09.09.11 Broke my a%s all day, then had a blast at 20 Main

     There's nothing worse then having a major project to do and no one to help. It also doesn't make it any easier when any help is 6 hours away. Anyway, I broke my hump today. I dug and moved dirt then shoveled 4 tons of stone. Around 5 o'clock Eric stopped over and helped me lug about 3 yards of dirt over to the blue house. Then, we hit 20 Main, the local bar in town. When we got there there we three of us. I started feeding the juke box and played every Grateful Dead song in the machine till 1 a.m. People were making selections and then would have to wait hours to hear their songs. The best part was the box had super long versions of Terrapin and Eyes, like 10 minutes each. Lot's of beer and Mad River Pizza helped too!

20 Main, Ausable Forks

On yeah, how's this. I am dead tired, ready to croak, and Eric says, "Did you put the holes down?" What made it worse was I didn't.

09.08.11 FEMA and SBA say no assistance and lots of work gets done

I got into Ausable Forks early this morning around 1a.m. I slept in till about 730 and after getting the dog set I went over to Jay to the FEMA Assistance Center. I greater nicely and sat at a table to talk to someone via the photo to register for assistance. I did get the operator with the broken English, very nice but broken, for almost 30 minutes. Anyway, long story short, the second to last thing this guy tells me before giving me my number is, "as you know FEMA doesn't offer assistance to second or rental homes or businesses." He tells me that at minute 28. Hey, truth is I'm lucky. Made it through Irene in New Jersey with only water in the basement and no power for five days, here in Ausable Forks, I didn't fair as well, but so many people lost everything. We had 6 feet of water in the basement and and lost part of our wall and foundation. Then I went over to the SBA for a small business loan, using The Average Angler. Forget it. I respectfully got up and left. So it was off to work.




    I picked up some crushed marble in town and when I got home I started digging, and didn't stop till 3. Then I laid down the barrier and pipe and stones. The hardest part of the day was dealing with the wall and fence and dirt that had started to wash into the river. If this post goes through, there's only one image I could attach using my iPad.









Then I had a great dinner at Mad River Pizza! They are open with a limited menu. Good to see some businesses back, although rumor has it Grand Union is pulling out.

09.07.11 Off to Ausable Forks to work on the house post Irene

     I am on my way back to the Adirondacks and our lodge in Ausable Forks. More rain this week isn't doing well for rain swollen ground around the North Country. Below is the current gauge height on the East Branch at Ausable Forks. Last week it was at 19 feet. But it's rising and no where for the water to go. I'll stop at Home Depot before Ileave to get some pipe and felt for the multi day project ahead of me. I hope the basement doesn't flood again!

09.06.11 Our home water, the Toms River, post Irene

     A little more than a week after Hurricane, Tropical Storm, Irene came and went I took a ride to the Jersey Shore Trout Unlimited's home water, the Toms River. The Toms River is kind of an interesting place. First it's a trout stream located near the Jersey Shore. Second, it's pretty good and holds good temps and fish. Third, only a select percentage of people fish it, and fourth, even a smaller percentage like it.
     The Toms is a cool cedar tinged river that varies between 15-30 feet wide. It winds it's way through the heavily wooded and brushed areas making it's way from near Route 195 in Jackson down to the Barnegat Bay. Along the way it is stocked with trout in the spring and fall near bridges and parks where the fish are put and taked. In a small section in Toms River at Riverwood Park is a TCA or Trout Conservation Area. That area is stocked more heavily and anglers who fish there practice more catch and release. It is tough water to fish no matter what you use, although a Tenkara rod and method would work great. There are trees and brush, in front, behind, below and above you here. There are submerged trees and other remnants typical of streams in populated areas. For anglers that live in Ocean County this is trout fishing nirvana close to home at it's best.
     As I have blogged all week here and advised on the Orvis Fishing Report website, HERE, I have advised anglers to get out and scout their home or favorite waters. Anglers who call the Toms home will be surprised what they will find. Several large trees have toppled into the water and blocked access along the dirt road. No access means no stocking trucks. In addition more trees have made their way into the water. The Route 571 bridge, which is the bottom end of the TCA, was washed out on either side and emergency repairs had to be made to open it back up. That means a tremendous amount of ashphalt, dirt, debris, and silt have made their way into the river. In addition large trees now sit in the middle of the bridge pool.

Below are pics from my scouting trip. Our JSTU chapter will work hard to get the river safe for anglers as soon as possible.

Toms River access at Riverwood Park

Rope swing bend at the start of the TCA

In Riverwood Park

Westside of Route 571 showing emergency repairs

Eastside of Route 571 bridge

Picnic tables from Cedar Glen

Cedar Glen  

09.05.11 Out for a scout in Monmouth Beach..."It's beginning to look a lot like stripers!" Da-ta-ta-ta-da

      For those of you who enjoy fly fishing in Monmouth Beach, get ready, things may look a little different then when you were here in the spring. Today I decided to continue my pre-run scouting especially after Hurricane Irene went and changed every shoreline up. I have heard through the second-hand-heard-it-through-the-grapevine that bass are being caught on bloodworms and clams. No word or sight of albies yet. Everyone is gearing up!

Related to Monmouth Beach scouting -  The US Army Corp of Engineers is reportedly starting beach replenishment here starting this fall. I haven't heard any more on this since the announcement in the spring.

09.02.11 My fall is here...finally

 A "new" look Marine Place

    It's Labor Day weekend. It's usually a busy weekend for me as I try and finish up any summer related assignments I have. This year is a mess. Hurricane Irene came and went and took with it the summer crowds and the feeling most have right before school begins. I am working on a story about the Raritan Bay during the summer. I went to Keansburg last night and there were about 50 people there, and they were dressed like it was fall, because it is.
     There are a few more things I look forward to as fall approaches. One of them is back to school. "Happy Days are here again!..." I have three teenagers, 13, 14, 15 and each is growing up and wanting to do their own thing with their own friends, or just without me. Totally normal behavior, or they just hate me. So, I'm done with them for the summer. A few trips to Great Adventure, a day trip here and there, and the week in the Adirondacks and Montreal. They're done with me and I them. My youngest starts first grade this fall, and that's cute, but I'm glad she's going also.
     Fall also means it's time to go back to fishing. The summer was a good one for those that fish the Upper Delaware. Steady releases and cool temps kept the West Branch of the Delaware prime most of the summer. I just read a post on Aaron Jasper's blog and he reports good fishing even after Irene, you can check more out HERE. That's a good sign as the West Branch went over 10,000 cfs and the East Branch approached 30,000. The West Branch of the Ausable in the Adirondacks ran low and warm through the summer. Like the other rivers in the area, we went from a blown out spring, to prime levels and temps, to droughty and too hot to fish. Then Irene came and damn near took all the towns that sit on its banks. In New Jersey I took a July trip out to the Big Flatbrook with my friend Tom, and we spent more time sitting in chairs shooting-the-shit then fishing.
     By mid-summer fly guys and girls were targeting smallies, largemouths, and sunnies on the fly rod. Down on the beach things kind of went as planned. The stripers came, huge fish in big evening blitzes,  and went on schedule. Some said it was the best spring in a long time. For those with the fly rod fluke were available in good numbers although it was tough to get a meal out of them as 18 inches seemed to be a hard number to come by. I saw cocktail blues early on before the spawn, but not the big gators that we saw last year invade the Raritan Bay. We finished up the warm months with a huge phytoplankton bloom that stretched from New York down to Cape May. While I was out on the scallop boat last week I saw this stretch for miles and miles. It surely had an impact on the tuna fishery and there was fear it would affect the bait migration that will start soon. Yesterday in Keyport the fishing pier was alive with folks from all walks of life snapper fishing. I saw mostly small fish that should have been released although I saw a few to 7 inches.
     This morning I started what will become the daily check of conditions along the beaches in anticipation of the albie and striper runs. I report weekly for the Orvis Fishing Report which you can see HERE, and my best advice I could give this week was to go out and scout. I report on beach, groin and jetty fishing and if you fish the same beat you'll be surprised to see the changes along the coast. Getting out during low tides and reading the "new" shoreline will pay dividends when you're fishing at midnight in late October. In the top picture you can see how the shoreline has changed at Marine Place, a usual great location for fishing for stripers as they crash through bait trapped in the hole in the north side of the groin. Also, did you ever see the large boulder that was perched on the end of Allenhurst groin, that has been relocated by the lovely Irene.
     After a next week trip up to the Adirondacks for some post Irene work on the house I'll be ready for fall float trips for wild trout on the Upper Delaware and walk and stalk trips for albies and stripers along the beaches in New Jersey. Give me a call to set up a trip, 732.261.7291.

Allenhurst, less one large boulder at the end, post Irene

A favorite scouting location at Philips Avenue in Deal

09.01.11 Got power back in Ocean Township!

We got power back tonight at 7 pm! No more $ 60 in gas per day to run the generator. 

Our lifeline for the last 5 days

     With things looking up down here I have to put a plan together for a return trip to the Adirondacks next week to work on the yard, basement, and foundation of the house that my brother named, "The River Runs Through It Lodge". 

08.31.11 Here's a good shot of Ausable Forks...a day after the flooding

 Adirondack Daily Enterprise - Lou Reuter 

     Here's a great shot of my section of Ausable Forks in New York. Our homes are the green and blue ones to the right and just above the bridge. To the left is the Jay side and to the right is the Black Brook side. The West Branch is running straight up the frame and the East Branch is at the bottom left. Junction Pool is above the two trees dead center on the bottom and then the Ausable River goes to the right.

To give you an idea the below image shows the blue building in the lower right part of the above picture, during the worst part of the storm. I am surprised that more of the towns didn't get swamped with more mud than we did since all the roads were a blowing part of the rivers.

08.30.11 Could have been worse for us...but it was horrible for some

Behind Rod's, where the West Branch went through 

In the Jersey section on the Jay side, where the East Branch went through

In the Jersey section on the Jay side, where the East Branch went through   

     The North Country got pounded. The Jersey Shore had it bad in the way of strong winds and downed trees and some flooding. I just got home from the Adirondacks and we still don't have power here in Ocean Township. What Ausable Forks and other towns east of Lake Placid went through is similar to what North Jersey is going through today. It's a bad game of catch up. Irene came and went. The rains pounded the earth, and now the rivers are trying to handle the runoff.

Behind Rod's, where the West Branch went through 

In the Jersey section on the Jay side, where the East Branch went through

     In Ausable Forks I had 6 feet of water in the basement. The work I had done on the furnace and hot water heater from the springs storms will have to be repeated or everything replaced. The culprit in the mess was the usually lazy East Branch of the Ausable. Irene must have parked over the High Peaks around Keene and Keene Valley and dumped all 15 inches of rain in a few hours. Then it all hit the river. It ran through those towns and headed down to Ausable Forks where it meets the West Branch, a perfect storm. In addition a tributary called Black Brook ran wild and added to the mess. Some parts of town will be changed forever. There is even early talk of FEMA buying people out to forfeit their houses.

The West Branch came over the wall, taking the fascia and some foundation with it

     Our biggest problem was the West Branch crested over the wall out house sits on. It took with it fascia boards and parts of the foundation that the house sits on. If you stand in the basement you can see across the river. We also have a sink hole in the side yard which must have drained into the basement. Luckily the water only went up to the first floor joints and didn't hit the first floor. I spent the better part of the day taking apart the furnace in an attempt to make everything dry. The heating guy has us on the list. Right now we have power and water, and another trip to make up there to finish repairs on the foundation and sinkhole.

As you will see it could have been worse for us, it was that bad for some.

In the Jersey section on the Jay side, where the East Branch went through 

 In the Jersey section on the Jay side, where the East Branch went through

Water up to the top step of the basement 

In the Jersey section on the Jay side, where the East Branch went through 

Taking apart the furnace 

Basement showing the where the water was, check out the floor beams