't get this strain, or Covid for that matter, but rest assurred if you are vaxed and boosted against Covid and vaxed against the flu. They really need to come up with a different name for vaccines today, like maybe possible preventer. Years ago Polio and Measles were irradicated with vaccines, today, not so much. They first used DDT on kids by spraying it in their faces to try and rid the world of polio? But then they moved away from that and found an air tight vaccine. Maybe someone questioned the science? Happy New Year

12.30.22 I might have found the answer....

      I may have found the answer for my quest in the best wading staff for me. I could be like the cool kids, well old men and women, and just hit click and order one of those fancy and expensive models. But I did my homework and not only found a possible solution, but a great fly fishing blog as well.

     Domenik Swentosky founded Troutbitten, HERE, in 2014. He is from Central PA and fishes the Penns Creek, Little J, and Spring and Fishing Creeks. Not only does he run the site/blog/podcast and You Tube channels, he also guides on those rivers. If you're a trout guy this is a great, I mean really great site. 

     I have enjoyed watching the monthly ratings about the Top 100 Fly Fishing Blogs (worldwide) flucuate month to month. There's some big guns up at the top and I've discussed how a lot of that content is not orignal to the poster, but linked to another source. And sometimes the bigguns link the same content to each of their own pages. I am sure the online blogger/content poster at each company is reviewed on how many posts they post, irregardless of where the content is generated or linked from. 

     You see, content, no matter where is comes from, (begged, borrowed, or stolen), drives readers which means clicks which means higher ratings and hopefully generates more income. What I have

also come to learn is the importance of social media and business. I knew it, but I really didn't understadn it. SEO, RSS, and stuff over my head means something. Take for instance MidCurrent, ranked #1 in fly fishing blogs to follow in 2023. Just look at the sheer numbers of followers,

Facebook nearly 18,000, Twitter 18,000, and Instagram 11,500 followers. That means a lot of clicks each day, which probably leads to revenue, and their #1 ranking. So when I look at Troutbitten, again worlds apart from my blog, he comes in at #20, and he too has a big following. And then 

there's me. Just an average angler who writes about fly fishing, mostly salt water, and mostly about striped bass. No other blog details things like nursing, buying trucks, home projects, the kids, the holidays, sinking various boats, and being cash strapped at time. But maybe that's my jam. If you 

look at my numbers, there is no Twitter, Instagram, or You Tube, just 41 Facebook followers which is probably, me, Leif, my mom, and maybe some of her friends down in the 55 and over place in Bradenton, Florida. With that, it's amazing I come in at #26 worldwide. Enough about that. I can say I'll never break #20, unless I quit my job and go into full influencer and production mode. I'm good. 

     Swentosky made a post a few years back about wading staffs and I read it and really liked what he said. He came up with a DIY'd set up, which cost him much less than the pre-rigged offerings from the big manufacturers. Now you know me, I'm rough on everything and always find a way to ding it up or snap it in half. I would surely do the same with an over $200 Simms wading staff. You can read his post HERE. 

     He prefers the staffs made by Trekology, you get two for $42 on Amazon. If you click on the link on his site he gets a little cash. Interestingly, his site is really, really good when it comes to 

monetizing, he offers swag, has a donation buttom, and is linked up with Amazon as a partner. Smart dude. I'm sure clicks on his You Tube Channel also brings in a few dollars as well. 

    He couples his staff to be secured with a Gear Keeper retractor, $24, that he attaches to his wading belt, for me it would hang off my stripping basket belt, something I need to repalce as one of my plastic latches is broken. It's always great having your stripping basket click off and fall to your knees mid cast or when your fishing from the jetties. But that's me of course. 

     Domenik also shares tips on how he customized the set up. If you look at all of the types out there and the reviews there's really not one that satiates all of our wading safely needs. So this really answers the call. And the Trekology, is locking, so no more separation or elongation when you find that mud dump or crevice in the bottom of the river. If you do the math for about $65 you'll have one set up with a staff as a backup. Sounds like a plan to me, so thanks Domenik, and great job over at Troutbitten. 

12.29.22 Just had to go...

     The above popped up on my FB feed this morning and it got me thinking. If I caught a fish 6 years ago why not today? With spring like air temps, decent water temps @44 degrees, and the top of the tide when the sun was highest and brightest, for December, I thought I'd give it a shot.

     I was dreaming of those December bass guys talk about, maybe a holdover or two in one of the northern rivers before theseason closes for the bays and rivers Decmeber 31st, two days away. 

     So I made the drive north and treated myself to some nasty Wendy's before gearing up and heading out. All was well until I went to put on my waders. When I was home I brought them up from the basement and dropped them out the front door of the house as to not dust off any sand in 

the house. I made a mental note, "Do not forget them". Well you know what meant, looks like I would be fishing in my painting sweats and shoes. It didn't matter. I stayed dry and fished for and hour and a half on the top of the tide and the start of the drop. In the main river it was clean and clear but the tribs were choked with snow and ice pack. Didn't see any bait or fish for that matter. The worst part, besides the Wendy's, was the 3 hour drive to fish for 90 mins. I forgot how miserable the Turnpike can be even midday. 

      Earlier in the day I was on the vice working on trying to build a fly and then maybe do the impossible- tie two flies that looked alike, or even better yet, get into a run and banging multiple flies out, like the real tyers do. Again, I tie a fly and then critique the hell out of it. I like this one though, would have liked it better on a 6/0 rather than a 5/0 hook. The eyes, which I glued on smaller tab eyes as to not gunk up the fly with glue, should have sat further 

back on the fly. Taper wasn't bad, but the peacock herl kinda stopped mid-back of the fly. What I do like is the length, coming in over 9 inches. It has a mono extension, which doesn't show at all, and that sits inside nicely. I went to a thin mono, maybe 20 pounds, and although it was harder to tie on it moves and lends in nicely. I used a lighter to burn a ball at the end to prevent the bucktail from slipping off. And I like the color combinations. The picture on the ruler is coming off of a fresh bath so it's kind of matted down. This one will get eaten in the spring. 

     So of course when I got home the waders were where I left them. On the firewood cart behind the snowblower and under the Christmas wreath. I may keep them in my truck because Sunday looks like a day that may be calling. It's hard to resist a New Year's Day bass, although the lack of anglers out and reports doesn't lend me to believe there's anything going on on the beach these days.